Many poinsettias will adorn the insides and outsides of homes during this Christmas season. But besides their festive color, have you ever heard the meaning behind the use of this flower as a Christmas decoration? There is a Mexican legend about a poor little girl who had nothing to give to the baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve service. She was encouraged by her cousin that even the smallest gift would make Jesus happy, so she picked a handful…
Nighttime… when most of the world sleeps and only a handful of us have jobs that require staying awake and keeping watch over something. In Bible times, this was the job of the shepherds, a lower class group of people whose job required little skill, whose clothes probably stunk of sheep’s wool, and who were often frowned on because of their inability to keep religious rules and customs of their time due to the lifestyle they lived. And yet,…
The stockings were hung but why? Have you ever heard how this began? Legend has it that a poor widower and his three children left their washed stockings out one night on the fireplace for them to dry. Nicholas, a kind man with a big heart focused on giving to others, passed by the house after they had gone to bed, and threw sacks of gold down the chimney, landing them in the stockings. Nicholas was later deemed a…
I desperately want to celebrate Christ in this season that tends to pull me in any and every direction except toward the very One whose birth we are celebrating. So to help me focus, today begins a 10 day countdown to Christmas devotion, of sorts. We will start with Mary because she is the mom and I love that! We don’t know much about her thoughts but we do know this–Mary pondered. According to Dictionary.com, the word ponder means…
Christmas is my favorite time of year. The essence of good will is wrapped in vibrant color, peppermint and pine. I love it. I want my kids to love it. I want them to taste how precious giving good will can be. I want them to give in visible ways and to see the joy that giving produces in the faces of others. I want them to Light Em Up! My friend Courtney wanted the same thing for her children…
Have you been to, heard of, taken advantage of all the cool kids activities at… Well go, see, have fun–today! I am blogging at their site with a …. Why? Because this is a great site. Kids love adventure and after that turkey on Thursday everyone over the age of 2o will be comatose. Everyone under the age of 10 will be bored and ready for some action. So send them on a mission and make it fun–cousins unite in…