When your birthday's at Christmas
Is there so much to do,
That nobody bothers to think about you?
When your birthday's at Christmas
Are they planning the toys
That will fill up the stockings
For the good girls and boys

When your birthday's at Christmas
Do they set out all the candles,
Adorn with holly on all of the mantles
And forget just one thing before they are through
And dont light even a small one for you?

Do they rush through the stores
like a reindeer in flight
Just to prepare a corporate party that night?
remember this: you're not the only one
For they've probably forgotten about
God's own Son.

So today I am going to be thinking
About you, and wish you
Some happiness all the day through,
And when Christmas day is here,
We'll think about that Baby Dear.

Santa's Prayer On Christmas
By Warren D. Jennings

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed.

"Dear Father," he prayed "Be with me tonight.
There's much work to do and my schedule is tight.

I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky,
Knowing full well that a reindeer can't fly.

I will visit each household before the first light,
I'll cover the world and all in one night.

With sleighbells a-ringing, I'll land on each roof,
Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof.

To get in the house is the difficult part,
So I'll slide down the chimney of each child's heart.

My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes.
The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track.
I'll eat every cookie that is left for my snack.

I can do all these things Lord, only through You,
I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do.

All this is to honor the birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.

So to all of my friends, least Your glory I rob,
Please Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

HOW SANTA BEGAN

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
And on goes the story about Christmas Eve,
And the jolly old man in whom we believe.

Have you even wondered how Santa came to be
So important to Christmas and to you and to me?
Well, it all began a long time ago
The night before Christ to earth was to go.

All prepared to make Christ's birth well announced
With angels and music and anthems pronounced.
But alas, all had forgotten in the final rush
How to make Christ's birthday remembered to us.

The kingdom was searched for the most excellent plan
That would help us remember God's gift to man.
A saintly old fellow, so jolly and gay,
Came up with the best plan that was offered that day.

He said, "Send a fellow each year at this time,
Who would help people be happy and comfort their minds.
He could help man remember that God loves us so
By bringing presents to both friend and foe.

"He would show by example that true love and joy
Come only when shared with each girl and each boy."
Heaven decided that Santa's plan would be just right
And Santa was asked to play the part that very first night.

So from the first Christmas right down to today,
When one heard the bells jingling and saw the big sleigh,
They knew it was Santa making his way
To remind the world of the love Jesus gave.

So, this night before Christmas when you hear Santa come,
Remember he's doing it for the love of God's Son.
Remember that he teaches as did Christ of old,
That to give of one's self is more precious than gold.

David M. Steed

A Christmas to Remember

Christmas usually makes us think
of shopping in the snow,
of caroling, loving, giving, sharing,
And that special mistletoe.

It reminds most folks of Santa,
And presents 'neath the tree,
And Christmas had always brought,
Those same thoughts to me.

But something happened late one night
To change the way I feel.
An unexpected incident
that made the season real.

I had just come from talking,
to a real close friend of mine.
We were pondering the season,
In a voice much like a whine.

For complaining seems to be the norm
When Christmas gets this near.
"Just can't wait to get it over"
Is all you ever hear.

Well, it was snowing really hard
I was miserable and cold.
And the packages I had,
Were getting awfully hard to hold.

So I thought I'd just stop and sit
While I waited for my ride.
I found a bus stop shelter
I went and sat inside.

My Christmas spirit was not the best,
As I shivered from the cold.
And all the holly jolly stuff,
was getting really old.

I sat there with my attitude,
When I noticed  'cross the street,
A nativity no on cared for,
It looked old and pretty beat.

The thought had crossed my mind,
"How sad, does no one really care?"
Now that Santa's the important one,
To children everywhere.

People passing, no one cared,
The cradle had been tipped,
And the dress on Virgin Mary,
was looking worn and ripped.

I figured, well its so commercialized,
And now santa is the one.
That children think and care about
'cause he brings all the fun.

Thats all the time I spent on that
so I'm just as guilty too,
Until  I saw the incident,
That changed my point of view

I saw a man dressed in a suit,
A Santa Claus no less.
He was fixing up the manger scene,
And cleaning up the mess.

As I sat there watching him
I didn't feel the cold,
I felt the love and warmth he had
For a birthday long ago.

He looked down at baby Jesus,
Then he knelt down reverently.
Took his hat from off his head
And laid it crossed his knee.

I heard the prayer he said that night
Its one I'll not forget,
He said, "Bless the children I've not
seen, And all the ones I've met.

Please help the parents of these kids,
To make them understand,
That you're the reason we are here
I'm just here to lend a hand.

He said, "I didn't mean to be important,
I didn't meant to be the one.
That everybody thinks of first
When you're the chosen son."

He wiped his eyes from tears of love
As he continued on,
"I want the folks to realize
This way they think is wrong.

Please help me have the power
To teach these people true,
That the spirit of the holiday,
Its not in me, but You.

I see in all the homes around,
They decorate in me.
I was supposed to be for fun
It's you they need to see.

I'm sorry I'm complaining"
He said still on one knee,
"I just wish I had the power,
To help some of them see.

For God so loved the world he gave
His only begotten son,
How can they compare my gifts
To this special Holy one."

He stopped talking for a moment,
Just knelt in fervent prayer,
Beside the manger scene he fixed
With tender loving care.

He put his hat back on his head,
Slowly rose up on his feet,
He zipped his coat, said  good-bye
then wandered down the street.

It wasn't 'til  that moment,
I noticed people everywhere,
They all had stopped to listen,
And they had heard that Santa's prayer.

'Cross the way was an apartment,
with windows that faced the street,
And faces in every window
Probably people he'd never meet.

Will he ever know
The 'power' he received,
If I hadn't seen it for myself
I'm not sure that I'd believed.

But now I know the 'power'
Is in each and everyone,
As we treat Christmas as a birthday
For an only begotten son.

I know that Christmas in our house
Will never be the same again,
It changed one night I heard Santa say,
"In Jesus name Amen."

It isn't the wreaths in the windows,
It isn't the shining tree,
Or the children, rapt and waiting,
Brings Christmas to you and me.

It's the marvelous self-forgetting,
It's the thoughts we are sending far,
It's our hearts aglow, uplifted,
It's a wonderful guiding star.

Alex Thorn

'TIS THE SEASON

Christmas if full of giving and sharing,
People all brimming with love and with caring.
Smiles touch near everyone's faces,
People go visiting to all different places.
Everyone is full of peace and of love,
The cold in the air; as sweet as a dove.
But no other Christmas can ever compare,
  The the first night of that sweet baby fair.
by Nicole Dowdle (age 11)