December 29, 2011  8:56 p.m.

2011 has been a year of losses for several people that we know this year.  First there was Miss Kitty, 63 years old, a faithful servant of God who served, for years,  some of the youngest members of our church, as Tender Care Sunday School teacher.  Now her husband, a widower, sits in the pew without her.  Then there is Joseph, age 8, finally losing a nearly six year long war with leukemia.  He leaves behind his mother and older brothers.  Weeks later, there is Dorothy, my own mother-in-law, age 67, in an untimely death due to choking.  She is survived by her sister, her son, daughter-in-law (that’s me) and two grandchildren who miss her a lot.  Next is our Uncle Kenny, also age 67, a gentleman who lived with Parkinson’s for a long time.  His wife faced her first Christmas without him this year.  And most recently, Denise, age 46, who has had cancer three times.  Her husband and eight children celebrate the Savior’s birth a week after her passing, without her.

Chips mentioned this past week that there are many people we know this year who are spending Christmas without a loved one, which is sad. 

“But”, he added, “they [the deceased] are celebrating their first Christmas with the Person that Christmas is all about.”

Well, this is true.  Hard on the families and friends.  Our loss, but their gain.  For to all of them, to live was Christ, and to die has been gain.