Do you remember your first few years of marriage? Remember how every event seemed to be a major happening and if something didn’t go as planned it upset the household. When Mary and Joseph became what we would call engaged I am sure that a premarital baby was not in their family plan. A visit from the angel Gabriel changed their plans.

When Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy he was advised to end their relationship but a visit from the angel Gabriel assured the young father-to-be that everything that was happening was a part of God’s plan to bring a Savior into this world. While Joseph and Mary yielded to the will of God there was certainly much criticism of their situation from well meaning citizens of Nazareth. Nazareth was a small village and, like most small towns, everyone knew everyone and their business. While it was certainly not advisable for Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the final phase of her pregnancy, Joseph took his espoused wife in order to protect her from the criticism and verbal abuse she would surely suffer if left behind. Scripture tells us that the husband is to provide, protect, and love his family and Joseph was only doing his job. After all, it wasn’t his child.

It seems every year, after I hang the Christmas lights, I ask myself if this will be the last year I put myself through the exercise of exterior lighting. This year I actually built the three trees and I got the grandson to install the lights on the gutters. Still, every time I find myself on a ladder I give some consideration to retiring from outdoor lighting. Then I see how cool some of the neighborhood lights are and I get back in the mood and install my own decorations. There is no place like home for Christmas.

Santa Claus is a very special character around our house. My wife has a collection of Santas that have appeared past marathons and will appear again in future posts. The one pictured above is over 65 years old. He was part of a Coca Cola promotion when I was young and a friend of my parents worked for Coke, so she acquired one for us.

As you can see, Santa has a coke in hand, long before diet coke, cherry coke, coke zero sugar and caffeine free coke. This guy drank the real thing!

These next two ornaments are probably 75 years old. They were a part of the decorations of my very first tree. My mother bought a small tree and some plastic ornaments for me to use. I am sure the purpose was to keep me occupied and away from the big tree in the living room.

For me and my family Christmas is about faith, family, and making memories together. Stick around and you will see a few of those memories this year. In the mean time just remember, he’s making a list and checking it twice.

If there is anything I truly miss in church it is a good choir. Many churches have opted for praise bands. They do a very good job of praise and worship music but there is something about a choir that makes Christmas music special.

Isaiah 7:14 revealed to the ancient world that the sign of the arrival of the Messiah would be a virgin born child. 800 years later the angel Gabriel visits Mary and tells her she has found favor with God and will conceive and birth the Son of God. Mary was barely a teenager when God selected her to bring the Savior into this lost and dying world. The first chapter of Luke records the conversation between the angel of the Lord and the mother of Christ. After a brief explanation, Mary yielded herself to God. We don’t know much about Mary’s pregnancy other that it ended in Bethlehem. I am sure we would like to know if Mary understood the magnitude of her decision and exactly what was about to happen. The song asks, “Mary Did You Know?”d

Regardless of how the Christmas holiday is portrayed in our world, it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised Savior, the Son of God. While the world of Christ may have taken little notice of His birth, we can find that it should not have been a surprise to anyone in search of a Savior. Hundreds of years prior to that Christmas morning in Bethlehem, prophets spoke of His coming. Isaiah 7:14 tells us, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” 800 years prior to Jesus’s birth Micah 5:2 told the ancient world, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” These are just two of several Biblical example that tell of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And one one night in Bethlehem the world was changed by a baby boy!

One Christmas tradition that seems to have faded is that of carroling. Each year our local high school music program has a concert that involves every choir. I it quite a treat to hear these young, talented voices sing the music of the season. They sing a few traditional carrols, a few classical arrangements, and a few pop offerings. All in all it is a great evening. If your local high school has such an event, I encourage you to attend. You won’t be disappointed and the kids will love a full house.

I cannot believe this is the 14th installation of my annual Christmas Music Marathon. There are very few things in this life that I have done for fourteen years. Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Each year, the day after Thanksgiving I post a photo and at least one video per day until Christmas Day that focuses on the true meaning of Christmas. I hope it allows you to take a few minutes to slow down, enjoy a song of the season and reflect on friends, family, memories and the joy that is inherent in the celebration of the birth of Christ. I do have one tradition associated with this marathon and that is I start each marathon with the same song. With everyone scrambling for Black Friday sales and traveling for Thanksgiving I am reminded of how busy Bethlehem must have been on Christmas Eve. People were required to travel their city of origin for a census that was to be used for tax purposes. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem while Mary was expecting her first child at any moment. Bethlehem was flooded with people and there was not a room to be found. You can read the whole store in the second chapter of the gospel of Luke. I’ve always wondered what is was like to “Take a Walk Through Bethlehem”. Let the marathon begin.