Enya (instrumental) ~ Oh Holy Night
Trans Siberian Orchestra ~ Carol of the Bells
Manheim steamroller ~ Irish Celtic Harp ~ Greensleeves
Bing Crosby & David Bowie ~ Peace on Earth
Jim Reeves ~ Elf Soundtrack ~ Jingle Bells
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The London Symphony Orchestra ~ The First Noel
Wow, the poem and the beautiful Christmas music - what a great way to handle an insomnia attack. Thank you.
Merry Christmas!
A beautiful, beautiful day to you!
| December 16, 2005
Job Opening
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About this time last year, a job became available in the church my wife and I attend. Just over a week before Christmas, my mother-in-law, Lenore Tuttle, died at the age of 85. When she went home to be with Jesus, she left a void not only in our family but also in our church. We were now without one of our most faithful prayer warriors.
At Mother Tuttle's funeral, the presiding pastor showed the congregation her prayer box. It contained dozens of prayer cards on which she had written the names of people she prayed for every day, including one that mentioned the pastor's gall bladder surgery. On top of that prayer box was this verse: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). She was a true prayer warrior who diligently sought the Lord.
Each day, many older saints, who have continued steadfastly in prayer (Romans 12:12), leave this earth through death and move on to heaven. This creates a "job opening" for people who will commit themselves to praying faithfully. Many of these positions remain unfilled. Will you fill one of them? —Dave Branon
Wanted: Prayer Warriors.
Thank you for the Christmas carols, GBUSA!
...and God bless you and your family this Christmas season and throughout the new year!
PAL
Freema, thank you for sending us the information and very poignant poem from Sgt. Murray's heart, and thank you so much, GeeBee, for the beautiful way you jumped in and put it together, and on such short notice.
Also love this Christmas music and I'm saving some to my desktop so that I will have them on my harddrive and won't have to wait for *buffering*! Listening to Greensleeves right now - and the little kitty looks like he's playing piano to the beat!
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I really enjoyed "Greensleeves," Gracie. It's a classic, just like you!
freema, we are indebted to you for sharing this story, so typical of the hearts of our American protectors and heroes.
If you did not know, I am a USMC veteran of the Korean Conflict, instructing women recruits in classroom subjects at Parris Island.
My first Christmas there was in 1952, aboard a base where graduating recruits were usually flown directly to the West Coast and ships to take them to combat in Korea. A few Marines stationed on base I had dated, some afterward sent to Korea, and it *always* was heartwrenching when I heard from my classroom near the airfield (since relocated) those flights taking off to go to combat.
That Christmas I spent on base - the next as a young married woman in nearby Beaufort, followed by Rochester, NY, Chincoteague, Virginia, 2 more back in Rochester; and then 4 in Florida with my two little boys and parents.
In October 1961, I married a Korean Conflict Marine veteran who had reentered the Air Force. The boys and I were placed on a flight from Florida to join him in Rapid City, South Dakota (Ellsworth AFB) at 10 p.m. on December 23rd. (It turned out to be the very last time I spoke with /saw my mother).
We went to Atlanta, and transferred to a flight to Chicago's O'Hare Airport - the first time in 3 days flights could land there because of blizzards!
We had to sit there in a cold hangar until 0400 when the next leg to Minneapolis/St. Paul was to depart...it after boarding sat on the runway an hour because another plane had skidded into and was stuck on the path our flight had to use for takeoff.
As a consequence, we missed the connecting flight to Rapid City, and spent the day until the next flight out in the M/St.Paul terminal. Imagine how sleep-deprived I was by then, after packing and traveling for two days! I was blessed with two wonderful boys, 6 and 7, who were extremely well-behaved, and I could let them roam within sight of me while I was rather zonked in and out, sitting upright.
Finally boarding the United flight to Rapid City, it was nearly empty, and two wonderful stewardesses took charge of Steve and Kevin so I could sleep. They took them into the cabin, gave then wings to wear, fed them - truly flying angels with a capital A!!
We thus on Christmas Eve circled Rapid City to land, the heavy snow beneath quite lovely, and my husband and a good friend were there to greet us. He had secured an upstairs apartment, and he and Dennis had set up and decorated a small tree - our first - and had presents beneath. In two hours, it was our first Christmas as a family.
On Christmas Day, we had dinner at the mess hall on base.
In the next year, as many here know, we had a daughter on September 30th, and 2 weeks later the Cuban Missile Crisis put our life in real jeopardy, Ellsworth AFB the #2 target should Russia let missiles fly and world war commence..
The next event followed quickly - orders for Fairbanks, Alaska, leaving the night after Christmas Day 1962! For the boys' sake and because it was our daughter's first Christmas, we Christmas Eve got a full-sized tree for them, taking it down the 26th. The boys (then 7 and 8) were impressed that we would be leaving the night of the 26th, driving through Canada around the top of the Rockies and over the Alaska Highway, and above the base south of Fairbanks is North Pole, Alaska..:))
We celebrated New Years Day 1963 with a midday dinner at the historic hotel at Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway.
We had 3 Christmases in Fairbanks, and then went to Myrtle Beach AFB, SC, ariving 1 July 1066.
The second Christmas there was a very lonely one for me, Bernie having left for Southeast Asia on October 7th, 1967.
This was before email and we could not afford long distance calls, and I typed long letters to him every day.
I taught that year at the base school (grades 1-8) where the boys were in the 7th and 8th grades, with all male teachers - a real plus! (Jennifer, 5, was in kindergarten)
We went to spend Christmas Day 1967 in Summerton, SC with my two sisters and their families, so the children had a lot of cousins to enjoy the day.
Bernie returned from Southeast Asia on October 7th, 1968 and we moved 2 days later on our anniversary (in heavy rain) to Charleston AFB, SC, where we had a really sparse Christmas (small doll for Jennifer and a Life board game for the boys and us; extra Gaines burger for the dog), on half pay for 6 months, and after absorbing the extra costs of the move - no base quarters - our last one in military service.
We were, however, TOGETHER, and that was all that counted!
Rather than go back for another year to Southeast Asia, as orders were soon to be cut, with the boys in high school, he left service 1 July 1969 and went into retail management, as I did (later 19 years in and around medicine), in Florida, and thereafter other states. (North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina again - then we retired here to South Carolina in 1995.)
It was never a hardship thing for me, with Christmases far from my Florida 'home'..."home" is wherever God would send me, I determined at a very early age, and Christmas is to be celebrated every day of every month of every year....it is even more so now, not dependent upon glitter and gifts and 'things' - -
Bottom Line: we have been given The Ultimate Gift!
I loved all your pictures....they really put me in the mood to celebrate and finish up my wrapping.
And in support of our troops...
And a wonderful poem by a special guy.
And loaded with music. Your thread has it all. A real treat. : )
Thank you for a beautiful thread!
May you Rest In Peace, Sgt. Rodney A. Murray
God Bless our Military, always
