Our Christmas Wish To You

As I blog I confess that sometimes I have the television on.  Through the Thanksgiving holiday there have been a LOT of Christmas movies on.  They always have a sad element, a time of hanging in there, and then by Christmas dreams come true.  Always corny, but the more I think about it, the more I realize:  Christmas happiness is a CHOICE.  It's like counting your blessings.  There are blessings all around, but if you don't want to acknowledge them, they just hang out in the background, giving to you but standing alone.  I think that's what counting your blessings is all about, the gathering together of joy and strength by the opening of your eyes and your heart.

There is a Christian hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr. published in 1893 that is sung in all the churches I've ever been in:


When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Through the trials and troubles of life, but especially over the Christmas holidays, please find (search if you have to!) find your many blessings, COUNT THEM, NAME THEM ONE ... BY ... ONE, and your joy will return ten-fold.  Which brings to mind a Bible verse, Luke 6:38:

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.  For with the same measure that you use, it shall be measured back to you.

Somewhere along my Christian walk I was told to think of a box of cereal.  (I always think of Frosted Flakes!)  When they fill it at the factory they top it off, but by the time it gets shaken together in shipping and I open the box, it's only about 3/4 full.  Whatever I give now (a smile, a hug, a dollar), I eventually realize it has come back to me, not just 3/4 full, but running over - everyone is smiling, I get genuine hugs from strangers and loved ones, the money?  Try it, you'll figure it out.

So, our Christmas wish to you is Frosted Flakes and a calculator (so you can keep up with all the blessings!)

Merry Christmas, Everyone !!