Thoughts About Christmas

Many of you know I lost my Mom to gastric cancer in 2009. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of her. I write this blog because Mom introduced me to blogging.

This past Friday, we placed a Christmas wreath on her grave. We picked a wreath with a plaid bow because Mom loved plaid.

Thoughts About Christmas

This time of the year I especially think of Mom and all the things we would be planning. We would be going to Christmas open houses at some of our favorite stores. She would tell me all the things she’d like us to do before Christmas Day. Mom made the holidays special.

One thing for sure, all of our activities and family get togethers would be centered around Christ. Mom was passionate about her relationship with Christ and if you were around her for very long, you would know that.

This is a snapshot of Mom’s devotional book. (Mom was a writer at heart and we have lots of journals that Mom has written in. She also wrote for Home Life Magazine and in our local newspaper.)

Thoughts About Christmas

I love that she wrote out, “I’m taking a definite stand.” It makes me smile because she didn’t have to write that for me to know she was taking a stand for the Lord. Her life showed it.

Joshua 24:15 says, Then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

Let me ask you, as you prepare for the all the festivities over the next month will it be evident to those around you, whom you serve?

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

Have a blessed Sunday!

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  1. Prayers for you and me and everyone else who grieves during the holidays…My mom passed away about the same time as yours-Oct. 28, 2009-the holidays bring up precious memories of the Godly woman that she was. May you continue to have precious memories flood your soul-and the wreath is beautiful!

  2. I see why her devotion book is so special
    to you and I can only imagine the memories
    you feel when you read everything she has
    wrote!
    Have a blessed evening!!

  3. I love it when you share your momma’s heart with us! so beautiful Cyndi. She would be so proud of you. You are doing a great job sharing your faith and speaking badly for Jesus. God’s blessings to you and Wayne this Christmas season.

  4. All of these posts have been comforting as just yesterday my father in law passed away. My kids and I are sitting in the airport on a layover trying to get to family and we are just feeling numb. I am reading as much as I can for comfort and came upon this post…thank you! We know that God will provide us comfort and strength to get tbrough. Thankful for your blog and sharing personal stories.

    1. So sorry for your loss Jill. I will be praying for you and your family during this very difficult time. Blessings & hugs!

  5. Cyndi, by sharing your story, you touched many of us. Your Mom would be proud!! I lost my Mom a year and a half ago. It’s still tough at this time of year. I miss her so much!! But, I know I am not alone. Blessings to you and your family and thank you for sharing!

  6. Thank you for sharing this, I was deeply touched. I lost my Mom in August and it feels like a piece of me left with her. I haven’t been into Christmas things as much as normal this year, but my Mom always made things so special for us that I feel I must do the same for my children. I feel God guided me to read your blog today. God bless you and your family this holiday season.

  7. Thank you for sharing your heart with us today. The way your mom lived her life is a reflection of her relationship with God. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. She is proud of you.

    btw – it’s always good to be reminded of what this season is all about. In my Church, yesterday was the first week of Advent – the first 2 weeks focus on the second coming of our Lord. The next 2 weeks we focus on His glorious birth. The priest at Mass reminded us to include religious songs in our playlists, and turn away from the things that will make us crazy and turn toward the things that bring us closer to God.

    A Merry Christmas season to you Cyndi and everyone reading your blog.

  8. My dad died suddenly on Easter Sunday this year. We are missing him so much, and I know the Christmas season will be hard without him. But, we are filled with hope and the promise of eternity together because of Jesus…Praise God for Christmas, the birth of our Savior!

  9. Thank you for sharing this special devotional from your Mother. How special it is to have her handwriting. I know you miss her! I miss my father who passed away twenty four years ago at a young age. I’m fortunate and so very grateful to still have my mother, though. However, special times like Christmas have never been the same. I’m just so thankful for wonderful memories. I’m sure you and your family are, too!

