Someone gave me this poem when my great-grandmother died about two weeks before Christmas.  I shared it with the family, and it meant a lot to all of us.  I checked on the internet, and found it was quite popular, but I can't find an author.  Should anyone know who the author is, please let me know so I can give them credit.

My Christmas in Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below.
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear,
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
but the sound of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
for it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart,
but I am not so far away, we really aren't apart.
So be happy for me dear ones.  You know I hold you dear,
and be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above,
I send you each a memory of my undying love.
After all, "love" is the gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories that Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other, as my father said to do,
for I can't count the blessings or the love He has for each of you.
So, have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember, I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
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~Reading: Deuteronomy: Chapter 4

(1-8) "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. You have seen with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal-peor: the Lord, your God, destroyed from your midst everyone that followed the Baal of Peor; but you, who clung to the Lord, your God, are all alive today. Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the Lord, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statues and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.' For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?"

(25-26) "When you have children and grandchildren, and have grown old in the land, should you then degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol in any form and by this evil done in his sight provoke the Lord, your God, I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that you shall all quickly perish from the land which you will occupy when you cross the Jordan. You shall not live in it for any length of time but shall be promptly wiped out."

(36-39) "Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire. For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power, driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today. This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and there is no other."
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Holding the position of a Judge was a highly respected occupation.  The original judges chosen by the people before the conquest, of course, died over time and were replaced.  Future judges, scholars, and lawyers (who were consulted on matters of the law) were also highly respected. 
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