Thanks for a great message Brian! virginia crystal
Brian Smead wrote:
With 4 more inchs of snow now on top of our 8 inchs from last week,
I'm now in the Christmas spirit and decided to send my greeting. I hope you all
forgive me for being off subject.
As Christmas arrives, we each anticipate our own personal holiday experiences. The
anticipation may either add to the esctasy or prolong the sadness. On the first Christmas
there was anticipation that the long foretold arrival of the Child Messiah, to be born of
a virgin in Bethlehem, was about to happen. A birth that would forever change the world
and alter for all times the relationship between man and his God.
The anticipation was then, as it is now, one of supreme hope. It was and is God's
intervention into a noisy world, in a quiet, miraculous wey. The ultimate source of Peace
was about to appear and the world would never be the same.
Just as we as children counted down the days until we could open our gifts, the
ultimate anticipation, the ultimate countdown and the ultimate Gift was in the process of
being presented to man. Even today, the anticipation is a major part of the celebration
and the joy of Christmas. Putting up and trimming the tree, hanging the lights, buying
and wrapping the gifts, listening to the Christmas music all point to, and add to the
celebration of the event.
Christmas to me is thanksgiving. As we anticipate, we also appreciate. A time to
reflect on how very blessed we are and to show our appreciation for all the many gifts we
have been given. It is a time for sharing the physical blessings which God has loaned to
us while we are here. Good health, loving family and friends, meaningful employment, kids
and grandkids returning for the holidays, a free and abundantly blessed country in which
we live and a spiritual faith that makes every day one to look forward to with eagar
anticipation.
These are among the most precious and enduring gifts for which we especially give
thanks at Christmas time. But most of all, we are thankful for the Christ in Christmas,
the babe in a manger that came as our Savior 2000 years ago, who bore the brunt of our
sins and made the reconciliation of sinful man to a Holy God possible.
May we each appropriately anticipate, celebrate, and appreciate the true joys of the
Chriatmas Holiday as we remember the Prince of Peace.
With Love in Christ's Name
Brian and Vickie Smead
Terre Haute, Indiana
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