11 days 'til Christmas

Amy Grant's "Grown up Christmas List"

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies.

Well I'm all grown up now,
But still need help somehow.
I'm not a child,
But my heart still can dream.

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up Christmas list.
Not for myself,
But for a world in need.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
That time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown up Christmas list.

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree.

Well Heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a hurting human soul.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
That time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown up Christmas list.

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth...

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
That time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown up Christmas list.
This is my only lifelong wish,
This is my grown up Christmas list.

I've been thinking about my true grown up Christmas list this year. Living in the City forces you to see the melting pot of people, how they interact, how they ignore the poor and needy, how the homeless live in on different corners each night under a box, and how people just don't seem to get along.

I would wish for no one to go without. I would wish for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be in everyone's life. For each child to be loved unconditionally by his/her parents (both parents), and for husband and wife to unite their family with joy and peace and learning. I would hope for everyone's job to be stable, for the economy to be strong, and that our government believed in keeping America and the world strong by supporting the good. I would hope for cultures to unite, not discriminate, and to enjoy the differences in one another. I would hope for my family (just like every other family), to not argue, to leave differences in the past, and to show their love. I would hope that the future children we bring into this world were entering a safer era, and not a more dangerous one.

But what can we do? We must focus on what matters most to us. For our family, that is the Gospel. We unite each day in faith and prayer, hoping to do better than yesterday. We do our best, and if we are lucky, we can see the blessings in our lives each day. We are truly blessed.