TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A

ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

PLASTER AND STONE.



I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

WITH
PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO

IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.



I LOOKED ALL
ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.



NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT
LANDS.


WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER
THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.



FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND
DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.



THE SOLDIER
LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.



THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES
SOLDIER.


WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A
PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?



I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

THAT I SAW THIS
NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.



SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.


THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.



I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.


THE VERY THOUGHT

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

AND STARTED TO CRY.



THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;




I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY
COUNTRY, MY CORPS."



THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T
CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.



I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND
STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.



I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.


THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."



ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

This poem was written by a Marine stationed in Okinawa Japan.

One day, a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The Teacher was explaining evolution to the children. The Teacher asked a little boy:

TEACHER:?? Tommy do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY:???? Yes.

TEACHER:?? Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY:???? Yes.

TEACHER:???? Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.

TOMMY:????? Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.

TEACHER:???? Did you see GOD?

TOMMY:????? No.

TEACHER:??? That's my point. We can't see GOD because HE isn't there.? HE just doesn't exist.

A little girl spoke up wanting to ask the boy some questions.? The?
Teacher agreed.

LITTLE GIRL:?? Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY:?????? Yes.

LITTLE GIRL:?? Tommy do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY:?????? Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL:?? Did you see the sky?

TOMMY:?????? Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL;?? Tommy, do you see the Teacher?

TOMMY:?????? Yes

LITTLE GIRL:?? Do you see her brain?

TOMMY:?????? No

LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today,

she doesn't have one...........

II CORINTHIANS 5:7 " FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT "

Arkansas Woman Killed in Mistaken Rapture

by Elroy Willis

ARKANSAS CITY (EAP) -- A Little Rock woman was killed yesterday after leaping through her moving car's sunroof during an incident best described as a "mistaken rapture" by dozens of eye-witnesses. Thirteen other people were injured after a twenty-car pile-up resulted from people trying to avoid hitting the woman, who was apparently convinced the rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air, and then passed a man on the side of the road who she believed was Jesus.

"She started screaming, `He's back! He's back!' and climbed out through the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car," said Everet Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead at the scene. "I was slowing down but she wouldn't wait till I stopped," Williams said. "She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky," he went on to say.

"This is the strangest thing I've seen since I've been on the force," said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene . Madison questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was on his way to a toga costume party, when the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve blow-up sex dolls filled with helium, which then floated up into the sky.

Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who's been told by several of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms into the air in frustration and said "Come back," just as the Williams' car passed him, and Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus lifting people up into heaven as they drove by him.

"I think my wife loved Jesus more than she loved me," the widower said when asked why his wife would do such a thing.

When asked for comments about the twelve sex dolls, Jenkins replied, "This is all just too weird for me. I never expected anything like this to happen."

Are you the tiger on the Frosted Flakes box? Because you’re looking "Grrrrreat!"

• If I had a nickel for every time I saw a woman as beautiful as you, I’d have five cents.

• and my best line ever!!!!!!!!!

• I may not be the best looking guy in here, but I’m the only one talking to you.

Luke 11:34 "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body is filled with light."

The crowds were growing even larger and Jesus challenges them to open their spiritual eyes so they will be filled with real truth and light. When they are not good, the light to our soul is blocked, and a darkness sets in. There seems to be degrees of openness to receiving light.

--My mind is open to learn more truth about the Scriptures--doctrine, principles, practices --My heart is open to let God's truth touch the wounds, the dark areas of my life, and obey His direction --My heart is in passionate and sincere pursuit of keeping the lens clear of bitterness, pride, resentment, control, impurity, worry, etc. --My heart is a channel totally open to receive any light that God sends and to share it with others as he directs

How are your eyes today? Is your body filled with his light and the fruit of his spirit, or is there a darkness that's somehow settled in? Ask him to show you the source of the fogged lens and purpose to follow his direction in removing those things that block the light. Share your heart's struggle with a close friend and ask for prayer to regain "good eyes."

May each of us be able clear the lenses of our spiritual eyes and to bask in the light of our marvelous Saviour and Lord.

Lord, please show me if there's something that's blocking my sight and help me take steps to remove it by your grace.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dave@youronedegree.com