Really an inspiring Xmas message..thanks and merry christmas to all. Sue
Noe
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Smead <bsmead(a)gte.net>
To: INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com <INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Date: Sunday, December 17, 2000 7:25 AM
Subject: [INPCRP] Christmas Greetings
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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