Christmas Thanksgivings

I heard it again yesterday.  A lot.  "You haven't changed a bit."  Everytime I hear that I have mixed feelings.  I think I have written about this before.  For one thing, I have a mirror.  I know I don't look exactly like I looked back in the 70s or the 80s.  My hair is different.  I no longer have the long straight hair of the 70s, or the "poodle hair" that we somehow all thought was a good idea in the 80s.  I have some extra pounds and some extra "crinkles" in my skin.

But Al tells me the overall effect is still the same.  And there's the same twinkle in my eyes.  And the same smile.  So maybe I "haven't changed a bit."

Seeing so many friends from days gone by over the course of this weekend was such a blessing.  I hated the reason we were all brought back together.  But I loved seeing all those people at the visitation and funeral service of our beloved pastor and friend.  Even though our saying to each other "you haven't changed a bit" wasn't exactly always accurate from a physical perspecitive, we still were the same in the ways that matter.  We all still have the connection that friends with a common faith have.

And that's one of the things I'm thankful for this morning.  That common bond of faith in Jesus that binds us all together.

The Christmas season is not usually associated with thanksgiving.  We seem to reserve that word for the month of November, and then we move on.  But today my heart is overflowing with thanksgiving.

I'm so thankful for all these dear friends with whom I have crossed paths over the years.  For the ways they influenced and impacted my life.  For the deep bonds of love and friendship and faith that bind us together.  I'm grateful that God in His sovereignty brought us all together, and keeps us together, even though we don't see each other often.

I'm so thankful this morning for time spent yesterday after the funeral service with Kay and Ed, precious friends for years and years and years. 

I'm thankful for the life of my pastor and dear friend for so many years, Don Davis.  For the influence he had on so many lives in South Carolina and beyond.  For his gentle spirit.  For his kindness and grace.  Truly he was a gentleman in the very best sense of the word.  And I'm grateful that he and his family were a part of my life.

And this morning I'm especially thankful for Christmas.  For the music of Christmas.  For this season when we focus on giving gifts to those we love and sharing with those we don't know who have need.

I'm thankful for Jesus.  Thankful that "though He was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbled Himself in becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  (Philippians 2:6-8 ESV)

I'm thankful for Christmas.  Because without Christmas, we wouldn't have Easter!

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."  (Galatians 4:4-5 NASB)