Merry Christmas

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Merry Christmas!

Luke: 2:8-20



"Rich" Is Not What You Have

I've heard many people say this year they had to cut back. What would their children think when "Santa" didn't deliver as many Christmas gifts as they normally receive. When their children don't get everything on their list Christmas morning....I can't help but think how perfect a time it is to explain that Christmas is not about things, gifts, Santa & elves.

Christmas is about Christ. That is what "Christmas is all about". Christ was born humbly for us. He left His throne to come to save us. To live and walk among the sin, sadness and sickness we have caused ourselves by disobeying Him. He came to tell us that He loves us, no matter what we do wrong, just as we love our children when they do wrong. If we would only ask for forgiveness for the failures and mistakes we make every day. If we would beleive that Jesus is God's son.

God gave his Son for us! Can you imagine sacrificing your child for this world? How He loves us!

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"Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Luke 12:15

Dr. James Moore wrote, "During World War II, four

young American soldiers who had been on the front

lines of battle for some time, were sent back to a

small French village for a little R & R.

When they arrived in the village, they realized that it was

Christmas Eve. They began to discuss how they would

like to spend Christmas. One of the soldiers said,

"You know, as we were coming into town earlier today,

I noticed an orphanage on the outskirts of the

village. Why don't we go there in the morning and take

some Christmas joy to those children?" The others liked

the idea and the more they talked about it, the more

excited they became. So they went out and bought all

kinds of toys, candy, clothing, food, books, and games.

Early the next morning they showed up at the

front door of the orphanage with wonderful Christmas

presents for all the children.

"The orphanage director was pleased and all the

children were delighted as they opened their gifts.

All the children that is, except for one little girl

who stood quietly off to the side. She appeared to be

5 or 6 years old and her face looked very sad. One of

the soldiers noticed that she was not participating,

so he asked the orphanage director about the little

girl. 'Bless her heart,' said the director, 'we just

got her last week. Both of her parents were killed in

a car wreck. There was no one to take her in, so we

brought her here.'

"The soldier went over to the little girl and gently

he said to her, 'It's Christmas morning and we have

wonderful Christmas presents here: toys, clothes,

candy, food, books, and puzzles. Which would you like?

What do you want most for Christmas?' And the little

girl said, 'I want somebody to hold me.'

"Maybe that is the best Christmas gift of all--someone

to hold us. As somebody once put it, 'Rich is not what

you have. It's who you have beside you.' Well, this

sacred season comes along once each year to remind us

that 'Love Came Down At Christmas,' that God is even

now reaching out to us with open arms, and that He

wants us to accept His love and to pass it on to others."

http://www.actsweb.org/encounter/daily.php

Merry Christmas

Love,
God

Ephesians 2:8 (New International Version)

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

 

Next Stop, Broadway

Poor Luke, he was a hunter in the Thanksgiving program at school, well, before Thanksgiving. And still, no pictures posted.

Tonight, he made his debut as an elf. He was supposed to be a singing elf. But he opted for the cute, silent elf instead. He sat still for 20 minutes. And that's good enough for me!

So here he is, my favorite son, in all his dressed up, preschool cuteness on Thanksgiving. He really enjoyed this program. His teacher had told me he was the loudest & most focused in practice.

That is Ricky to the left. They were to dress in camo, green or brown. No hunter orange. Oops!

Luke's friend Cade is to the right, he was the silent hunter that day.

And here he is tonight. I missed him singing "Jingle Bells" (that I beleive was the only song he knew) because I was on the other side of the sanctuary. What we could see from afar was he & Cade head butting each other. ahhh. But aren't those the cutest ears you've ever seen?

Autographs Available From 2-4

Last week I rounded up the little family to go look at lights. Our town's light display had been moved from another park, to the one near our home. It was the opening night.

When we rounded the corner, a man was squatted down taking our picture. He asked our names & where we lived and said he was with The Advocate. I joked to Patrick that our house would probably be robbed when we got home, since this stranger with a "photographer" name tag had all our information!

I had forgotten about it until my Mother in Law called this morning to say we were on the front page of the local section!

So today, we are signing autographed copies from 2-4 for a minimal $5.00 each. Hurry, we'll sell out fast!

~Butterfly Breakfast~

Snuggle Buddy

Thanksgiving 2010

Without further slacking - here are our Thanksgiving pictures.

This year we went to my Aunt & Uncle's home.

Erin & Luke both got to ride their own personal choice of transportation. We were so thankful for the nice weather since they had been looking forward to this for so long!

Erin & I got to sit atop a horse. I can't really say it was riding, since we were led around. Good enough for the both of us anyway!

Luke finally got to drive the digger. Now his life is complete.

And yes, my son wore his slippers to Thanksgiving dinner. You really can't argue about everything.

Erin got to eat her pumpkin pie. At least I think that is what is under the pile of cool whip.

Thanks Aunt Di & Uncle Mel!

We spent the night at the camp that night, roasted marshmallows, woke up to an awful storm & came back home. Silly faces along the way...

We are very thankful the Lord watches over us and my scatterbrain-ness as we came home to an oven that had been on for 24 hours. I'm thankful He doesn't sleep!