Christmas in the Air

VeggieTales Saint Nicholas -- A Story of Joyful Giving

2009-12-25T19:36:00.001+09:00

VeggieTales 'Give This Christmas Away' Music Video

2009-12-25T19:31:00.001+09:00

Angels We Have Heard On High - Sixpence None The Richer

2009-12-25T19:25:00.000+09:00

Silent Night - Straight No Chaser

2009-12-25T19:23:00.000+09:00

Love Came Down At Christmas - Jars Of Clay

2009-12-23T17:47:00.001+09:00

Silent Night - Sixpence None The Richer

2009-12-23T17:44:00.002+09:00

The 12 Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser

2009-12-23T17:42:00.001+09:00

Don't Save It All For Christmas Day - Celine Dion

2009-12-23T11:42:00.000+09:00

Anything that inspires unselfishness...

2009-12-23T11:33:00.000+09:00

Anything that inspires unselfishness makes for our ennoblement. Christmas does that. I am all for Christmas.

--B.C. Forbes

Christmas is the time...

2009-12-23T11:32:00.000+09:00

Christmas is the time to let your heart do the thinking.

--Patricia Clafford

Christmas, children...

2009-12-23T11:31:00.000+09:00

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.

--Mary Ellen Chase

Of course, this is the season...

2009-12-23T11:30:00.000+09:00

Of course, this is the season to be jolly, but it is also a good time to be thinking about those who aren't.

--Helen Valentine

The Christmas Hope - Newsong

2009-12-23T11:29:00.000+09:00

Silent Night - Charlotte Church

2009-12-21T18:17:00.000+09:00

O Holy Night - Natalie Grant

2009-12-21T18:13:00.001+09:00

The Miracle of Christmas - Steven Curtis Chapman

2009-12-21T18:09:00.001+09:00

Christmas is most truly Christmas...

2009-12-17T11:14:00.001+09:00

Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.

--Ruth Carter Stapleton

Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - Celine Dion

2009-12-15T20:47:00.000+09:00

Joy To The World - Mariah Carey (Disney Parade 2004)

2009-12-15T20:44:00.001+09:00

All I Really Want For Christmas - Steven Curtis Chapman

2009-12-15T12:07:00.002+09:00

It is not even the beginning of Christmas...

2009-12-15T12:05:00.001+09:00

It is not even the beginning of Christmas unless it is Christmas in the heart.

--Richard Roberts

Let us remember...

2009-12-15T12:03:00.000+09:00

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first.

--George Matthew Adams

There seems a magic...

2009-12-15T12:02:00.000+09:00

There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.

--Charles Dickins

White Christmas - A Cappella - Ditchfield Family Singers

2009-12-09T15:01:00.001+09:00

The Art of Living

2009-12-09T09:11:00.001+09:00

Christmas is not in tinsel and lights and outward show.
The secret lies in an inner glow.
It's lighting a fire inside the heart.
Good will and joy a vital part.
It's higher thought and a greater plan.
It's glorious dream in the soul of man.

--Wilfred A. Peterson

Christmas is for children...

2009-12-08T18:03:00.000+09:00

Christmas is for children. But it is for grown-ups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and a nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chilled hearts.

--Henry Vaughan

The Giving Trees

2009-12-08T17:54:00.003+09:00

By Kathleen Dixon

I was a single parent of four small children, working at a minimum-wage job. Money was always tight, but we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and, if not a lot, always enough. My kids told me that in those days they didn't know we were poor. They just thought Mom was cheap. I've always been glad about that.

It was Christmastime, and although there wasn't money for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with church and family, parties and friends, drives downtown to see the Christmas lights, special dinners, and by decorating our home.

But the big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas shopping at the mall. They talked and planned for weeks ahead of time, asking each other and their grandparents what they wanted for Christmas. I dreaded it. I had saved $120 for presents to be shared by all five of us.

The big day arrived and we started out early. I gave each of the four kids a twenty-dollar bill and reminded them to look for gifts that cost about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered. We had two hours to shop; then we would meet back at the "Santa's workshop" display.

