FAMILY STORIES

note: the following post was written in response to Dr. Maurlea Babb's post of December 19, 2011 (see below). The experience is just as applicable to family reunions and gatherings of any kind as it is to the Christmas holidays.

contributed by

Rev. Lowell Dean Allen

retired United Methodist pastor

 

 

Dr. Babb’s story relating the “left out” experience of the 75 year old lady prompted me to write.

Christmas Day my Pastor Vickie Hadaway (Irving Park United Methodist) encouraged us to tell our Christmas memories to our families as we celebrate with them. On this New Years Day my family gathered to celebrate both Christmas and the birthdays that we have at this time of the year.

As we ate the wonderful meal that my college age grandson had prepared I took the opportunity to share with the three generations at the table. I told them of the Christmas time 80 years ago when I was six.  Christmas was special in the Methodist parsonage because my mother made it so for five boys.  Pastor’s salaries were in the hundreds not thousands--yes HUNDREDS. But dad and mom raised a few hens, along with a couple of cows. Mother would bake 13 egg angel food cakes with candy icing for the neighbors.  She would get a dollar for the cake which she socked away so we boys would have a toy along with the shirts she had made out of the cloth bags that contained the 50 pounds of flour purchased through the year.

I got a wind up caterpillar tractor that would crawl over the Lincoln logs or pencils. My three year old brother did not think it went fast enough so he pushed it until it stripped a gear.

I prompted our children  to remember that their mother and I purposely gave them “equal” presents. Our daughter got a doll and our son an electric train.  The next year the daughter got a train and the son a doll (Amos Andra--from the Amos and Andy radio personalities.)

We also shared information that each individually had received from extended members of the family.  Grandparents, parents, and grandchildren shared and enjoyed our “stories.”  Even the fiancé of our granddaughter got some family history and shared some of his history with us.

Instead of holidays being a downer, push yourself to be involved telling your stories--and listening to others experiences from years past.

New Beginnings

contributed by:

Dr. E. Maurlea Babb

family therapist

member of First United Methodist Church,

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

I sat in church on Christmas Eve looking at the decorations and listening to the music. I go to church every week because my family told me it was a good thing.  It is a part of my ‘routine.’  But this night was different.

I was looking at the baby in the manger and began to think of this small, vulnerable creature lying there and the life He lived. 

I thought of the first sentence of THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED – “Life is difficult.”  I certainly can relate to that statement.  My life has been filled with sadness, loneliness, struggles, and failures.

And as I continued to feel a connection, relating to His experiences and the grace with which he handled situations I began to think – “What if I began to see life differently?  What if I began to know with certainty that I am never alone, that He is always at my side, encouraging me to value this gift of life?  What if I discovered a ‘mission’ for my life?  What if I used my determination to ‘write the next  chapter’  of my life with a more positive outlook- finding one or more things to feel grateful for each day.

At that moment I received a gift – a gift of HOPE.  I could literally hear the angels sing the ‘GOOD NEWS’ – the good news that there is hope for me.  I could have a ‘new beginning.’

I left the service with a sense of wonder- telling myself that I have received the greatest gift – the gift of hope – coming to me from the small infant in the manger - Jesus Christ.  May we all allow ourselves to  experience this wonder – the wonder of New Beginnings.