six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his
school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working

 the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke

with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning

of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome

to come then.  Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a

spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several

other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were

 led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged

on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the
holiday as Christmas, I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial

entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.

So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken

aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the
front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out
the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a
child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on,
until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message,

 "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her;
a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down

-- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W."  The audience of

1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had

no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her

"W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter

continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A

hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant,

we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the
holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose

for our festivities.  For when the last letter was held high, the message

read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is!  I am amazed in His presence and humbled by His love.

May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His amazing love
for us.