I Love Christmas!

Kathi Macias gets us in the Christmas spirit today with this special UPLIFT story—encouragement that God still works miracles today!

"Before I launch into an elaborate explanation and lengthy list of why I absolutely adore Christmas," Kathi says, "let me preface it by saying—before someone else calls me on it—that I am fully aware of the fact that Jesus was most likely not born on December 25."

I (Dawn) think the important truth is that Jesus was born! The Bible and historical records testify to that fact.

Kathi continues . . .

Many of the trappings of our modern-day Christmas celebrations are rooted in pagan worship, just plain materialism and even greed.

But I still love Christmas. And something tells me I’m not alone.

Though I wasn’t raised in a Christian home, I was blessed to grow up in a time when most Americans—Christian or not—somehow included the celebration of the birth of Christ during that special season.

Many people who never set in foot in church the rest of the year found themselves drawn to the reverent hush of a candlelight service or a midnight mass. And nearly all Christmas trees and house/yard decorations included an acknowledgment to that aspect of the holiday.

We even put on Christmas plays at school, complete with the reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2.

When I was chosen in third grade to play the part of Mary, I was not only excited but somewhat awestruck. Each day during practice, I heard the “angel” reading the verses from Luke that told of the events of that magnificent night—whatever night on the calendar it may have been.

In fact, that was the first passage of scripture I memorized as a child, simply by hearing it over and over again.

Of course, we also celebrated the secular side of Christmas in our home.

When my brothers and I were very young, our German grandparents lived in the little one-bedroom house just behind ours. Because my dad worked rotating shifts, my parents and grandparents came up with a story to work around his schedule.

It seemed that Santa was quite accommodating and knew ahead of time what hours my dad would be working and when he would be home.

As a result, he would come to bring our gifts whenever it worked out for Dad to be there when we opened them.

If it was during the day of Christmas Eve (rather than during the night as it was for most families) we would go back to our grandparents’ home that day and wait—quietly and anxiously—until my mom came to tell us Santa had indeed arrived and made his delivery. Then, grandparents in tow, we would all hurry back to our place and gather around the tree.

Now my dad and his parents were German, born and raised there, so needless to say they were disciplined and expected us to be the same.

No mass tearing into packages, ripping off paper, squealing with delight, and then moving on to the next gift.

Nope, we did it all “decently and in order.”

Dad would choose one gift and hand it to the person whose name was on the tag. Then we would all wait and watch as that person opened the gift (saving the paper, of course) and showed it to everyone.

Not until we had all oohed and aahed sufficiently could we move on to the next one.

When it was all over, regardless of what time of day (or night) it might be, Dad and Omi (our German grandmother) would sing “O Tanenbaum” (“Oh, Christmas Tree”) and “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”).

I still can’t hear those songs without tearing up over the bittersweet memories.

I love Christmas too because of what it does to hearts everywhere.

We’ve all seen those Word War II movies where the American soldiers and the Nazis are firing at each other, and then someone begins to sing “Silent Night” and the shooting stops. For just a few hallowed moments, hostilities cease as the Prince of Peace is acknowledged and honored.

Sadly the truce is short-lived, but at least it happens long enough to acknowledge the true meaning of Christmas.

I must say, though, that one of the things I love most about Christmas is Christmas stories, whether books, TV shows, or movies. And there are so many good ones!

It scarcely seems like Christmas if we don’t gather in front of the fireplace and watch “A Christmas Story” (who doesn’t love Ralphie?) or “Miracle on 34^th Street,” does it?

In the past few years I’ve also seen a wonderful increase in publishers putting out Christmas stories—short stories, novellas, full-length novels—in almost any and all genres. We have so many to choose from, and I have yet to find one I didn’t like, have you?

A Heartwarming Christmas Miracle

I had an especially heartwarming experience when the publishing of my annual Christmas novel, Unexpected Christmas Hero*, resulted in what I consider a true Christmas miracle.

The story is about a little homeless family that is befriended by a homeless Vietnam vet, who happens to be quite ill. The publisher wanted to put a face on the book cover that would depict this vet, so they sent their photographer out to find someone who resembled him and would allow himself to be photographed for the cover.

He found someone who looked as if he’d been dropped out of heaven for just such a purpose—a dead-ringer for the Vietnam vet in the story.

When the photographer told the man what he was doing and asked if he would be willing to pose for the cover photo, he got tears in his eyes and said he actually was homeless and hadn’t seen his family in years. He hoped that by being on the cover he might somehow be reunited with his family.

When the photographer alerted me to this, I began an Internet campaign to find the man’s family. It took less than two weeks.

Then we launched a fundraiser and, thanks to generous readers, raised $3000 to enable this man to get together with his grown daughter and her children—the first time he’d met his grandchildren.

Definitely a Christmas miracle, wouldn’t you say?

And I strongly suspect it’s only one of many.

Regardless of what day Christ was actually born, we do know that the Prince of Peace did indeed come to earth in human form to make a once-for-all sacrifice so that we could all experience THE GREATEST MIRACLE EVER n our own lives—restoration to relationship with the Father.

And that, dear friends, is why I love Christmas so very much.

May yours be the most blessed ever!

Kathi Macias is an award-winning author of more than 50 books, including The Doctor’s Christmas Quilt. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Al, where they’re already loading up on firewood so they can sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy some of those wonderful Christmas stories that never grow old. Discover more about Kathi at www.kathimacias.com.

* Kathi has a number of Christmas-themed books:  Return to Christmas: A Novel, The Doctor's Christmas Quilt, Unexpected Christmas Hero, A Husband's Christmas Prayer, A Christmas Gift: A Novel, and A Christmas Journey Home: Miracle in the Manger.

Graphic Adapted, courtesy of Jonathan Borba at Unsplash.