December 17, 2001
God and sinners 'reconsmiled'
in kids' version of Christmas
___ "Watching the boys decorate the Christmas tree this year evoked cherished memories of past years. I told Mark we could measure the boys' growth by seeing how far up the tree their ornaments are placed. This year they got close to how high I can reach (not far, admittedly). We always leave the top branches for Mark, but in a few years I think the boys will be right there with him.
___ Martha Stewart would have been appalled at our Christmas tree the year the boys were rambunctious 18-month-olds. We stuckthe tree (artificial, of course) inside a huge playpen, with the presents tucked in around it inside the mesh. The extremely fragile ornaments stayed in their boxes in the attic for several years. Still, the boys managed to pull the tree down out of the playpen once that year.
ALISON WINGFIELD
___The following years are a bit of a blur, but I remember when the boys first placed ornaments on the tree. They all ended up on the same low branch in a big clump. If I moved them around, they mysteriously ended up back in a clump.
___ We still have a struggle every year about where to put things. Luke tends to take one side and hang his ornaments fairly close together, and Garrett does the same on the other side. I guess the symmetry works out in the end.
___Another thing that has changed is how they view presents. The first few years, the boys liked the wrapping paper and boxes almost as much as the gifts. Now they count the boxes and shake them and tell me what they think is inside each one (unfortunately, they are usually right).
___My cute, cuddly 2-year-olds are long gone, but I wouldn't trade my rough-and-tough 9-year-olds for them. Each Christmas brings its own special moments as they grow and mature.
___ Although Luke and Garrett are constantly changing, what we celebrate never changes: Christ with us, Emmanuel.
___The last few Sundays, Alison has come home from church full of cute stories about the 2-year-olds she teaches in Sunday School. She has taken a simple wooden manger scene we have had for years and has let the boys and girls take turns placing the sturdy characters into the scene.
___She knew this would be a hit because when Luke and Garrett were that age, they could not keep their hands off the big wooden cutouts of Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a sheep and a donkey.
___In fact, our boysloved to take Baby Jesus on trips around the house. We would find Jesus sitting inSanta's sleigh, standing next to angels and sometimes in one of the boys' tight grip in bed.
MARK WINGFIELD
___That was the same year the boys learned "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by watching a video of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
___In that story, bumbling Charlie Brown is named director of the town Christmas play, but no one pays him any respect, and he can't even pick out a decent Christmas tree. However, the story ends with all the children redeeming Charlie Brown's pitiful Christmas tree, dressing up its few weak branches to (miraculously) look better than the White House Christmas tree.
___As an astonished Charlie Brown views the amazing transformation, all the children burst into a chorus of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
___Luke and Garrett loved that part especially, but their 2-year lips could handle the tune better than the words. So they paraded around the house singing loudly their version of Charles Wesley's famous words: "Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners 'reconsmiled.'"
___It may not have been exactly the right words, but the message was there. When we take Jesus out of the manger and give him a place in our hearts, we are indeed "reconsmiled" to God.
PREVIOUS HE SAID/ SHE SAID COLUMNS:
1999: 6/16, 6/23, 6/30, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 11/17, 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22,
2000: 1/5, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/10, 6/26, 6/19, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 11/6, 11/20, 11/27, 12/11.
2001: 1/1, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/12, 3/5, 4_19, 4/2, 4/23, 5/14 6/11, 6/25, 7/9, 7/23, 8/13, 9/3, 9/17, 10/9, 11/26, 12/3
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
