Every Christmas there is a time when I reflect on past Christmases. I think back to when I was a child. I remember my life as a young married person, the addition of every child, and now my grand-parenting years. I especially cherish the times with my husband as our years together are dwindling.
No matter how bad or how good times were, Christmas was always good. The memories from my earlier years are all in pictures. One of the images was a picture of me beside a silver tinsel tree and a color wheel. It was a black and white picture, but I do remember the wheel. Do any of you remember those days?
There were pictures of my family together around the tree. My youngest brother was there. I miss him. He is in Heaven now. We would all spend Christmas Eve at my aunt’s house. My uncle and my dad had this reoccurring joke at Christmas. They would each have a prank gift for the other one. We would laugh so hard. Christmas was always special at our house. We had all kinds of goodies. My grandmother made the best chocolate cake. I learned to make it through trial and error. It is a family hit. My grandmother is in Heaven now. My mom made all kinds of goodies, too. I love her strawberry cake. It was always delicious.
Of course, marriage changes things. Things are especially different at Christmas time. You are the one that is doing the planning and trying to figure out how to make new family traditions, but keep the old ones. Now that five children have changed into ten and twelve grandchildren later, we have made our own traditions. They have developed and changed over the years. As each child married, we had to be flexible and figure out a way for all of us to get together with our own families and grandparents on both sides.
When our children were at home, we had some lean years, but we made Christmas goodies of our own. I still make my grandmother’s cake every year. The gifts were small, in fact, they received more from other family members than they did from us for several years. But that did not matter, because we were together at Christmas. We celebrated our Savior’s birth at home and at church.
My father-in-law’s last Christmas with us was a very special one. We knew his health was failing, but during his last few years he insisted on coming to our house for Christmas Day. He liked my fried turkey and enjoyed being with the children. So he and Grandma would come over for lunch and be with the seven of us. We have a picture of him with a stack of presents in his lap at his last Christmas. His lap is so full of gifts he is grinning around the packages. Each child had given him something or made him something that year. Grandma and Granddad Worthington had a special Christmas that year. They are both in Heaven now.
Over the years we have added more decorations, more gifts-though not extravagant, more goodies, and more people to love. Adding grandchildren to the home has made more laughter, and of course, more noise. The amazement on the children’s faces lights our hearts with joy. They love Christmas, not just for presents, but for the very idea of Christmas. Each one knows what Christmas is about. They look forward to the traditions we have established, and the excitement each new year brings.
My parents moved out here in 2016 for different reasons, but one was to enjoy the young children that have come into their lives. Daddy was such a kidder. He would make faces and pretend to chase them all over the house. He would tell the cutest stories, and they would hang onto every word. He would include their names in the story, and they loved it. Mom would always do the shopping and cook all the goodies, and Dad would be the toy to play with. They loved Christmas in so many ways. It was their favorite time of the year.
As you may know, my dad is in Heaven now. He went to be with Jesus in August 2019. The last two Christmases have been hard without him, but he is celebrating with Jesus now. My mother passed away in July of this year. Both of my parents are gone now. My mom is in Heaven with Daddy. Her death was more unexpected than Dad’s, even though she was in poor health. We just did not see it coming until the last few weeks of her life.
There will be a sense of sadness with them gone. My brother and I are left now to tend to her things and mourn her passing. As we looked through her things recently, the memories flooded. We laughed and cried together. We still have more to look through at Christmas. They are sweet memories, but a sense of loss still prevails.
As my brother and his wife left to go back to Texas, I began to think of all that transpired. I was so grateful they had been here to help with this task, and I was going to miss them. I was exhausted and my emotions were conflicted. A lifetime of memories had passed through my hands and heart.
A sense of sadness overcame me. My parents would not be here for Christmas. Fortunately, after a good night of rest and some reflection, the Lord tapped me on the shoulder as He often does.
He whispered in my ear as He wrapped His arms around me. He reminded me, “Isn’t this what Christmas is about? I came to save the world from their sins. I came to save you! I came so your family could be in Heaven together. I came to comfort you in the loss of your loved ones. I came so that others might be saved. I will comfort you as you lose others along the way.”
Jesus Christ was and is the perfect gift. He is all-encompassing. Every need we have was wrapped in swaddling clothes. Every burden we have was hung on the cross. Every sin was covered with his precious blood. He lived so that we could live abundantly (John 10:10). That covers our sins, hurts, needs, and burdens. Our future home in Heaven was guaranteed when He arose from the dead.
Don’t wait until it is too late to witness to someone you love and those around you. We don’t know when any of us will draw our last breath. Share His love today. Be sure to have Jesus in our thoughts and hearts every day, not just at Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Side note: Many of the memories I have been able to relive were caught on film. Don’t wait until it is too late to print your pictures. Having them in your phone is no substitute for having them in your hand.
Mrs. Worthington has five children and twelve grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.