A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  (Tenneva Jordan)

I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited.  I was too old for that.  At age eleven, the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my cool.  I was in middle school after all.  But every chance I got, when I was alone, I checked each present under the tree.  I read every tag and felt every package, guessing at the contents within.  I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.

It had been a tough year for my family.  Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered presents, she would sigh and warn us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year.  Try not to be disappointed.”  Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil us.  In years past, the presents would pile up and spill out from under the tree, taking over the living room.  I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving,” but thought that whoever had said that must have been out of their mind.  Getting presents was the whole point!  It was the reason I couldn’t get to sleep on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly.  We made weak attempts to wait and watch while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed, we lost our self-control.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package.  I looked at it, confused.  Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I recognized this one.  But it had not been mine.  It was my mom’s.  A new label had been put on it, with my name written in my mother’s handwriting.

“Mom, I can’t…”  I was stopped by my mother’s eager, joyful look—a look I could not really understand.  “let’s see what it is, honey.  Hurry and open it.”  It was a blow dryer.  Though this may seem but a simple gift, to me it was so much more.  Being an eleven-year-old girl, I was stunned.  In my world, where receiving outweighed giving by light years, my mom’s act of selflessness was incomprehensible.  It was a huge act.  Tears filled my eyes and I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to give up her Christmas, so I could have a few more presents.

I have always remembered that Christmas fondly.  It had such an impact on me.  As an adult with children in my life whom I adore, I can now understand my mom’s actions.  I see how she was not “giving up her Christmas” as I had thought but was finding an even greater joy in her Christmas because giving truly is better than receiving.  My mom’s simple act meant the world to me.

Merry Christmas, Lisa Beretz, 518-330-9277
 

THIS IS SO CUTE!!!
It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista,CA.  He wrote it for his third-grade homework assignment, to 'explain God'.  I wonder if any of us could have done as well?

EXPLANATION OF GOD:
'One of God's main jobs is making people.  He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.  He doesn't make grownups, just babies.  I think because they are smaller and easier to make.  That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.'

'God's second most important job is listening to prayers.  An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime.  God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this.  Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.'
'God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps him pretty busy.  So, you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.' 

'Atheists are people who don't believe in God.  I don't think there are any in Chula Vista.  At least there aren't any who come to our church.'

'Jesus is God's Son.  He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God.  They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him.  But, he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.'

'His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore.  He could stay in heaven.  So he did.  And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God.  Like a secretary, only more important.'

'You can pray anytime you want, and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.'

'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!’

‘Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach.  This is wrong, and besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.'

'If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can.  It is good to know he's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim, and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.'

'But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you.  I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.’

‘And... that’s why I believe in God.' 
 
Thank you, Mary Herrick, for telling me about your friend Carol Riddell who used to be very involved with our church and was always doing whatever needed to be done at church.  Mary said she lived on Hill Street in Alplaus almost across the street from where Esther Miller lived before she moved to Rhode Island.  I thought her poem was very good and probably written about our church.  I hope you enjoyed it last month. 
 
Blessings, Lisa Beretz (518) 330-9277