Various - Ill Be Home for Christmas: True Stories for the Season

Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data

Ill be home for Christmas : truestories for the season

p. cm.

ISBN1-57345-437-0 (hardbound)

1.ChristmasMiscellanea. 2.MormonsMiscellanea. 3.Church of

JesusChrist of Latter-day SaintsMiscellanea. I. Deseret Book

Company.

BV45.I45 1998

263'.915dc21 98-29419

CIP

Printedin the United States of America 18961-6369

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The following stories are The Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. Used by permission.

Firstpublished in the Ensign magazine:One More Car, by J. K. Trapper Hatch, as told to Jo Ann Hatch
Tragedy and the True Meaning of Christmas, by Linda Gappmayer Reed
The Year Christmas Came to Me, by Sandra Drake
Stranded in a Small Town, by Frank W. Olsen, as told to Kathleen Olsen
The Angel on the Ammo Can, by John L. Meisenbach
Christmas Eve Miracle, by Alda McDonald Strebel
The Horse That Saved Christmas, by Jane Brooking Flint

Firstpublished in the New Era magazine:The Christmas Present, by Layne H. Dearden

We often think of Christmas as a warm, exciting time, whenour families gather round us and we all revel together in the peace and joy(and noise and bustle!) of the occasion.

But sometimes we cant be home for Christmas.

What happens when were in a faraway place during thisspecial season... or were home but not at our familyhome ... or we find ourselves at Christmastime under particularly tryingcircumstances, not experiencing the holiday the way wed hoped?

Ill be home for Christmas the old standard songsaysbut sometimes its only in [our] dreams.

Now that I think about it, we were home on Christmas Day in 1992. My wife and I were uplate packing. Christmas music played in the background while we squeezed choirtapes and ties, name badges and dresses into suitcases, which were labeled inblue like every other bag that would find a place on the chartered aircraft. Wewere leaving with the 325 singing ambassadors of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir(and their guests) early in the morning. Ours was a goodwill mission for thenext ten days in the Holy Land. Having signed an agreement not to proselyte ordiscuss the doctrines of the Church with the people of Israel, we sensed thatthis tour would be different from any other the choir had undertaken.

We had been to the security briefings; we knew something ofthe miracle of the BYU Jerusalem Centerbut how could we be fullyprepared for the experience we were about to have? We were coming as emissariesof peace; our music would be a balm to those who heard it. The love thatradiated from our group would invite age-old enemies, Muslims, Jews, andChristians alike, to sit down together and worship God. Our hope was that, fora moment at least, some of these ancient animosities could be softened, and we wouldbe instruments in the Lords hands as we, through music, spoke comfortably toJerusalem (Isaiah 40:2). The message was simple and powerful.

My wife and I had been on tour with the choir before. We hadseen how audiences are set on fire with the choirs spirit and song. We knewabout the rigorous performance schedule, the 5:00 a.m. bag checks, and the unrelenting pace. We wereaccustomed to wearing dresses, ties, and name badges from morning until night.

But we had never been expectant parents beforenot athome or abroad. My wife was five months pregnant with our first child. She wasin good health, and we were in good spirits. It was Christmastime. We wereleaving family and friends behind, but we were together, and we were with ourfamily of dear choir members. Even though we would soon be many miles awayfrom home, we had an inclination that we would not feel like strangers to aland we had read about from our earliest years. We were traveling to Israel; wewere going home for Christmas.

Israel, Israel God iscalling,

Calling me from lands ofwoe...

The Christmas story was so much a part of my consciousnessthat December morning, almost like a song you just cant stop singing, and theevents of that first Christmas kept playing in my mind. Thoughts of Mary, themother of Jesus, were unavoidable as I reached for my wifes hand mid-flight. I noticed how Karmel was adjusting her weight. She didntwouldntcomplain, but I knew she must have feltuncomfortable by now. We had been sitting for such a long time. Soft andaccommodating though our seats were, I, too, was feeling the need to movearound a little.

And then I considered Josephs plight. How he must have achedto provide even minimal comforts for his wife, so great with child (Luke2:5). How the bumps of that dusty road to Bethlehem must have dually painedhimfor his dear Mary and for his inability to relieve her. What could hedo but pull the donkey forward? What could I do but wish the hours away? Thejourney had to be made; not out of necessity like Mary and Joseph, but out of amarvelous opportunity to sing glad tidings of great joy.

Oh, come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant!

Oh, come ye, oh, come ye toBethlehem.

Here we were eating, reading, resting on our way to Bethlehem.Consider, in contrast, the way Mary and Joseph traveled. Did they pack enoughbread and goat cheese? What kind of bedding might they have carried? Were theyhungry as well as tired? Did Mary bring swaddling cloth along with her, or didthey have to borrow that as well? And what about the uncertainty of it all?

Karmel and I knew just where we would be staying when wearrived. We knew the hotel, its address, telephone number even our roomnumber before we ever touched ground. Several doctors were on board, should werequire any medical assistance en route. But Mary and Joseph. Joseph and Mary.

They must have known before they ever arrived that the villageinns would be filling fast, if they were not already full. And every time thebaby shifted in his mothers womb, Mary might have wondered: who would assistwith the birth? Where would they lay him? Would the accommodations they foundbe good enough for their newborn King?

Although they were traveling to the little town ofBethlehem, a land of their kin, still There was none to give room in theinns. (JST, Luke 2:7) Although alone, concerned, and without the most basiccomforts, Maryand Josephmust have already felt that peace...which passeth all understanding(Philippians 4:7). Quite literally, the peaceof God had already been born and nurtured in their souls.

Joy to the world,

The Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King!

Every time I turned around, someone was asking about Karmeland sharing in our excitement. Your first child! Were so happy for you. Doyou know if youre having a boy or a girl? Let us know when the baby isborn. The smile these comments put on my face always lingered. Months beforeour baby was born, I was already feeling like a proud and excited father. Ijust couldnt contain my joy.