The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Michael W. Smith, Recording Artist

The Spirit of Christmas, Worship, Sovereign

I have about a thousand great Christmas memories. It’s a pretty important day around our house. It’s our favorite time of the year.

The first thing that comes to my mind is when we visited a nursing home. Our family had always tried to support food banks through the church to help people who were having financial difficulty.

When our kids were younger, I’ll never forget it because we had already moved to Franklin, Tennessee. We all went to the nursing home on Christmas Eve and hung out with these people. I watched it truly impact my kids. In the midst of all the parties and all these people coming over to our house for a Christmas party we have every year—that’s the one that, when we left there, I remember going, “That’s what it’s all about, guys, what we just did. We went and loved on people. We loved on a bunch of people whose relatives don’t come and see them. They’ve just been abandoned.”

To watch these old men and women light up and just be thrilled that my little kids were around—they were like 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14—it was a game-changer for us, and we continued to do that throughout the years. But that first one was monumental to me, and I’ll never forget it.

Pat Schatzline, Evangelist/Author

Why Is God So Mad at Me?, I Am Remnant

In December 2003, our home and ministry was located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and it seemed to me to be more beautiful than ever. Why? Because a gift had arrived at our home from heaven.

In the previous years, Christmas was a wonderful time of growing as a family and opening presents, and a time to catch our breath. But this year was different. Christmas changed in the Schatzline home.

It had been just two months since my wife (Karen), our 11-year-old son (Nate) and I had traveled all the way to China to bring our daughter, Abby, home from an orphanage. Abby was nine months old when we got her. The adoption was long and arduous, but finally she was at home. There was now a miracle living in our home!

She was full of wonder at the new sights and sounds. No longer did she share a bed with three other children. No longer would her future be in question. She had come home! Now she was experiencing the lights, the tree, the toys, Santa’s lap (which really scared her) and the Christmas spirit—but most of all a home full of love! A home where Jesus was King and safety was the norm.

Abby was too young to remember that Christmas, but for our family, it was the year that Christmas was no longer about us but the gift God had given us. Abby is 11 years old now and she can’t sleep on Christmas Eve because of the excitement! She takes after her dad!

Martha Rogers, Author

Best Laid Plans, Love Stays True

One Christmas memory that really stands out in my mind is the Christmas our second son was born. Robert Allen Rogers was due on Feb. 6, but at my doctor’s appointment on Dec. 5, the doctor became concerned. He told me to rest, stay off my feet as much as possible and not do any heavy physical labor until the next appointment, which was in two weeks.

With Christmas drawing near and a toddler at home, I tried to do as instructed. On Dec. 10, I decided to go downtown for an hour of shopping before picking up my husband. I felt fine until we were on the way home and stopped at the grocery store.

While there, I began hemorrhaging, and we rushed to the emergency room. An emergency C-section saved my life, but the baby was in trouble because his lungs hadn’t fully developed. Prayer requests went out to our church family, and many came to pray with us.

Robert was born on Monday, with little hope of survival at less than 4 pounds, but on Thursday his lungs miraculously inflated and he began breathing on his own. Later we learned that a group of women had been on their knees for several hours Wednesday night praying for his lungs to work on their own.

God answered our prayers, and a few days before Christmas, we were able to take him home. What a joyous Christmas that was! He is a strong healthy man now with two sons of his own.

Kirk Cameron, Actor/Author/Speaker

Unstoppable, Saving Christmas, Fireproof

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. It’s my favorite time of year. I’m a sucker for every bit of Christmastime. I love the cookies. I love the stockings, the music, the carols. I love the cold weather. I love the sweaters. I love getting around a fire with your kids. I love the Christmas stories. I love St. Nick. I love Christmas trees, and I love the birth of Christ.

I have so many great memories growing up as a kid—when I was little, putting carrots and a glass of milk with chocolate chip cookies out for Santa and the reindeer. I remember the first time I learned that Christmas was really about the birth of Christ. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, so I didn’t know what a Nativity was. I had no idea that Jesus Christ had anything to do with Christmas, so I remember when I turned 18 years old, someone explained to me who these three wise men were and the baby in the manger. I didn’t understand any of that. That was a profound Christmas memory for me.

I also remember the first Christmas with my girlfriend, Chelsea. It was that Christmas that I had the ring in my pocket I was going to give her on Christmas Eve, but I got cold feet and I waited until New Year’s Eve to ask her to marry me. I was going to do it right there with my family and everybody. We were celebrating Christmas together in New York. I chickened out on Christmas Eve. On New Year’s Eve, I finally gave her the Christmas present, which was an engagement ring.

Lena Nelson Dooley, Author

Maggie’s Journey, Mary’s Blessing

When I first read it in high school, The Gift of the Magi became my favorite short story. Then, about four years into our marriage, my husband and I experienced something similar.

We had two children, and money was tight. I saved a little bit out of my grocery money each week planning to buy a power saw for James. He had loved woodwork in school. I wanted to get him something that he would enjoy. It was going to be his Christmas.

Imagine my surprise when he had a large wrapped package under our tree for me. When I ripped off the paper, I was amazed. He had saved all year to make it my Christmas. He’d bought me a record player with large speakers so I could use the records I’d collected during college.

Each of us had focused on the needs of the other person, and each of us was doubly blessed. First, because we had focused on the one we loved all year, knowing in our hearts that we were going to surprise the other. Second, because we felt the love poured out on ourselves, setting the tone for the rest of our almost-50-year-long marriage.