  10. Thanks for your words about your Special Mom. I stop thank GOD that I still have my Mom and the memories and tradition that we have made. I share a lost my Dad die seven years ago. The memories start flooding my mind. One I remember we shared one Christmas was decorating the fence at the family home. It was just the two us laughing and talking. So I can not wait til the day comes when I am reunited with my Father in heaven and my Dad that was here on earth with me.
    Blessing to you and your family

  11. Choose you this do who you will serve, but as for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord” was the compelling passage preached on the night my alcoholic dad gave his heart to Jesus when I was seven years old. His decision changed the course of pour lives and this scripture compels me daily to follow Christ, a decision my dad never regretted . I am so grateful for my Christian heritage.
    He’s been gone for eighteen years bout he still influences my every day life.

  12. Thanks Cyndi for the song Christmas In Heaven by Sarah Schieber. Its perfect to share with my friend who just lost her son to suicide in May. I keep encouraging her that he’s in heaven for Christmas this year with our Savior. This song is so good. She’s struggling. Thanks for all you do to minister to HIS people in ways you don’t even know. 🙂

  13. Thank you for the reminder of how to prepare our hearts for Christmas. When a Bible or devotional book is as well-used as your Mom’s was, it’s obvious how important it was to her.

  14. Thank you Cyndi. This will be my third Christmas without my Father. He died of Pancreatic cancer in 2014. I had six months with him before his passing. I look forward to our reunion with Jesus in Heaven someday. May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and New Year. Thank you for your blog and for your words of inspiration.

    1. So sorry for your loss Shawn. I lost my dad in 2013. I also look forward to my reunion with him in Heaven too. I am so glad i had a good relationship with him. It reminded me to “live without regrets”. Have a blessed Christmas 😉

  15. Thank you, Cyndi for sharing such wonderful thoughts! I feel like I knew your mom just in the way you describe her! 🤗 Have a most blessed Sunday! 🙏

  16. Thanks so much for sharing of yourself and your faith Cyndi! How beautiful that you have your Mom’s devotional book! She can still speak to you and inspire you with her words. Have a blessed Christmas season!

  17. Wanda was passionate about her Lord and her family. In the few times I met her, this was evident. What a beautiful lady with a more beautiful heart, because she lived her faith so boldly. She was such a role model for others. Merry Christmas Cyndi and Wayne!

  18. Thank you for sharing about your mom. My dad passed away from cancer on his birthday, which was December 18th eleven years ago. My father-in-law passed away earlier this year at the age of 92. Both of our dads were pastors and loved the Lord. We rejoice that they are celebrating in heaven now, but we sure do miss them. Having to say goodbye to them (for now) makes us more and more thankful to Jesus for making it possible to spend eternity with Him and the ones we love. Blessings to you and your family at this time of year and always!

  19. Beautifully written Cyndi. Thank you for sharing your Mother’s personal journal. I enjoy journaling myself and I hope to leave a legacy one day. The video/song was beautiful and made me tear up. I am fortunate that I have both of my parents even with their declining health issues. I cherish ever moment I get to spend with them. ~Lisa~

  20. Amen…..such a beautiful sentiment and what I am striving for this Christmas. Thanks for all you share with us everyday!

  21. Aren’t we glad, Cyndi, that God allowed us to have such wonderful moms? I think of mine everyday who is now resting with the Lord. Oh, how I miss her. She was a doer and a Believer. I look so much like her twin which gives me comfort that she is still with me physically, but most importantly, spiritually. God bless you, Cyndi. And, thank you for providing us with fashion sense.

  22. December is a hard time for because I think of my Dad whose birthday was December 20. I always have a Mass said the Sunday closest to his birthday. He has been gone 15 years. He would have been 90 this year. He did not make his 75th birthday. He passed away suddenly. This year we lost my Father-in-Law 13 days before his 91st birthday. Both Dads’ were very special in both our lives. They taught my husband and myself to treat others how you would treat yourself. Christmas is the time of year to think about it.

