A Christmas Eve Extra

I hope that your Christmas Eve is blessed with God's presence, the warmth of family, and the joy of the gift of grace.

I have another extra for you today. One of the devotional readers, Jerome Guerrein, who lives in Florida, wrote the following poem. With his permission, I am sending it to you.

Following his poem is a Christmas Eve prayer, written by my husband, Steve Matthews.

Blessings and grace,
Kim


Christmas

Well it’s almost Christmas,
The kids with all their joy.
They are very anxious,
For Santa to bring toys.

The sun so very shiny,
Against snow that’s very new,
So think of family and friends,
And what they mean to you.

We celebrate a season,
With joy and much good cheer,
Just don’t forget the reason,
Baby Jesus is whom we revere.
Jerome R. Guerrein
Copyright ©2006


A Christmas Eve Prayer
by Steve Matthews

Most gracious and giving God. We stand at the door of a stable and we wait. To get here we followed a star brighter than anything ever seen in the heavens. You will come here over many miles carried by a young girl who knew only that God chose her. And she believed. We stand at the door and we wait. We wait for your birth – the greatest gift we have ever known. Not able to fathom, at this miraculous moment in time, the gift yet to come that is greater still. When you come tomorrow, you will be the perfect Son of God, faultless in every way. And we will love you. We too are children of God, ‘faulted’ in every way, but you will love us no matter. You will teach us caring, humility, compassion, sacrifice, duty, honor, friendship. You will teach us to love and worship God above all else. Your life will unite, your life will divide, your life will split time. The world will never be the same again.

Tomorrow we will kneel by a manager. In the company of shepherds, kings and animals we will behold the miracle of life; your life on earth, God’s life made flesh, our lives made new. We will follow you, brighter than anything ever seen in the heavens. We pray this Christmas Eve that we may have the faith of Mary and believe: believe because God chose us. Knowing that no payment is required for your gift, may we still strive to do your work, teach what you taught and give all that we are to ensure that, truly, the world will never be the same again.

Amen