A Tribute

Our pastor has decided to retire this next year. He and his wife have been such a great asset to our church and to all of us individually. I wrote this sonnet several years ago, but still feel the same way today.

Christmas is a time of gifts and good cheer.

A time of good deeds and being benevolent.

But sometimes a pretty package leads one to say, “Oh dear!”

Because what was wrapped was actually a white elephant.

Other gifts are expensive and showy which reflect more the giver

Than reflecting on what was wanted, what was needed, or desired.

Some gifts are timely and precious putting a smile on the receiver,

Making onlookers wish to the same they had aspired.

Then come the gifts devoid of pretty packages and bows,

Whose contents, though intangible, are as precious as one’s youth.

Unwrapped is not a thing but a person God bestows,

With a desire to share the Christmas story based upon God’s truth.

And that brings us to the gift Countryside received more than a decade ago,

When God brought to us the gift of Mike and Kaye Otto.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens