Tag Archives: Family

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The Perfect Gift

What a joy it is to be able to give gifts! As a grandparent, I have enjoyed giving gifts to grandchildren and I have chosen the same gift for each child (the first born of each family) on their first Christmas. It is the Fisher-Price manger scene. Last Christmas I was able to give our first GREAT grandchild her manger scene. It looks a bit different but the main pieces are the same. the stable, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, wise men, and Jesus. I first bought the set I have in 2002 before I had any grandchildren. I was so excited to find a manger scene that children could actually play with – that wouldn’t just sit on a shelf or mantle.

I have kept that first manger scene and put it out every year. Now each of our daughters have their sets as well – some with extra pieces. The shepherds have a hillside with several sheep, there is an inn with an innkeeper and his wife, 3 camels and 3 nomadic tents. (is it because the song “We Three KIngs” has influenced the number of “wise men from the east” we see in most manger scenes, or that the Bible mentions 3 gifts?)

I like the manger scene for several reasons besides the fact that children can play with it. It plays “Away in the Manger” and the star lights up over the manger. It does not bother me that I know the stable was probably a cave, or that the wise men did not visit the night Jesus was born as the shepherds did. It does bother me that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph look like they are of European decent, but Fisher-Price has corrected that in the latest set I gave our great-granddaughter. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus look like they live in the middle east. It does please me that the manger scene is Durable, Dependable, and Delightful – reflecting the reality of the greatest gift – Jesus.

  • Durable – Jesus as the one and only Son of God has existed throughout eternity – John 1: 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
  • Dependable – Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 2:17 – Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
  • Delightful – Jesus brings peace, joy, and love into our lives. There is nothing as delightful as the love of Jesus. John 3:16 – For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 14:27 – I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Luke 2:9-11 – 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

As we give gifts this Christmas – may we treasure above everything else the PERFECT gift of Jesus.

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Thankful … to Whom?

Alice, our great granddaughter, is 14 months old now and beginning to do so many things. She is walking, running, climbing, clapping, and starting to say recognizable words. One phrase we say to her often is “thank you”. Alice will pick up a toy or piece of food and each out to give it to us. Sometimes she even lets go!

We always say “thank you” wanting to model for Alice polite behavior. Yet even more importantly, we want Alice to know from this very early age that SHE is not the source of all around her. We are modeling what appreciation means and teaching thankfulness in a very basic way. When someone gives you something – you say “thank you”.

I have heard more and more often recently people thanking the “universe” when they receive an award, appreciate the beauty of the world we live in, or even feel lucky. Who is the universe? Does the collection of matter around us choose to bestow favors or things on us? I looked up the definition of universe and this AI generated result was a summary of several results – “The universe is a simple definition for everything that exists, including all of space, time, matter, and energy. This encompasses everything from planets and stars to galaxies and the smallest particles.”   This definition describes what exists yet it does not include any level of intelligence or feeling that would bestow blessings on deserving individuals – or even random individuals for that matter.

I get the sense that when someone “thanks the universe” – they realize there is something else out there – some source for the beauty, blessings, and goodness they have seen or received. The individual realizes that they feel thankfulness in their being and they need to express that – but to whom?

I would propose that the source of our existence and all that makes up the universe is infinitely more than space, time, matter, and energy. Something – SOMEONE – is the source. Our universe is too complex, interdependent, and magnificent to just have exploded into being.

God.

God, the creator and sustainer of the universe is the Source. One of the great minds of the 20th Century – G. K. Chesterton – came to faith in Jesus Christ because he felt thankfulness and realized that he needed to know who to be thankful to. Chesterton became a clear voice for Christianity and relationship with God.

Psalm 100

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

We want Alice to know from an early age how to be thankful AND to whom she is thankful.

This Thanksgiving we must all be clear about who we are thankful to as the Source of all creation.

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Silent Night, Holy Night, Again

Adahlyn Wood Ledford, Caleb Ledford, and Alice Caroline Ledford

Silent Night
By Abigail Hardy
It was December 5th, 1992.  As I rushed with my parents into the emergency room entrance late that night, a gurney sped past us.  Like a snapshot, I can remember, the sight of a leg, knee up in the air covered with a white sheet and below the knee, unnaturally, something large and black was bisecting the bloody leg.  Is that really what I saw?  I was too unsure to ask my parents.  I could tell they were more scared than they were willing to admit to me.
I sat in the waiting room of the ER.  I felt lost and unsteady as my parents went back to talk with the doctors.  Words like “accident” “coma” “racing” “head-on” were punctuating the air of the waiting room as people from our small church slowly filled it. 

Things like this do not happen to us.  Not to kids coming back from a church youth group trip.  Surely not, God. 

The van, driven by our church’s youth group leader and my Dad’s closest friend, had been hit head-on by a man in a Corvette.  He had been racing 120 mph down the curving road, some pieces of his car left hanging high in the trees. 
My oldest sister Hannah had been in the back of the van with four other junior high students from our church youth group, and two adult leaders in the front.  Kirsten, the energetic college student from WCU who helped with the youth group, died instantly.  Hannah was in a coma.  Mr. Brown, the driver, was the victim we had seen as we rushed into the ER with the brake pedal stuck through his lower leg and a broken pelvis and ribs.  He had been pinned in the car and had prayed with the kids and kept them calm until the emergency services arrived and were able to cut him out.  Another student had a serious head injury and the other three had escaped with broken bones or scrapes and bruises.

My sister had been airlifted to Memorial Mission in Asheville soon after my parents and I had arrived at the local ER.  When I got to visit her in the hospital the next day, I remember the sight of my mother, holding her hand, singing hymns and Christmas carols to her unresponsive body. 

On the third day, as my mother sang Silent Night to her daughter, she heard my sister’s voice join with hers.  Hannah had woken up.

This is the meaning of Christmas, lived out by the people I lived with. 
Mr. Brown, speaking peace to panicked kids as his own pain loomed like a giant wave above him. 
Kirsten, losing her life in the middle of obedience to Christ’s call on her to minister to kids.
My mom, singing Silent Night over my sister in total faith that God is our healer and restorer.
My sister, given back life through no merit or effort of her own, and, oh, so thankful for that gift.

And, yes, the tears fall when I sing Silent Night at Christmas.  Because this is a beautiful, broken world that our Almighty God was born to save.