I am not sure when I got this poem...how it came to me and from whom? What I do know is that from the first time I read it, my heart was changed from within for every soldier, every sailor, every airman...male or female...who pledged their allegiance to serve our country; to take up arms to defend our liberties...and to willingly lay down their life for the brave comrades who stood beside them on the battlefield. It is only fitting that we spend the last day of this horrendous year and take a moment to read this poem...to thus honor not only today's servicemen and women who stand at the ready; but to give our never-ending thanks and gratitude for everyone who has served in the armed branches of our military; and through their unmeasured sacrifices, ensured that we can stand ready to enter the New Year 2021, with heads held high. Please let any service person you know (including those who service our local communities as police & fire and rescue) know how much we value their presence in our daily lives as the serve and protect. May God Bless Each of Them....and all those who seek to honor them as well!  HAPPY NEW YEAR as we say FAREWELL to Christmas 2020!

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. 

“What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."  
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red and the white ... An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

 

 Author Unknown

 

Poem for Christmas Day...December 25, 2020

 

While all the world was sleeping,

Our Father in Heaven above,

Sent down His Son, Emmanuel,

His greatest gift of love.

 

While all the world was sleeping,

Busy with Christmas cheer,

The angels in heaven said goodbye

To the one they held so dear.

 

The Holy Child of Christmas came,

To be born in a cattle stall;

With just one purpose in His life....

To be the sacrifice for ALL.

 

To once again restore mankind

To a life, holy and renewed...

Is why the little babe was born

and why He died for you.

 

So in a year filled with many sorrows;

With hatred dwelling in many hearts...

This should be the Christmas  we

Choose to make a brand new start!

 

To live not for our selfish gain

But to live in heavenly peace;

To know the Father sent to us

A way of sweet release....

 

For when we invite the Christ child in

With a heart that to Him is given;

We will know the Father's love

For our sins have been forgiven.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to the

BABE IN THE STRAW...WHO CAME FOR ALL!!!

 

 

W. Patrick Queen © December 2020

 

 

 

 

A reprint of a former post....May you be Blessed the Christmas with the Father's Gift of Love!

Operation….Christmas Andrew!

Tis' the season of Christmas...gloriously  filled with all the sights and sounds of this special holiday with its twinkling lights, candy canes, sleigh bells ringing, children singing ...I am sure that you get the picture; however, the center of this season is and always should be the celebration of the birth of Christ. For each of us that profess to be a “believer” and call ourselves “little Christ”, we know that the birth of Christ is sacrosanct to our faith for it lays the foundation for us…it shows us that our God loved us enough to make himself one of us and to give his life for us so that we might forever live with Him.

EMMANUEL…GOD WITH US!!! Unfortunately, too many of us, on too many occasions fail to make this holiday a celebration of the birth of Jesus and his arrival among us; rather we toddle along with the world’s view that Christmas is about the money not the manager. We set aside our beliefs to satisfy our desires for pleasure and pride. Our gifts are about us and not about our spirit of giving.

What is the greatest thing you could do to bring about change in the life of someone this Christmas?

You should become a “Christmas Andrew!”

 John 1: 35-41 tells us how; “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”  “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.

Did you catch that? Andrew spent the day with Jesus and then he went to get his brother, Peter….WHY? So that he might introduce him to the Savior …The Messiah …God’s fulfilled promise of EMMANUEL.

Today, if you take a look around in your sphere of influence, there is a family member, a close companion at work or a nearby neighbor that for Christmas and all its pleasures and pageantry… they have become fixated on the familiar rather than focused on the Forever! They have become inoculated to the true meaning of Christmas and they need a Christmas Andrew…someone, who in love and gentle encouragement, will remind them that Jesus is the reason that we celebrate this season…or maybe, they don’t know the babe of Bethlehem at all.

It is your choice and you can be the “Andrew” that takes them to meet the Savior. You can share with them the joy that comes from knowing the true and living Messiah….Emmanuel. Then, they too can come to know that Jesus loves them and gave his life to ransom them from their sins. For the true message of each Christmas season is really quite simple….FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE…..WHAT WILL YOU GIVE THIS CHRISTMAS?

Give the greatest gift that anyone can give at Christmas...give YOURSELF... totally surrendered to your Heavenly Father. Be a Christmas Andrew and bring those you love to worship the babe in the manager….

