Well, it's the day after CHRISTmas and the smoke has somewhat cleared and the dust has almost settled at the Hooker household. No more long lines at the neighborhood Wal-Mart, (THANK GOD!!!), no more rushing to get everything wrapped... the day has come and gone. The kids... with THEIR kids have come and gone. The presents are all opened and the paper and boxes are not so neatly stacked, (maybe thrown would be a more accurate term), in the back of my pickup waiting for disposal.
This Christmas has been, perhaps the most meaningful Christmas I can ever remember. Because of the events of my life over the course of the last couple of months, I have literally had my spiritual eyes opened to the intimate involvement of Christ in the everyday lives of His children... and it has been AMAZING!!!
Red and I have been literally living by faith and trusting God. And through that experience, I've seen first hand how God's Word comes alive. He means what He says and He says what He means... what an amazing concept! God has abundantly supplied every need we've had and He's even supplied a lot of "wants" to go along with it. What an amazing God we serve.
This Christmas has been a bigger blessing to me than any I can remember.
I sat and soaked up all the going's on the other day when the house was full of family. The sounds of children's laughter and excitement in their voices stirred something in me. I marveled at these sounds, because these sounds were not of "my" children... but my grandchildren. Another generation is being raised up. The march of generations continues and cannot be interrupted or stopped... it just continues on. And what a wonderful thing that is. I see my kids being the moms and dads. I watched as "they" were excitedly giving gifts to their children. I watched their faces light up when their kids were excited about a present they'd opened and thought back about how my bride and I used to feel when our kids opened their presents and were excited.
I thought it was cool when from another room one of the kids would holler out, "MOM..." and every woman in the house would immediately respond... whether it was their child or not... it didn't matter. It proves the point that "Mom" is not just a title... but that "Mom-hood" is a calling.
I could see the pride in the eyes of my sons as their kids opened presents that had been sweated over and bled on because of the 3 most infamous words in the history of toys... "Some assembly required"... and yet they faced the fearsome sheet of directions, (usually written by someone who'd obviously never seen the toy before in their life)... they'd overcome the curse of being 1 screw short... and they'd conquered it. They got it together and IT WORKED!!!
I loved watching the innocence in the faces of the little ones as they opened presents and showed them to their moms and dads like they'd never seen them before. All the laughter... all the excitement of the moment, but even more of a blessing is to hear one of the little ones remind everyone in the room that this is Jesus' birthday.
I was struck by the fact that this new generation that was running through the house is a generation being raised up by God for His purposes and for His glory and I was amazed by the wonder of it all. How will that 5 year old boy come to realize God's hand on his life? What lies in store for that 3 year old little girl as she grows up to become a woman of God? What all will they see come to pass in THEIR lifetimes?
Yes... I sat there and watched in awe and amazement at the march of the generations. Some famous person once said; "Time waits for no man", and as for me, I'm sure glad it doesn't. Just think of everything we'd miss if it did. For one thing, Christmas sure wouldn't be the same, would it?
I just want to express my thankfulness to God for the most wonderful, most amazing, and most costly gift ever given... His Son, Jesus as the Savior of all mankind. Yep... an amazing gift, indeed. And Jesus is just as committed to this new generation as He is to the rest of us... Yes the march of the generations continues on... and I'm sure glad about that... But then, "Hey, It's Just A Thought".
Blessings to you and yours in the coming New Year.
Pastor Eddy
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