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Merry Christmas!
This will be the shortest post I’ve written. It’s a post I never expected to write because I didn’t expect to be alive this Christmas.
Of my more than twenty-four years with ALS, the last month has been the toughest. Beginning around Thanksgiving, my breathing went from bad to worse. I fought so hard to write my previous post about the victory over death through Christ, thinking it would be my final post.
It got to the point where I couldn’t sit up to look at my computer, let alone read or reply to emails or comments on my blog. Mary signed in and read my email to me. I wanted nothing to do with TV, so I laid back and listened to faith-building YouTube videos or had Mary read to me. It’s probably too much information, but my body couldn’t tolerate the formula for my feeding tube, so I pretty much quit eating altogether. My skinny body continued to deteriorate. I was fading fast.
Our daughters, Lauren and Leah, came in to help Mary make funeral plans. I was at peace and so ready to leave this emaciated old body behind. There were three or four nights that I just knew would be my last. But, like in the movie Groundhog Day, I’d wake up in the morning trapped! Then, I finally figured out the reason for my waking up those mornings I didn’t expect to – IT IS YOUR FAULT! I’m referring to all of you who have been praying for me. I don’t know what today or tomorrow holds, but it looks like, due to the powerful prayers of my family and friends, I’ll get to spend another Christmas with our kids and grandkids.
THANK YOU and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
“The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).
Christmas Memories
I feel sorry for adults who don’t have good childhood memories of Christmastime. For good or bad, I think we view our adult Christmases through the eyes of the little girl or boy living inside of us.
I’m thankful that I have good childhood memories of Christmas. Mary and I tried to make good Christmas memories for our daughters. Now that our girls are grown up, we try to make good Christmas memories for our three grandchildren. That little boy inside of me is excited that our three grandchildren will be with us this Christmas. With having ALS for the last twenty-three years, the adult me is thankful for being alive this Christmas.
I used to enjoy putting up the Christmas tree and other decorations with my siblings when we were kids. I especially liked setting up the nativity. We were not very careful decorating the tree; ornaments were broken, and tinsel was thrown randomly in clumps. But, even when we were little, we were always careful setting up the nativity. Before we understood the Bible’s depiction of the first Christmas, we seemed to know that the nativity set represented something special, something sacred. I think about that old nativity set when I read the following passage every Christmas:
“…(Mary) gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:7-11).
Christmas is all about hope. The day Jesus was born, hope was born.
Without grace, there is no hope. Apart from Christ, there is no grace.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).
Merry Christmas, family and friends!
The Perfect Gift
Mary and our daughters, Lauren and Leah, have told me for years that I am “the most difficult person to buy Christmas gifts for.” The reason for this is because, in a sense, I am like the man who has everything – I need very little, materially, anyways.
Twenty-two years ago, before ALS invaded my body, I was easy to buy gifts for. If Mary and the girls couldn’t think of anything else, anything creative, that is, they’d just get me a necktie, golf balls, or maybe a some of my favorite snacks. But now that ALS has taken away my ability to work, golf and eat, the old default gifts are no longer an option.
Even before ALS changed our lives, and our finances, Mary and I never spent a lot of money buying each other Christmas gifts. She found a 50% off sale on men’s clothing earlier this month and bought me a nice shirt and two pairs of pants. She gave me the gifts last week, and I’ve already worn the pants. You might be thinking that she should have waited until Christmas morning to give me the gifts. I don’t know for sure, but she’ll probably have another gift or two for me to open on Christmas morning. Maybe she’ll get me exciting gifts like new socks and slippers. I might have a few gifts for her to open Christmas morning, too. But, with ALS, there’s no better time than the present when it comes to giving presents.
As the regular followers of my blog know, pneumonia almost took me out a few months ago. This was just the latest of my many close encounters with death. I am learning to live like every day might be my last day in my rapidly decaying body.
Isn’t this the way that all followers of Christ should live, regardless of the state of our health?
“How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” (James 4:14)
Even if we live to be a hundred, that is just a drop in the ocean when compared to eternity. The greatest gift that God could have given man is the gift of eternal life. This incredible gift comes through Jesus Christ, whose birth Christians celebrate every December 25th.
The Bible tells us that Mary, Jesus’s mother, was a virgin and that an angel told her that she was going to be the mother of the Savior of the world. A virgin becoming pregnant? Mary was wondering about this, too:
“Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)
Answer:
“The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
According to the Bible, our sin nature is passed from one generation to another through the father (Romans 5:12). This means that for Jesus to be the “Savior of the world,” He had to be born without a sin nature; only God Himself was qualified to be the Father of Jesus.
Here is the great part of this – Jesus was born sinless and lived a sinless life so that He could place His sinless nature in anyone who asks Him to do so.
Jesus had to be born of a virgin so the prostitute could be born again!
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)
Jesus is the perfect one-size-fits-all gift. If you haven’t yet accepted this free gift from God, I hope and pray that you will. There’s no better time than today.
I apologize for being pushy about this, but those who live like today might be their last day on earth, tend to be direct about matters of eternity. This might be your last day on earth, too.
“God says,
At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.”
Indeed, God is ready to help you right now.
Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Unshakable Hope 