Seeking to Share….Praying to be an Andrew,

WPQ

 

Poem for the day:

Christmas is a wondrous time

There’s always much to do;

But the greatest gift that you can give

Is to be a Christmas Andrew.

So seek to share the good news;

Tell others of the babe who came...

To heal the broken and discouraged;

The crippled and the lame.

This babe sent down from Heaven

With us as man to dwell...

The blessed Christ child with us,

OUR LORD...EMMANUEL!!!

 

WPQ © Dec 2017

 

 

The Man and the Birds...A Christmas Story

I remember the first time I ever heard the story that follows. I was driving in my car in the mountains of northeast Georgia. I remember being so moved to tears as Paul Harvey, in his most eloquent manner, told this story. In fact, the tears were running down my face so much that I had to find a place to pullover or run the risk of driving down the side of a mountain. Yet, even today, as I reprint this wonderful Christmas story, I am forever reminded of God's great love for you and me...and for the sacrifice that Jesus made to come to earth as a baby, die on a cross and then be raised to new life  so that one day, ALL WHO BELIEVE IN THE MATCHLESS NAME OF JESUS AND THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED ON THAT CROSS WILL LIFE WITH HIM...FOREVER!!!!

So enjoy this story and the little poem that follows and when given the chance this holiday season, wish all you know a MERRY CHRISTMAS...FOR CHRIST IS THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON!!!!

This is a reprint of a former post.....

The Man and the Birds...A Christmas Story

Each year at Christmas, I eagerly search across my radio dial trying to find the story of the Man and the Birds, as told my Paul Harvey. I find that in listening to that story, I am so wonderfully reminded of the love of God for each of us. On many occasions, I have been forced to pull off on the side of the road to listen to the conclusion of the story…it’s so hard to drive when your eyes are water-logged and leaking.

I hope and pray that during this Christmas season, you will have the wonderful opportunity to hear Mr. Harvey’s captivating telling of this timeless story…of Emmanuel, God with us. If not, then please read on and be forever blessed to know that the love of God was expressed…in human form…in a manager in Bethlehem…in a baby named JESUS.

The Man and the Birds by Paul Harvey:

The man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge; he was a kind decent, mostly good man. He was generous to his family and always upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound...Then another, and then another.  Sort of a thump or a thud...At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them...He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms...Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me...That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them… But how?....since any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see and hear and understand." At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. As he stood there listening to the bells ….listening to the bells pealing forth the glad tidings of Christmas, he understood …. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

I trust that this Christmas, when you hear those church bells ring or the sounds of carolers lifting their voices in praise to the newborn babe, you too, will understand the message of Christmas….Jesus Christ is born and God is forever with us!

Merry Christmas….Happy Birthday, Jesus!

WPQ

Poem for the day...

 

On that starry Christmas night

Many centuries ago....

The King of Heaven left His throne

And came to earth below.

 

Not as a ruler or mighty king

but as a simple child;

Born of God and woman

This babe so meek and mild.

 

And in lowly cattle stall

In a manger filled with hay

The God of all creation

In a feeding trough did lay.

 

For one day he'd lay down His life

So our sin debt would be forgiven.

This precious babe of Christmas

Was the greatest gift that was ever given!

 

WPQ © Dec 2017

 

 

 

A Time to Shine

I grew up in Charlotte, near a small mill town lovingly known as Christmas Town, USA. It gained its name due to its Christmas tradition of lighting each home and the entire mill village in thousands and tens of thousands of Christmas lights. Each Christmas season, over a million viewers would climb in their cars, vans, SUVs’ and church buses and make the drive south on I-85 to the McAdenville Exit to make the 2 mile trek though this quiet hamlet. In fact, I have seen times when the cars were backed up in the exit and emergency lanes, bumper to bumper, for over three miles down the interstate…why all this commotion year after year to make a trip to this small town at Christmas?

Everyone was drawn to the LIGHTS….to the sheer magnitude of the beauty of millions of brightly shining lights, adorning each home; the tiny mill and the trees around the small pond and all the other buildings of this small, quaint mill town. But why did the people of McAdenville go to such trouble each and every Christmas season to do the work, spend the money on decorations and electricity and have the town invaded by millions of outsiders?

