The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!" For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night." "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers." My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam', And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag. I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.. Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right." "But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us." PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
Friday, January 30, 2009
You Can't Steal My Christmas
Poem by
Sharon Steege
I don't know who they areSaying I can't greet the crowdThe way that I want toCan't say **CHRISTMAS* * out loud.I walk into a business placeSee things that I rather not seeBut dare I not say **CHRISTMAS* *And ask for a 'holiday' tree.What happened to freedom of speechAnd living in the land of the freeHow can they take my **CHRISTMAS* * moneyBut can't say **MERRY CHRISTMAS** to me.Men and women have given their livesSo we could still go freeI wonder how they would feelAt saying HOLIDAY TREE.Come on AMERICA let's wake upDon't let our freedom escapeIf they get by with doing thisWhat else will they take.This is starting to get out of hand,And I've begun to keep trackWell I've just about had enoughI'M TAKING CHRISTMAS BACK.*So MERRY CHRISTMAS AMERICA **I hope this gets all over the netIf we all stand united and take freedom back'Twill be our best CHRISTMAS YET!
Sharon Steege
I don't know who they areSaying I can't greet the crowdThe way that I want toCan't say **CHRISTMAS* * out loud.I walk into a business placeSee things that I rather not seeBut dare I not say **CHRISTMAS* *And ask for a 'holiday' tree.What happened to freedom of speechAnd living in the land of the freeHow can they take my **CHRISTMAS* * moneyBut can't say **MERRY CHRISTMAS** to me.Men and women have given their livesSo we could still go freeI wonder how they would feelAt saying HOLIDAY TREE.Come on AMERICA let's wake upDon't let our freedom escapeIf they get by with doing thisWhat else will they take.This is starting to get out of hand,And I've begun to keep trackWell I've just about had enoughI'M TAKING CHRISTMAS BACK.*So MERRY CHRISTMAS AMERICA **I hope this gets all over the netIf we all stand united and take freedom back'Twill be our best CHRISTMAS YET!
Santa and Sarah
Three years ago a little boy and his grandmother came to see Santa at the Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin. The child climbed up on his lap holding a picture of a little girl.
"Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling. "Your friend? Your sister?'"
"Yes, Santa, he replied. "My sister Sarah who is very sick" he said sadly.
Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby and saw her dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
"She wanted to come with me to see you oh so very muchSanta!" the child exclaimed. "She misses you" he added softly..
Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.
When they finished their visit the Grandmother came over to help the child off his lap and started to say something to Santa but halted.
"What is it?" Santa asked warmly.
"Well I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but.." the old woman began shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors.
"The girl in the photograph... My granddaughter well you see ... She has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the holidays" she said through tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way, Santa,any possible way that you could come see Sarah? That's all she's asked for for Christmas is to see Santa."
Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave information with his elves as to where Sarah was and he would see what he could do. Santa thought of little else the rest of that afternoon. He knew what he had to do. "What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed dying" he thought with a sinking heart"This is the least I can do."
When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that evening he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where Sarah was staying. He asked the assistant location manager how to get to Children's Hospital.
"Why?" Rick asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother earlier that day.
"C'mon.....I'll take you there." Rick said softly. Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa.
They found out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would wait out in the hall.
Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and saw little Sarah on the bed.
The room was full of what appeared to be her family. There was the Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A woman whom he guessed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed gently pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead. And another woman who he discovered later was Sarah's aunt sat in a chair near the bed with a weary sad look on her face. They were talking quietly and Santa could sense the warmth and closeness of the family and their love and concern for Sarah.
Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on his faceSanta entered the room bellowing a hearty"Ho ho ho!"
"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly as she tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV tubes intact.
Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug. A child the tender age of his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at him with wonder and excitement.
Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her was a pair of huge blue eyes. His heart melted and he had to force himself to choke back tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's face he could hear the gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the room.
