GoodNews Florida

During this holiday season, we continue our conversation with community and business leaders who are impacting South Florida in profound ways. We want you to get to know them on a more personal level. So this month, Good News Wants to Know... What was your most meaningful Christmas memory or present? My most meaningful Christmas mem- ory was, and is, taking my girls yearly to buy our annual Christmas Tree. Over the last 21 years of marriage, we have always bought a 'live' tree - Fraser fur - in honor of my wife. The tradition she was raised on is that her dad always bought a tree, so it has been a privilege to continue that over the years and drag our girls out every year to do the same. Even when we had no gifts to give each other as a newly married couple, we always would, and continue, to set money aside to purchase a live tree. Hung many a 'first' ornaments on those Fraser fir limbs. Drug the dead tree to the trash after 'Three Kings Day' at the close of every Christmas season. Then we smile and laugh at all the time it takes to clean up those tried needles that seem to mysteriously show up well into February. -Dennis DeMarois , Director, The Gathering Palm Beach County One of the most rewarding Christmas celebrations was inviting 20 young people to dinner and to hear my testimony. Some were believers and others were non- believers. After dinner, Kathy and I took them to see the Christmas Pageant at the First Baptist church in Fort Lauderdale. The first part of the pageant, for those that have not gone before, was about all the festivities surrounding the holiday season with all the trappings of a winter wonderland. Sleigh rides, Christmas trees, holly, snowflakes and the sounds of the season. The second part dealt with the life of our Savior from Birth through the Crucifixion. Watching as the Holy Spirit spoke to those young people on the “fence” so to speak was a wonderful experience. The pageant involved hundreds of members from the church and featured live animals on stage. It was a moving experience for anyone who attended and it appropriately portrayed the sacrifice Jesus made for our redemption. It provided a wonderful venue to further the conversation with many of the young people who attended. -Andy Mitchell, President/CEO, The Fairwinds Group My most meaningful Christmas memory was enjoying my first White Christmas with my beautiful beloved bride Gloria . -Pastor Bernard King, Sr., Cornerstone Bible Fellowship While we had very little materially our parents succeeded in making our home a place where love was displayed and especially making the Christmas season a time of warmth and celebration. Every Christmas was, especially to my dad, a big deal—decorating the house inside and out and creatively finding gifts that were unique to each of us. -William C. Davell, Esq., Director, Tripp Scott My most meaningful gift came at Christmas in 1964. But, I did not unwrap it com- pletely until Christmas 1968. My mom died in 1964 and I was devastated and be- came angry. In the Fall of 1968 I came to Christ, and that year Christ unwrapped a great gift in my life. I realized my mom did not die, but graduated to be with the Lord. That is the year all the anger fell away and I am so grateful. -Dr. Bob Barnes, Chief Executive Officer, Sheridan House Family Ministries My mom is German and one of her favorite traditions was putting candles (real candles) on our Christmas tree. Every year we'd light them a few nights before Christmas. Somehow our house never burned down. Kudos to my dad's can- dle-lighting skills. -Bob Denison, President, Denison Yacht Sales In 2008 our third born son, Jonathan, was in the hospital for severe asthma and breathing problems, and he was released the day before Christmas. We were so thankful that we would all be home together for Christmas Day. It was a memo- rable Christmas because days before it didn’t look like he would be able to leave the hospital until days after Christmas - it was a Christmas miracle for our family! -Chris Lane, Executive Director, First Priority of South Florida One of my most meaningful Christmases was, the first one with my wife. We were both unemployed and broke, but we had Jesus and each other. Pastor Daryl Nelson , Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches My most memorable Christmas was coming home from the mission field in the Dominican Republic to be with my Dad, who had cancer, on his last Christmas and his receiving the Lord as his Savior. -Deborah Cusick, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship FAU Campus Volunteer I almost lost my father the year before I turned 11 years old. Put on bed rest for nearly a year due to multiple massive heart attacks, he lost his business, and we moved to Florida for warmer weather. That Christmas, finances were gone, we missed our large family up north, but somehow my parents scraped up a few dollars for Christmas gifts. I could hardly let go of my daddy all day. I knew that he and my mother were the best Christmas gifts next to Jesus, that I could have. Very special Christmas. -Dolores King-St. George , WRMB 89.3 Moody Radio My most memorable Christmas as a missionary kid growing up in the bush in Nige- ria was when I learned how to use a few small wood tools and made a nice coffee table in the shape of Africa for my parents as a gift in grade 7. There were no stores to shop yet my parents would always give us great gifts – to this day I have no idea how they pulled it off. In my case, to see the table I made used every day and hear my parents often tell others where they got the table, imprinted in my mind from that early age how exciting it is to GIVE … even more so than receiving. -Don Campion, President, Banyan Air Sauder Christmas morning. Sitting in pajamas on the floor. Tearing open gifts. Belly-laughing. Devouring monkey bread. Jumping into the freezing cold pool. Telling the Jesus Story. A glimpse of heaven. -Pastor Doug Sauder, Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Andy Mitchell Pastor Bernard King, Sr. William C. Davell Dr. Bob Barnes Bob Denison Chris Lane Wants to Know… -Dennis DeMarois , Director, The Gathering Palm Beach County