An Aging Man’s Thoughts About Christmas

I have to chuckle when I attend one of our senior adult activities and someone refers to me as a “kid.”  As I look around the room, it is true that I am relatively young.  However, the reality is that none of us in that room are young.  All of us who call ourselves senior adults have more life behind us than in front of us.

This Christmas will be my sixty-fourth.  Christmas has always been a delightful experience of sharing life with family and friends.  It has been a wonderful opportunity to worship and praise God.  Every time I hear a carol, scenes of colored lights, candles, pine trees, nativity displays, and the faces of loved ones come to my mind.  A sense of warmth and well-being overcomes me.  What a glorious time of the year!  What a glorious occasion to celebrate!

As I race toward my next birthday, I am increasingly aware of God’s grace in sending His Son on my behalf.  Each day becomes more precious and the anticipation of eternity with the Lord becomes more real.  It is at this season that my heart swells with thanksgiving and love; first for the God who made me, saved me, and sustains me and then for those He has put into my life to make it richer.  I only have to look at my children, grandchildren,  and especially my wife, Sheree, to be renewed with a strong sense of thanksgiving.

So, as I contemplate Christmas this year, it has a greater significance because I am increasingly appreciative that God sent His Son for the purpose of making a way for me and for my loved ones to have a relationship with a living and loving God.  In the life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for us to someday experience the gift of eternal life and to presently experience the joy of the abundant life.

My thanks to each one of you for making my life richer and making this Christmas a little more special.   May each one of you experience the fullness of God’s presence in your life this season and throughout 2010.

Pastor Doug Dennee