Back in the car driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, laughing and teasing each other with hints and clues about what they had bought. My younger daughter, Ginger, who was about eight years old, was unusually quiet. I noted she had only one small, flat bag with her after her shopping spree. I could see enough through the plastic bag to tell that she had bought candy bars--fifty-cent candy bars! I was so angry. What did you do with that twenty dollar bill I gave you? I wanted to yell at her, but I didn't say anything until we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ready to be angry again when I asked her what she had done with the money. This is what she told me:

"I was looking around, thinking of what to buy, and I stopped to read the little cards on one of the Salvation Army's 'Giving Trees.' One of the cards was for a little girl, four years old, and all she wanted for Christmas was a doll with clothes and a hairbrush. So I took the card off the tree and bought the doll and the hairbrush for her and took it to the Salvation Army booth.

"I only had enough money left to buy candy bars for us," Ginger continued. "But we have so much and she doesn't have anything." I never felt so rich as I did that day.

Celtic Woman - Ave Maria

2009-12-08T17:42:00.001+09:00

Celine Dion - Oh Holy night

2009-12-08T17:39:00.000+09:00

Christmas Canon Rock - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

2009-12-08T17:25:00.001+09:00

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Julianne Hough

2009-12-08T17:19:00.001+09:00

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Julianne Hough

Joy To The World - Whitney Houston

2009-12-04T21:15:00.003+09:00

The Christmas Shoes - Newsong

2009-12-03T14:32:00.003+09:00

Silent Night - Taylor Swift

2009-12-03T14:23:00.002+09:00

Silent Night - Taylor Swift

This Christmas - Chris Brown

2009-12-03T08:17:00.004+09:00

Love Came Down At Christmas - Jars of Clay

2008-12-23T10:36:00.003+09:00

Bless us Lord, this Christmas...

2008-12-22T00:26:00.001+09:00

Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind;
Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.

--Helen Steiner Rice

Christmas Island - Sixpence None The Richer

2008-12-19T11:29:00.001+09:00

Eternal Gifts - Leigh Nash

2008-12-19T11:21:00.001+09:00

A Star in the Window

2008-12-19T11:15:00.000+09:00

By James S. Hewett

Back during World War II a little boy and his daddy were driving home on Christmas Eve. They drove past rows of houses with Christmas trees and decorations in the windows. In many of the windows the little boy noticed a star. He asked his father, "Daddy, why do some of the people have a star in the window?"

His daddy said that the star meant that the family had a son in the war. As they passed the last house, suddenly the little boy caught sight of the evening star in the sky. "Look, Daddy, God must have a son in the war, too! He's got a star in his window!"

Indeed, God has a son who went to war, but Jesus came into our world to go to war with sin.

Christmas-living is...

2008-12-18T07:49:00.000+09:00

Christmas-living is the best kind of Christmas-giving.

--Henry Van Dyke

Whose Birthday?

2008-12-18T07:38:00.004+09:00

By James S. Hewett

There was once a family that celebrated Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus. An extra chair of honor at the table became the family's reminder of Jesus' presence. A cake with candles, along with the singing of "Happy Birthday" expressed the family's joy in Jesus' presence.

One year, a Christmas afternoon visitor asked five-year-old Ruth, "Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?" After a moment's hesitation, she answered, "No, but then it's not my birthday!"

Silent Night - Taylor Swift

2008-12-17T23:13:00.000+09:00

Christmas for Two - Sixpence None The Richer

2008-12-17T00:39:00.001+09:00

There has been only one Christmas

2008-12-16T23:54:00.001+09:00

There has been only one Christmas--the rest are anniversaries.

--W.J. Cameron

For the spirit of Christmas...

2008-12-16T23:50:00.001+09:00

For the spirit of Christmas fulfils the greatest hunger of mankind.

--Loring A. Schuler

The Supreme Court has ruled...

2008-12-16T23:47:00.000+09:00

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.

--Jay Leno

Wishing For This - Leigh Nash

2008-12-16T23:31:00.004+09:00

The spirit of this season...

2008-12-16T23:24:00.002+09:00

The spirit of this season
Is old, yet ever new;
May it be yours on Christmas
And last the new year through.

--Ernest B. McClellan

"O Holy Night" Collection

2008-12-13T01:13:00.001+09:00

Christmas is a spirit...

