Dear Reader:

How many times have we sung “O Come O Come Emmanuel” and wondered about the second inferred reference with the words “Draw nigh, O Jesse’s Rod “…

1. Matthew 1:23: “A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him…Immanuel- meaning “God with us.“

2. Isaiah 11:1  “Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse,       and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. ”

I always sensed that Isaiah 11:1 dealt with Jesus’ family tree and his genealogy but that was about as deep as my understanding went. From working on my own family tree through ancestry.com …genealogy is tricky and sometimes we learn more than we perhaps wanted to know.

Such is the case with Jesus’ family tree too. It all started with the “Begats” which reminded me of an incident from my childhood.

I remember during one summer vacation Bible School week…the teacher asked us to bring in a verse that started with the first letter in our names. I had never been more grateful for my B in Becky. The Beatitudes themselves would have gotten me through the five days easily with room to spare…but by Friday I decided to shake it up a bit and spruce up the most boring part of the Bible…“The Begats!”  (After about a minute the poor vacation Bible School teacher told me that the class ‘got it’ and that was sufficient.)

The reality is very few people, with the exception of some historical theologians, ‘get it’…because most of us fall asleep before getting to the end.

Quinn Caldwell, pastor and author, comments that if you do hang in there awhile…the names popping up out of the family tree makes one sit back and pause. Jesus definitely had more than his share of skeletons hidden away. Here are just a few Caldwell mentions:

Jacob– tricked his brother out of his inheritance and then ran away

Tamar- pretended to be a prostitute to sleep with her father-in-law and become pregnant with the sons her husbands didn’t give her

Rehab– a foreign woman who betrayed her own people for the Israelites

David– had a child with Bathsheba after having her husband killed so he could have her to himself.

(And you thought your family was messed up? )

“Jesus wasn’t born into some unsullied house, perfect of pedigree and noble of history. He was born into a human family, one at least as complicated as yours, just as full of rifts, betrayal, and shameful secrets.

If God can pull salvation out

of that family, then surely God can do the same for yours.”

So until tomorrow God, if you can make a child of that family the savior of the world, then surely there’s hope for this child, too. Thanks for not letting my beginnings be my destiny. Amen

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

As Christmas speeds up…more pictures and gifts are popping up from family and friends sharing their adventures.

Walsh and Mollie took the children to the Brookgreen Gardens outside Pawleys Island…“Nights of a Thousand Candles”– Walsh said it was frigid cold but beautiful.

*Lachlan definitely won “the ugliest Christmas sweater or cutest”…it is all in the eyes of the beholder!

It just wasn’t cold in Myrtle Beach for Walsh, Mollie and the family…the mornings and evenings here in Summerville are chilly too and will put a ‘giddy-up’ in your step as you run to warm up your car.

*Apparently some sympathetic visitor to Hutchinson Square thought the sculpture of Polly Chisholm Brooks looked especially cold…so a scarf and hat were provided! 🙂

Since we were talking about the Pine Forest Inn in yesterday’s blog post…I remembered that I put one of the Summerville historical ornaments (depicting the inn) on my tree. It catches the light and is just beautiful…thanks so much Honey…what a great gift! I love it!

Yesterday, December 21, was my longtime neighbor and friend, Jane’s birthday. I told her I was taking her out to breakfast since it was the shortest day of the year and light was in short supply. 🙂

We went to Alex’s where her friend Joy waits on her when she goes there and I got a picture of both “J” gals together…Joy and Jane. Jane is easing into being a nonagenarian for a couple of years now…or as my friends my age say… simply a miracle person to be around and not just around but watch still kicking! 🙂

*Today is my mother’s birthday…I love you mom and still miss you in my life…I miss you being around to talk to when things are sad…but even more so when I have happy news and want to share it with you.