One bitter cold Christmas Eve, a young lad waited impatiently with his Grandma to pick a Christmas tree. She bypassed many healthy, lush evergreens, but not until she came upon a puny undernourished stick of pine did she say "This is the one!"
He protested her choice, but she bought it anyway, saying "Wait 'til you see how pretty it'll be." Back at the house, Mom and Dad urged her to rest while the rest of the family decorated the seemingly hopeless tree.
Dad strung the colored blinking lights and Mom used all her homemade decorations-hand painted wooden animals, tiny checked gingham doll figures and popcorn strung on red and green yarn. Grandma wakened just as they finished hanging the decorations and beamed her approval.
"You see," she whispered, "this tree is just right. It's one of God's creations, too. No matter how deprived and unwanted it may appear to be, look what love and care can do." As they all sat together with the house lights lowered in the living room, the warmth of the stick-of-a tree transformed into a brightly glowing Christmas symbol captivated them. There was a sense that this Christmas would be long remembered and it was. You see it was Grandma's last Christmas, her last tree, and her last lesson to the skeptical young lad:
"Look what love and care can do for the deprived and unwanted."
Dear Lord,
God of life, who has created us with hearts capable of love,
help us to cherish each other as gifts from you.
Hear our prayer that our ears may hear the cry of the needy
and our hearts feel the love of the unlovely;
Give our hands strength, not to do great things,
but to do small things graciously;
Heal the wounds of misunderstanding, jealousy, and regret
that scar our hearts;
Let us know the privilege of giving and receiving
with kindness and humility
In this season of Advent, touch our lives anew
with the spirit of Christmas.
In our precious Saviors name, Amen
A joyful and very merry Christmas to all of our Love INC family.
