The secret to LOVING Christmas...

The secret to LOVING Christmas is to put aside ALL expectations, demands and offenses; getting the focus off yourself and embrace Jesus.

When you embrace Jesus, love/obey Him, then you WILL have peace; because after all, it (life) is about Jesus, not us! When life gets rough, it is part of HIM drawing us to know Him better. He wants our total dependence. Once you submit to that, you can rest and have JOY.

Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel

Last night we watched The Nativity. It is such a beautiful movie! This morning as we sang the beautiful Christmas hymns at church the images were more vivid than ever. This is one of my favorite Christmas hymns. God is so good to us, even when circumstances in life may not be as we want them, He is still very gracious to us.

Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to you, O Israel!

Joy, Joy, Joy

"Somehow, not only for Christmas,
but all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others,
is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
the poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing,
returns to you glad."

--John Greenleaf Whittier

For most people, the focus of Christmas is buying gifts, and as hard as we try not to go overboard with it, we do. It is a real struggle to try to keep our hearts and minds on Christ during this season. Oh, sure you hear, 'Jesus is the reason for the season', but there is this small voice constantly whispering in our heads, "Who do I have left to buy for? Will they like it? etc..." I am not against gift giving, after all it should symbolize how Christ was so willing to give His life for us, and how He gives us so many blessings that we could never count them all.

Our attitude should be one of giving all year long, it should be a life style. The best form of giving cannot be wrapped in paper and ribbons, but wrapped in a spirit of love and giving of yourself. The miracle of giving of yourself is that the gift comes back to you a hundred fold. That is IF you give freely, expecting nothing in return. If you are giving because you want to honor God with your life, by serving others, then that is when YOUR life becomes full.

Our dear friends that have just adopted from Africa, their baby heart surgery. They are homebound for about 4 weeks because the little one cannot get sick during this important recovery time. Well, being a mom at home with 6 children, missing all the fun of parties during this time, etc... could start to wear on you...at least it might me. :o) So I called a few of our friends (we all go to church together) and we caroled them! If you have never caroled anyone YOU ARE MISSING IT! Trust me it was just as much a blessing for us carolers as it was for them!

The Whites...Tucker must be behind his Dad...sorry Tuck!

Joy to the World!

Deck the Halls...

We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

Joseph, who was living in Liberia, suffering from heart problems and malnutrition a month ago, didn't know what to think of this American custom. :o) Maybe next year HE will be with us as we carol someone else!

A couple of years ago our family caroled several homes...it was SO MUCH FUN! People act as if you'd just given them a hundred bill! The element of surprise is part of it, but I think it is the actual giving of yourself, something that cannot be bought! And what is even more amazing is when you walk off their doorstep, you realize you were able to spread some joy, which in return, fills you with joy. Oh, if we could just grasp that as a way of life, THAT is the best gift we could give to our Heavenly Father.

For Your Caroling Fun

Here is a little Elfin Fun for ya...
Merry Christmas from our family!

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Snowflake Fun

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Make a 3D Snowflake

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Go HERE for the words to your favorite Christmas Carols.
Great fun for group caroling or family sing alongs!

Wooden Cards/Wall Hangings

Dana asked where to get the wood slices I showed yesterday. The answer is Jeff cuts them.

We made a BUNCH of these last year and sold them. We made wall hangings and gift tags from them. I thought they were pretty cool and next to no money in them! Some simply said Merry Christmas or Welcome, others had all the names of the family members. If you use a brown marker it makes it look as if it were wood burned. Glue some fake evergreens and holly berries and it dresses them up nicely.

We gave wall hangings to all our friends and extended family members last year.
It was a nice personalized gift and inexpensive!

Easy, Inexpensive Place Cards

The purpose of hospitality is to make your guest feel welcome. They will notice a warm smile and a cheerful attitude alot more than they will notice how the food tasted or if the house is spotless. True hospitality is from the heart, because the greatest gift you can give anyone is your time and attention.

Here are a few ideas for Christmas place cards that only take a few minutes and they'd be a great project for the kids to make, because hospitality is a family event!

All of these would be great items for the guest to take home.

Glass Christmas balls, a metallic marker, ribbon and a piece of greenery.
Other options would be a small craft pearls on a string, raffia, velvet ribbon...

Goblet and a permanent marker.
It washes off with hot soapy water.
Not only will they know where to sit, but as the day/evening goes on,
they'll know which glass is their's.

Silk poinsettias and a permanent marker.
Write name on one petal.

Ribbon with wire sides, pipe cleaner, a small Christmas ball and hot glue.
Fold and twist two pieces of ribbon, glue in the back.
The wire makes it easy to form.
Glue the head on.

Place the name card in the arms (pipe cleaner).

Use an evergreen leaf, a silver or gold metallic marker, some ribbon or raffia.

Pine cone with raffia tied to the bottom and the name card slid in the top.
Or you can lay it on it's side and do the same.

Two candy canes tacked together with low temp glue gun.
Add ribbon of your choice and tack on the name card.
This is perfect for the kids table.

Wood slices with wholes for a ribbon to also be used for a wall hanging.
These can say Welcome, Merry Christmas, Christmas 2007 or a name.

Wood slices propped up on a glass.

Try to have extras made up in case you have surprise guest.
If you are not sure who is coming, just write Christmas 2007 or Merry Christmas.
Use your imagination.