A Simple Christmas
By Mike Huckabee
(Sentinel HC, Hardcover, 9781595230621, 240pp.)
Publication Date: November 3, 2009
Other Editions of This Title: eBook, Compact Disc (November 3, 2009)
Categories: Personal Memoirs
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"The first Christmas was a simple one. So simple that it had all the makings of a first-class disaster. It's a miracle it turned out well at all. In fact, that's the whole point. It really was, and remains, a miracle--the greatest miracle of all time. And it really was simple."
-Mike Huckabee
Christmas has become synonymous with shopping, overindulging, competition, and stress. But according to Mike Huckabee (who was a pastor before getting into politics), that was never God's intention. Going back to the Nativity, Christmas is supposed to be about simple things: faith, love, family, and hope. The hard part, in today's crazy world, is remembering that those simple things are the most precious of all.
Now Huckabee recounts twelve Christmas memories--often funny, sometimes deeply moving--that range from his childhood in Arkansas to his years as a young husband and father to his time as a governor and then a presidential candidate. These true stories will help you smile, take a deep breath, and maybe slow down your own holiday treadmill. For instance:
As kids, Mike and his sister would sneak open their gifts before Christmas, play with them, then rewrap them so their parents wouldn't notice. The plan worked great for several years until one Christmas morning when young Mike unwrapped a brand-new football...that was covered in mud. That led to a powerful lesson about patience.
In 1966, like millions of preteens, Mike was obsessed with the Beatles. He dug in his heels, telling his parents that if they wouldn't buy him a guitar for Christmas, he didn't want anything at all. He was selfish, stubborn, and obnoxious, with no idea what it would take for working-class parents to find an extra $99. It took many years for him to understand the sacrifice they made for that life-changing gift--or how it connected to the Lord's own sacrifice.
Only a year after Mike and his wife, Janet, had gotten married, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the shocking age of twenty. That Christmas of 1975 was the most terrifying and upsetting they would ever know, as they wondered if they would ever get to share another one. But in retrospect, it's a Christmas they will treasure forever.
If you're looking for a little clarity, sanity, and inspiration at this insane time of year, you're sure to enjoy A Simple Christmas.
Mike Huckabee grew up in Hope, Arkansas, and got his first job as a newsreader at age fourteen. Before his political career and current stint in radio and television, he was a pastor in local churches in Arkansas and a denominational leader. He served as lieutenant governor of Arkansas from 1993 to 1996 and as goevrnor from 1996 to 2007. During the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, he ran a shockingly successful underdog campaign, capturning eight states, including the hotly contested Iowa Caucuses.
Today he's the host of the very popular talk show Huckabee on Fox News Channel (where he plays bass guitar with the house band) and The Huckabee Report on the ABC Radio Network. He's also the chairman of HuckPAC, a grassroots conservative organization. His books include the New York Times bestseller Do The Right Thing, about his vision for America, and Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork, about his dramatic weight loss. He and his wife Janet, have three grown children, three dogs, and at least that many friends.
Visit www.MikeHuckabee.com
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