Another year rolls by and with time the years seem to roll forward at increasing speed. Babies are born, knees are skinned, fenders bent, vows are made, clocks are punched, taxes paid, prescriptions filled. Then one day someone calls you Gramps or Me-Maw and there’s a shorter distance to the end than the beginning, but it’s all good and good to remember and to think back.

One day my Grandma contemplated about her storied life. She was married as a young teenager, to a strapping lantern jawed young man who would demonstrate what it was like to live on the wild side so to speak, and it wasn’t always fun. He ruled like a dictator and his word was the end of the story. When he said jump you jumped, and didn’t ask how high but jumped with all your might. Thinking back about her life she once said, “You…

If you’ve read some of my Grandma blogs then you probably recall the modest means in which grandma found herself, especially early in her families life. Sometimes she just didn’t know how their next meal was going to be provided, but God always came through for them. In fact when it came to Christmas they just couldn’t afford to celebrate the holiday, but that’s when the love of family came to their rescue. One year they heard a car outside and a knock at the door and to her surprise her inlaws arrived with a huge box of navel oranges and bags of candy as gifts for all of them for Christmas. It would be a memory never forgotten and a tradition was established.

I recall Grandma’s Christmas trees and they were usually of the Charlie Brown variety, if you know what I mean. I’ll explain why from an entry…

Glory is a God word. The angels proclaimed it on a lonely hillside outside of Bethlehem to shepherds guarding their sheep, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men” they said. Merriam-Webster defines it as “worshipful praise, honor and thanksgiving” and that is what it was.

The angels were announcing a pivotal event that would change the world! The Savior had arrived and unlike ever before the Lord of Glory, the Creator God Himself, the Alpha and Omega was on Earth in human form as a vulnerable little baby in a manger!

He did not have to come to earth, he owed nothing to mankind, but nevertheless he came as the song says, “Down from His glory, ever living story, our God and Savior came, and Jesus was His Name. Born in a manger to His own a stranger, a man of sorrows, tears…

George Bailey in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” got a picture of what it would have been like in his town if he would have never been there to do the good deeds for which he was known to do. You and I, just like him, are leaving an imprint in our world as well. Did you ever take a meal to a needy family or someone recuperating from a health condition? Or maybe take Christmas cookies to your neighbors? Or provide gifts for those who otherwise would have none? Did you ever surprise someone in a restaurant by paying for their meal? Whatever the deed, people are very appreciative when they are the focus of an act of unconditional love and generosity, and often times are motivated to do the same for others. Sometimes we call that paying it forward and I have tried it a few times…

Is all calm with you? Do you have the “heavenly peace” spoken of in this famous Christmas carol? Or this Christmas, are you again caught up in the whirlwind of activity and buying just for the sake of it with no recollection, or maybe just a faint remembrance, of what this holiday is really all about? It’s an old saying but very important, “Jesus is the reason for the season”.

A virgin conceived the Savior through the power of the Holy Spirit and since He inherited no sin nature from Adam, He could be born and grow up to be OUR Savior! He was a “Holy Infant” so tender and mild. He never sinned, was God in human flesh, and shined “love’s pure light” for all the world to see. The Age of Grace dawned on the human race. The offer of redemption was proclaimed and the final stage was…

Hark the Herald Angels Sing remains one of the most well known, and the most theologically filled Christmas carols. This song was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, who founded the Methodist denomination. Charles still holds fame for writing over 6,000 hymns along with the lyrics of over 2,000 more. Some you may recognize include: And, Can it Be that I should Gain?; Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Jesus, Lover of My Soul; and O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, among others.

When Charles first wrote this hymn for a Christmas Day service, he arranged the lines of the song differently, had slightly altered lyrics, and wanted the tune to consist of slow, solemn music. A few years later, in 1753, Charles’ friend, George Whitfield, changed a few of the words from Wesley’s original, “Hark, how the welkin (heaven) rings, Glory to the…

I hope and pray this Christmas season finds you experiencing the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life!

No Christmas carol list would be complete without the exuberant celebration song, “Joy to the World.” This lively tune is easily memorized and simple to play on an instrument. But do you know the interesting story behind this well loved hymn?

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), author of around 750 songs, is commonly called “The Father of Hymns” due to his popularity as the first English hymn writer. A few of his most well-known songs still sung today include: Come ye that Love the Lord; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; At the Cross; and the topic of today’s post, Joy to the World. Isaac Watts was a young man when hymns other than the Psalms were allowed to be sung in the Church of England. This gave way to Watts developing…