Even The Grinch Learned How To Love

Sat., Dec. 16, 2000

Paul Graves Staff writer

My Precious Katie and Claire, Let’s pretend for a few minutes that you, your parents, your Mexico and Idaho grandparents, and your great-grandparents from Idaho are all sitting in front of your Christmas tree on Christmas Day. We have opened our Christmas presents.

You girls are so excited about the special gifts you received. We’ve kissed and hugged after opening our brightly wrapped gifts.

If you look closely, you might see a happy tear sliding down my cheek.

And now that the gifts have been shared, it’s time for our traditional family Christmas story. No, I’m not talking about the magical story of baby Jesus’ birth. We heard that story last night when we all went to both the early and late Christmas Eve worship services.

It is the story we most need to hear every year, my sweet little girls. Because it reminds us just why Christmas is so very important to us.

It’s the story of how God decided to become a person, like you both and everyone in our family and everyone in the world. God became like us to help us learn how totally loved we are by God.

“God with skin on” is the story of Jesus.

But our family enjoys another wonderful story, Katie and Claire. It’s so much fun to read to each other. It tickles our imaginations so much.

And in an outrageous way, it reminds me how God loves us through other people, too, and how that love makes all the difference in our lives.

“But I think that the most likely reason of all “May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”

Whose heart was two sizes too small? Too small for what? You know the answers, because when your Grandma Graves reads the story to you, we all suddenly live in Whoville. And everyone in Whoville knows about “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

What a magical, wonderfully silly story. Can’t you just see poor little Max pulling that heavy sled up Mount Crumpit?

I wonder if he was feeling sorry for Cindy-Lou Who and everyone in Whoville because of the dirty trick the Grinch played on them that night.

But the Grinch “HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same!”

Do you remember why the Grinch failed to stop Christmas from coming?

After he puzzled for three hours and his puzzler was sore, he realized that “Maybe Christmas DOESN’T come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more.”

I think it means a WHOLE LOT MORE. It means even more than the wonderful presents we gave each other this morning.

To better know what Christmas means, just look carefully at the picture in this letter I’m writing to you. Do you know what I see in this picture?

The fancy word we sometimes use to describe what I see is “incarnation.” But I like the phrase “God with skin on.” Girls, it reminds me of how you each love your sister every day.

Oh, I know you don’t always get along with each other. But I know you love each other in deep and lasting ways.

Some days you act like the Grinch to each other. But even the Grinch learned to love.

His heart grew three sizes that Christmas Day. (One size larger than it started out, even.) This picture of you girls makes my heart grow another size, too. Because for me, you are “God with skin on.”

I hope you know God has skin on because of the love your mommy and daddy, your grandparents and great-grandparents have for you both. And anyone else who touches your lives with love.

Have a “new Grinch Christmas,” sweet little ladies.

- Grandpa Graves

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