This will be Cam’s first Christmas and my first Christmas as grandpa.
I think about her often. She lived in a modest home, built by her father. She walked with a limp. I was with her when she broke that leg. When I stayed overnight we made fudge together. She taught me how to play poker. She was the first person I knew with a remote on her TV, and yet she never did get a dishwasher or a microwave.
She volunteered tirelessly. Her hospitality was comfortable and gracious, no pretense. Her door was always open. There was always room at her kitchen table. The coffee was always on.
She was my Grandma Elliott. She raised three children in the Great Depression. She carried the family on her back when my Grandfather was ill. She loved me. I always knew that; and she loved Christmas.
She loved Christmas, the tree, the decorations, her family gathered at her house. The cards, the food, the music, she loved Christmas. She loved the story. The promise of life stirring mysteriously in the womb of a virgin. The journey by donkey from Galilee to the sleepy village of Bethlehem. The stable, the shepherds, and the angels. A Christmas star bearing witness to the light of the world. The lamb of God lying in a feed trough. The journey of the Wise Men as they brought gifts to an infant king.
It was just a few days before Christmas when she died. I was with her that day too. She was struck down by some strange disease that attacked the immune system. She had contracted the disease through a blood transfusion. The doctors did not even have a name for the disease at that time.
I remember that Christmas vividly. Presents under the tree from a Grandmother who was gone. Fudge she had made sitting on a plate. An empty place at the table. No limp. No poker. Her smile and laugh were only a memory.
Christmas still came that year, it always breaks through the darkness of winter. Christmas came and the story was told. My Grandmother loved the story. Don’t lose the story this year. Don’t be so distracted that you miss the story. Come to church and hear the story read, preached, and sung. Invite friends to join you at TLC.
For unto you a child is born and this is good news for all the people of the world.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jim
PS: The Memorial Service for Byron Birdsall will be on Friday, December 16th, 2:00 at TLC.
