By Mike Huckabee
December 23, 2024
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Back in 2011, inspired by my book “A Simple Christmas,” I asked listeners of my radio show “The Huckabee Report” to share their own favorite family Christmas memories. Some are heartwarming, some are hilarious, but all of them are inspiring and wonderful.
In recent years, as the news slows down around the holidays (and let us pray that it does this year!), my staffers and I have taken a break around Christmas and New Year’s week to revisit some of these stories from the archives so we can spend a little time with our families. We’ll be starting tomorrow. I hope you find as much entertainment, joy and meaning in these stories as we do. And rest assured, if anything major happens that we feel we have to pass along, we’ll do that. We’ve also prepared lots of other new material in advance. So please keep reading every day!
Between the ongoing supply chain crisis, spiraling inflation and other issues, many people may find it hard to be with their families or have fewer gifts under the tree than in previous years. Many are also still dealing with the heartbreak of an empty place at the table due to COVID taking a loved one. But even though many of us have to scale down our celebrations, I refuse to let anything or anyone “cancel” Christmas. As the Grinch learned, Christmas is not something that comes from a store. Christmas means a whole lot more.
Young people have been misled into thinking this is the worst time ever to be alive, when in fact, despite all our current problems, they are extremely lucky to have been born in this era. They might find it hard to believe, but Americans have lived through far worse times than these, from the Civil War, to World War I and the Spanish flu, to the Depression and World War II to 9/11. Yet we have always survived, come together and overcome the most difficult problems. I’m hopeful that Americans are finally waking up to the real cause of our current miseries and getting ready to remove it. We will “build back better” the way we always have: by doing it ourselves, together, not relying on the government to do it for us.
Previous bad times caused us to have far humbler Christmas celebrations than we do now, but that doesn’t affect the meaning of Christmas. It just reminds us all the more of the extremely humble surroundings at the birth of Jesus, and that Christmas is about the joy of knowing that hope and renewal are always within our grasp when we discover that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
These wonderful stories and memories are a perfect reminder of what Christmas means and how important it is, especially in hard times, when memories are created that last a lifetime. I hope that some of them will also remind you that even if you’re feeling down because this year’s celebration is sparser than usual, most of us are still incredibly blessed. When we stop dwelling on our own problems and share with those who have even less, that’s the best way to become filled with the joy of the true meaning of Christmas.
I hope you enjoy these stories, and from all of us at the newsletter, my TBN show and MikeHuckabee.com, have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!
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