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A Christmas Story

12/18/2012

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While searching for an appropriate story to capture the spirit of Christmas, I found the one below. As I read it, tears sprang to my eyes. In the busyness of buying and wrapping all the gifts, may we remember  the true meaning of Christmas. What a beautiful way this family found to observe it.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Bonita Prince

A Christmas Story


It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas---oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it-overspending...the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma---the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black.

These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears.

It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."

Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me.

His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition---one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal it's contents.

As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.

The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

May we all remember each other, and the Real reason for the season, and His true spirit this year and always. God bless---pass this along to your friends and loved ones.

--- Copyright © 1982 Nancy W. Gavin
--- Submitted by Edwin G. Whiting


The story first appeared in Woman's Day magazine in 1982. My mom had sent the story in as a contest entry in which she subsequently won first place. Unfortunately, she passed away from cancer two years after the story was published. Our family still keeps the tradition started by her and my father and we have passed it on to our children. Feel free to use the story. It gives me and my sisters great joy to know that it lives on and has hopefully inspired others to reach out in a way that truly honors the spirit of Christmas. --- Kevin Gavin

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Year End Inventory

1/4/2012

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2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?  Reprobates are those who drift so far they cannot be saved.

 In businesses, there should be a yearly inventory. In doing so, they find the condition of their business whether it’s losing, gaining, or merely holding its own. Thus, the main purpose of an inventory is to determine whether a loss or gain has been realized. How many sold; how many on hand; how many more needed? Did we buy too much stock of something we shouldn’t have and not buy enough of other stock that was a good seller? Inventory is about removing old stock, things that didn’t sell and adding new stock that will sell better the next year. With employee theft as it is in America, the business owner wants to know how much was sold and how much was stolen? All this is with a consideration of the coming year, that the new year will be a better year.

SPIRITUAL INVENTORY
The wise Christian needs to “take stock” of his spiritual inventory as well. How much have I grown, how much do I need to grow, how much have I lost and how much did the devil steal? By taking inventory, we can determine our spiritual condition whether we are prospering or losing. This calls for introspection – a look inside.

WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
(2 Corinthians 5:18)
To reconcile is to count all the items and ensure what was on the books matched with what is actually in stock. We need to make sure the stock of our spiritual lives match what’s in God’s book? We reconcile ourselves to God and men.

SETTLE ACCOUNTS
At year end, most businesses attempt to reconcile all their accounts. If a customer owes them, they try to collect it. If they owe money, they will try to settle that account…. Likewise, the end of the year is a good time for us to look back on the past year (or longer, if necessary) and take inventory of our lives to ensure we don’t have any open accounts needing our attention.

EXAMINE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD AND MAN
Acts 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.

TAKING INVENTORY IS LOOKING BACKWARD AND FORWARD
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (perfection): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.


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INVENTORY PERMITS PROGRESS
In a business, the knowledge gained in an inventory allows the owner to make decisions that will help the business grow. He cannot ride the wave of the past successes! He must look ahead and attempt to do even better! In our spiritual inventory, we must do those same two things, forgetting what is behind. No one can make progress if they are bogged down in their mistakes. Everyone has made mistakes in the past. Move on with God. Since inventory involves counting, it’s very appropriate to count our blessings.

INVENTORY CENTERS UPON GREATER THINGS
What business owner doesn’t hope, as he does his inventory, that his business will be even greater next year? Did Ray Kroc ever dream that McDonalds would be in every neighborhood in America? Sam Walton’s little five and dime store did pretty well for itself. He became the wealthiest man alive! Their secret: They learned from their mistakes and looked toward the future.

We have been called to receive a prize… eternal life! When our hope and our lives are centered around heaven, earthly things become unimportant.  2 Corinthians 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

A LOOK AT THE PRESENT
Spiritual inventory not only includes a look backward and forward, but also involves a careful examination of our present lives.


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ARE YOU DRIFTING
Two young men were fishing above a dam on a river near their hometown. As they were concentrating on catching fish, they were unaware that they had drifted until they were not far from the water flowing over the dam. When they realized their situation, the current near the dam had become too powerful for them to keep their boat from going over. Below the dam, the water was dashing with strong force over great boulders and through crevices in the rocks. Caught by the swirling waters under the rocks, they never came to the surface. After days of relentless searching, the divers finally found one body, and then, two or three days later, the other.

