The Day After Christmas

Christmas cards have been opened. Flickering flames from the candlelight Christmas Eve service have been extinguished, Gifts have all been pulled from under the tree and unwrapped. Food has been prepared and consumed. Christmas music gives way to regular radio programming. Friends and family have been greeted with hugs, kisses, and Merry Christmas wishes.

Today, the stack of Christmas cards sits on my desk. Christmas letters will be saved for a while, new addresses added to the data base on my computer, and cards sent to St Jude's card recycling program. The trash bag filled with Christmas wrapping will go to the dumpster today. All the left over wrapping paper, tags, ribbon, and tape will be packed away in the Christmas storage box. The tree will stay up for a few more days. The gifts that we opened yesterday will be stored or put into use today.

The day after Christmas can be a sad day for some, filled with regrets. We lament the gift we didn't buy, the Christmas card we forgot to send, the gift we didn't get, the money we spent unwisely, the overeating, the family members we missed. The list goes on and on.

Christmas builds like a giant wave in early November and reaches its crescendo on December 25th, when we are tossed about in a maelstrom of laughter, joy, happiness, excitement, and love.   We ride the crest until, over the next few days, it ebbs and returns us to the "back to normal" of everyday life.

Despite the shopping, the wrapping, the card writing, the eating, and the decorating, the spirit of Christmas is always present because of the reason we observe the holiday in the first place.

It is the day we celebrate the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. No, he probably wasn't born on December 25th and there probably wasn't any snow on the ground. Still, the fact remains that this is the day we have chosen to remember that most holiest of events and the One who impacted history forever.

The young person who turns thirteen is still a teen the day after the birthday party. The couple who reaches their golden anniversary is still married half a century the day after the big celebration. Such a monumental event as our God giving us the most wondrous gift of all, His Son, cannot be forgotten simply because Christmas Day is over.

Like the ever pounding surge of the ocean waves, the impact of Christmas stays with us all year round.

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Are You An Indian Giver?

Oh my, it has been such a long time since I posted anything on this blog! I'm surprised anyone has stopped by, but my weekly report indicates I still have folks checking in. Thank you for your patience!


These past couple of months have been stressful. Let me tell you about them by starting with a quick story. A friend and I went out to dinner a couple of months ago. During the course of conversation, she asked "are you an Indian giver?" What had precipitated that question? Had I given my friend something, then perhaps borrowed it back and never returned it?


That's not what she was talking about at all. As she listened to my anxiety about my husband's upcoming open heart surgery, she asked if I had given my concerns to God. Well, yes, of course, I had prayed for a successful surgery and a rapid recovery for my husband. Yet, here I was, going on about all that could go wrong.


How often do we take the advice in Philippians 4:6, turning our anxieties over to God in prayer with thanksgiving. Yet, a mere few hours later, we snatch them back from his "questionable" embrace and clutch them close in our "capable" arms. After all, don't we feel a bit guilty if we don't worry about our loved ones' trials? Do we appear callous or even naive if we sit back and say, "Oh, God will take care of it?"


As my husband anticipated his quadruple bypass, he drove me crazy with his lack of manifestation of anxiety. When I finally asked him about it, his reply was so simple, yet so true. "I could have a stroke and never get out of bed again. I could die, but worrying about it won't change the outcome. It's all in The Lord's hands."


Truer words were never spoken. My husband did have his surgery, and the day before the procedure, the surgeon told me, "You need to know that his risk for stroke or even death during this procedure is extremely high." Yet, my husband's own words, "it's in the Lord's hands," carried me though those tension-filled hours.


My husband is home now and doing well with his recovery. He is still at risk for the complications that come with heart disease, but like he says, "why worry about it?"


Slowly but surely, I'm learning not to be an Indian giver!


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