Encounter God here
We were in a strange place and had no plans to spend our first Christmas there. Eight years had passed since I graduated high school, but now I felt God's call into full-time ministry. Obeying it would require furthering my education. I … Read more
At Christmastime we read and hear poems, stories, and songs about reindeer. There are those eight tiny reindeer, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and the one that ran over Grandma. Once, Harold Kurtz, a missionary in the Presbyterian … Read more
Christmas is truly a time of great joy for Christians. In Bermuda, where I grew up, the poinsettia reflects the joy of Christmas. It grows into a tall tree covered with magnificent, red flowers, heralding the coming of Christmas. The … Read more
I can remember as if it were just yesterday the anticipation of the arrival of the Sears Wish Book. Growing up, we lived in the country, so trips into the larger city were few, especially in the winter. This, I believe, added to the … Read more
It was a sad Christmas. A special, long-time friend and companion had died suddenly, and a light had gone out of my life with her passing. No amount of positive and faith-based thinking lifted me from the doldrums. My energy had waned, … Read more
Ever since I was a youngster on the platform in our one-room, country school, along with about twelve children of varied ages and grades, I have enjoyed Christmas pageants. At the age of ten or eleven, I was the chosen angel Gabriel, and … Read more
I learned to text, only to discover that the cell phone fancied itself a prophet. This is called predictive texting. Whenever I punched in a letter, it finished the word for me. Thus, I sent messages full of words like "spzxq". The last … Read more
Recently, a friend invited me to a ladies' Christmas luncheon at her church. In front of everyone's seat was a beautiful poem written on decorative holiday paper. The title of the poem was "If You Look for Me At Christmas." The pastor's … Read more
"I have a present for you," Izzie called out from the living room of our country home. And on most occasions, I just call out and say, "I will be right there." However, this time, my auntie antenna was up, for I had had a shoebox with a … Read more
Christmas and shepherds go together! But I've discovered that focusing instead on Baby Jesus as the promised Shepherd brings a new level of meaning to Christmas. One of the little-quoted prophecies of God Himself coming as a shepherd is … Read more