The below was written long ago by my mother who is now 84 years old. It was published at Christmas in her local newspaper. Thought it fitting to re-publish in this forum.

This morning found me awakening from a dream so depressed and unhappy I wondered why I would feel this way with Christmas so close. As I read my morning devotions, I realized how caught up I had become in the usual gift buying and worrying about the bills that would come due next month. My devotions said, ‘Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth.’ I said, ‘Oh Lord, forgive me.’ No shopping today and maybe not tomorrow, either.

Later that morning as I was placing a red candle in the hall closet, I dropped it. The red coating on the candle broke off in pieces over the floor. I picked it up and peeled away the remaining pieces. Underneath was a perfectly white candle. I placed it in my display and it looked so much nicer than the red one.

And then the verse from Isaiah came to me: ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow…’

That is what Christ has done for us. He came as a babe in a manger, but went to the cross and shed his blood for our sins. We can come to Him with all the broken pieces of our lives and find complete forgiveness and eternal life. Let us remember to keep Christ in Christmas, this year and, every year.