Merry Christmas

My Christmas blog is never long because I know everyone is busy baking, wrapping presents, and putting the last stitches in quilted gifts.  This year – and the one before – have been unprecedented in social and political strife.  Increased inflation, higher prices on everything from soup to nuts, and the cargo stranglehold which may have some of our Christmas held hostage, doesn’t make for “days merry and bright.”  As a matter of fact, on the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of “happy” ahead in the New Year. 

However, this year and every year, I remember another time and another place.  Where a young woman and her husband traveled for miles to return to Bethlehem.  And in the cold, still night a baby’s newborn cry announced the promised Messiah had come.  A star hovered over His birthplace and angels proclaimed His coming to a group of shepherds and their sleeping sheep. Wisemen began a long trek to find the Christ-child and in his palace, King Herod stirred with an unease he couldn’t explain.

This Christmas, I wish for you a peace that passes all understanding and a joy which comes from knowing this time of crisis will pass.  Things were rough in Bethlehem, too.  Joseph and Mary weren’t traveling to see family for the holidays.  They returned to Joseph’s hometown to pay taxes.  The little family didn’t have a warm bed adorned with quilts, but a stable, some clean hay, a few swaddling cloths, and a manger.  And they rejoiced when the angel choir split the quiet of the dark night with their refrain, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill to all men.”  Not too shabby of a birth announcement, if you ask me.

And that is my Christmas wish for everyone.  May His peace keep you and may we all love each other a little more and a little harder next year – Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace and good will to us all.

Merry Christmas!

Love to all, from My Quilt Studio to Yours,

Sherri and Sam