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The Citizen, 2004-12-23, Page 19WORSHIP SERVICES Christmas Morning - 10:00 a.m. Sunday, December 26 Pastor John Kuperus 10:00 a.m. — Guest Minister: Sermon Title: Servant of God Rev. Jack deVries from Listowel CRC Text: Luke 1: 39-55 7:30 p.m. - Pastor Harry Frielink Christmas Memories and What It Means To Me ‘4,THE CITIZEN,THURSDAY, DECEMBER1 3 , 2004 PAGE 19 Blyth Christian Reformed Church All Are Welcome Luke 2: 10-11 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.- 1 very vividly remember a Christmas in a Christian hospital in Amsterdam, Holland. This takes you back about 50 years. On Christmas morning the patients were not woken up at 5 o'clock as usual, but instead they woke up to singing. The night nurses as well as the day nurses were asked to gather on the winding staircase that connected the first and second floor and there we sang the well-known Dutch hymn, Glory to God in the Highe.st, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. The night nurses had taken care that all doors to wards and rooms were open so everybody could hear it. - • After the wake-up call we served tea with small cinnamon rusks to the patients which was a real treat and then the work had to be done as usual. By 11 o'clock everything had to be in place for a Christmas service. There was a big hall with a 16-bed ward on two sides and hallways to smaller wards and rooms. The patients who were allowed up ,gathered in the hall and we put the beds with the bed-ridden patients in a semi-circle in the wards so they could see and hear. The hospital chaplain offered the Christmas message. The nurses choir sang Christmas hymns. This was a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas and made up for not being able to be at home with my family. — Nel Boven ****** It was Christmas day 1960 and my parents, along with my two-year-old brother had left the week before to visit relatives in Holland. My oldest sister was left in charge of the household which included six more girls. There was also an older gentleman who came to help us with the chores. He was a friend of the family and was very good at milking cows on our dairy farm.. Unfortunately this man had a very large- nose and as we were a houseful of girls, and not haVing much entertainment his nose often became the object of much laughter, but he was a good sport and took it all in stride. The night before Christmas turned out to be bitterly cold, with howling winds and snow squalls, but we were not worried as we were all snug and, cozy in our warm beds, anticipating the special meal my sister was going to prepare for us the next day. But old man winter had other things on his mind, as he wove his icy fingers around our water pipes under the kitchen crawl space. unbeknownst to us he turned them into solid tubes of ice. The next morning after the chores were done we realized to our dismay that there was no water. What were we to do. Luckily the older gentleman took control and suggested we get water from the barn, boil it on the stove and then pour it onto the frozen pipes. But who was going to go down into that dark crawl space •that was about three feet high? Unfortunately I was the one designated to do the job, even though I am somewhat claustrophobic. So sitting in that crawl space, pouring hot water on the pipes and having my glasses steam up wasn't exactly my idea of having a good time. A few hours later success was achieved and I, was thankful to leave that undesirable, steamy, small dark space. _ My sister was upset that she hadn't been able to do any cooking for us because of the water situation, but we were all hungry after this adventure so we made some sandwiches and hot chocolate. As we were ready to sit down to eat we saw our neighbour, Grant Snell come in with his blue tractor to blow out the laneway, and right behind him came his brother Harry Snell carrying boxes of something. What was it'? The aroma coming out of those boxes was unbelievable. To our utter amazement Mr. Snell had brought a complete Christnias dinner. Well let me tell you we wasted no time digging into that scrumptious meal (Harry's wife Hattie was known in the neighbourhood as a great cook). We ate food we had never seen before, like dressing, turkey and pie. Wow! what a feast. Later that day, to top it all off Grant Snell came with a large box of goodies, apples, oranges, candies and chocolates. We were just overwhelmed i and thankful to have such kind neighbours. SO what turned out to be a dismal day ended up being one of my most memorable Christmases. That is what Christmas is, showing Christian love and kindness to one another. May we remember to share this love and kindness not only at Christmas but all through the year. —Audrey Boonstoppel. younger sister who sang with me is no longer with us here on earth but living with her Saviour and it gives me great pleasure to remember those times we had together. — Pat Poortinga. ****** Christmas 1983 fell on a Sunday and was a very snowy day. The snow was dropping from the sky by buckets making everything white. The church services were cancelled and our plans to go to my in-laws for Christmas dinner and festivities were cancelled as well. At this point we were all feeling a little let down, Then the phone rang. It was June Peck our neighbour inviting us for dinner. Surely we could travel a quarter of a mile up the road for dinner so we replied with a loud, "yes!". We were all prepared to leave but the car wouldn't start. However, we were in a state of mind to go so the four of us, our two little boys, my pregnant wife and myself got on the tractor. Four people on the 474 International, with a snowblower behind. It was a little crowded. We got there and had a nice Christmas