Actually, if that is what you are looking for you have come to the wrong place. Everyone at Hartline is a Bible-believing, born again Christian and above all else we believe that Christmas is a day set aside for recognizing the birth of our Lord.
Sure I know it may or may not be the exact day He was born, it’s silly to get into that argument. What is important is there is a day set aside to honor Him. It doesn’t matter if a lot of stores try to circumvent that by using “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” or if the government seems bent on getting any vestige of religion out of our country because they can’t do it. The real church of Jesus isn’t a building or a place that the government can get at, but it is in our hearts and there it is secure and above their petty efforts.
Of course I want to do everything I can to reverse these trends, but I also want them to know that their efforts are futile. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, period, exclamation mark. Not that we don’t enjoy all of the ‘trimmings’ of the season, we do. The lights, the decorations, the brightly lit tree, and presents, did I mention presents? And how about the look on the faces of the children in anticipation of seeing what is in those brightly wrapped packages? Priceless.
Is there a big meal involved? There usually is for us, our family thinks eating and celebrating are two ways of saying the same thing. No, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the holiday as long as we first remember the real reason.
We were watching a Christmas program and on it they asked if people could name the best and the worst Christmas. Someone said, “who could possibly do that?” I said I could. My worst Christmas was the year my brother died right at Christmas. No contest.
My best? Sitting in a candle-lit evening service on Christmas Eve and watching my kids get baptized together. Also absolutely no contest. What present did I get that year? Who knows? But I’ll never forget the sights reflected in that flickering candlelight or the smell of the pine boughs being warmed by candles in the windows or the sound of the Christmas choir all leading up to the actual baptism. No amount of ‘political correctness’ can take that away from me.
We here at Hartline wish you and yours a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior and we hope for you it is more than just a time to exchange gifts but a time to build precious memories that can last the year through . . . and some can last a lifetime.
Merry Christmas,
From Terry, writing on behalf of Joyce, Tamela and Diana as well as all of our individual families.
Sure I know it may or may not be the exact day He was born, it’s silly to get into that argument. What is important is there is a day set aside to honor Him. It doesn’t matter if a lot of stores try to circumvent that by using “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” or if the government seems bent on getting any vestige of religion out of our country because they can’t do it. The real church of Jesus isn’t a building or a place that the government can get at, but it is in our hearts and there it is secure and above their petty efforts.
Of course I want to do everything I can to reverse these trends, but I also want them to know that their efforts are futile. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, period, exclamation mark. Not that we don’t enjoy all of the ‘trimmings’ of the season, we do. The lights, the decorations, the brightly lit tree, and presents, did I mention presents? And how about the look on the faces of the children in anticipation of seeing what is in those brightly wrapped packages? Priceless.
Is there a big meal involved? There usually is for us, our family thinks eating and celebrating are two ways of saying the same thing. No, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the holiday as long as we first remember the real reason.
We were watching a Christmas program and on it they asked if people could name the best and the worst Christmas. Someone said, “who could possibly do that?” I said I could. My worst Christmas was the year my brother died right at Christmas. No contest.
My best? Sitting in a candle-lit evening service on Christmas Eve and watching my kids get baptized together. Also absolutely no contest. What present did I get that year? Who knows? But I’ll never forget the sights reflected in that flickering candlelight or the smell of the pine boughs being warmed by candles in the windows or the sound of the Christmas choir all leading up to the actual baptism. No amount of ‘political correctness’ can take that away from me.
We here at Hartline wish you and yours a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior and we hope for you it is more than just a time to exchange gifts but a time to build precious memories that can last the year through . . . and some can last a lifetime.
Merry Christmas,
From Terry, writing on behalf of Joyce, Tamela and Diana as well as all of our individual families.
2 comments:
Thank you for your lovely reminder of what CHRISTmas is all about.
GREAT piece, Terry -- especially moving was your poignant sharing about your worst and best Christmases. . .
A thought from me "for the record" -- since Happy Holidays means Happy Holydays, I've never minded the use of it -- it covers nicely the days of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, much like Seasons Greetings does. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful CHRISTmas! New Year's blessings! :-)
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