2008-12-13T01:10:00.000+09:00

Christmas is a spirit that flows from one heart to another. It is more precious than rubies and better than gold.

--Agnes M. Pharo

For centuries men have kept...

2008-12-12T00:54:00.004+09:00

For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.

--W. J. Tucker

"Joy to the World" Collection

2008-12-11T00:39:00.002+09:00

When we recall Christmas past...

2008-12-11T00:20:00.000+09:00

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things--not the great occasions--give off the greatest glow of happiness.

--Bob Hope

As long as we know in our hearts...

2008-12-08T18:46:00.000+09:00

As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is.

--Eric Sevareid

"Feliz Navidad" collection

2008-12-05T22:41:00.004+09:00

"Silent Night" collection

2008-04-15T23:36:00.004+09:00

Merry Christmas to all!

2007-12-25T12:59:00.001+09:00

God wants to give you wonderful Christmas gifts through His Son, Jesus. Do you want them? Just pray this simple prayer:

"Dear God, thank You for thinking of me at Christmas. Please give me the gifts You have promised--gifts of love, joy, peace, happiness, and the best gift of all, eternal life with You and Your Son, Jesus. I open my heart and ask You to fill it with good things. Amen."

When Christmas Comes

2007-12-25T10:21:00.000+09:00

Have you any old grudges you would like to pay,
Any wrongs laid up from a bygone day?
Gather them now and lay them away
When Christmas comes.
Hard thoughts are heavy to carry, my friend,
And life is short from beginning to end;
Be kind to yourself, leave nothing to mend
When Christmas comes.

--William Lytle in "When Christmas Comes"

YouTube: The Light of Your Love (Song Of Mary Magdalene)

2007-12-24T14:24:00.001+09:00

Italian title: "La Luce Del Tuo Amore" (Canzone di Maria Maddalena)

An English song with Italian subtitles.

Not exactly a Christmas video, but it's well worth watching. After all, Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

YouTube: Happy Birthday Jesus!

2007-12-24T12:03:00.001+09:00

A beautiful compilation from Anne Geddes pictures and the song from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas' album.

If Christmas isn't found in your heart...

2007-12-24T08:44:00.001+09:00

Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree.

--Charlotte Carpenter

Christmas is a necessity...

2007-12-24T08:43:00.000+09:00

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.

--Eric Sevareid

It is the personal thoughtfulness...

2007-12-24T08:42:00.000+09:00

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.

I truly believe...

2007-12-23T22:16:00.001+09:00

I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world.

--Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas is a day of meaning...

2007-12-23T12:43:00.000+09:00

Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.

--Margaret Thatcher

Unless we make Christmas...

2007-12-23T12:42:00.000+09:00

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'.

--Bing Crosby

Christmas isn't just a day...

2007-12-22T13:05:00.000+09:00

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.

--Valentine Davies (in Miracle on 34th Street)

Christmas will always be...

2007-12-21T19:42:00.000+09:00

Christmas will always be in the hearts of God's children everywhere as they extend a helping hand to a friend in need.

--Jane Hillsmen

Christmas is doing...

2007-12-21T19:41:00.001+09:00

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

--Charles Schulz

Christmas is a time to expand...

2007-12-21T19:39:00.000+09:00

Christmas is a time to expand our giving encompassing the friendless and needy ... near and far. Christmas is sharing.

--Patricia Clafford

O little Lord of Christmas

2007-12-21T19:25:00.001+09:00

By Henry Hallam Tweedy

On Christmas eve they filled the house, some fifty guests all told,
(O little Lord of Christmas, were You left out in the cold?)
And ate and sang, played cards and danced till early morning light.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they think of You that night?)

Next morning came the presents on a glittering Christmas tree.
(O little Lord of Christmas, was there any gift for Thee?)
The dinner was a Roman feast, and how those guests did eat!
(O little Lord of Christmas, were You hungry in the street?)

Then came some teas, a movie, and at night the last revue.
(O little Lord of Christmas, what had these to do with You?)
By midnight all were tired and cross and tumbled into bed.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they think that You were dead?)

