Sunday, December 24, 2017

Unwrapping Christmas

Christmas is about gifts. Anticipation. Joy. Giving. Receiving. However the excitement of those wrapped boxes are when they are given, unwrapped, showed to others, and even shared.
Christmas is also about making a plan. Jan spent the day preparing. As I was helping move gifts to the cabin, lighting the fireplace, and helping set the table, I couldn't help but think back some 40 years. I had no plan. But God did. And over the last 40 years He has steadily and deliberately unwrapped His gift to me here on earth of life and family. I started our evening by reading a Christmas letter I had written 30 years ago for Jan.
 Karl and Malaki took advantage of the warm weather and formed up a cement pad for their new generator.
With cold weather in the forecast we decided it would be easier to put machinery away a day early rather than a day late. We filled a machine shed northwest of Pella with machinery used in the fall like grain carts and chisels.
Some machinery needed attention before it could be moved. Matt helped me put on a new walking tandem on a disk ripper.
 Pablo is the best at cleaning up equipment and making things look like new again.
 One day Karl stopped by our Pella farm on his way to Colfax to pick up a load of seed corn while I was re-emptying hog pits. He helped me move the chopper pump and stand to our last pit. We re-emptied 7 of 10 hog confinement pits.
 Mike worked across the road from our home this past week building terraces and burying stumps.
 Our warm weather late November through late December has truly been a gift. Sunrises and sunsets are also gifts.
Friday evening was our family Christmas. I'm so thankful for Jan, children and their spouses, and grandkids. We shared memories. We let grandkids open a gift before a delicious supper. We enjoyed each other's company.
Remember once we visited about Hatchimals. They are kind of unique Christmas gifts. Natalie and Allison each unwrapped one.
Actually they kind of unwrap themselves. After being handled for awhile they light up, start to make noise, and hatch out of their shell.
A pair of fury little animals with wings is the unwrapped result. Interesting someone thought up not just a gift but an experience that goes along with it.
 Rachel and Sydnie are our oldest and youngest granddaughters. We are so blessed to have all our family intact another year. I want those that are spending their Christmas with an empty spot in their lives to know I am thinking about and praying for them. Like Matt and Megan, Bill and Julie, and Marv and Carol without Ryker. Connie without Steve. Judy without Brent. Rose without Larry. Diane without Calvin. Kathryn without Denny. Dennis without Jill. Shelly without Rusty. Darla without Grandpa. I so apologize for the ones that I've forgotten.
Families grow in more ways than one. They grow in numbers. They grow as the kids get older. They grow as they become part of their individual families, at school, as they develop friends, as they work and do business in the community, as they become assets in God's kingdom. Jan and I had grandkids in four different Christmas services last Sunday.
I'd like to wrap up by encouraging you to follow the example of the wisemen those many years ago on that original Christmas. First they followed the light of a star believing something good was happening. As we enter a new year let's be a positive influence, believing our unknowns are in God's hands. 
Second, the wisemen bowed down and worshipped the baby Jesus. Let's honor God as our King and surrender our lives to Him and His purposes for us.
Third, the wisemen brought and gave gifts. Let's be generous to God and to others with our treasures, our talents, and our time.
Finally after they met Christ the wisemen went home by a different route. You can't really meet Christ and not change. Set new goals. Dare to make different priorities. Take a different route for other's good.
On this white Christmas Eve in southern Iowa Jan and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Thank you for your friendships. Thanks to those of you that encourage me by letting me know you are part of this visit. "Come, let us adore Him" as we finish unwrapping this Christmas.

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