CHRISTMAS 2010

Scott/Erickson/Haugen Christmas Prayer
December 25, 2010

Father, you have blessed this family liberally. In the past you have enriched our lives with health, wealth, love and peace that passes all understanding. This year we saw health fail for Janice/Mom/Grandma, and wealth is never assured. But love and peace can never be taken from us because they are eternal and come from the One whose entrance into our world we celebrate today. It is that Love which brings us together and that Peace which assures us that Mom is more than okay in Your presence. Because You entered our world and suffered all that we suffer and more; because You shed the blood required for sin, we have assurance that we are a family that will be together forever. “And so we concentrate not on the things which are seen, but the things which are unseen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal.” ( II Cor 4:18) We give You our lives and thank you for every day of good health You allow. We give You our hearts and permission to guide our lives according to Your will; not ours. We give You our thanks and ask for Your protection from the grief that sometimes sweeps over us and threatens to disable us. We give You our praise because You are the Eternal King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christmas is about You. Thank you for all You give us, including the food we are about to eat. Finally we lift up those who are suffering in so many ways in so many parts of this world, including many who are very close to us. May they find the peace You have given us. Praise you for the Hope that is in the baby in the manger and the man on the cross by whom death is defeated.
In the name of the babe in the manger….. Jesus ….. Amen