Christmas Journey

We had an interesting Christmas that year. It was one of those years when Christmas was a Sunday morning. It involved a late night gathering of our children on Christmas Eve and an early morning gift opening, followed by morning worship at our church. The afternoon would be spent traveling across the state to visit with grandparents, aunts and uncles. We were the last to leave the church that Christmas Sunday, just past noon. And suddenly in the midst of all that we had planned for that weekend, we realized we had made no real preparation for Christmas lunch. The restaurants we normally might have considered were closed. The kitchen at home was empty and the pantry bare. The car was packed and we needed food for the long day’s journey ahead. And even the normal chicken fingers and fries that might have been found at the corner gas station were not to be had. I looked at my hungry brood and said to them all…well…we need to eat something. This is the only establishment in town still open. Go into the gas station and see what you can find and that will be our Christmas lunch. Get whatever you would like that you can find. What had seemed like a minor disaster in food planning was now transformed into a great adventure. Our long highway journey was an exciting time. Each of us had opportunity to try variations and combinations of foods we had never had. Beef jerky and Vienna sausage were main courses, laffy taffy and gummy worms were the closest we got to vegetables. Between the chips and peanut butter crackers and the cheezits, we all survived and yes delightfully thrived and in truth, we felt more like Joseph and Mary on their journey to Bethlehem than perhaps we ever had on a Christmas Day.
As you share with loved ones, friends and neighbors this Christmas, remember to share the wonderful story of the birth of a child in Bethlehem. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given….the Prince of Peace.”