The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
 I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. 
 My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
 My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
 Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
 Transforming the yard to a winter delight. 

 The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
 Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. 
 My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
 Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
 In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
 So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
 But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. 
 Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
 My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
 And I crept to the door just to see who was near. 

 Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
 A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. 
 A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
 Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
 Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
 Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. 

 "What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
 "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! 
 Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
 You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
 For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
 Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
 Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, 
 I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
 "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
 That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
 I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. 
 My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
 Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
 My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
 And now it is my turn and so, here I am. 

 I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
 But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. 
 Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
 The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
 I can live through the cold and the being alone,
 Away from my family, my house and my home. 

 I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
 I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. 
 I can carry the weight of killing another,
 Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
 Who stand at the front against any and all,
 To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall." 

 "  So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
 Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
 "But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
 "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
 It seems all too little for all that you've done, 
 For being away from your wife and your son." 

 Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
 "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. 
 To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
 To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
 For when we come home, either standing or dead,
 To know you remember we fought and we bled.
 Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, 
 That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

 The waitress nodded "yes," so the Republican requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him.

 The next patron to come in was a Libertarian with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus over there?"

 The waitress nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."

 The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches.

 He hobbled over to a booth, sat down and hollered, "Hey there, honey!

How's about getting' me a cold glass of Miller Light?"

 He, too, looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that God's boy over there?"

 The waitress once more nodded, so the Democrat directed her to give Jesus a cold glass of beer.  "On my tab," he said.

 As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Republican, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Republican felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig out the door.

 Jesus also passed by the Libertarian, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed."  The Libertarian felt his back straightening up, and he raised his hands, praised the Lord and did a series of back flips out the door.

 Then Jesus walked towards the Democrat.  The Democrat jumped to his feet and yelled, "Don't touch me, I'm collecting disability!"

The birth of Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach has come to be very distorted, even by Christian pastors. We see the manger scene in nativity and see Joseph, Mary and the baby and then we see three wise men standing there with their gifts for the Messiah. The error is seen clearly if we look to the Book of books, the Bible. In Matthew chapter two and Luke chapter two we find the birth of Jesus/Yeshua and the wise men or Magi coming to worship Him.

2. The wise men were NOT at the manger scene but came as much as one to two years later.

3. The star comes into play to guide the wise men to the HOUSE where Jesus/Yeshua was living.

4. We know the approximate age of Jesus by the change of words used to describe the baby and child.    
    
Brephos is an infant, Luke 2:12, 16, which spoke of His birth and then Matthew 2:9, 11 uses the word paidion to describe a child up to age seven. So what other clues do we have as to His accurate age when the wise men came to visit Him?

1. Jesus was living in a house when the wise men arrived.

2. When Herod went on his killing rampage he killed all male babies two years and younger. Why two years? This must have been the      approximate age of the child at the arrival of the Magi. He certainly was not an infant when they came. Then Joseph and Mary were warned to leave the land and go to Egypt for safety.

My goal here is merely to set the record straight so that we will not continue telling the story incorrectly.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!