They all woke up with headaches and no joy in work or play.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they mark Your birth that day?)
The love, the joy were good, no doubt; the rest a pagan spree.
(O little Lord of Christmas, let us keep the day with Thee!)

Gifts of time and love...

2007-12-21T11:01:00.000+09:00

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

--Peg Bracken

The Christmas Star

2007-12-21T10:12:00.000+09:00

By Nancy Byrd Turner

High in the heavens a single star,
Of pure, imperishable light;
Out on the desert strange and far
Dim riders riding through the night:
Above a hilltop sudden song
Like silver trumpets down the sky--
And all to welcome One so young
He scarce could lift a cry!

Stars rise and set, that star shines on:
Songs fail, but still that music beats
Through all the ages come and gone,
In lane and field and city streets.
And we who catch the Christmas gleam,
Watching with children on the hill,
We know, we know it is no dream--
He stands among us still!

In the pure soul...

2007-12-21T10:05:00.001+09:00

In the pure soul, whether it sing or pray,
The Christ is born anew from day to day.
The life that knoweth Him shall bide apart
And keep eternal Christmas in the heart.

--Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

The joy of brightening other lives...

2007-12-20T13:18:00.000+09:00

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.

--W. C. Jones

Christmas gift suggestions...

2007-12-20T13:16:00.000+09:00

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

--Oren Arnold

Christmas Day is a day of joy and charity...

2007-12-20T13:13:00.001+09:00

Christmas Day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.

--Phillips Brooks

Living Christmas Each Day

2007-12-20T13:10:00.000+09:00

Author unknown

Christmas is more than a day at the end of the year,
More than a season of joy and good cheer,
Christmas is really God's pattern for living
To be followed all year by unselfish giving...

For the holiday season awakens good cheer
And draws us closer to those we hold dear,
And we open our hearts and find it is good
To live among men as we always should...

But as soon as the tinsel is stripped from the tree
The spirit of Christmas fades silently
Into the background of daily routine
And is lost in the whirl of life's busy scene,

And all unawares, we miss and forego
The greatest blessing that mankind can know...
For if we lived Christmas each day, as we should,
And made it our aim to always do good,

We'd find the lost key to meaningful living
That comes not from getting, but from unselfish giving...
And we'd know the great joy of peace upon earth
Which was the real purpose of our Saviour's birth,

For in the glad tidings of the first Christmas night,
God showed us the Way and the Truth and the Light!

A Brother Like That

2007-12-18T23:49:00.000+09:00

By Dan Clark

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."

The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…" He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.

"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"

"Oh yes, I'd love that!"

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.

He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his crippled younger brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it. … And then you can ride around and see for yourself all the things that I've been trying to tell you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Heap on the wood...

2007-12-18T10:25:00.000+09:00

Heap on the wood!-the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.

--Sir Walter Scott

YouTube: Jesus--Silent Night

2007-12-17T12:34:00.002+09:00

A musical montage of Jesus' birth

YouTube: The Biblical Christmas Story

2007-12-17T11:02:00.001+09:00

Animated version of the biblical Christmas story.

Christmas is not as much about...

2007-12-17T09:57:00.000+09:00

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.

--Janice Maeditere

Sharing kindness at Christmas...

2007-12-17T09:56:00.000+09:00

Sharing kindness at Christmas is good practice for the way we should be all the rest of the year.

--Maria Fontaine

Old Gentleman Gray

2007-12-17T09:54:00.000+09:00

Author unknown

Said Old Gentleman Gray, "On Christmas Day,
If you want to be happy, give something away."

So he sent a fat turkey to shoemaker Price,
And the Shoemaker said, "What a big bird! How nice!
And since such a good dinner is now before me,
I'll send the roast I bought to poor Widow Lee."

"This is a fine roast! " said the pleased Widow Lee.
"And the kindness that sent it--how precious to me.
I would like to make someone as happy as I.
I'll send Washwoman Biddy my big pumpkin pie."

"Oh my," Biddy said. "`Tis the queen of all pies!
Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes.
Now it's my turn, I think, and a nice chocolate cake
For the motherless Finnegan children I'll bake."

Said the Finnegan children, Rose, Denny and Hugh,
"Thank you so much, ma'am. How kind of you!
It smells sweet of spice, and we'll carry a slice
To poor lame Jake who has nothing that's nice."

