One of my most memorable Christmas presents was, probably like a lot of kids, my first bicycle. My sister and I had been asking for a bike for a while. My parents were raising six kids, so they had already provided bikes for four boys. Now it was time for two more.

I remember when my brothers got their bikes, they woke up Christmas morning to find them parked in the kitchen. (It was a small house, not a lot of options.) I was about ten when I woke up early Christmas morning. My brother Danny was up getting ready to go out on his paper route, on his bike. I asked him to go look in the kitchen to see if my and Karen’s bikes were there. He came back disappointed and told us no, we didn’t get our bikes.

When we finally got up, Karen & I made a beeline for the kitchen just to be sure. I found out later that our neighbors across the street catty-corner from us could hear our screams of excitement when we saw our yellow bikes. I was a bit high strung then, and still can be now at times when I’m enthusiastic about something. Needless to say, we were so happy. I’m glad my brother didn’t tell us and left it to be a surprise.

Mom & dad were wonderful parents. My dad provided for a family of eight on a milkman’s salary and mom managed the household. Although money was tight, I never felt deprived. We had great Christmases, birthdays, camping vacations, water skiing on the weekends (dad built our first boat,) and in general a wonderful family life. My dad could do just about anything. So, as it turned out, our bikes were used that dad refurbished. You could not tell they weren’t new. One way or another, mom and dad did everything they could to make life great for their family. A little girl could not have been more blessed.

~ Connie Shipley

Psalm 80

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth ² before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.

³ Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

⁴ How long, Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
⁶ You have made us an object of derision^[b] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.

⁷ Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

⁸ You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹ Its branches reached as far as the Sea,^[c]
its shoots as far as the River.^[d]

¹² Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
¹³ Boars from the forest ravage it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
¹⁴ Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
¹⁵     the root your right hand has planted,
the son^[e] you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶ Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
¹⁷ Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
¹⁸ Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹ Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

Prayer

Dear Lord, we know that joy is in the world because You have come. We know too that You came that our joy may be full. We thank You that Your joy cannot be taken away from us. We thank You for those gifts that bring genuine happiness to us. We thank You for those gifts that represent an expenditure of money as well as the time and talents of the giver. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.