Tag: #Christmas #foggypointlight #jeffburns

“The menu for the luncheon was already preplaned, so they didn’t need to view a menu or place an order.” (From “Ripples:Return to Foggy Point Light” by Jeff Burns. Page 129)

FPL author, Jeff Burns, always enjoyed a wonderful meal. I have so many memories of him from when we were sharing a meal together. In fact there were numerous times he and I would “savor the flavor” of food at our homes or in a restaurant. Those words, “savor the flavor” together were Jeff’s comical justification for eating slowly when he was really enjoying a flavorful meal. He would do this many more times with his wife, son, parents and friends.

So I got to wondering how many times Jeff might have mentioned “food” or “meal” in the Foggy Point Light Trilogy. Turns out food and meal are mentioned 22 times in the series so far published. Not a unusually high number. He also didn’t mention the “savor the flavor” eating techniques in the trilogy either.

In his 2020 Christmas post on this blog, Jeff mentioned he didn’t get to attend that year’s Annual Christmas Dinner at the Billy Graham Library. (Jeff and his family did get to attend the 2021 Christmas dinner at the BGL) Like the quote above from his book “Ripples:Return to Foggy Point Light”, the dinner at the Billy Graham Library has a preset menu and no printed menus are required. It is a wonderful feast already prepared for each attendee.

It is now Christmas 2023, and Jeff is in Heaven for his second Christmas. It has been a difficult two years without Jeff physically present, but God has been so faithful and teaching those of us who loved him so much about resilience and the power of the Holy Spirit to comfort our grief in unique ways.

Earlier this Fall, TJ and Julie invited me to attend the Christmas at The Billy Graham Library dinner with them as their guest. I had heard how wonderful this event was and grateful for the opportunity to experience it. I had also seen pictures from previous years of the event and knew it was a real genuine celebration of Christ’s birth.

Finally, the December day arrived for the three of us to attend the dinner. The weather in Charlotte was clear and cold like winter should be. Before our dinner, we toured the outdoor Christmas lights and the Nativity with live animals in front of the Library main building. Then we enjoyed seeing the Christmas decorations inside the library itself. After that it was time to go to the Dining Room at the Main Office for Christmas dinner.

Here is one of the great examples where the Holy Spirit provides comfort from grief in a unique way that I mentioned earlier.

Going to the dinner, we knew what the menu was going to be as it was preplaned. But the one thing we didn’t know was who would be joining us at the round banquet style table we were assigned to sit. Similar to the story in “Ripples”, it was a meeting that God had arranged just perfectly.

At our table, which was number 16, was a delightful senior couple from the Stone Mountain area in Georgia. They were actually celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary that night. We enjoyed sharing stories from life and getting to know them around the banquet table. Christians just seem to have the gift to connect easily through conversations with the common bond of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives.

But one thing stood out at our table that could have only been arranged by God. All the banquet tables in the dining room had six seats around them as did our table. Every year the Christmas Dinners at BGL is a sold out event. Next to Julie however, was a empty seat. In God’s unique way, He allowed a empty seat to symbolically represent a place where Jeff would have been seated. All three of us left the dinner rejoicing in yet another unique way God provides comfort to those who grieve.

This Christmas if Jeff was here, he would definitely encourage you to get to know Jesus through a relationship with Him as your Savior. Then you can experience the comfort and assurance of the Holy Spirit in your life as well. Jesus lives and he is waiting for you to get to know Him. For more information on a relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit http://www.peacewithgod.net.

From everyone at Foggy Point Light Publishing, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Thank you for reading our books and please pray in 2024 for the right author to finish Book Three of the Foggy Point Light Trilogy. God bless you in 2024!

On Christmas morning of 2020, our friend, husband, Dad and author of the Foggy Point Light series shared the paragraph below on this blog. For those of us who loved and knew Jeff, either in person or on paper, remembers how much he loved “everything” about Christmas. The front yard decorations, the most fascinating collection of lighthouses and sci-fi Christmas ornaments displayed on rotating Christmas trees, and his endless entertaining  repertoire of Christmas carols, both known selections and spontaneous ones. But in this paragraph penned on Christmas day of 2020, Jeff really shares what his solid love of Christmas was really about and he gives us a three word message for Christmas of 2022. 

“It’s Christmas morning.  The presents are still under the tree, the smell of the Christmas ham cooking in the oven wafts in from the kitchen, and everything is peaceful.  It’s at this time that we can take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Even though his birth took place over 2000 years ago, we can still take comfort in the fact that his presence can still be felt in the world even today, especially this year. “

Did you see the three words? Jeff first shares his very strong faith in the birth of his Savior Jesus Christ and affirms the comfort he received  in his relationship with the Savior through the Holy Spirit. He also proclaimed that the presence can still be felt even 2000 years after the birth of Jesus. Jeff was sharing his testimony in this post. 

But what about those three words… “especially this year.” The testimony could have ended at “today.” Jeff was impressed to write the three extra words because of world events in 2020. But those three words attached to Jeff’s testimony are even more important this year. As we know Jeff is in Heaven as of January 3rd, 2022. “Especially this year” is a good reminder to us who loved and knew Jeff that we take comfort in knowing without a doubt that he is with the Lord. 

Those three words are also an invitation to anyone reading this blog to make sure that you have invited Jesus into your heart by asking him to forgive you of your sins and accepting him as your Lord and Savior. (Learn more at www.peacewithgod.net)

 As for family and friends of Jeff who we enormously loved, he is reminding us in our grief to keep the joy in our Christmas celebration of Jesus’s birth, “especially this year”. Let us embrace Jeff’s three words! 

A prayer for Christmas:

Dear God, 

Help us not to lose our hold on Christ this Christmas. Teach us again to remember that the baby in the manger is the man on the cross and the man on the cross is the Lord of the empty tomb and the Lord of the empty tomb is the one who is Lord of eternity. We bring our prayer in the name of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen.

“From 40 Prayers for Christmas” by David Clowes

Video memory of Jeff singing “The Birthday of a King”.