take a little car ride with me…

I took a ride…

                         my heart began to beat hard in my chest as tears welled up and spilled down my cheeks. 

Changing leaves reminded me of the Thanksgivings we had when I was young. “Dear God, all but three of the people that sat around the ‘grown-up’s’ table are with you, and two of the people that crowded into the kitchen dinette at the children’s table are with you too. Why am I still here?”

The chatter and laughter are echoes in my memory, and I thank God that my memory is still good… if I had a way to watch my old 8mm home movies I would get to see steaming food on the table and family members, who are gone, young and strong…laughing and having a good time. 

As I continued to drive through the tree lined streets my memories moved on to Christmas…the dramas we put on at the church, so many of those friends gone, learning the music, the orchestra tuning up, me running around in stiletto’s tying up all the loose ends and helping where I could, from applying stage make-up to making last minute runs to the burger stand to buy food for those who had been there for hours without going to eat… and wondering how I ever managed to stay on those heels without falling down.

The Christmas I fell in love… helping my parents celebrate their New Year’s Eve wedding anniversary, celebrating my own birthday on Christmas Day…

“Memories light the corners of my mind, misty, water-colored memories of the way we were…”

My mind went back to the Christmas I turned 15 and chose a red cable-knit sweater as my gift… the Christmas the church board told my dad he had to wait util after the church Christmas program was over to go visit his mother when he asked to leave a week early because he learned that she was very sick and in the hospital…that’s the Christmas she died, the day of the program. They allowed him to go to the funeral…

But all of those memories, some sweet, some bitter-sweet, some sad, like that Christmas Day we had a family funeral in South Georgia for a cousin who had chosen to take his own life… none of them can over-shadow the best Christmas memory of all,

And what is that?

Why it’s the year the angels sang to the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night, 

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill[e] toward men!”

                                                                                     (Luke 4: 9-14)

That was the best Christmas of all, the one that a lot of people forget to remember and celebrate. 

As you are readying for the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving, remember to be thankful for life and salvation and the healing appropriated to you by His death on the cross… and for Christmas, celebrate the birth of the Savior, give a gift of time and/or money to your church, find a family that needs help and give them a Merry Christmas, pray for peace on earth and ask Jesus to return soon…there’s a song that says it all…

CELEBRATE JESUS, CELEBRATE!!