I’ve been making our annual Christmas cards for the past fourteen years. Usually there is a picture of us and whoever else is living in our home, such as our kids and critters. I try to have some fun with them each time, while ensuring that the message is clear – Christmas is about Jesus and his amazing gift of salvation. As the boys have moved into manhood and out on their own, and our animals have passed, the faces pictured have decreased, but the message has remained consistent.

My bride has placed a lot of trust in me over the years and lovingly allowed me creative license to do whatever I’ve felt inspired to create. As we were putting up our Christmas tree this year I was inspired by the myriads of dazzling lights to snap a few ‘selfie’s together. I really liked how they turned out with the vibrant colors behind us. It looked like a movie poster.

Inspiration struck! A Christmas card was born.

So when my bride first saw our Christmas card she was uncomfortable, because it appears to be all about us, at first glance. I assured her that it was not; admittedly the text is somewhat small, so I enlarged it and had her read what was written…

A Love Story Born
in Bethlehem Long Ago

Over two thousand years ago God invaded our world with his ultimate expression of love. He sent his only begotten son, to be born as a baby to parents of modest means, in a small town, practically in the middle of nowhere. This baby, God’s son, was love incarnate – love in the flesh – and he’d come to make the offer of forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life in the kingdom to come, possible for all. Love was born into our world that night in Bethlehem. And that distant moment is where our story began.

You see, we met in church where we were visibly expressing our love for our Lord by serving in youth ministry. That Lord is Jesus, the Christ, who long ago was that baby in a manger in Bethlehem. But now is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Serving him together allowed me to see and appreciate the amazing woman that God had prepared for me. Several years later at the start of a worship service I asked, what for me was, a somewhat brave question. I’d seen Pam sitting alone, worshiping, and was drawn to her quiet beauty. I had no idea that my question would be life-altering. I asked,

“May I sit next to you?”

She said yes… 

That day, we expressed our love for Jesus together, love that was implanted into our hearts by that very same Savior. It was the start of our combined portion of the love story that Christ began in Bethlehem. And that story continues to this day. We’ve been sitting next to each other as husband and wife for fourteen years now. It has not always been an easy tale. Among the joy, laughter, and adventures, there have also been heartaches, losses, disappointments, and pain. But through it all there has always been love. It is a love that goes beyond feeling. It is a love firmly rooted in the rich soil of God’s love for us. And that can never be taken away. So we rejoice this Christmas season! And we invite you to do the same, because Jesus does indeed love you!

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:9-12