“Then they brought little children to Him,
      that He might touch them;
            but the disciples rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased
     and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me
           and do not forbid them;
                  for of such is the kingdom of God .”
                        (Mark 10:13-14 NKJV)

When I was a very young girl, I remember our Christmases were very poor. When other children and our friends got all the advertised gifts, we were lucky if we got underclothes and socks. I am one girl with three brothers.

One Christmas Mom said to me, “Honey, we have no gifts for your brothers”. I said to Mom, “What do you want me to do?” She asked me to call a friend of the family and tell him what happened. This was on Christmas Eve. We did not even have the fixings for Christmas dinner as this was the year my dad was in the VA Hospital in Wilkes Barre. The family friend brought gifts for the boys, food for Christmas dinner and my very first doll which was almost as tall as I was.

I also remember when I was in sixth grade. Some of the people in class bought me a book about Clara Barton. Most of my friends knew I was thinking about being a nurse. They also gave me barrettes for my hair, a pair of shoes and a new blouse for Christmas.

These are two of my Christmases before I really grew up and was out on my own. When I started my own family Christmas became more of a time for children because it is the birth of Jesus.

Jesus talked about letting all the children come unto Him. Yes, I still believe in Jesus first, Santa next.

Helen Richardson