December 12 – “Ornaments and Stories”

Master of Theology in New Testament Exposition and Exegesis.  That's what it said on Josh's diploma.  At least I think that was it.  I know what it means, though.  It means the boy can preach and he knows what he's talking about.  Is his Daddy proud?  Oh, yeah.    One guy in Josh's church with a really dry sense of humor came up to me and asked, "Would you be proud if Josh got a Phd?  Well, I should have suspected something from this particular guy.  But I answered right away, "Sure!"  He turned to my son the graduate and said, "See, Josh, I told you your Dad won't be proud of you until you get that PhD."    Tonight we got a real surprise.  We thought we were going to a surprise graduation party for Josh.  Turns out the surprise was for us.  Some old friend of ours got together and had everyone bring Christmas ornaments for us to replace the ones we lost in the flood.  That's a great sentiment in and of itself, but they didn't just bring any old ornaments.  They had meaning behind them.  One was "a bell from my grandmother's tree."  One was a large nail. The idea was for that ornament to be placed on the tree first, in an inconspicuous place, to remind us that the birth of Christ was all about his death for our sins.  A few were made by their children, who even signed them.  One was a tree ornament from Santa Fe.  The girl bought it the year she got married, and still had the original box it came in.  One of our dearest friends gave Chris three ornaments, and told her what each meant to her.  Chris was already tearing up when added, "And I got three identical ornaments to put on my tree this year so I would think of you when I saw them.  Chris lost it.  Then it got "worse."  She handed her an ornament that Chris had made for them years before.  "I wanted you to have it back."  OK, the floodgates were opened.  The whole party was like that.  Ornaments and stories.  It was nothing short of an emotional explosion.  A couple we hadn't seen in years even walked in and handed us an ornament.  Wow.   Then one of the guys called me over to the bedroom door and handed me an envelope.  He and his wife were really special to us over the years, and they had picked up with Josh as well.  I opened the envelope and was speechless.  There was a set of keys and the title to that blue truck we borrowed awhile back when we first started working on the house.  The Blue Truck is back.  But they gave it to us.  It's a '92 GMC, and it's in better shape than either of our two cars.  The guy said now we could trade in both of our other cars for a new one and have the truck to boot.  I'm still stunned.   One of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added as well."  I don't remember when we have had so much "added" to us.   Father, we feel very unworthy right now.  Thank you for friends.  Thank you for friends who get a kick out doing their Christianity.  Amen.