This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

On the Christmas that was eleven years old, my Dad’s mother remained in the hospital following a very recent major stroke.  Things were crazy around our house.  My brother and sister are younger than I, and at those ages, we were understandably excited about the coming Christmas.  But with everything else going on, Christmas Eve came with still no decorations put up, no tree in the house.  Just before closing time for the local businesses that afternoon, my Dad made a few desperate phone calls, and he, along with my 9-year-old brother and I, headed off to the local Radio Shack store, the one place with a good affordable tree.

I don’t remember how much the kind man charged my Dad for that last tree in his store, the one they had decorated and placed in the front display window for the Christmas season.  But I do remember that he only added one dollar to the total for all of the decorations on the tree.  My brother and I grabbed one end of the tree with our Dad on the other, and we headed out the door and across the parking lot, losing and breaking some of those ornaments along the way.  We shoved that decorated tree into the back of our long Chevrolet Impala station wagon, took it home, and placed it in the big front window of our living room.  Talk about a last minute Christmas tree!  There was nothing spectacular about that tree itself, but it certainly was beautiful to us kids.  And I love to tell that story, because I know it’s true.

The ornament you see here was hand-beaded by a Native American Choctaw Indian woman, a friend of my sister, several years ago and given to my mother-in-law, who passed away a few short months ago.  In going through assorted Christmas decorations she left behind, I located this little ornament that my sister had given to her one year, and I brought it home recently to place on our own tree.

There’s nothing incredibly outstanding about it.  The ornament itself is made of “unbreakable” plastic.  The beads are strung around it, and a metal hook is attached.  To any other person, it’s a simple plastic ornament with no others to match it, and it could very well have ended up in the discard pile.  Nothing appears spectacular about that ornament, but it’s beautiful to me.  And I know it’s story.

You probably have those Christmas story memories.  Maybe you continue to share them with your family members through the holidays.  Memories that are special because we know the story.

Christmas is the story of the birth of Christ Jesus.  I know His story to be special and incredible.  Therefore I will continue to tell the story because I know it to be true!  I pray you do as well.  Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours, and may all your dreams for the holidays and the New Year of 2026 come true.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services

By Brad Campbell –

Have you ever seen a totem pole?  We would normally associate a totem pole with a Native American location.  We saw several totem poles of varying heights, shapes, and colors on our trip to Alaska this summer.  The two pictures you see here are of the same pole.  I just “zoomed in” for you to be able to see a little more detail.

Contrary to popular belief, the Native Americans did not create the totem poles or use them for religious-type ceremonies or worship.  The totem pole was designed to represent their people, their land, their culture, and the animals around them.  Some poles are naturally much more detailed than others.  Each face on the pole tells a part of the story of the people who created it and placed it there.

As a pastor, I have the opportunity to stand in front of my church family and face them.  I see their faces, and I see their smiles or frowns.  Because I know the people, I can also see their stories.  I see their backgrounds, their hurts and failures, and their happinesses and successes.  Most of all, I see the One Who created each and every one and placed them here.

A totem pole is designed so that as one looks upon it, they will be reminded of their story.  They will be reminded of the places, times, and situations from which they came.  They will be reminded of everything that brought them to the place where they now stand — as a witness to those who will continue to see.

We Christians take our places in the world around us each week, representing the One Who placed us here.  We tell our stories, even if silently, of the places and times and situations from which we come, each and every part of which has made us into the person we are today.  And as we stand together in this world, we form a totem pole, if you will, of a mixture of answered prayers, healed hurts and diseases, cares and love of the Father, and so much more.

Wherever you stand this week, you are being gazed upon.  Some are looking simply at the outside – the dress, the colors, the smile or frown, the hair-do, or even the location where we stand.  But if we stand true long enough, if we stand strong long enough, prayerfully they will begin to see the Creator we represent.  They will see the details in our creation, the work of His hands upon our lives, the many stories we have yet to tell of the goodness and the grace of a loving, forgiving, almighty God who placed us here to be a representative of Him.

Stand strong like the totem pole.  The world is watching — and so is the Creator.

Just a thought.