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What a day is in front of me, how will I cope?

There’s so much I must get done.

What shall I do first? Where do I start?

I’ve so many errands to run.

I guess the first thing’s to give Toby a walk,

It would be good to have some fresh air.

“Come on big boy, look sharpish, wake up!”

I haven’t all day to spend.

I’m pleased I’ve come out, it clears out the mind,

It also gives time to think.

“Oh Toby, don’t do that, I haven’t a bag,

How do you manage to make such a stink!”

Right, back home at last, what’s next on the list?

This Christmas things making me sick!

When I see all the ads, and all I must do,

It really gets on my wick.

Christmas cards next, now to who must I send?

There’s Roger and Muriel and Stan.

I won’t send to Jim – he didn’t last year –

I was never his greatest fan.

But there’s Aunty Katrina, Uncle Jack too,

Eric, and Diane, Brian and Sue.

Heather and Daphne, Dennis and Girt,

Katie and Mary, plus John with his shirt.

Each year it grows longer, the more I spend,

Just the thought of Christmas drives me right round the bend.

Well, can’t stop and grumble, there’s plenty to do,

There are mince pies and crumble, and turkey and stew.

Christmas cake, pudding, marzipan sweets,

Yule log and stuffing, and chocolate treats,

Brazil nuts and trifle, sausage on sticks,

I must peel the onions – Cor, they make my eyes pick!

I’ll get out my bowl; I must make a start,

But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t much heart.

I spend all year slimming, and watching my weight,

Then quick as a flash I’m thirteen stone eight!

Presents are next, that’s the bit I find hard,

Left up to me they’d get only a card.

“Ooh, it’s just what I need, you know me so well”,

But they mean “Can I change it”, you see, I can tell.

I’ll get them this year; I won’t be to blame

Whether male of female they’ll all get the same.

They’ll all get a present, a card with a text,

And a £15 voucher to exchange at NEXT!

I better get wrapping, times running out.

Just three weeks to Christmas I hear them all shout.

I’ve so much to do, can’t miss out not one.

I’ll not rest tonight until it’s all done.

Now lets run through the list, it must be complete,

We can’t be untidy, it must be all-neat.

So – dogs walked, the birds stuffed, the cards in the post,

Presents are finished, I’m ready to host –

The biggest best Christmas we’ve ever endured,

Yet.. there seems to be someone I might have ignored?

How different this Christmas from the first long ago,
No cards, food and parties, lights, snow, mistletoe.
There were no lists of presents, which have to be bought.
The biggest and best tree did not need to be sought.

No hustle and bustle, no stress and tension,
To think, of the turkey there was never a mention.
No crackers, no pudding, and no Santa Claus,
No drinking and dancing that goes on without pause.

No stocking hung bulging at the foot of the bed,
Nor the sending of greetings, either spoken or read
The very first Christmas had no laden table,
Just a girl and a man in a smelly cold stable.

She, scared of the future, he loyal and true,
Both made aware of the child that was due.
No fairy lights twinkle, just a solitary star,
No family around them, only men from afar.

The child born to be king, yet not with a throne,
In a place of hostility, not in his own home.
Yet he came and brought peace, hope, love and great joy.
How much do we owe to the birth of this boy?


I know that first Christmas was never like this,
Yet with him as your Saviour you will never need miss-
The true meaning of Christmas, his peace and his joy,
For he’s now King of Kings, no longer a boy.

Bring the Christ back to Christmas, it’s where He belongs,
That’s the reason we’ve gathered, why we’ve sung all these songs.
If your life lacks true meaning, look no further than here,
Make welcome this Christmas, the Lord Jesus so dear

Christmas has changed don't you think?
From the ones when I was a lad,
Those times were special, simple and good,
Just my brothers, and me, Mum and Dad.
The ceiling was covered in paper chains,
There was holly and ivy - no tree,
Dad found a branch of evergreen oak,
Was as good as the real thing to me.

We'd go to bed early on Christmas Eve,
Made the night go quicker we thought,
But every so often I'd creep down the bed,
To feel what Santa had brought.
One of Dad's socks did the trick every year,
Was amazing how much it would stretch,
We'd jump in their bed at the crack of dawn,
And our stockings we'd one by one fetch.

