Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Christmas Light (a Story for all Ages)


Although I haven't posted anything in awhile, I have been busy making Christmas gifts (ideas & tutorials coming soon) as well as working on a few projects in our new home that I will also write about soon. 

However, in honor of Christmas so quickly approaching, I wanted to share a Christmas story with you all that I wrote earlier this year.



Before I share the story with you, I think a little introduction about how this story came to be is equally important. I am not a writer, as you blog followers probably already have figured out, (with all of my grammatical errors, etc). But one early morning in June I woke up after having one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had. In the dream I was reading a Christmas story to others. When I woke up I felt impressed to get out of our warm bed and go downstairs where I could write down everything I remembered, so I wouldn't wake up my family. The littlest of details were still fresh in my memory, and after two weeks of seeking inspiration as to how to put those details into a readable story, this is what it became...


(Story subject to copyright. Please do not duplicate without written permission)

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Nestled snugly with all of the other Christmas lights, Sunny anxiously watched the activity going on outside of the box he was in….Christmas must be coming soon, he thought.

He heard the sound of sleigh bells in the music playing, and a fire crackled nearby. He smelled the pine needles of the freshly cut Christmas tree, and the sweet aroma of sugar cookies baking. Everywhere he looked were vivid colors and various textures, from silvery, shiny tinsel to soft, red and green velvet stockings. Hooray, this is the time of year I have been waiting for my whole life! thought Sunny. I was made for Christmas!
Fear and doubt soon crept in clouding Sunny’s feelings of excitement. As one bulb on a long strand of colorful Christmas lights, Sunny felt smaller than the others. My light won’t be as strong as theirs, he worried. When he looked to his right and to his left, he saw powerful reds, cool blues, pretty pinks, and vibrant greens. Yellow is so dull compared to the beautiful colors of my family and friends, he thought. He even heard that the green lights twinkled, and that made him feel even smaller.

Just then, the box moved! It rumbled and shook, and all of a sudden everything was brighter and louder than before. This is it! It’s my time to shine….or is it? But Sunny’s worries were quickly interrupted as his strand was pulled out of the tiny box. Within moments, he and his family of lights were pulled, wrapped and weaved around the large, bushy tree with it’s many branches. The pine needles tickled and Sunny had to hold in his giggles.

When all of the tickling, pulling, and hanging had ended, and all was still, Sunny looked around and realized he was in one of the most coveted spots on any Christmas tree, near the top. Being up high allowed him to see everything around him, he was safe from the dog who loved to chew on everything, and he was closest to the important star. Sunny didn’t know why the star was important, but he’d heard that the star was incredibly special, and any light was lucky to be close to it.

Soon all of the ornaments had been hung and the family stood back to look at the tree. Sunny could see the eagerness in their faces. Even the dog had stopped chewing a poor, unfortunate ornament he had grabbed from the tree, and was running around his family’s feet with the same look of anticipation. “What is going on?” whispered Sunny to the light beside him.
“They’re about to light the tree!” the light answered. “It all comes down to this. It is our time to--”
And before he could finish, the tree was plugged in and the father stood back expecting to see all of the hundreds of lights light up and SHINE….but they didn’t. Only the bottom of the tree shone, but the top, where Sunny and his family were, was dark.

“Oh no, Daddy,” cried a little boy, “our tree is broken!” The boy’s disappointment was felt by everyone in the room.

“The tree isn’t broken buddy, it is most likely one of the lights. If one isn’t connected to the strand properly, the power cannot work, and that makes all of them stay dark.” the father answered.

“But Daddy, even the Star doesn’t work!” the little boy exclaimed.

“It’s because that broken strand of lights provides the power to light the Star. I don’t have time to check every light to see which one isn’t working, so tomorrow morning I will get a new strand from the store. I am sorry bud. I wish this one worked.” the father said as he hugged his little boy to comfort him.

Once the family had left the room, the lights began to whisper. Sunny could hear one say, “I can’t believe this! We were made to shine! Now we’ll be thrown in the trash tomorrow morning!” Groans and gasps followed. The lights were feeling even more disappointed than the family, sad they didn’t get the chance to do their job. Sunny was about to ask what the problem could be, and if there was a way to fix it, but every light immediately was silenced when they noticed the family coming back into the room.

