Growing up at my house, Christmas was exceedingly special. On Christmas Eve, everyone in the family came together to exchange gifts. Present were Mama and Daddy, my younger sister, Melissa, Shug (my paternal grandmother) and Grandaddy, Big Mama (my maternal grandmother) and Papa Gale (my step-grandfather), Aunt Ruby and Uncle Guy, Uncle Bill and Aunt Pat, and all my cousins, Billy, Keith, and Tammy. Sometimes guests would visit with us to share in the celebration. Gifts were always piled high around the Christmas tree.

However, there was one individual whose arrival was like clockwork – Patches, the family cat. What makes this special is that Patches was never neutered and became the neighborhood tomcat. He constantly roamed, and we hardly ever saw him for the entire year. He was too busy propagating the future of his species. But, remarkably and without fail, Patches, his body often badly scarred from bouts with other toms, would come home every Christmas Eve. It's as if he knew the family would be gathered there then, and he would join us by showing up on the back porch. Once he had greeted us and spent a little time to be petted, he would then be on his way until next Christmas.

For some, this story may sound difficult to believe. Yet it's true!

Patches' coming home at Christmas impressed me with a lifelong conviction: unless impossible, everyone needs to go home for the holiday – even an ole tomcat knows that!

Most parents and grandparents can hardly wait to have the family together for Christmas dinner and other festive activities. In the 1960s, three-time Academy Award-winning actor Walter Brennan narrated on a Christmas album, in his countryfied manner, a poem titled "Three Letters." The recitation highlights the eager anticipation of parents to have their children home again for Christmas, and their profound disappointment when, for whatever reason, it doesn't happen.

The lyrics read:

You can listen to Brennan’s performance here.

The late evangelist and pastor, John R. Rice, notes an interesting connection between Jesus' birth and homelife. He writes:

"It is significant that when the Lord Jesus, our Savior, came into this world, he was born into a home. It is true that Jesus was not conceived of natural generation. He did not have a human father. Joseph did not beget Jesus. The virgin birth of Christ is clearly stated a number of times in the Bible…So it turned out that Jesus had not only a mother [Mary], but he had a home. Joseph was to him like a father…How Jesus honored the home and made it a holy institution by choosing to be born into a home and to live in a home. The relationship of Joseph and Mary is all the more honored and glorified because while they had each other and loved one another tenderly, to them was committed the care of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's own Son, come to live on earth among men as a man. They cared for him as a baby, and he nursed at a mother's breast. They fed him, protected him, washed him, taught him. They took him to the synagogue at Nazareth. They took him to Jerusalem to worship at Passover time. And Jesus loved them and was subject to them. Jesus had a home."

Christmastime and the home go together. It's a time for strengthening family ties. Are you going home this Christmas?

Maybe going home for you is a source of anxiety because of broken or strained familial relationships. Just remember Christmas is also about making peace and being reconciled. Christ is the Prince of Peace.

Take a lesson from an ole tomcat named Patches, if possible: go home and be with your family for Christmas.