  23. Hi Cyndi, Although I don’t know you personally, I do know this from your beautiful blog, you are much like your momma. A lover of our Lord. You also are one who serves, shines His light and shares His love. I thank you for doing so, you are blessing to my heart. Bless and be blessed on this day and always. In His Grip, Janet

  24. Thank you Cyndi for always sharing your heart concerning your mom. I can’t wait to meet her someday….and you. 😉 You were blessed to have a mother who centered her life around her Lord and shared Him with you. You are doing a great job to carry on her legacy. Beautiful wreath. I love the plaid bow. 🙂

  25. My eyes are filled with tears after reading your beautiful sharing of your moms heart! I also went to the cemetery in December 1st to put a wreath on my moms grave. I makes me realize how important a legacy is, and how important it is to be Christ centered.
    Blessings and thank you for sharing!

  26. I just loved reading this on a Sunday and as we are starting the holiday season. I needed this. This music video was beautiful to listen to as well. Hugs to you. 🙂

  27. Thank you for sharing from your Mom’s journal. I know it’s precious to you and I’m glad you have the journals to bring comfort and joy to you until you see her again. Merry Christmas, Cyndi!

  28. Thank you for sharing about your mother’s faith and actions. Every time you do, I find myself inspired to some serious soul searching. She let her light shine, as do you. I’ve never been so good at that, and when it comes to actions, I tend to hesitate, and then let the opportunities slip by. I’m looking to do better, as you and your mother would do. I appreciate you!

  29. This will be my first Christmas without my mom. I’m not really sure how it is going to go. I also took a wreath to her grave this weekend. She would love it but tell me I shouldn’t have. Mom loved Christmas and even last year had a real tree, outdoor lights and a decorated home. I miss her. “A heart that’s broke is a heart that’s been loved” .

    1. Praying for your heart to be comforted this Christmas season. This will be 3 years that my mom is in Heaven. They will be having a very special Christmas with Jesus!!! With love, sister in Christ, Dee

  30. Oh,Girl, I miss my mama, too! She went Home two years ago. She would bake countless cookies, breads, candy, and party mixes, caramel popcorn. She would decorate a beautiful Victorian tree. Snowman and candycanes outside…fill stockings for her great grandbabies….I wonder too, what joy it must be to be Home for Christmas.

  31. Your mother sounds very special and I understand as I too lost my mom to cancer in 2001, and she too loved God with her whole heart. I love seeing your mom’s journal with her handwriting-something that is so personal and was hers alone.
    I saw the instastories you and Traci shared when you took the wreath. I’m sure your mama smiled again at her loving family.
    This is the hardest time of year for those missing loved ones, which is why we should love the ones here a little more.
    Thank you for sharing, and here’s a hug for you and your family.

  32. So beautiful and special Cyndi! We are very passionate about celebrating the birth of Jesus. Some of our friends & family replace Christ with an X, which we don’t understand or like. We say Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays, nor will be buy greeting cards that don’t say Merry Christmas. As humans, we do fail Him, I’m sure, but He is very important to us.

    1. Thank you Cyndi for sharing some personal memories about your mom. I miss mom very much especially this time of year. Five years ago she was taken from us when she lost her battle with cancer. My mom instilled many things in me but being a Godly woman was one of the wisest things she could have taught me. I too have my moms bible along with her grandmothers bible (my great-grandmother) and how neat it is to see their favorite verses underlined. My great grandmother loved the book of Psalms, and my mom had favorite scripture verses on her fridge which my daughter now keeps in her bible. How wonderful it is to pass down this kind of legacy. We have a wall hanging in our home with the verse” As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”. This is one of my husbands favorite verses. It’s a reminder to us daily to do our best in making the right choices to honor and glorify him.
      Thanks for your words of wisdom in your bfth.
      Blessings
      karen

    2. Oh Ginger I totally agree. I too like to keep Christ in Christmas. In the stores I think many sales people are happy when they hear you say Merry Christmas and this year I found many are saying it instead of Happy Holidays. I’m in Canada and that’s what I’m finding anyway.