dinner. It turned out it was a good thing we took the tractor because on the way back home the road had filled -in and we were going through drifts two feet deep. We would never have been able to make it back in the car. We arrived back home a little chilled but full of Christmas chicken and neighbourly hospitality. Christmas 1983 was a Christmas to remember. - Jack Nonkes. ****** For about twenty years a painting is in my heart, a picture from my, at that time, seven-year-old boy. A picture that over the years comforted me, when I thought of it. You wonder why? I'd like to describe it. Bright yellow dominants and covers more than half of the picture. It is the glow of a red burning candle standing on solid ground. The impressive light from that candle pushed all the dark black colours to the side. Only a little black in the upper corners and over the solid ground tells about the darkness of the room the candle stands in. And then the letters, written by untrained children's hands saying, "The Lord Is The Light". By looking at this picture you can almost feel the power of that light. And it says "The Lord i the Light." Why does this picture speak so intensive to my heart you may ask? I'd like to tell you about the time in my life when that picture was made. I was a young mother of four children, l?orn close to each other. The youngest is handicapped and needed a lot of extra attention and time. The work on the farm depended on my time also, so with all that demand of my time I was worn out, tired; sad, and in a dark black cloud. And Christmas time is always a time when the enemies try to take away our peace. I tried so hard to make a Christmas time for my kids but inside of me it was dark black. On Christmas Day we went to church because ChriStmas is Christ's birthday. That is what Christmas is .all about. So I sat in the pew trying to keep my young childtien quiet so that the people around me wouldn't be distracted. I myself was! From outside and inside! Afterwards I could not remember what the sermon was about. Later in the afternoon at home the kids'played with the new gifts they. got. A little later my third child came with a painting to show me. Guess which one'? The picture with the burning candle that brightened up the whole dark room and proclaimed "The Lord Is The Light!" And I realized my boy got it this morning in church. The Lord is the Light! This light pushes all the darkness out of our souls. The Lord is the light who brings light in our life, our families and our relationship. This light will never burn out or extinguish. Looking at that picture spoke to me through the bright glowing yellow and the word written in uneven letters by a small boy who got the message. I didn't! The Lord is the Light ..And such a peace came in my heart. I could not believe. And even after 20 years when I think of it, it fills my heart with thanks and glory to God. That He is the light who comes to earth to brighten our life and show us the way to peace with God and people. And the better I know this light the brighter it shines. I wish for you all that this light may shine in your heart this Christmas too and become brighter and brighter the more you look at it. Merry Christmas. — Kathy Eigenheer. ****** At just over the age of one •year old, our daughter Meg was fascinated with the Christmas tree. She especially liked the coloured glass ornaments, the kind that had the crystal sparkles on them that look like sugar. I was upstairs cleaning the bedroom and the kids were downstairs playing in a corner of the living room, absorbed in their farm set. I heard the phone ring downstairs and debated whether to run down and answer; often by the time I got down, the caller would have hung up. But run 1 did, and got it on one of the final rings — it was my dad — just calling as he would now and then to see how things were going. It was then that I saw Meg. She' gad pulled one of those glass halls off the tree and had broken it into little pieces, rind was proceeding to eat them. After initial panic, I cleaned out her mouth, wiped her bleeding lip and checked for all the pieces to make sure she hadn't already swallowed any. I turned hack to the phone to assure my dad hat all was under control and he told me to just go and look after her. I realized a hit later that God had prompted dad to call just then, to alert me to a potential) dangerous situation for Meg. We still have a couple of those old ornaments left, and whenever I hang them I have a special memory of my dad. And a' story to tell Meg and the rest of the family of how even when it seems we are all alone. wt, have a God who always watches over and is looking after us. — Deb .S'iertseiaa. ****** When I was a young child. I remember a Christmas evening at our house that left me with a feeling of joy. My parents were rather poor and couldn't afford gifts but they also wanted us to remember Christmas as being a celebration of the birth of Jesus. So one of my older sisters had a plan to make it special for us. She had us dress up (myself and a younger brother and sister) as three wisemen and we had to find some gift to present to the baby Jesus so we scrambled around the house looking for something suitable. When evening came and'all the family members were home (it was my Dad's birthday on Christmas Day) we turned off the lights and by candlelight made our grand entrance. We started by singing "We Three Kings of Orient Are" and sang several selections with everyone afterwards:We sang from our heart and it really was quite a thrill for us to sing of our Saviour's birth and to remember that night of long ago. 1 encourage you all to let your, children experience the thrill of remembering Jesus' birthday. It also is special to celebrate with family and fr'ends. The • .