The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel — which means, God with us.

Matthew 1:23

I love everything about Christmas and the joy that comes with celebrating the birth of our King of Kings!

Our family has many traditions surrounding this special season: participating in Christmas Eve services and Christmas plays at church, baking and decorating Christmas cookies, listening to our favorite Christmas music on cassette tapes (yes, we started our traditions 33 years ago), singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out the candles on the Jesus birthday cake we have made together, seeking those unique Christmas ornaments for each child which represented some special memory of the year and of course, finding and trimming the tree.

As happens in life, cherished memories are often those experienced in the midst of a crisis. One such memory involved our family’s search for the perfect tree. At the time, we lived in central Illinois. We were on our way home from church and decided to stop at a local tree lot to pick out our tree. It was a very cold day and we were not prepared to be outside in the elements for too long. After coming to an agreement on which tree was best, and a very rushed attempt to secure the tree tightly to the roof of our minivan, we were off again on our journey home. It was just a few miles down the country road when we heard our youngest child Caleb (now a senior at PBA) shout out, “The tree is falling!” spoken with great emotion, like only a 4-year-old can do. His announcement brought the car to a halt and prompted his dad to once again brace the elements (minus gloves) to make sure the tree was not lost, as he attempted to tie every branch more securely to the vine and to our car.

Emmanuel, God with us. Let us be thankful for this ultimate Christmas gift from God and mindful of our need to abide in Him, our tree of life, which allows us to live for Him.

I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

– Debbie Mason
Palm Beach Atlantic Parents Council