The Spirit of Christmas: With a Foreword by Debbie Macomber

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More About This Book

Overview

A heartwarming collection of true stories that will inspire, entertain, and get everyone into the spirit of Christmas

At Christmastime, it’s hard not to get caught up in the shopping, the decorating, the party planning and the family drama—and too we often to lose sight of the true meaning of the season.  But sometimes, through God’s grace or a simple twist of fate, we’re able to step back and understand what the holiday is truly about.

The Spirit of Christmas is an inspiring collection of true stories from real-life people who have experienced such moments where the meaning of the season becomes clear and touches their hearts.  A man mailing gifts at the post office witnesses a moving scene that changes his life forever.  An unhappy couple are drifting further apart…until a special Christmas gift allows them to renew their love and mend their fractured marriage.  And a father tries to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for his son with a grand gesture—a gesture that will be remembered by his family and many others for years to come.

Filled with magic, wonder and deep meaning, it’s impossible for these stories not to touch your heart—and fill you with The Spirit of Christmas.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780312645014
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press
  • Publication date: 10/25/2011
  • Pages: 208
  • Sales rank: 190,681
  • Product dimensions: 5.41 (w) x 7.42 (h) x 0.89 (d)

Meet the Author

Cecil Murphey

CECIL MURPHEY is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN.  He has published 108 books and lectures widely.

MARLEY GIBSON has written several young adult novels for both Penguin Group and Houghton Mifflin.

Read an Excerpt

1. Alone and Broke at Christmas

Cecil Murphey

 

I chose to do my first year of college at a small school in southern Texas—sixteen hundred miles from home. Shirley was pregnant with our first child and had complications with her pregnancy. That meant we were unable to travel back to the Chicago area for the Christmas holidays. Even if she had been able to travel, we didn’t have the money.

I went to school on veteran’s benefits. By watching our finances closely, we survived. We regularly ate Kraft’s macaroni-and-cheese mixes, bought hurt cans and marked-down vegetables at the supermarket. Neither of us considered it a sacrifice. In many ways, it was an adventure.

Christmas season began on Tuesday and most of the afternoon the campus was a plethora of people rushing from place to place and cars driving out of the campus. The last students left early Wednesday morning. By Thursday, two days before Christmas, the classrooms were empty. They closed the library and locked the student dorms. No one would return for ten days. In the married couples’ dorm we were the only ones still on campus. We didn’t have a telephone and it was long before computers, so we depended on the postal service for connecting with our families.

I had checked out all the books from the library that I thought I might want during the holiday period. I looked forward to the opportunity to study without pressure.

On Christmas Eve, Shirley and I had a meal that was a mixture of a dented can of corn and an even more dented can of chili. Someone had given us a box of candles that had been “delicately used,” as the person said. Shirley had embroidered my initials on six new handkerchiefs. I had bought her a small bottle of cologne.

The church where we worshipped had a Christmas Eve service and we attended. Normally the church was full, but that night not more than thirty people came to the special service.

Christmas morning would be like any other day except we would have a nicer meal—meat loaf and baked sweet potatoes, food not normally on our diet.

About nine thirty, someone knocked on the door of our two-room apartment. I was shocked that anyone else was on campus. When I answered the door, the man smiled at me. We hadn’t met, but I knew his last name was Willard. He was one of the instructors at the college.

“I heard you two were here for the holidays,” he said.

“That’s right.” I invited him into our kitchen and to one of the four chairs we owned. I offered him a cup of coffee.

“No thanks,” he said. When he came into the room, he had a strange way of walking, almost as if he swayed from one foot to the other.

“I don’t want to stay,” Mr. Willard said. “I’m a bachelor and I want to take you two out for Christmas dinner.”

Shirley could hear us from the bedroom, where she had been lying down. She came into the room and grinned at me as I said, “We’d like that very much.”

“I came early because I didn’t know if you’d be preparing a big meal or had other plans to visit someone or—”

I laughed. “We have no plans.” I would have countered with an invitation to share our Christmas meal, but two small sweet potatoes wouldn’t be enough for three people.

“How about one o’clock? Is that all right?” After we nodded, he said, “I’ll come by and pick you up.”

He was five minutes early and we were ready. He took us to a fine Chinese restaurant. “They’re about the only ones open today,” he said.

