A Few Christmas Goodies by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 12/23/2009 at 11:11 AM

Remember how wonderful it was when Mom let you open a few gifts or trinkets before Christmas morning? Well, I have a few early Christmas treats for you.

I'll start with a little feel-good tidbit, bursting with holiday cheer. The AP reports that a woman showed up to the Corpus Christi International Airport to meet her fiance — dressed in a wedding gown and accompanied by a justice of the peace. Talk about the opposite of a runaway bride! According to the article, wedding photos were taken near a Christmas tree at a security checkpoint. As my sister would say, "Bless."

On a more serious note, Joe Cassara delivers a thoughtful Christmas essay on the redemptive power of birth in "A Weary World Rejoices." After his wife's two miscarriages, Cassara describes himself as broken and unwilling to try again. Then:

Fast forward one year. Exactly one year. July 10th, 2009. My wife gave birth to twins. Natural twins. Not that I bought, but that we made, together. And so now I get it, I understand how a birth can be redemptive. How a birth from two broken people can heal pain, can turn many teary eyes toward God. I can be arrogant, but I'm not arrogant in this. What we wanted so badly, what we needed to heal us, came in the form of two babies. Hear me ... we didn’t need babies to heal us, we needed to know that our God was trustworthy. I wonder why God wrote the rules in a way that two people need to get together in order to pop out a baby. He could have just made it so people crawl out of ocean at 11 years old, self-sufficient, no relationship between parents and children. But He didn't...

And so on Christmas, the day we've chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I understand this year for the first time why a birth can be celebrated; why the farmers and prophets and businessmen back when Jesus was born were brought to their knees on his birthday. They were broken, run down and in real need of redemption that had been promised for thousands of years. And so Jesus’ birth was much more than the start of something ... it was the end of a long line of waiting.

Wow. If you're broken, run down and in need of redemption this year ... rejoice! The Savior has come!

And, finally, something utterly fluffy ... if you like that sort of thing. (I do.) Merry Christmas!

A Few Christmas Goodies by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 12/23/2009 at 11:11 AM

Remember how wonderful it was when Mom let you open a few gifts or trinkets before Christmas morning? Well, I have a few early Christmas treats for you.

I'll start with a little feel-good tidbit, bursting with holiday cheer. The AP reports that a woman showed up to the Corpus Christi International Airport to meet her fiance — dressed in a wedding gown and accompanied by a justice of the peace. Talk about the opposite of a runaway bride! According to the article, wedding photos were taken near a Christmas tree at a security checkpoint. As my sister would say, "Bless."

On a more serious note, Joe Cassara delivers a thoughtful Christmas essay on the redemptive power of birth in "A Weary World Rejoices." After his wife's two miscarriages, Cassara describes himself as broken and unwilling to try again. Then:

Fast forward one year. Exactly one year. July 10th, 2009. My wife gave birth to twins. Natural twins. Not that I bought, but that we made, together. And so now I get it, I understand how a birth can be redemptive. How a birth from two broken people can heal pain, can turn many teary eyes toward God. I can be arrogant, but I'm not arrogant in this. What we wanted so badly, what we needed to heal us, came in the form of two babies. Hear me ... we didn’t need babies to heal us, we needed to know that our God was trustworthy. I wonder why God wrote the rules in a way that two people need to get together in order to pop out a baby. He could have just made it so people crawl out of ocean at 11 years old, self-sufficient, no relationship between parents and children. But He didn't...

And so on Christmas, the day we've chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I understand this year for the first time why a birth can be celebrated; why the farmers and prophets and businessmen back when Jesus was born were brought to their knees on his birthday. They were broken, run down and in real need of redemption that had been promised for thousands of years. And so Jesus’ birth was much more than the start of something ... it was the end of a long line of waiting.

Wow. If you're broken, run down and in need of redemption this year ... rejoice! The Savior has come!

And, finally, something utterly fluffy ... if you like that sort of thing. (I do.) Merry Christmas!

Comments

[1. Leah said the following at 12:31 AM on Dec 26:]

1

Honestly, I hate it when women - or men - drop an unexpected wedding on their other half. I think it's rude. The other person hasn't had any say in their wedding. It goes the total opposite direction of showing love. I think it's fortunate in this situation how pleased the husband was.

[2. Suzanne Hadley Gosselin said the following at 2:05 PM on Dec 28:]

2

Leah, Have you heard of this thing a lot? This is the first time I've even heard of anything like it. :)

[1. Leah said the following at 12:31 AM on Dec 26:]

1

Honestly, I hate it when women - or men - drop an unexpected wedding on their other half. I think it's rude. The other person hasn't had any say in their wedding. It goes the total opposite direction of showing love. I think it's fortunate in this situation how pleased the husband was.

[2. Suzanne Hadley Gosselin said the following at 2:05 PM on Dec 28:]

2

Leah, Have you heard of this thing a lot? This is the first time I've even heard of anything like it. :)