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Merry Christmas!
December 2021
Immanuel!
God with Us!
Owner/Publisher: Rob Wood
I
t's the most wonderful time of the year... words from a popular Christmas song. It's true; it is a wonderful time to be with the people you love, hot chocolate, and just having fun with family and friends, a time of gift giving, turkey dinners, movies and just relaxing. It can also be very stressful for some people; maybe they live alone, or don't have money for gifts, never mind money for food. Unfortunately during this time of year, alot of families are impacted this way... too much stress and not enough joy. Don't let satan steal your joy this Christmas; go to the Lord and let Him know what is going on in your life and tell
Him why you are so stressed. Lay it all out for Him; ask Him to take it from you; He can help you through it. As we grow, let's rely on Him more; let's learn to surrender a little more each day, each week, each month. Sometimes, we don't actually realize what God is doing until later on. Then we see and understand, just like in this story, A delayed Christmas Present. A ten year old boy named Jeff wanted to buy his first ten speed bike, and he worked out a deal where his dad would help him buy it. Even though it was not a new bike, he was still excited to have a bike. He started to cut grass and shovel snow to make money, and his dad would put in the other half. He would pay his dad back in monthly payments for the next six months. He spent that summer and fall riding his
bike everywhere. His sister, Liz, with her old five speed and a banana seat just couldn't keep up with his bike. He would ride all over town, even as far as the beach on some days. It was just before Christmas and his deadline was coming up to pay back his dad. It really helped that they had a few snowstorms back to back so with his shoveling money, he had more than enough to pay it all back. Now Jeff was a very happy bike owner. Christmas was finally here and they gathered by the tree to receive their presents. Jeff remembered receiving a portable record player, which was a blessing because he didn't have to share the family stereo anymore. Then his dad called his sister Liz to the kitchen, "We have one more gift for you," he said to her as he opened the door that led to the garage.
There in front of her on the stairs, was a brand new ten speed Schwinn bike! All Jeff could think about at that very moment was he had to endure all the scraping of his shovel on driveways and pushing the lawnmower to cut grass in order to buy his used bike, and less than a week later, his sister had a brand new shiny bike. He didn't want to feel ungrateful, but he was feeling a little hurt. Jeff's sister with joy said to him, "Let's go for a ride, Jeff!" as their dad held the bike upright for her. Jeff muttered to her, "It's too snowy to ride today." After a few weeks had gone by, Jeff's dad asked him, "Is everything okay Jeff?" "It's not fair," he said. "I worked so hard for my bike, and it's not even new. Then Liz was given a brand new bike and she didn't have to do anything for her new