As he and Sarah began talking the family crept quietly to the bedside one by one squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully whispering "Thank you" as they gazed sincerely at him with shining eyes. Santa and Sarah talked and talked and she told him excitedly all the toys she wanted for Christmas assuring him she'd been a very good girl that year.
As their time together dwindledSanta felt led in his spirit to pray for Sarah and asked for permission from the girl's mother. She nodded in agreement and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed holding hands. Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed in angels.
"Oh yes Santa... I do!" she exclaimed.
"Well I'm going to ask that angels watch over you." he said. Laying one hand on the child's head Santa closed his eyes and prayed. He asked that God touch little Sarah and heal her body from this disease. He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her. And when he finished praying, still with eyes closed he started singing softly"Silent Night, Holy Night.... all is calm, all is bright..."
"The family joined in, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at them all.
When the song ended Santa sat on the side of the bed again and held Sarah's frail small hands in his own. "Now Sarah" he said authoritatively"you have a job to do and that is to concentrate on getting well. I want you to have fun playing with your friends this summer and I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time next year!"
He knew it was risky proclaiming that to this little girl who had terminal cancer but he "had" to. He had to give her the greatest gift he could -- not dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.
"Yes Santa!" Sarah exclaimed her eyes bright. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left the room.
Out in the hallt he minute Santa's eyes met Rick's a look passed between them and they wept unashamed.
Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and rushed to Santa's side to thank him.
"My only child is the same age as Sarah" he explained quietly. "This is the least I could do." They nodded with understanding and hugged him.
One year later Santa Mark was again back on the set in Milwaukee for his six-week seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap.
"Hi Santa! Remember me?!"
"Of course I do" Santa proclaimed (as he always does)smiling down at her. After all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is to always make each child feel as if they are the "only" child in the world at that moment.
"You came to see me in the hospital last year!"
Santa's jaw dropped. Tears immediately sprang in his eyes and he grabbed this little miracle and held her to his chest. "Sarah!" he exclaimed. He scarcely recognized her for her hair was long and silky and her cheeks were rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited just a year before. He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the sidelines smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.
That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus.
He had witnessed --and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle of hope. This precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive and well. He silently looked up to Heaven and humbly whispered"Thank you Father. 'Tis a very Merry Christmas!"
"Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling. "Your friend? Your sister?'"
"Yes, Santa, he replied. "My sister Sarah who is very sick" he said sadly.
Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby and saw her dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
"She wanted to come with me to see you oh so very muchSanta!" the child exclaimed. "She misses you" he added softly..
Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.
When they finished their visit the Grandmother came over to help the child off his lap and started to say something to Santa but halted.
"What is it?" Santa asked warmly.
"Well I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but.." the old woman began shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors.
"The girl in the photograph... My granddaughter well you see ... She has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the holidays" she said through tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way, Santa,any possible way that you could come see Sarah? That's all she's asked for for Christmas is to see Santa."
Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave information with his elves as to where Sarah was and he would see what he could do. Santa thought of little else the rest of that afternoon. He knew what he had to do. "What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed dying" he thought with a sinking heart"This is the least I can do."
When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that evening he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where Sarah was staying. He asked the assistant location manager how to get to Children's Hospital.
"Why?" Rick asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother earlier that day.
"C'mon.....I'll take you there." Rick said softly. Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa.
They found out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would wait out in the hall.
Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and saw little Sarah on the bed.
The room was full of what appeared to be her family. There was the Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A woman whom he guessed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed gently pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead. And another woman who he discovered later was Sarah's aunt sat in a chair near the bed with a weary sad look on her face. They were talking quietly and Santa could sense the warmth and closeness of the family and their love and concern for Sarah.
Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on his faceSanta entered the room bellowing a hearty"Ho ho ho!"
"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly as she tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV tubes intact.
Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug. A child the tender age of his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at him with wonder and excitement.
Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her was a pair of huge blue eyes. His heart melted and he had to force himself to choke back tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's face he could hear the gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the room.