"I thank you and thank you," said little lame Jake,
"For sharing with me your magnificent cake!
And in my basket, I'll save all of the crumbs
And give them to each little sparrow that comes."

And the sparrows they twittered as if they would say,
"We heard the tale from Old Gentleman Gray!
He started it all, saying, `On Christmas Day,
If you want to be happy, give something away.'"

Christmas is not just a day...

2007-12-16T13:47:00.001+09:00

Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives.

--William Parks

The Spirit of Christmas

2007-12-16T08:12:00.000+09:00

By Henry Van Dyke

I am thinking of you today because it is Christmas, and I
wish you happiness.
And tomorrow, because it will be the day after Christmas,
I shall still wish you happiness.
I may not be able to tell you about it every day, because I
may be far away or we may be very busy.
But that makes no difference--my thoughts and my wishes
will be with you just the same.
Whatever joy or success comes to you will make me glad
clear through the year.
I wish you the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Is...

2007-12-16T08:00:00.000+09:00

By Ian Bach

A mother's love for her baby boy
A sacrifice to bring others joy
A father's care for one not his own
A message sent from a royal throne
A seeming wrong that was turned to right
An angel's song in the dark of night
A prophet's vision at last fulfilled
A miracle because God had willed
A gift of love from a caring heart
A bringing together what was apart
A reaching out to comprehend
How another felt by a sincere friend
A seeking soul that journeyed far
To find a dream, to follow a star
A bridegroom claiming a bride as his
All these things are what Christmas is.

My Christmas Miracle

2007-12-16T07:47:00.000+09:00

By Taylor Caldwell

For many of us, one Christmas will stand out from all the others, the one when the meaning of the day shone clearest.

Although I did not guess it, my own "truest" Christmas began six months earlier on a rainy Spring day many years ago in the bleakest year of my life. I was recently divorced, I was in my 20s, had no job, and was on my way downtown to make the rounds of the employment offices. I had no umbrella, for my old one had fallen apart, and I could not afford another one. I sat down in the streetcar, and there against the seat was a beautiful silk umbrella with a silver handle inlaid with gold and flecks of bright enamel. I had never seen anything so lovely.

I examined the handle and saw a name engraved among the golden scrolls. The usual procedure would have been to turn in the umbrella to the conductor, but on impulse I decided to take it with me and find the owner myself. I got off the streetcar in a downpour and thankfully opened the umbrella to protect myself. Then I searched a telephone book for the name on the umbrella and found it. I called, and a lady answered.

Yes, she said in surprise, that was her umbrella, which her parents, now dead, had given her for a birthday present. But, she added, it had been stolen from her locker at school (she was a teacher) more than a year before. She was so excited that I forgot I was looking for a job and went directly to her small house. She took the umbrella, and her eyes filled with tears.

The teacher wanted to give me a reward, but--though $20 was all I had in the World--her happiness at retrieving this special possession was such that to have accepted money would have spoiled it. We talked for a while, and I must have given her my address. I don't remember.

The next six months were difficult. I was able to obtain only temporary employment here and there, for a small salary. But I put aside 25 or 50 cents when I could afford it for my little girl's Christmas presents. (It took me six months to save $8.) My last job ended the day before Christmas, my $30 rent was soon due, and I had $15 to my name--which Peggy and I would need for food. She was home from her convent boarding school and was excitedly looking forward to her gifts the next day, which I had already purchased. I had bought her a small tree, and we were going to decorate it that night.

The stormy air was full of the sound of Christmas merriment as I walked home to my small apartment. Bells rang, children shouted in the dusk of the evening, windows were lighted, and people were running and laughing. But as I struggled through the snowdrifts, I just about reached the lowest point of my life. Unless a miracle happened we would be homeless in January, foodless, jobless. I had prayed steadily for weeks, and there had been no answer but this coldness and darkness, this harsh air, this seeming abandonment. Had God and Man completely forgotten me? I felt old as death, and as lonely. What was to become of us?

I looked in my mailbox. There were only bills in it, and two white envelopes which I was sure contained more bills. Entering my home, I stood in the hallway and cried, shivering in my thin coat. But I made myself smile so I could greet my little daughter. She threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and suggesting that we decorate the tree immediately.

