The Perfect Gift
By Naomi Houston
Avery County
Little did any of us know back in September – and certainly I could not have imagined what was ahead – a Perfect Storm was on its way to our mountains. My October article which dealt with the “October of Life” (referring to the changes we personally go through as we grow older (published in the November issue of this paper) would certainly have had a different approach had I known that on September 27 our world would change forever and the date will be etched in the memory of (at least those here in our mountains) like the date of 9-11.
Even so, with the help of so many volunteers, and neighbors we know and came to know – God’s love was “shed abroad” throughout our hills and hollars and although we are still a people in mourning, the celebration of the birth of our Savior will still come to pass.
Despite the devastation surrounding us the world has begun to don a festive cloak adorned with the twinkling lights of holiday decorations and the sound of carols greets us daily. The air is becoming filled with the enchantment of Christmas.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the holiday activities during the Christmas season. So much to do! So little time! But this year, perhaps, Christmas is going to be a different kind of holiday. Despite the shopping, the meal planning, the decorating, the gift exchanging – the rush, rush, rush of it all – Christmas will come to us all, not in a beautifully wrapped package but wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger and the world will, for a moment, take note of this Perfect Gift from our heavenly Father (John 3: 16). This gift of Love that we receive from God is one that we are commanded to share.
In Luke 2: 10-11, a pivotal moment in history happens when the shepherds receive a message of Hope from an angel. “Today in the town of Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” The birth of Christ brought the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior and we sing “O, Come, O Come, Emmanuel” with the longing of God’s people who carried that Hope in their hearts.
The gift of Joy found in the announcement to the shepherds signifies the magnitude and significance of Christ’s birth. It is a joy that transcends personal circumstances and cultural boundaries.
What better news could we hope to hear? What better gift could we hope to receive? Jesus and His saving grace are within reach of all – from the poorest shepherds to the kings from the East. He stands in our midst and none of us is too poor, too broken, too sinful, too rejected by the world to know His glory. For the Word is made flesh and dwells in our midst, dwells wherever we are willing to recognize. Him. “Go! Tell It on the Mountain – that Jesus Christ is born!”
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Naomi Houston and her husband, Lt Col Clay Houston USMC Retired, live on Henson Creek in Avery County. They are members of Mt Zion Community Church where Naomi is the adult Sunday School teacher. Both have been actively involved in church throughout their 68 years of marriage and Naomi wrote a weekly column for the Avery Post for many years.
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