I have no spectacular memory to hold onto of a phenomenal Christmas present or an outstanding occasion that is unique to the season. Instead, all those days are melded together into a montage of laughter, embraces, food, cheer, and deep devotion to family and God. For days on end, different branches of our families, on both sides, would make the journey to our door. Coats, hats and mittens would come off, snow would be stomped loose to melt in small pools on the tile floor, mugs of hot cocoa and coffee would be passed around and laughter would prevail. Lots of back-slapping by the men accompanied the hugs and kisses of the women, while the children squealed with delight over more company to entertain and another present to place under the tree. With no great wealth in our family, I still wonder where the provision came from to supply the gifts shared within our family. They were not of great expense, but practical and always appreciated: a box of chocolates, a fruitcake (the kind you could really eat!), slips, handkerchiefs — all the wonderful presents that would assure one a spot in the memory of the recipient each time that gift was shared.

How wonderful to have those precious memories in my mental scrapbook! How sad it is that today, because of schedules, priorities, and lack of interest, we cannot add to the scrapbook our children will one day open. While we prepare to lavish presents on one another, why not dig deep, pull out a bankroll of "self", and give it to someone? We might decide simply to drop by the house of a family member, bearing a tray of cookies, a loaf of homemade bread, or a small basket of fruit. Sharing the happy times of their family activities will enhance our own. And before leaving, let us share Christ with them, perhaps with a word and a prayer. He's a present that has already been bought — and He's a "one size fits all"!

John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (KJV)

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank You for sharing the gift of Yourself with us at that first Christmas in Bethlehem. Help us, as we remember the birthday of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to offer ourselves, more than any material gift, to our families and our neighbours. Help us to take time to share the love of Jesus Christ in person this Christmas. In His name, we pray. Amen.

Ever notice that you can have a crowd around you and yet accomplish nothing if people don't have their "mind-set" right? Have you asked your kids to give you a hand in the garage and then wound up sending them off because they were really no help at all? Have you consulted your spouse for advice on a project only to have less than full input because they just were not "into it"?

Well, the wall in the book of Nehemiah was in complete disrepair. Nehemiah knew it would take a lot of work, combined effort, and whole-hearted enthusiasm to accomplish the rebuilding. He had to do something to stir the people into working.

Throughout the first six chapters of this book, we can read the remarkable account of a man devoted to inspiring his workers. What a lesson we can learn from this! He had hundreds of people at his disposal, but they would have proven useless without the "will to work".

Sometimes there is a task ahead of us and we seek God and His direction, knowing it is His plan to bring it to pass. But, do we have a "mind to work"? Are we willing to put our all into the completion of this thing? As we pray, let us ask God for that inspiration to fulfill the work that lies ahead for us.

Prayer: Lord, you see the size of the task ahead. You know the skills it will require, the effort it will take, and the time it will consume. Stir in each of us the "will" to be a worker in this endeavour for You. Keep our minds set on the completion, and our eyes on the goal. Help us not be "weary in well doing", but to put all our energies and inspiration into seeing this through. Amen.

Waiting for something to be perfected is difficult at times. Adding that final brush stroke, that last piece of ribbon, the crowning flourish of artistry: why can't it be okay the way it is now — when I want it to be ready?

During an 8-year adoption struggle, I watched my daughter and her husband endure battles that would make the mightiest fall at times. Forced visitations by the court, abduction by the birth mother while they had custody, drug deals going down all around this little child while she was made to spend time with a woman she did not even know: where was the reasoning?

And yet all the time — for 8 years — God kept putting this verse in my mind. I searched my concordance, and, looking back to the original Hebrew, "perfect" broke down to this: "to take to the highest form of excellence — supreme". That's how far the case went — to the Supreme Court. And do you know what? We won. This beautiful 12-year-old child, whom we have raised since she was 18 months old, is ours.

The judge (a Christian) saw my daughter almost a year later and asked to share something with her. She said, "I know when you were going through so much during those years you must have questioned why it had to be this way. But there was a reason. If your daughter had not endured so much pain, and you had not had to watch her be pulled away forcefully to visit someone she feared, the courts would have had no evidence to sustain the claims of what was best for the child, what the child desired, and that the birth mother was unfit. It was necessary in order to complete it."

My daughter and I rejoiced when we heard that. Waiting for perfection was worth it — and there was a reason!Prayer: Lord, help us to be patient with your finishing strokes, your flourishes of grandeur that you put on to make our lives the perfection you desire them to be. Forgive us when we complain about the delay, forgetting that you see the bigger picture. Thank you for loving us so much that you want us to have only the "supreme" things in life. Amen.