October Newsletter, 2025
As a child I remember the Sunday School Christmas pageants. The children would wear bath-robes with towels on their heads and pretend they were shepherds. Three lucky kids would be wise men and the baby Jesus would be a plastic doll with Mary and Joseph hunkered down on bales of hay. The angel choir would be others who forgot their pajama costumes or were absent for the rehearsals. The evening would end with all of us receiving a gift bag with an orange, a couple of walnuts and an assortment of hard candy doled out by one of the teachers with waxed paper covering her hands.
Today’s programs rival Disney with audio-video presentations that are exciting, exhilarating and excellent in production and presentation. Some feature professional directors and executives with head-sets and scripts just to make sure that everything is authentic! Oh my, how things have changed.
Perhaps you’re smiling too as you recall memories from Christmas past. We all have them, good, bad and funny. I remember vividly a descending angel in one production that went terribly wrong when the guy-wires tangled themselves and the poor kid in the body harness, whose name escapes me, was left twisting in the wind. The circular unending motion finally took its toll and his lunch had nowhere to go but up and out! Now, that’s a memorable angel sighting!
But fast forward to today and the Christmas plans we have to deliver toys, gifts and groceries to Native American Reservations. Pictured here is an example of one gift that was given in a previous holiday. The stuffed animal was, as the kids say, “ginormous!” I say, “Now, that’s a big bear!” Granted not all the gifts are this big but they’re all given with generosity and love. As Dale Evans once said, “Christmas, my child, is love in action!”
So let’s talk about that for a bit. Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is the result of God, our Heavenly Father, who loved the world , gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life. Love was not a word, nor an emotion, it was an action. And, the world has never again been the same.
Our action plan is to collect toys, gifts and groceries again at Christmas and deliver them to Celilo Indian Village (Yakama Reservation) and Lake Quinault (Quinault Reservation). I am not exaggerating when I say for some children on the reservations; these gifts and toys are the only Christmas they will have, period. You can help us with your financial gifts at this time. I will make two trips before Christmas to deliver everything, (gifts, toys, groceries) but we need help with fuel and transportation costs and maybe a little extra for some groceries. Thank you for caring, sharing and giving! God bless you and Merry Christmas!
Now, how am I going to pack another ginormous bear?
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