Sometimes we may be drifting and not even realize it. Let's take inventory.
Graphics by: jannoon028 

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The Christmas Guest by Helen Steiner Rice

12/15/2011

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It happened one day at year’s white end
Two neighbors called on a long-time friend
And they found his shop so meager and clean
Made bright with a thousand boughs of green.
And Conrad was sitting with face ashine
When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine
And he said “Old friends at dawn today
When the cock was crowing the night away
The Lord appeared in a dream to me
And said ‘I am coming your guest to be’

So I’ve been busy with feet astir
Strewing my shop with branches of fir.
The table is spread and the kettle is shined
And over the rafters the holly is twined
And now I’ll wait for my Lord to appear
And listen closely so I will hear His step
As He nears my humble place
And I open the door and look on His face.”

So his friends went home and left Conrad alone
For this was the happiest day he had known.
For long since his family had passed away
And Conrad had spent a sad Christmas day
But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest
This Christmas would be the dearest and best.
So he listened with only joy in his heart
And with each sound he would rise with a start
To see the Lord standing there
In answer to his earnest prayer.

So he ran to the window after hearing a sound
But all he saw on the snow-covered ground
Was a shabby beggar who’s shoes were torn
And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.
But Conrad was touched and opened his door
And he said “Your feet must be frozen and sore
And I have some shoes in my shop for you
And a coat that will keep you warmer too.”
So with grateful heart, the man went away
But as Conrad noticed the time of day
He wondered what made the dear Lord so late
And how much longer he’d have to wait.

And then, he heard a knock he ran to the door
But it was only a stranger once more
A bent old woman with a shawl of black
With a bundle of kindling piled on her back.
She asked for only a place to rest
But that was reserved for Conrad’s great guest
But her voice seemed to plead “Don’t send me away
Let me rest on Christmas day.”
So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup
And asked her to sit at the table and sup
But after she left he was filled with dismay
For the hours of Christmas were slipping away.
And the Lord hadn’t come as He said He would
And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood

And then, in the silence he heard a cry
“Please help me, and tell me where am I!”
So again he opened his friendly door
But stood disappointed as twice before
For it was only a child who had wandered away
And was lost from her family on Christmas day.
Again Conrad’s heart was heavy and sad
But he knew he should make the little girl glad
So he called her in and wiped her tears
And quieted her childish fears.
Then he led her back to her home once more
But as he entered his own darkened door
He knew that the Lord was not coming today
For the hours of Christmas had passed away.

So he went to his room and knelt down to pray
And he said “Dear Lord, why did You delay?
What kept You from coming to call on me?
For I wanted so much Your Face to see.”

Then soft in the silence, a voice he heard
“Lift up your head, for I kept my word
Three times my shadow crossed your floor
Three times I came to your lowly door.
For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet
And I was the woman you gave something to eat
And I was the child on the homeless street.
Three times I knocked; three times I came in
Three times I found the warmth of a friend
Of all the gifts love is the best
I was honored to be your Christmas guest.”

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The Royal Family

11/2/2011

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     Family is a vitally important institution in every society. Unfortunately, the nuclear family is fragmented in today’s culture. Factors that contribute are a soaring divorce rate, delayed marriages, and a high rate of mobility. In our mobile society, people have few roots and are no longer surrounded by the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, brothers, and sisters that provided a safety net for previous generations.

     We now have a record number of single adults in America. As our society becomes more fragmented, a sense of great isolation surrounds an increasing number of people. They are lonely and feel cut off. One Gallop poll reported that four in ten Americans admit to frequent feelings of intense loneliness. Americans are, in fact, the loneliest people in the world.

     People are hungering for fellowship, community, and a sense of family. This desire to belong can only be satisfied by a relationship with God and connecting with a local church family. At New Destiny Church, you can find that relationship with God and the extended family that you need.

     The church is identified in scripture as a family (Ephesians 1:5 NLT; 1 Tim 3:15 GWT). Believers are identified as children of God and as brothers and sisters. Thus, the church becomes our spiritual family.

     The family theme needs to be reclaimed. The world has stolen the family theme from the church. Businesses call themselves a family along with clubs, ball teams, and the military, but the church is the best extended family on the planet. It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage us in our walk with God, gives us a place to discover and use our gifts in ministry, places us under the spiritual protection of godly leaders, and gives us the accountability we need to grow.

     The Bible lets us know that you belong in God’s royal family with every other Christian (Ephesians 2:19 LB).  At New Destiny Church we believe you belong here… in the royal family of God. We look forward to seeing you soon at New Destiny Church.

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