Remember

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a Christmas season without being involved in the Christmas Musical. We start planning in June and practicing in late August up until the date in December.

Thoughts and details for the musical dance in my head like sugar plum fairies refusing to be still. Light and entrance cues, publicity shots and recordings, news releases and pre-show videos and specials keep me busy right up to the first performance.

The focus on the musical the last three weeks of preparation is intense. The musical is about Christmas – Jesus coming and bringing life and joy.

Yet I feel like my focus is so much on the details making that announcement possible that I don’t enjoy the reason for the season.

However, I’ve intentionally planned for this happening. I purposefully read the Christmas story from the Matthew and Luke asking God to give me a new perspective on the old story. Sometimes it’s just a phrase but it’s enough to make the truth come alive for me again.

It’s so easy to take the familiar for granted. Knowing that, God has asked us to remember. Remember – call to mind, take into account, pay attention, refocus are all different ways of remembering. These are a few of those things that have been brought to my mind.

Remember the humble abode of the Christ child and be thankful that the same King born in a manger desires to be born in each one of us.

Recall to mind, the sky filled with angels who welcomed his birth with songs of great joy. All of heaven rejoiced at his birth and those same angels rejoice when Christ is born in us. The angels are there with the crowd of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) cheering us on in our journey of faith.

Take into account, the Shepherds who left their flocks by night to go worship the child wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. This reminds us to stop and take a break from our work, our hobbies, our shopping and decorating, our cookie cutting and fudge stirring to worship the Christ child. The Shepherd left their place, their responsibilities in someone else’s hands for awhile and went to investigate what the angels had told them. Let’ s remember to investigate the Christ Child.

Refocus on the fact that Christ was born of a virgin. Immaculate Conception is a one time miracle. Christ being born in you is miraculous. If you never see another miracle, you are one with Christ in you.

Pay attention to the Star. The Wise Men saw the star and followed its light to Bethlehem. God stills guides the way to Christ through the light of Christ in others. Remember, God always lights our way back to Him.

Remember, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Remember, just as the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God let us begin the new year with the same joy and expectation of His second coming.

These past two nights as I've sat watching and listening to the musical, intimately familiar with the script and songs, I listen as if I’ve never heard them before. I recount the longs hours of planning and practicing, the challenges and impediments, the zillions of details and sacrifices of so many people. I know it’s worth it all so others can remember.

Thanksgiving Memory

My most vivid Thanksgiving memory is waking up hungry in a four room house with a fireplace as the central heating, no indoor plumbing and no insulation. As I quickly raced to the warmth of the kitchen coal stove I looked forward to a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs and French toast with warm syrup. But there was none. I complained with great disappointment.

As my mother placed half a cold grapefruit on the table in front of me, she quickly reminded me to be thankful for what I had. She assured me that my grapefruit was more than some children would enjoy on any given day. After all, dinner at Grandma Wynn’s would be filled with Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and other delicious foods. My favorite was the pumpkin butter with hot biscuits. I’ve never forgotten that lesson in being thankful.

But daily gratitude can be a real challenge for most of us especially if we’ve never been without before. I had never had a garage before this house and I had no idea the many benefits of having one. Having suffered the pain of muscles spasms and herniated discs I am especially thankful for a massaging hot shower to relax muscles. With the divorce rate so high, I’m grateful that my Mom and Dad made it through the rough terrain of marriage. I could keep going on and on but I’d love to hear what you are grateful for on a regular basis.

I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Thanks in all circumstances can be a real challenge, I know. It puts a whole different spin on our circumstances. So, when I was cold and hungry that Thanksgiving day long ago I was to give thanks to God anyway. Thanks that I was alive – could see, smell, hear and feel. Thanks for family and a home. Thanks for another day to live and breathe. Thankful.