Hugs Before Christmas (( ))

December 16, 2014

Dear Sam and Max,

Sam’s Christmas ornament is on our tree in the perfect place for Pops and me to see it from our favorite chairs. Each time I look at the precise letters you printed in the words “I love…” and I feel like I’m getting a hug from both of you because when you write Sam, your concentration is as strong as it feels when you and Max squeeze me.

I’m writing this letter ten days before Christmas and I’m guessing that everyone in both your schools is excited and silly and loud and teachers and your parents seem to be using “time-out” way more often than they did before Halloween. That’s the thing about Christmas – excitement builds and builds like a campfire in your body until Christmas morning comes and whoosh – the fire inside is like the perfect fire for roasting marshmallows. You feel all glowy, and the world is quiet except for your family’s talking and laughing and sound of Christmas carols on the TV’s classic music station (I know your parents favorites).

My favorite Christmas carol on Christmas morning is “Away in a Manger” because after a baby cries his first cries and drinks his first meal, he sleeps and no matter where he is sleeping he looks so peaceful everyone around him wants to keep still. Of course he DOESN’T keep still. Babies wake up very loud when they’re hungry or need a diaper change, just ask your mom and dad. They will also tell you that it but soon enough the baby has a routine and is a part of the family and the world as if he has always been there.

And that’s the way it is after Christmas. We celebrate Jesus being born every December, and in the New Year we find ways to make him a part of our lives. We share what we have. We take turns listening. We’re kind - especially to the people other people are mean to. Adults sometimes act as if Jesus was born a grown up and perfect; but he was born a baby just like you both and Pops and me. Like us, he had parents who loved him, sent him to school and gave him chores, taught him to say his prayers, and encouraged him to be the person God created him to be. Well…actually, God created him to be a baby, then a boy, then a remarkable adult... but until it’s time to tell THAT part of His story, have a Merry Christmas and give lots of hugs!

Love, Marmee.

A Prayer to Ponder

Dear Sammy and Max,

Almost every Sunday in almost every church someone says “let us say together the prayer that Jesus taught us” and almost everyone in the church says the “Our Father” together. The prayer comes from two different stories in the Gospels and one of the important words is different in the Gospel of Matthew than in the Gospel of Luke. That difference is the reason I am writing this note. I will tell you why when we get into that part. Here’s the prayer and what I think when I say it.

Our Father - Jesus called God Abba which means “Daddy.”, because he knew how much God loved him but Father is a formal word, more appropriate for churches.

Who art in Heaven -Jesus wanted us to know that God is as real as you and I and so he named the place God lives.

Hallowed be thy name. - When Jesus was a boy, he learned to respect God more than anyone by only saying God’s name when praying. When Max says “GoodGod loves you,” that’s a prayer.

Thy kingdom come, - Jesus’ family lived in a time when just a few people were kings and everyone else followed their rules which were often made by selfish kings. In God’s kingdom people will always be kind and just.

Thy will be done, - This tells God we know that no matter what, God wins J

On Earth as it is in Heaven.-SURPRISE! God is in the earth (like in dirt!) and everywhere else -  at your table, in your bed, in your yard, in your town… in the sky and infinity.

Give us this day our daily bread - We remember to remember every day that God gives us all good things.

And forgive us our debts - Debt is the word that is in Matthews’s Gospel, but not in Luke’s. A debt is something one owes to another person. I like saying “Debt” in this prayer because it helps me to remember that when I’m not honest or kind I take a little piece of God’s goodness away from the world and I have to give it back.

  

As we forgive our debtors - I “give back” to God when I apologize to the person I hurt, and when someone is unkind or unjust, even if I’m angry, I pray that they know God loves them too. (This is hard for me!)

  

And lead us not into temptation - God doesn’t lead us into temptation! What Jesus wants us to remember is that no matter how hard it might be, we will make good choices when we trust God.

But deliver us from evil, - Parents make rules so children will stay safe AND so they will grow into the person God wants them to be. Mary and Joseph taught Jesus God’s rules (the 10 Commandments) and by the time he was a grown- up he knew deep in his heart that because God loved him  he wasn’t afraid of the bad because he knew the good..

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen  This end to the prayer is not in the Gospels, but people usually say it because it is amazing that God, who is so strong and Ninja powerful knows and loves each of us from the day we are born into forever.

Love, Marmee