As he and Sarah began talking the family crept quietly to the bedside one by one squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully whispering "Thank you" as they gazed sincerely at him with shining eyes. Santa and Sarah talked and talked and she told him excitedly all the toys she wanted for Christmas assuring him she'd been a very good girl that year.
As their time together dwindledSanta felt led in his spirit to pray for Sarah and asked for permission from the girl's mother. She nodded in agreement and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed holding hands. Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed in angels.
"Oh yes Santa... I do!" she exclaimed.
"Well I'm going to ask that angels watch over you." he said. Laying one hand on the child's head Santa closed his eyes and prayed. He asked that God touch little Sarah and heal her body from this disease. He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her. And when he finished praying, still with eyes closed he started singing softly"Silent Night, Holy Night.... all is calm, all is bright..."
"The family joined in, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at them all.
When the song ended Santa sat on the side of the bed again and held Sarah's frail small hands in his own. "Now Sarah" he said authoritatively"you have a job to do and that is to concentrate on getting well. I want you to have fun playing with your friends this summer and I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time next year!"
He knew it was risky proclaiming that to this little girl who had terminal cancer but he "had" to. He had to give her the greatest gift he could -- not dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.
"Yes Santa!" Sarah exclaimed her eyes bright. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left the room.
Out in the hallt he minute Santa's eyes met Rick's a look passed between them and they wept unashamed.
Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and rushed to Santa's side to thank him.
"My only child is the same age as Sarah" he explained quietly. "This is the least I could do." They nodded with understanding and hugged him.
One year later Santa Mark was again back on the set in Milwaukee for his six-week seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap.
"Hi Santa! Remember me?!"
"Of course I do" Santa proclaimed (as he always does)smiling down at her. After all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is to always make each child feel as if they are the "only" child in the world at that moment.
"You came to see me in the hospital last year!"
Santa's jaw dropped. Tears immediately sprang in his eyes and he grabbed this little miracle and held her to his chest. "Sarah!" he exclaimed. He scarcely recognized her for her hair was long and silky and her cheeks were rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited just a year before. He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the sidelines smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.
That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus.
He had witnessed --and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle of hope. This precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive and well. He silently looked up to Heaven and humbly whispered"Thank you Father. 'Tis a very Merry Christmas!"
The Night Jesus Visited
It was the night Jesus came > and all through the house, > not a person was praying, > not one in the house .. > > > The Bible was left > on the shelf without care, > for no one thought > Jesus would come there .. > > The children were dressing > to crawl into bed, > not once ever kneeling > or bowing their head.. > > And Mom in the rocking chair > with babe on her lap, > was watching the Late Show > as I took a nap ... > > When out of the east > there rose such a clatter, > I sprang to my feet > to see what was the matter ... > > Away to the window > I flew like a flash, > tore open the shutters > and lifted the sash .... > > When what to my wondering > eyes should appear, > but Angels proclaiming > that Jesus was here .... > > The light of His face > made me cover my head... > was Jesus returning > just like He'd said ... > > And though I possessed > worldly wisdom and wealth, > I cried when I saw Him > in spite of myself ... > > In the Book of Life > which he held in his hand, > was written the name > of every saved man ... > > He spoke not a word > as he searched for my name, > when He said "it's not here" > My head hung in shame .. > > The people whose names > had been written with love, > He gathered to take > to his Father above ... > > With those who were ready > He rose without sound, > while all of the others > were left standing around ... > > I fell to my knees > but it was too late, > I'd waited too long > and thus sealed my fate ... > > I stood and I cried > as they rose out of sight, > Oh, if only I'd known > that this was the night .... > > In the words of this poem > the meaning is clear > the coming of Jesus > is now drawing near ... > > There's only one life > and when comes the last call, > We'll find out that the Bible > was true after all. > > > B - Basic > I - Instruction > B - Before > L - Leaving > E - Earth >
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