Advent Devotional by Marianne Neth
Psalm 89
Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. (Psalm 89:2)
Christmas is a time that creates many wonderful memories for all of us from long ago to the present season. Some of my memories are very similar, and they sometimes begin to blur together through the years, but many memories are unique and very clear in my mind. My Advent devotional is about one of those unforgettable and special Christmas seasons.
The vivid memories begin on November 18, 1985, the 34th birthday of my husband, Norman, when lightning started a fire in the attic of our one-and-a-half-story farmhouse. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and we were able to salvage much of our furniture and a few clothes, but our farmhouse was a total loss and unlivable. Norman and I had to quickly decide where we and our three children (ages 8, 5, and 2) would live for the next several months while we built a new home. A “Merry Christmas” experience did not appear to be in our future that year!
We were somewhat surprised in the midst of our chaos when Norman’s grandmother, Frances Neth, generously invited us to live in the large bedroom on the top floor of her home. It was definitely not ideal. However, it would give us a respectable place to live temporarily, and we were very grateful! I soon discovered, while spending time with Grandma Frances in her home, that she was sad about Christmas that year as well. Her husband, Allen Neth, had passed away in February, and this would be her first Christmas in sixty years without him. Both of us, about fifty years apart in age, were figuring out the process of going through the motions of everyday life while living together and also worrying about finding the spirit of Christmas in our hearts that year. It was stressful.
Thank heavens for our three children because, after Thanksgiving, Grandma and I realized we needed to prepare for Santa to fill their stockings in her home that Christmas. Miraculously, the three beautiful velveteen stockings that she had made for each child were not harmed in the fire, and we hung them on her fireplace mantel. Each day was busy with packing, unpacking, cleaning, cooking, etc., and the early days of December flew by quickly. On Christmas Eve, we read the Bible story of Jesus’s birth together, and Christmas morning at Grandma’s home was a very meaningful and joyful time for all of us! It was a truly special time filled with the spirit of Christmas, and is now a wonderful and loving memory.
Our family and Grandma that Christmas experienced God’s unfailing love and enduring faithfulness, just as the Psalmist wrote in the verse above. As we celebrate the birth of Christ this year and in the future, let us always remember that God will provide for us and fill our hearts with Christmas spirit through His promise to love and faithfully be with us forever.
Marianne Neth