Season’s greetings to all. As we turn the calendar to December, to the last 31 days of the year, our reflections are many and so are the overflowing blessings. We are grateful for what we receive and what we share.
Hopefully your Thanksgiving season was inspiring and uplifting. The time spent with children, family and other loved ones will be cherished.
We were happy to hear from Marcus Taylor and his family, who live in Texas. They visited his grandfather, Mervyn, and Ms. Joanhue Taylor.
Marcus and our son Reginald are about the same age. Marcus was just beginning the early teenage years when he stayed with his great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy, and attended school in Tallahatchie County a year or two. Marcus is in U.S. service and completed some prestigious duties and has received several honors.
It’s always a pleasure to have Ms. Joann Melton visit at New Town Church anytime she is in Charleston, as she did Sunday before Thanksgiving. Joanne spent several days of Thanksgiving with her mother Ms. (Edith) Bellamy and family.
Our daughter Leslie and family spent Thanksgiving holidays with us.
We pray for everyone safe travels, good visits and good health.
We think “Christmas” before December. For a few weeks now, advertisements and decorations have made us aware or gotten us in the Christmas spirit. Seemingly everybody is happy at the moment as you can feel the jolly spirit when you are out and about. We are reminded of all the different awareness months, appreciation weeks and national days we’ve celebrated this year.
December is no different, other than most importantly, celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus. These times are more than just for fun. The awareness reminds us of others and ourselves, about our health and wellness, education, natural resources, heritage, history and much more.
Christmas, to the Christian faith, is the historical celebration of the birth of Christ. More people are celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish eight-day Festival of Lights, beginning Sunday, Dec. 18, and ending Dec. 26, and Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday that celebrates African heritage and identity, which begins Monday, Dec. 26, and lasts through Sunday, Jan. 1.
Christmas decorations are showing up to say Christmas is coming. “Christmas is Coming” is a nursery and Christmas song we sang as children.
“Christmas is coming, geese getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat. If you haven’t got a penny a ha penny will do, if you don’t have a ha penny, God bless you!”
We never knew the meaning, just singing because that’s what we enjoyed doing most of the times when we weren’t playing. We sang lots of other songs not in the hymnal. We had good harmony, too. I’m happy our parents enjoyed our togetherness with singing. It was and is no sin to sing a song as long as it is with meaning and respect. At least we were at our home. By the way, a ha (hey) penny is a British coin worth half a new penny, withdrawn from circulation in 1969. I don’t know if I ever saw the coin.
The time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are plenty of goodies and other snacks and selected foods eaten to desire.
There’s a song by Dave and Jean Perry you may have heard, “Christmas is Coming and We are Getting Fat.” It’s a lighthearted Christmas song on sheet music.
It would be fun to sing for some selected entertainment during the holidays. I don’t know the words. Postage costs more than the sheet music. so I didn’t order the song.
Enjoy the day. Be blessed.
