Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/8/12

It is being present with those we love

that make the magic of the Christmas season.

Christmas Thought of the Day - 2/18/10

Christmas is here,
merry old Christmas,
gift bearing,
heart touching,
joy bringing Christmas.
~~ Washington Irving ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 1/11/10

Christmas is the season of joy, of holiday greetings exchanged, of gift giving, and of families united.
~~ Norman Vincent Peale ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 1/10/10

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.
~~ Charles Schulz ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 1/4/10

A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/24/09

We’ve all heard that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. I know for sure that it’s also a lot more fun. Nothing makes me happier than a gift well given and joyfully received.

~~ Oprah Winfrey ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/22/09

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/21/09

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

Merry Christmas and lots of love to you and yours!

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/20/09

The best of all gifts around any Christmas Tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in Jesus and each other.

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/5/09

The true spirit of Christmas reflects a dedication to helping those in need, to giving hope to those in despair, and to spreading peace and understanding throughout the earth.

Christmas Thought of the Day - 12/4/09

Christmas waves a magic wand . . . and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
~~ Norman Vincent Peale ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 11/20/09

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
~~ Dr Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/21/09

Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete.
~~ Charles Dickens ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/20/09

To celebrate the heart of Christmas is to forget ourselves in the service of others.
~~ Henry C. Link ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/18/09

May we not "spend" Christmas or "observe" Christmas, but rather "keep it."
~~ Peter Marshall ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/15/09

We should try to hold on to the Christmas spirit, not just one day a year, but all 365.
~~ Mary Martin ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 8/22/09

It is the personal thoughtfulness, the warm human awareness, the reaching out of the self to one's fellow man that makes giving worthy of the Christmas spirit.
~~ Isabel Currier ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 8/20/09

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.
~~ Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 8/10/09

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
~~ Bob Hope ~~

Christmas Thought of the Day - 5/30/09

A Soldier's Christmas

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
and I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?," I asked without fear.
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
to the window that danced with a warm fire's light
then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,
that separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am

.I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,

I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
who stand at the front against any and all,
to insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked,
"or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.

"Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,"
Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought and we bled
is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

~~ Michael Marks ~~