2011

The promise of a new year; hope for a second chance; escape from the failures of yesterday. All the disappointments,sorrow and pain composted by the Gardner into the soil of our lives, offering new life from the dead. Traveling new roads; exploring the unknown days of the future; letting go of the misery of THEIR words and leaning on the promises of HIS WORD. jfs

Joh 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

The Greatest Gift

In 1947 I was eight years old. My dad was just out of the army, broke but rejoicing that the war was over. We lived in an old house on a grown up farm. Dad had bought the 89 acres for about $1,800 which he borrowed from the bank. He and mom were facing Christmas broke. A time for giving and they had nothing to give. Of all my seventy-one years of Christmases, that one stands above all others. My brother and I were kept from going in one room of the old house so we knew something was up. Turns out our dad was hand making toys--a wagon and two wooden trucks, painted with red paint. We pushed those red trucks for miles in Mr. Vales corn field which was just across our property line. Christmas is about giving and a giving heart always finds a way. That Christmas my dad gave himself, which reminds me that our Heavenly Father found a way to bring joy to the world by giving His Son, Jesus. The greatest gift the world has ever known was not found under a tree but on a tree. Through the cross we find forgiveness and restoration so one day we can go Home.
(Luke 2:10-11) Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (NKJV)

A Tribute to Grandma McManus

I remember Christmas at Grandma’s; how can I forget her happy face? A real fireplace kept us warm on the outside; a loving Grandma kept us warm on the inside. Grandma always looked at Christmas as a child would, and as she grew old she continued to love Christmas. In her later years she always gave me a box of chocolate covered cherries. It became something we all laughed about and added to the memory of the special person I call Grandma. As she grew older, like her frail body, her Christmas trees were nothing to photograph--but she never stopped celebrating. Of Course I don’t remember her as a young person, but I knew something of the little girl inside even when she was old and feeble. At Christmas that little girl always lived again--she couldn’t keep secrets and she couldn’t keep her hands off the presents. And did she enjoy opening presents. She also loved Christmas cards--she just couldn’t throw them away. She read them over and over again and cherished them as long as she lived.
Christmas brought to surface a joy that flowed in the heart of my family. Our life was difficult, but we knew what was most important. Life was about people and the special relationships that make life worth living. Grandma was a child in disguise and remembering her warms my heart. May her joy find a place in your heart as you remember the REASON FOR THE SEASON. jfs

Baby's Cry

It’s five am and I lay awake in the darkness of a December morning hearing in my mind the sound of the cry of a new born baby. Who would know that God would one day breathe, for the first time, the cool air of Bethlehem? Healthy babies do cry you know, and babies need diapers. The Great Shepherd had come to look for lost sheep, but the journey begins on his mothers breast. A loving mother tenderly caring for a dependent child. A carpenter burping a baby on his strong shoulder is not difficult to imagine, but God needing to be burped is difficult to fathom. The angels were told to sing to the shepherds, but they must have found it difficult to understand that the One who created them would put Himself in such a predicament. Why do I keep hearing that new born cry? It is the cry of new life. It is the cry of a loving God who became one of us so we could become like Him. It is Grace stepping into life’s pain, bringing new hope. He cried in Bethlehem so one day He could wipe the tears from our eyes. Oh!! The Joy of Christmas. jfs

Merry Christmas Brothers and Sisters!!

We love you,
James, Mary and Tramp