I felt genuinely touched that he would take us out for Christmas dinner. We talked and slowly he told us about himself. He was a vet and had lost both legs in combat, which explained the strange way he walked. He shared a sad story about the woman he loved. She couldn’t stand to look at his legless body and broke off their engagement. “It hurt and I loved her,” he said, “but it’s better that she left before we married.”

For almost two hours we sat by the window and talked. I won’t say it was the best Christmas I ever had, but it was a special one.

When we reached our apartment, Shirley was nauseated and hurried inside. I sat in the car and talked with Mr. Willard for a few minutes.

“Thank you,” he said to me. “It means so much that you would spend part of your Christmas with me.”

I invited him to come inside, but he declined. As I walked into the building, I kept hearing his words inside my head. He had made Christmas Day special for us and yet he thanked us.

A few days later I again answered the knock on our door. Mr. Willard was there, this time in his wheelchair and without his artificial legs. One of his army friends had contacted him and they were going to West Texas for New Year’s.

I thanked him again for our Christmas dinner, and he held out his hand to shake mine. As I leaned down toward him, he embraced me and whispered, “You two made this a special Christmas. I was so depressed, I wondered if life was worth living.”

I stared at him and felt the moisture in my eyes. I don’t remember the words between us, but I do remember he pulled me down to his level and embraced me. He released me, backed up his wheelchair, and left.

I never had Mr. Willard as an instructor and I never saw him again. The following year I transferred to the Chicago area. I can’t even remember his first name. What I do remember is how special he made Christmas for a young, impoverished couple. And to make it even more wonderful, he thanked us.

I’ve learned many lessons about Christmas, but this is one I treasure. He gave to us and yet he seemed to get more pleasure out of the giving than we did out of the receiving. That truly is the Christmas spirit, isn’t it?

 

Copyright © 2011 by Cecil Murphey and Marley Gibson

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  • Posted January 18, 2012

    Fill Your Heart with "The Christmas Spirit"

    I have a friend who has had a rough year this year. Her husband was diagnosed with life threatning illness involving many surgeries and treatments. As the holidays rolled around she told her adult kids that she didn't even think she could do Christmas.

    About that time, I began reading "The Spirit of Christmas." As soon as I read the first two stories, I sent the book to my friend. It is a lovely compilation of true stories that take place around Christmas time. These are not all thrillers, nor are they sob stories, just accounts of ordinary people living their day to day lives when the extraordinary steps in and blesses, reminding them of what Christmas is really all about.

    Christmas is NOT about the doing, but about the being, less about decorating and more about meditating. The Spirit of Christmas stories are full of gentle reminders.

    So if you or someone you care for is having a tough time around the holidays this year, I recommend taking a look at this lovely book.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 1, 2012

    Wonderful Christmas Stories

    The Spirit of Christmas, by Cecil Murphy and Marley Gibson, is a collection of true stories, written by people who have experienced the real meaning of Christmas through circumstances that happened in their lives. These stories will touch your heart and linger in your mind. Many of these people have experienced their most memorable Christmas while being in the throes of very difficult times. We are reminded that Christmas isn't just the hustle and bustle of cooking, cleaning, and giving and receiving gifts. It is the season of hope, joy, and love, filling us with an appreciation for the Greatest Gift God has given.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted October 9, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    the authors capture the spirit of what makes us human

    This warm tender Christmas anthology contains forty-two- true short stories by contributors who mostly are not writers. The length of each entry is perfect with five pages being the average and none over ten. The editors open with their favorite Yuletide moments; as Cecil Murphey and his pregnant wife are alone at college until a professor invites them to dine and Marley Gibson describes her family love (and kitty humor) when her grieving mom cancels the holidays. After the editors set the mood, Dan Piper leaves readers teary-eyed and never looking at a can of tuna in the same way. Whether the writer takes you to a crowded post office (by Wayne Scheer), in Cocoa Beach (with Jean Matthew Hall) or an Irish pub in South Korea (Pamela Jo Floria), this is an inspiring collection filled with loving caring people who give time and more like the doll Joanne Y Gyrate's dad gave her. Readers will enjoy this wonderful compilation that captures the Spirit of Christmas but is much more as the anthology is for all seasons since the authors capture the spirit of what makes us human.

    Harriet Klausner

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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