. . .The bright lights, smells, and smiles discernible even to an infant quickly grow into a sense of hope, awe, and mystery as young boys and girls crane their necks on the car ride back from papa’s house to look out the window for a sign of that bright red nose in the sky. As time moves on, our hopes turn to the company of friends and family, and our awe to the sacred mysteries of God made man for our sake.

Our experience of Christmas changes as we grow older. While the fortunate ones spent childhood ignorant of the troubles between men and maybe even their own families, over the years our broken world comes into focus, and hopefully we come to understand that Christ came among us not to sing carols, but because we have gone astray.

This year has been America’s worst in a long while. We’ve seen our churches boarded up by those who think God merely a hobby. Our elderly have died alone under the orders of those who think it’s better for their health this way. Our livelihoods have been shattered, and even that fleeting innocence of childhood has been taken from masked boys and girls not allowed to go to school or play on public swings. . .

This year was a hard one. Many of my friends suffered more hardship than I, although loneliness and anger stalked us all. And since the moment Halloween ended and All Saints Day dawned, I’ve been excited for Christmas with what feels like the hope of a young child. Christmas, and all the traditions it welcomes. . .

Although for many there might be less under the tree or fewer at our table, our faith in God remains strong. And the songs, traditions, and tales passed down from those who celebrated Christmases past in trenches, basement shelters, empty homes, and sometimes without even a home, just as the Holy Family, can keep us warm wherever we find ourselves. (Read more from “Hope, Family, Warm Traditions, and Our Redeemer: The Meaning of Christmas in Our Hardest Years” HERE)

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By Washington Examiner. Each year at Christmas, a soldier’s version of a beloved children’s poem circulates on military social media groups. In The Soldier’s Night Before Christmas, Santa drops in on an American soldier curled up alone on a poncho in some far flung locale. The soldier is spending Christmas deployed without his family.

This year, Santa might have similar encounters with other American forces – not all on ponchos, but definitely far from home. Some 214,277 service members are serving around the world this year, including as many as 18,700 in combat zones in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

American troops also are in Africa, South Korea, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and other land bases, and aboard ships in oceans around the globe. . .

While Iraq and Afghanistan deployments are not as common as they were in years past, troops are still putting their lives on the line. The death of Sgt. 1st Class Michael James Goble in Afghanistan on Monday is a stark reminder of that, Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst James Carafano told the Washington Examiner.

“The loss of every American life is tragic, particularly this time of year. It just reminds us that, not just in Afghanistan, we have men and women around the world every day, not just on Christmas, that put their life in harm’s way for our interests, and we’re really blessed to have them,” said Carafano, an Army veteran. (Read more from “‘We’re Blessed to Have Them’: More Than 200,000 Troops Will Spend Christmas Away From Home This Year” HERE)

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Operation Holiday Express Brings Gifts to U.S. Troops in Syria

By The Associated Press. Hundreds of American troops based in Syria have received Christmas gifts thanks to Operation Holiday Express, launched by U.S.-led coalition forces from across the border in neighboring Iraq.

This year, Santa’s sleigh and reindeer were apparently swapped for a workhorse CH-47 Chinook helicopter. But coalition forces still donned jolly red caps as they unloaded boxes of gifts at five locations in eastern Syria, as seen by The Associated Press on Monday.

In addition to the presents, Christmas tunes were provided by a military band from the 1st Infantry Division, flown in from Fort Riley, Kansas. The soldiers received stockings stuffed with candies, toiletries and other gifts. Most were donated by military support organizations in the U.S., as well as churches and charity organizations, coalition spokesman Col. Myles Caggins said. (Read more from “Operation Holiday Express Brings Gifts to Us Troops in Syria” HERE)

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