Electing More Pro-Family, Pro-Life, America First Conservatives!
Sunday, December 18, 2022
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Carol Bauer
As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary
 The Christmas season is in full swing! Holiday music plays everywhere, lights sparkle, cookies are baked, cards are sent and received, candles give off the scent of the season and gifts await wrapping.
Amidst the rush of holiday activities and travel, it is really quite easy to get caught up in the markers of Christmas while missing the true meaning of the holiday. Many in our midst who are not believers in the Christ child born to die can get caught up in the trappings of Christmas and miss the message entirely. We must not.
Our youngest grandchild (1) is receiving his very own child nativity scene. It has all the traditional figures in the manger scene --- baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherd, sheep, wise men and the angel Gabriel. The figures are a size and material appropriate for little hands. With these figures very young children can become familiar with the Christmas setting and story.
Slightly older children enjoy participating in or watching a Living Nativity sponsored by local churches. And, older children are in awe of the sounds and beauty of Christmas church services often punctuated by a bell choir and candles illuminating the sanctuary.
I remember well the beauty of leaving such a service with our family and walking to our car in the gently falling snow, in silence, hoping to extend the beauty and meaning of the service and the season.
As our family comes from near and far this week for our Christmas gathering, we hope to enjoy all the joy of being together. But we also plan to make sure our family is focused on the miraculous birth of the Christ child, who was born to live among us and share our hopes and disappointments, our fears and triumphs.
That babe in a manger lived to die for our sins on a rugged cross 33 years later. That story of ultimate love and sacrifice should be the centerpiece of the breathtaking story that begins in a lowly manger and moves toward sacrificial love on a cross so that we, like Him, might enjoy everlasting life.
In the new year, I pray you will be emboldened by your deepened faith. There are plenty of political and cultural battles that cry out for our involvement. Our beliefs are under attack, our opportunities to practice those beliefs in our everyday lives are being challenged. Churches, schools, community settings like libraries, media, woke companies … all cry out for our involvement as the calendar turns to 2023.
But in the meantime, I pray we pause and immerse ourselves in the true meaning of Christmas. Only afterwards should we gather our strength for the demands of the year that lies before us.
Heavenly Father, draw us to Your side during this hectic season. Help us to silence the chatter and noise of the season so we may focus on Your marvelous gift to mankind.
Give us opportunities to talk to the young among us about the true story of the season. Give us joyful and thankful hearts. And, amidst the activities of Christmas, give us moments of reflection and times of rest knowing the demands of Your people in the year ahead.
God with us. Immanuel.
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