MY GIRLS ARE HAVING A GREAT TIME!

"I'll be home for Christmas" is a song you'd like to sing in the days preceding Christmas if you are faraway from home. The deep longing of a son or daughter is to return home before Christmas and be with the family during the festive season. For mothers and fathers it is a time to renew bonds and share the Good News about God's greatest Gift! If dinners, friends, carols, sparkling new dresses and re-unions are common around Christmas time, it is good to remember that all these and more are possible only because of the greatest gift of all - Jesus Christ! Christmas is a time for celebration. It is a time for friendship. Christmas is a time for family. A time for joy and happiness. A time for all the goodies. And a time for love. Are you home for Christmas?

December 25 is still three days away. But the festive mood has seized everyone of us. And my girls are having a great time. The youth fellowship of our church celebrated advent Christmas since yesterday, culminating with a "musical nite" tonight. My eldest daughter Nadine and her sibling Patricia sang solo yesterday evening. During the musical nite this evening, they both sang again, and they enjoyed it. I was overwhelmed with a sense of pride with their performances. My third daughter Janie danced with two other friends and the crowd went wild, dancing along with them. If the three older sisters are involved, can little Robie be left behind?

Oh, she was so enthralled by the performances of her sisters, she expressed her desire to sing too, some day. I would love to hear her sing. She has a sweet voice, singing "Row, row, row your boat" at least once a day. But as we sit in the crowd and as the night grew older, her sleepy eyes turned to me and said, "Papa, take me home". As we left the Sunday School hall where the event was organized I knew that Christmas 2009 will always be remembered for various reasons:

- the children have started to learn to enjoy themselves!

- God has given them potentials which need to be nurtured!

- the first Christmas without their mother!

Will you be home for Christmas?