Christmas has changed don't you think?
From the ones when I was a teen,
There were all sorts of decisions to make,
Like where to spend Christmas - I mean
Should I go to my girlfriend's hose?
Or should she come over to us?
What a difficult job to please everyone,
Yet we managed without too much fuss.

I remember one year on Boxing Day,
The party was held at my Gran,
It had snowed overnight but the roads were clear,
To drive Judy home was the plan.
But as evening fell so did the snow
T'was too deep to drive into town,
So she came home with me, and much to my glee,
From my parents not even a frown.

Christmas has changed don't you think?
From the time when my children were small,
There were wish lists and hints dropped,
And the hope was that Santa would call.
It was their turn to jump on our bed in the dark,
"Can we get up, is it time"?
Didn't matter that Dad worked a hundred hour week,
"Oh please can we get up"? they'd whine,

I loved Boxing Day; we'd play with their toys,
There was always something to make,
Lego was great; we'd build something big,
Like airports and towns with a lake.
My Little Pony, the Care Bears and Flumps,
Sylvanian families were fun,
The hours we spent on the floor with these things,
Just to think makes my throat grow a lump.

Christmas has changed don't you think?
Now the girls have got boyfriends in tow,
Yet there's a tradition that stays with us still,
You'll not guess, so I'll let you know.
Christmas Eve walks.  they're precious to me,
We've been doing them now twenty five years,
We go out at three and come back in the dark,
During which we have faced many fears.

We can't go on roads only farmland they say,
So through all the mud we trot,
There's been chases with bulls, electrified fence,
And sometimes we've even been shot!
You'd think they could tell the difference between -
A rabbit, and humans times three,
But we still had to run across open land
And shelter behind a stout tree.

Christmas has changed don't you think?
From that first Christmas long ago,
But has it ? Or is it the things we have done
That has caused the occasion to grow?
We still celebrate the King who was born
In a stable so cold and bare
We sing of the Wise Men, who came from so far,
To worship, and give, and stare -
Into the eyes of the Christ child so small
A child who was destined to die,
We still praise His name and trust in His cross,
That was given for you and for I.

The story of Christmas remains the same,
The response is for us to give,
We either accept or reject this gift,
We can choose to die or to live,
Christmas can change from the one that you know,
The one that is never the same,
Just come to the Saviour, He beckons to you,
Listen, He's calling your name.

As As You brought into being this world of ours

The seas and the earth, birds, animals, flowers,

How far did You look down the road of time?

When you fashioned each leaf of the very first vine.

What did You think as the stars shone above?

Was the moon created simply for love?

And did the sun shine just to give off its heat?

Is the reason for animals just for their meat?

Things didn't evolve; they were part of a plan,

Right there in Genesis, the redemption of man

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When You made that first tree did your eye shed a tear?

Did You see the time when your Son would hang there?

Were You tempted to make the bark of soft wood ?

To ease His pain just as a father would?

As You added the thorns to the desert bush

Did You think of the time the soldiers would push ?

Them into the brow of your precious Son?

Did You ever regret just what You had done?

When You laid the foundations with iron ore

Could You see the nails, which in His hands tore?

Was it painful to You, could Your tender heart feel

The stab of the spear with its tip of steel?

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At the beginning of time when You made all these things

Did You stop to consider the pain it would bring,

Why was man made, if You knew he would slay ?

The dear Son of God, some dark evil day.

As You fashioned each stone as tho' it was hewn,

When did You realise it was for a tomb?

When You planted that garden for man to dwell,

Did You think of Gethsemane, and the road to Hell ?

That Jesus would enter to take my place,

To carry my shame, to bear my disgrace

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For You gave the thorns, the nails and the tree,

And left them with man knowing how they would be ?

Used as instruments to kill your dear Son.

But yet, as I ponder it, Your will was done.

You loved us completely, You could not forego

The work of creation if You, we would know.

I can't understand such love, so great.

A love much vaster  than a world full of hate.

A Creator who saw before time began

Exactly the way the gulf to span

Between Him and I, the gain the loss,

For without a tree there could be no Cross,

Without a Cross no forgiveness of sin,

But because of the Cross, I have Him within.

                             ******