Christmas

It’s kind of hard to fully appreciate what took place so many years ago, that Jesus, the Son of God was born in the flesh. That God our Father would send us His Son. But this is exactly what He did, as the ultimate expression of His love. And the older that I get, the more clearer this wondrous undeserved gift of grace becomes.

This has not been an easy year for my wife and I. And yet, all things considered, God has been there with us, sustaining us, blessings us, as He has done for so many years. My wife and I are both getting on in years and this Christmas sees us both in a different place from where we have been before. These bodies of ours are definitely letting us know in no uncertain terms that time is marching on and we’re not getting any younger. But, we’re still mobile, reasonably sane and able to accomplish what we need and want to do. We just need to be aware of our changing limitations and adjust accordingly. I also can’t help but be thankful for my wife, that she’s stuck with me all of these years and that her heart lives to give of herself in ways that put me to shame. I’ve learned a lot from her and I’m still learning. I love her dearly and she is truly a gift.

And then we have our five children, all of them grown up now, some with families of their own and others with that special someone. The fact that we still get to see them all and that we have 7 grandchildren also adds to our joy. It’s funny how, as we know that our time with them is coming to an end that our hearts break for them, envisioning the difficulties that they will face. For those who are Christian, we know God will sustain them as He has done with us but for those who are not Christian, all we can do is pray for them daily and show them God’s love as best as we can. I could have let God’s light in me shine so much more. Not knowing their future is so hard.

The goodness of God, that He has graciously provided to us during the last year, was totally unplanned and unforeseen. We recently moved and are very appreciative of our new apartment and God’s blessing to us where I can still work part time (and I use the word “work” with some reservation because it’s more like being paid just to be there with no supervision, absolute minimum work requirements and literally no work related stress at all), which enables us to obtain enough extra income to help us help others and help our children when needed. When I look back in retrospect, to see how many times God has provided us with the means to meet the needs of our children, it is simply unreal, but He always has, every single time, without fail. How do you say thank you for something like that?

And the simple things in life, the peace that comes from reading God’s Word and having that connection with God, the nearness of Jesus when in prayer and the contentment of being with my wife, the joy of seeing our children and their grandchildren, makes me wonder how this all came about. I certainly didn’t orchestrate it. God has shown me an awful lot of mercy and grace.

And even this blog, where I get to converse with Christian brothers and sisters, from all walks of life and many different environments, reminds me of the reasonableness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the reality of God and His love and it makes me thankful, because I see others who are similar to me, imperfect, yet walking the same road that I am walking. All of us facing mountains and valleys, learning, experiencing, forgiving, making mistakes and sharing. It’s really beautiful when you stop to think about it and all of this is because of God’s grace.

So, as we enter this Christmas season, let us hold one another up in prayer and thank our heavenly Father for all the grace He shows us through His Son and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in us, because none of us knows what tomorrow holds for us, but we do know who holds tomorrow. And there is so much to be thankful for.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!

Bruce Cooper is a disciple of Jesus, married to Peggy, with 5 grown up children, 7 grandchildren. He is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and resides in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. a.k.a. “Papa.” To read more of Bruce’s work visit Reasoned Cases For Christ.  

Featured Image from National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons