The Meaning of Christmas

The Meaning of Christmas

‘Twas the month before Christmas and I couldn’t sleep
I tried counting cows I tried counting sheep
But my head was spinning for what lay ahead
Instead of looking forward to Christmas I faced it with dread
There was so much to do, decorating and shopping
The baking, the wrapping the cleaning the mopping
But as the moon on the snow glittered and glistened
A voice seemed to whisper be silent and listen
As God made each snowflake he made you unique
Like wise men of old we still need to seek
The Savior God sent us that first Christmas night
Angels sang Hallelujah and the star shone so bright
It not about presents and shopping and toys
It somehow gets hidden beneath hubbub and noise
It’s not about decorations and what’s under the tree
It’s about God’s special gift He sent you and me
It doesn’t need lights, paper or ribbon
This gift from above was to us freely given
This year in the midst of shopping and cleaning
I vow my Christmas will take on a new meaning
I’ll thank God for His gift He sent from above
And celebrate Christmas with reverence and love

Sue Ikerd
November 18, 2004 ©

Categories: Christian, Christmas | 1 Comment

Christmas Now and Then

Christmas, Now and Then

As I think back on Christmas, now and then,
Sometimes I stop to reflect on when
There were no Santas, and candy filled socks
But poor lowly shepherds watching their flocks
There was no facebook, youtube and twitter
When an angel appeared, a star gleamed and glittered
No songs about snowmen and reindeer that fly
But a Heavenly choir filled the night sky
No garlands or tinsel or Christmas tree lights
Decorated the stable that first silent night
The first Christmas present wasn’t wrapped with bright bows
But laid in a manager in swaddling clothes
The true meaning of Christmas we’ve seemed to forgotten
When God sent his Son, His only begotten
A gift sent from Heaven for us to receive
It’s ours for the taking, Accept and Believe

Sue Ikerd©
November 21, 2011

Categories: Christian, Christmas | 2 Comments

MY MISSOURI

My Missouri

There are mountains and streams, lakes, prairies and plains
Cities and towns and fields growing grain

The Big Mississippi and muddy Missouri
Forests and wildlife and storms with their fury

Explorers Lewis and Clark began their great quest
The Arch is a symbol, Gateway to the West

Where our 33rd president, Harry Truman was born
And Daniel Boone died on a September morn

Where Tom Sawyer emerged in the mind of Mark Twain
And a young girl with a gun became Calamity Jane

This place was the beginning of the Pony Express
The Oregon Trail , called “Mother of the West”

From here Churchill first uttered the phrase “Iron Curtain”
Our history is rich, of that we are certain

Where gangsters once roamed, like Bonnie and Clyde
The James brothers robbed banks and one of them died

Scott Joplin played Ragtime, W. C. Handy the blues
Cardinals or Royals, it’s hard to choose

Edwin Hubble looked to the sky and studied the stars
Generals Pershing and Bradley went off to fight wars

George Washington Carver first dreamed of all he gave us.
Walt Disney imagined Mickey, a mouse who’s now famous

Thomas Hart Benton painted history with large fluid strokes
We thank God for the legacies of these uncommon folks

Settled by pioneers and farmers who made this land great
Admitted to the Union in 1821, we are the Show Me State

Sue Ikerd
September 9, 2019©

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One Special Night

The donkey told the little lamb who told the whippoorwill
The news soon spread across the land through valleys and up hills
The message fluttered around the earth on the evening breeze
And was heard by ladybugs as it murmured through the trees
The lion told the little mouse who told the wise old owl
As the news spread across the world to every beast and fowl
The turtle told the sea gull who shouted to the ocean
That nature should bow down in reverence and devotion
From forests to savannas, from fields to mountains high
The creatures all looked up in awe as the star glowed in the sky
The angels told the shepherds about this blessed birth
A night unlike no other when Jesus came to earth

Sue Ikerd©
December 20, 2012

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His Chair

She sat in his chair with a faraway stare
Reminiscing on times long ago
The day they were married, the dear ones they buried
And how their love continued to grow
Though the going was rough they never gave up
The love they shared would not dim
Oh how her heart ached, she felt it might break
As she faced a world without him
For the time now had come, when she was alone
And she missed him so very much
She rubbed the arms of his chair as though he were there
Longing to again feel his touch
Her life had now changed, her world rearranged
Only cherished memories did abide
Through laughter and tears, the good and lean years
They had experienced it all side by side
Through floods and fire, the muck and the mire
It seemed they missed out on success
Looking back on their life as husband and wife
I know they were abundantly blessed
But she always knew that one day she too
Would be called as God had called him away
In his chair she would wait, and their life contemplate
Until she would join him one day

Sue Ikerd©
December 4, 2019

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