“Even though we are all sad about our Christmas lights not shining, I thought we could read a story about the one Christmas light that truly mattered.” said the mother. As soon as all of her family had gathered around to hear the story, she began to read from a beautiful book.

Sunny was just as captivated by the story as everyone else. He had never heard about the selfless, brave Mary who was to bear the child who would save the world. Or about the wise men who devoted their lives to finding the Christ child. He had never heard of the surprised shepherds who heeded an angel’s message to find the newborn baby. Or about the Son of God, who was born in such a humble setting to a humble mother and father, and who would live a humble life that would bless all mankind. And he had definitely never heard about the star that shone the way for those seeking their Savior, the star that was prophesied to appear when the Son of God was born.

The importance of one star. thought Sunny. The star on the top of the tree is so special because it represents the star that shone the way to the baby Jesus! Sunny couldn’t believe that because of one light on their strand, the star on the tree could not shine.


The mother finished the story and kissed the children goodnight. After turning off all of the lights, the family left for bed. All was quiet and dark now, and Sunny was left to his thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about the story he had just heard. He thought about everyone in the story, and how they were all simple people, but each were very important in their own special way. He thought about the Christ child coming to the Earth, a light to a world that was in darkness. Then he thought about the star that led everyone to Christ.

Sunny soon realized everyone and everything, no matter how ordinary, have an important role to play. Differences are what make us special. He felt a warmth inside as he realized that no matter how small, or bright, or beautiful he was, that he was important. He had something important to do!

With that realization he felt another warm feeling, but this time the warmth wasn’t coming from the inside, but the outside. The sun was coming up, and one of the rays of light rose up the tree resting on Sunny for a moment. He could feel the warmth of the sun and see the light slowly illuminating the room around him. As the room became brighter, his purpose became brighter too. Even the smallest amount of light brings warmth and allows things to be seen more clearly. I have got to figure out a way to do what I was sent to do. I have got to shine! Mustering all of his inner and outer strength, Sunny did his best to move into his connection on the strand of lights. He wasn’t quite sure, but he thought he heard a “click” and felt something change inside of himself.

Before he could try anything else, footsteps quickly got louder and louder, and soon there were four pairs of eyes looking up at the tree. The little boy and his siblings stood looking at their Christmas tree with hope and excitement. They seemed to feel the same as Sunny.

Around the corner came their father, still dazed from being awakened by his four very eager children.

“Daddy, daddy, I prayed last night that the lights would work. Can you please try them again?” a little girl asked while jumping up and down.

“Sweetheart, I am glad that you prayed, but sometimes the answer to our prayers is that we need to go to the store. I will try plugging in the lights one more time though...for you.” he said with tenderness. The four children stepped back, some with their fingers crossed. Sunny could feel the hope and anticipation rising with each passing second. As the other lights realized this was their last chance to do what they were sent to do, Sunny could sense them tense up and put forth all of their strength.

The father said, “Here goes nothing--” and with that the power sped through each of the connecting strands of lights, each colorful bulb beaming forth it’s own special color. A split second later the room was aglow with the beauty of all of the reds, blues, pinks, greens, and yellows working together harmoniously. The twinkling green lights added to the wonder, and rather than feel smaller, Sunny felt honored to be part of the magic.


The children jumped and danced with excitement. “It works Daddy! It works!” they all exclaimed.

“God answered my prayer, Daddy!” the little girl said happily. “He heard my prayer and made the lights work! Look at how pretty the star is!” she said pointing to the top of the tree. The five of them looked up at the star and became quiet. They knew what the star symbolized, and seeing it shining brightly now, reminded them what this time of year was really about.

The oldest child reverently said, “All of the Christmas lights are working together to help the most important light of all. I never realized that every single light had to work together to shine. Every light is important.” And with that her father gave her a big hug, and held each of his children a little more tightly.

Merry Christmas to you all, and may you let your light shine more brightly this holiday season




5 comments:

  1. Just read it to my kiddoes. We love it! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this story please could I share it with the children at my church

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for my delayed response, but yes! I am honored you want to share it.

      Delete

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