Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your Baby Boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you’re holding is the great “I am”

When the 20 something young man walked into the front door of my funeral home, he had the appearance of both someone who was doing what he had to do but nothing he wanted to do. He told me that he needed to make funeral arrangements and when I asked him for whom, he simply replied “For my two year old son.”

As the car pulled up to the front of my funeral home, I opened the door and felt the cold, wet chill of the 1 a.m. morning. A group of people who would have done anything to be anywhere but where they were now, stepped inside carrying a blanket wrapped bundle. They shuffled past me into a room where I had earlier setup a bed, onto which they placed their bundle, their three year old daughter who had died earlier at their home.

Two young families, both facing the painful and hurtful reality of death. Both dealing with lives lived far too innocent and far too brief. Both wanting to be anywhere else but needing to be here.

Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of daily life, we lose perspective. As this season of family approaches, this season of joy and love and togetherness, take time to remember that you are where you want to be. Take time to look beyond the gifts and the material blessings and instead look at the many blessings you have regardless of how you feel about where you are at this moment. And most importantly, take time to live, laugh and love with those you care about the most this holiday season. We may exchange presents a couple of times a year, but celebrate each and every day. For each day is a gift, that is why we call it “the present”.