Holidays

Until I became a grandmother two-plus years ago, I never fully understood the joy this stage in life would bring. There is nothing quite like being a grandparent. To watch your own child parent his/her son or daughter, to feel that connection of generations is to experience a new type of love.

The legacy of faith my father left was among his greatest gifts to me. He taught me the importance of rising on Sunday morning to attend worship services followed by Sunday School. He taught me the importance of bowing my head and folding my hands before digging my fork into a meal of meat, potatoes, gravy and whatever side vegetable Mom pulled from the garden or freezer or dirt-floored cellar. He taught me the importance also of thanking God for all we had, which by today’s standards, wasn’t much.

No matter your stage in life, whether young mom or aging mom, young dad or aging dad, or not even a parent, May marks the time to celebrate motherhood.

If some fiction writers had penned the Christmas story, they may have had Jesus born in a palace, attended by servants, and laid on soft pillows. Instead, the reality of how love came down at Christmas includes childbirth in a stable, where Mary was attended, as far as we know, only by Joseph. When the Christ Child entered the world, He was placed in a manger, a trough that held animals’ food. You can be sure the stable’s dirt and smells were typical of a place occupied by animals.

“Merry Christmas!” we say in the United States. “Joyeux Noel!” exclaim the French. The Brits say, “Happy Christmas!” “Frohe Weihnachten!” echoes throughout Germany. And “Feliz Navidad!” can be heard in many countries. No matter how you say it, when it comes to Christmas the world over, we all share the same idea. Christmas is a time for joy. Feeling joyous in December is downright human. If you’re not happy at Christmas, you may as well be Mr. Scrooge himself.

Are your presents already wrapped and neatly stacked under the tree? Or are you feeling a bit frantic and behind this year? Wherever you’re at in your Christmas shopping timeline—whether just beginning or looking for those final stocking stuffers—Warner Christian Resources would like to help you check a few names off your list.

The young corporal, only 19, faced the biggest decision of his life. Surrounded by German soldiers, his commanding officer dead, and suddenly in charge of his unit, he asked himself, “Do we keep fighting or surrender and hopefully live to fight another day?”

As I grew in my faith and experience as a mother, I also grew in my maturity as a believer. My thoughts evolved. Here are some key points I learned and which you may want to consider as you think through a conversation about Halloween in your family.

A clue on Jeopardy stated: “This document ends, ‘We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.’” Much to my disappointment, none of the three bright players knew the answer—the Declaration of Independence.

Perhaps you know the backstory of the Declaration. Colonists were fed up with King George III’s arrogant, dismissive attitude toward those who settled on this side of the Atlantic. When British troops fired on farmers and tradesmen in Massachusetts, something needed to be done.

Unless you are an avid student of American history, you may not know that Corregidor was a battle from World War II. Or that Trenton was a battle during the Revolutionary War. Or that the Battle of Antietam was fought during the American Civil War. Or that the American Navy defeated Spanish forces in the Spanish-American War at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Or that the Battle of Belleau Wood occurred in France during World War I.