The Christmas Card
a story by Nancy Mossman
When I first met David, I learned that one of his unique characteristics was his ability to write and draw cartoons, mostly in humorous ways that incorporated lots of silly puns. David used this talent to create personalized birthday and holiday cards. For years, many in our family received hand made birthday cards. I remember how tickled my father was when he received his first hand made birthday card from David. No one in our family exhibited that kind of artistic flair.
As the years passed, our family grew as well as our commitments and obligations to others. David simply was unable to continue his practice of providing hand-made cards to his friends and family. However, there was one card that he never gave up on. He continues to create his own Christmas card for our family each year.
Our Christmas card list is lengthy. Close to 100 friends and family receive David’s hand drawn card and Christmas letter describing the highlights of our year. But, it’s not a typical Christmas letter. The Mossman Christmas epistle is usually a quiz with multiple choice answers, all of which make you smile if not out right laugh.
Since the birth of our grandchildren, David has incorporated their names into the Christmas card design. So another test of our readers is to locate each grandchild’s name which is hidden in the lines and squiggles of the drawings. Also, it’s fun to see what each year’s “punny” logo will be.
These cards are very special to our family. They not only highlight David’s creativity, but they are a record of our family’s life together. Each year, we place one card and one letter into a plastic sleeve and insert it into our Mossman Family Christmas Card Album. As I look upon each year’s card and letter, I am reminded of all the milestones in our family and recall the many memories of our life together.
Scripture: Isaiah 61: 1-4a
The Lord God’s spirit is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for captives, and liberation for prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and a day of vindication for our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for Zion’s mourners, to give them a crown in place of ashes, oil of joy in place of mourning, a mantle of praise in place of discouragement. They will be called oaks of righteousness, planted by the Lord to glorify himself.
Prayer
Meet us in these moments God, of writing Christmas cards and reflecting on our year. The moments of joy, sorrow, peace, laughter. The moments that become memories that become stories that we tell from generation to generation. Amen.