 I believe they understood the scripture in Matthew 5: 14-16 that reads, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

 This is the season for us to shine …to give light and warmth, love and encouragement to all those we encounter …to tell others that the light of the world has come …the Babe of Bethlehem….Jesus.

It is in this season, above all others, that our hearts should be filled with charity for those less fortunate than us. Our pocketbooks and our wallets should naturally fall open as we look for ways to bring “light” to those who are in the midst of “darkness”…the loss of a job; mourning for a dear loved one who has passed away; the onset of unforeseen misfortune or mounting bills; empty tables and empty cupboards…and the list goes on. You can be that “light” today if you will only open your eyes and then, open your heart and your hand to those who need help. There are many that are hurting in our communities, churches and company cultures that will never say a word or let anyone know the circumstances in which they find themselves…but God knows and He is just waiting for a willing heart and an open hand to meet their needs. Ask God to help you find someone who needs your help and then get ready for action. He will provide …both the need and the means to meet that need.

Today, let your light shine so that He will receive the glory….you can and must be the light of the Savior in the world today…He has no one but you….will you let Him be glorified in you….it’s time to shine for Jesus!

 

Glorifying the Father ….Shining brightly to light my world,

WPQ

Poem for the Day...

 Lord, make my life a guiding light

So that my neighbors might see.

May they be lead to seek your face

Because of what they’ve seen in me.

May this be the season of open hearts

May our wallets be open too;

So that those in want will have all they need

Because they choose to trust in you!

 For on that night, that wondrous night

When Heaven to earth came down;

As shepherds bowed in worship

And your Glory shone all around...

 O' may we bow as those that night;

Our hearts filled with grace and love...

To share with everyone we meet

The Christ child sent from above!

 

WPQ © December 2018

 

EVERY YEAR...ABOUT THIS TIME!

For probably the last 20 years or so, I have tried to take time in the Christmas season to write a Christmas poem that I pray will touch the hearts of those who read it. Some come easily as my fingers seem to glide effortlessly across the keyboard; while others are truly a "labor" of love. On the most part, I have received many "thank you's" and "atta-boys'" for many of my Christmas poems...and they are ALL WRITTEN so that the Good News is prolcaimed and that God gets the glory for what He did for us all as He sent His Son to be born of a virgin and to die that we might once again be reborn into the Kingdom of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus...that Babe in the Manger!!! The poem that follows is written to remind us all that God wants to use each of us as instruments in telling His Story about the Birth of His Son, Jesus Christ...who truly is THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON. 

My prayer, as always, is that you will be blessed and God will receive the GLORY...and to that end, I wish all who read this,

A VERY MERRY AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS,

WPQ

MARY'S SURRENDER.....

 

I was kneeling at my bedside, like so many times before;

And while praying to my Father, behind a locked and closed door.

The room began to fill with light; it drove darkness from the room

And my heart began to feel alive as I let go of my gloom.

 

For standing right before me, surrounded in an aura of great light

Was the holy messenger of God, so I shrank from him in fright.

But then in his sweet angelic voice, he spoke to allay my fears...

And though I wanted to run and hide, something drew me near.

 

The words he spoke, each calmed me, as he told me to rejoice;

It was as if my Heavenly Father was speaking with His voice...

He told I was highly favored and would be blessed as no other;

For the Holy Spirit would overshadow me and make me a mother.

 

Not just any mother of a child born through my seed,

But one who would fulfill a promise that God Himself decreed...

For God alone had chosen me to bring forth His only Son,

So all mankind could find peace with God,

when His life on earth was done!

 

He told me I was favored, for God had chosen me

To bear the Holy One who would die on Calvary.

For He would be a Great and Mighty King... His Kingdom would never waver

And God would accomplish all of this... His Son would be our Savior!

 

It all sounded too great to me, how could this be done?

Why had I been chosen to bear God's Holy One?

So in my child-like faith, I asked with humble heart;

How can this come to be...where do I start?

 

The angel gave a simple reply, to ease my wondering heart

"Nothing is impossible for God....this is where you start!"

Just place you faith and hope in Him, and if you need a sign;

Just go and see Elizabeth and this is what you'll find....

 

The Lord has blessed His servant, in her old age to conceive;

A son to turn the hearts of men to a new life they could receive;

So I turned to God's messenger, in a voice I hardly heard....

"I am the Lord's maidservant...May it be according to His Word."

 

WPQ © DEC 2020