For those of you wishing for a white Christmas, I will send you the next snowfall that comes through the Kansas City area. Once a year is enough for me. We had a seven-inch snowfall right after Thanksgiving, so I hope that’s it, but probably not

Looking back through the years, I can remember when we got more snow in Ardmore than you do these days. Back in the late 1940s, I remember an ice storm that left the landscape looking like a winter wonderland. It was a fantastic sight to see long ice cycles hanging on the roof edge and trees bending to the ground, but my Dad and brothers didn’t think it was that wonderful. Daddy owned the telephone company in Ardmore, and in order to keep the lines from breaking, they were out knocking ice off the lines so that people could use their phones. It was a very hard winter, and most Southerners weren’t prepared for it.

In the winter of 1965-66, we were living in the Thach area when a very heavy snowfall and extremely cold temperatures shut down everything in the Tennessee Valley. I can’t remember exactly how many inches of snow fell that time, but it sticks in my mind it was about 27 inches, give or take a few. Man, that’s cold enough to keep Santa from making his yearly visit.

I heard the song about Mama kissing Santa Clause recently, followed by the one about Mama getting run over by a reindeer, and I was wondering if Mama’s husband found out about the kiss and hijacked the sleigh? Well, you never know? People do some strange things these days.

Speaking of strange things, I saw something the other day that made me realize teens don’t feel the cold as much as older folks. I was walking into a local department store wrapped in my down coat with the hood on my head trying to keep warm in the Kansas wind. The temperature was hovering at about 22 degrees that day. Ahead of me was a girl about 16 to 17 years old dressed in what can only be described as a Daisy Mae skirt. Only a tiny piece of fabric protected her backside, accompanied by a tight little shirt and sneakers without socks. I don’t know what kept her from freezing to death, but I felt reasonably sure she needed a hot shower to thaw out. As I’ve heard in the past, youth is wasted on the young. Indeed! Brains, too, sometimes.

It is amazing to look at your grandchildren and see traits that are known to run through your family being passed along to them. As I sat listening to my 12-year-old granddaughter, Beth, performing in her school’s Christmas program, I wished that Daddy could have been there. He would have been so proud of her. Beth plays the clarinet and sings in the school’s choral group. Recently, she was one of only two children from her school selected to perform in the state choral group next month. She loves music and singing, a Merrell trait-something I’m happy to have passed along to her even though it seems to have skipped me.

As I write this, it is only two weeks until Christmas. I was in several stores last week, and they were jam-packed. Fortunately, I am through and can sit back and let everyone else fight their way through the stores for the “blue light” specials.

As I was shopping, I wondered how many people remember what Christmas means? Why do some celebrate a holiday that has little or no meaning to them? To many, it is not a religious holiday, but a time for partying, vacations, travel and other assorted activities. I think it is important for Christians everywhere to make sure their holiday activities are Christ centered and not fall into the secular thinking that it is just a “winter holiday.” It is long past time that Americans put Christ back into CHRISTmas! With that being said, I end with these thoughts:

“If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”

Merry Christmas