Peggy was not yet six years old. She had proudly set our kitchen table for our evening meal, put pans out and the three cans of food which would be our dinner. For some reason, when I looked at those pans and cans, I felt brokenhearted. We would have only hamburgers for our Christmas dinner tomorrow, and gelatin. I stood in the cold little kitchen, and misery overwhelmed me. For the first time in my life, I doubted the existence of God and His mercy, and the coldness in my heart was colder than ice.

The doorbell rang. It was a delivery man, and his arms were full of big parcels, and he was laughing at my child's frenzied joy as she stood beside me at the door. "This is a mistake," I said, but he read my name on the parcels, and they were for me. When he had gone I could only stare at the boxes. Peggy and I sat on the floor and opened them. A huge doll, three times the size of the one I had bought for her. Gloves. Candy. A beautiful leather purse. Incredible! I looked for the name of the sender. It was the teacher, the address simply "California," where she had moved.

Our dinner that night was the most delicious I had ever eaten. I could only pray, "Thank You, Father." I forgot I had no money for the rent and only $15 in my purse and no job. My child and I ate and laughed together in happiness. Then we decorated the little tree and marvelled at it. I put Peggy to bed and set up her gifts around the tree, and a sweet peace flooded me like a benediction [3]. I had hope again. I could even examine the bills without cringing. Then I opened the two white envelopes. One contained a cheque for $30 from a company I had worked for briefly in the Summer. It was, said a note, my "Christmas bonus." My rent!

The other envelope was an offer of a permanent position with the government--to begin two days after Christmas. I sat with the letter in my hand and the cheque on the table before me, and I think that was the most joyful moment of my life up to that time.

The church bells began to ring. I hurriedly looked at my child, who was sleeping blissfully, and went to the door and gazed out onto the street. People smiled at me and I smiled back. The storm had stopped, the sky was pure and glittering with stars.

"The Lord is born," sang the bells to the crystal night and the laughing darkness. Someone began to sing, "Come, all ye faithful!" I joined in, and standing on the doorstep, sang with the strangers all about me.

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all.

And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Even when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the World seemingly most indifferent, He never forgets us.

The Christmas spirit--love...

2007-12-15T23:59:00.000+09:00

The Christmas spirit--love--changes hearts and lives.

--Pat Boone

I have always thought of Christmas time...

2007-12-15T23:57:00.001+09:00

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

--Charles Dickens

Christmas is the one day of the year...

2007-12-15T23:53:00.000+09:00

Christmas is the one day of the year that carries real hope and promise for all mankind. It carries the torch of brotherhood. It is the one day in the year when most of us grow big of heart and broad of mind.

--Edgar Guest

The happiness and love...

2007-12-15T23:48:00.000+09:00

The happiness and love on this one day
Bring thoughts which warm and cheer.
May we keep Christmas in our hearts
Through every day of all the year.

--Gertrude B. Holman

From Home to home...

2007-12-15T12:20:00.000+09:00

From Home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other.

--Emily Matthews

It is not even the beginning...

2007-12-14T16:52:00.002+09:00

It is not even the beginning of Christmas unless it is Christmas in the heart.

--Richard Roberts

The simple shepherds heard...

2007-12-14T16:52:00.001+09:00

The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found their Lamb; the wise men saw the light of a star and found their Wisdom.

--Fulton J. Sheen

Angels, Once in a While

2007-12-14T16:49:00.000+09:00

By Barb Irwin

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone.

The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave 15 dollars a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.

I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand-new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old '51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store, and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed, crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called "The Big Wheel." An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal. That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job.

And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money--fully half of what I averaged every night.
As the weeks went by, heating bills added another strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand-new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered.

I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry, too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys' pants, and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the &&&Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.)

It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car--or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what. When I reached the car, I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was full--full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes.

I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There were candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.

Only in souls...

2007-12-14T16:48:00.002+09:00

Only in souls the Christ is brought to birth,
And there He lives and dies.

--Alfred Noyes

We should try to hold on...

2007-12-14T16:48:00.001+09:00

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

--Mary Martin