As we enter the holiday season, I come to find myself looking back at past Christmases. my favorite Christmas was 1987, that year we went over to my relatives to spend Christmas, and what I remember most, was helping to "Play Santa" for some of my cousins. how this all worked out was, they were driving out from Idaho, and my aunt and uncle, didn't want their kids to see the presents, so my parents went out and got the presents for them, and put them in our car. Come Christmas eve, I brought in the gifts and placed them under the tree. It was wonderful and uplifting to see them open all of these gifts, that they knew mom and dad didn't bring, and all from santa. It truly is more blessed to give then to receive. 

   This was not my most memorable Christmas that goes to a couple of other Christmases that are forever etched in my mind. Let me tell you a little about them, then come back to tell you what they mean to me. Christmas Eve 1985, the day went along okay, with my parents embarrassing me a little, as we went out and were doing some service. We got home around 4:00 pm, and the Phone rang with some bad news. My Only brother, my only sibling, was involved in a car wreck, and was in the hospital in critical condition. He had been out earlier that day, running some errands, and went over to cheer up a girl friend of his, that couldn't fly home to see her parents. The airport was closed down due to the fog and ice. On his way back from her place, he hit some Ice on the road, and according to the police report, he died instantly. we spent 4 hours at the hospital, while they tried ot save his life, but nothing could be done. The other Christmas that sits up there with this one for memorable was 2004, this Christmas was to me a joyous Christmas, as I was recently married earlier that year, we were expecting twins, and her girls were down for Christmas. but on the 19th, lisa felt something was wrong with the babies, so we left church. After talking to a nurse we went ot the emergency room, and found out the twins had gotten their umbilical chords entangled and had died, they were 16 weeks along. on the 22nd the doctors delivered the lifeless fetuses. Needless to say, this devastated our Christmas, and was eventually one of the reasons for the downfall of my marriage. as I turned to her to support her, and for support, and she pushed me and everyone else away.

What do these memories teach me about Christmas? My brother was always in the service of others, can you think of a better place to be when you pass through the veil, then in serving those in need? And the death of the twins, they teach me, that Families and our Saviors atonement so that families can be together Forever, is really what this time of year is all about. when we look back at the Birth of the savior, we Mary and Joseph her husband, around a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, her Son, lying in a manger. We see angels heralding the birth of this child, and gifts being brought, not for the parents, but for the babe who would become the messiah, literally the Savior of the World. and he is the Redeemer, because of the sacrifice he made for us, so that we can be together again.

This Christmas is my first Christmas after the divorce, and can be hard, to see things that remind me of what could have been, or of some past memories. When I instead focus on the Savior, I begin to again feel the joys of the season

Hope you have a merry Christmas and God Bless

Terry

Tags: Christmas

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