My wife asked

me what I wanted for Christmas this year. I've been thinking about that

for several weeks and I'm still at a bit of a loss to come up with something

special. Oh, I'd like a new car, maybe a Crown Vic or an SUV. I'd even

take a new van. But that's expensive and the 1993 Town and Country Van

with 117,000 miles that I currently drive has a new transmission and it

should be good for quite some time.

I wouldn't

mind a new 35 mm camera to replace the Canon AE-1 that I used for 17 years

before it finally gave up the ghost. But Randi McGilvray now takes the

photos at our church and the smaller, less expensive Canon that I bought

for about $100 does the job for most family memories that I want to preserve.

I could use some new clothes, but I'd like to get those after I lose more

pounds than I care to talk about. No, all in all, I really don't actually

need much of anything.

In fact, as

I look ahead to Christmas just a few days from now, I find that I have

been blessed with a number of gifts that are beyond price. First of all,

all of my children and their spouses and children will be together with

us for the first Christmas in four years. My youngest son enlisted in

the Air Force following high school graduation and, although he has made

visits home, he hasn't been able to be with us for Christmas since that

time. There are thirteen of us now, counting grandchildren. We will have

dinner together on Sunday afternoon, will attend Christmas Eve worship

services together, and will share a Christmas Day brunch. There's something

very special about having all the family together. It's the best present

that Cindy and I could have.

We also have

a brand new granddaughter, Peyton Olivia Epps, who is just a month old.

On Sunday, I will have the awesome privilege of baptizing her into Christ's

one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. She will be the first person

baptized in our new sanctuary. In fact, I have baptized my five other

grandchildren as well and, before them, I baptized my three sons. What

gifts they all are!

After six and

a quarter years as a church, we are finally in our very own facility.

To us, it's as beautiful as an European cathedral. We feel blessed to

be able to spend our Advent and Christmas season in this beautiful place

where God's people gather to worship and adore Him. What a gift it is!

Speaking of

church, I have been given the gift of the most wonderful congregation

that a pastor could imagine. There's not one person that I'd want to lose

and I'd bet money that there aren't many pastors who could say that! In

many congregations, including some that I have served in the past, some

of the people in the church are the source of the pastor's greatest anguish.

In my case, our people are the source of the greatest joy to me. They

are loving, forgiving, generous, and faithful. What gifts they all are!

I am also grateful

for the many ministerial colleagues that surround me. I have not always

had the privilege of having clergy friends that I felt that I could trust

unreservedly. Now, I find that everywhere I turn, I am joined with men

that I love, that I admire, and that I trust. Many of those men are priests

and deacons in our own church. A great number of these men are members

of our church. Others are men in our diocese and still others are scattered

throughout the nation. These men are gifts to me!

I'm not saying

that there aren't things that I'd like to acquire or that I've presented

an all-inclusive list of the "gifts" that I already have. I

guess that I'm just saying that I value things differently than I used

to. The things that I really care about aren't under the tree. The things

that really truly matter, I find that I already possess. And that's why

I think that this Christmas will be the best I've ever had! May you, too,

receive everything that has true and lasting value. Merry Christmas!

[Father David

Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which

meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at 4881 E. Hwy 34 between Peachtree City and

Newnan. A Christmas Eve Communion Service is scheduled for Dec. 24 at

6 p.m., with the community invited. He may be contacted at 770-252-2428,

at [email protected] or at www.ctkcec.org.]