A Christmas Prayer

A Christmas Prayer by Robbie Iobst

Empty me, Lord, of
the idea of a perfect Christmas.
Fill me with 
accepting life as it comes.
Empty me, Lord, of
the pressure to have my home decorated like a Martha-Stewart-worthy Winter Wonderland,
Fill me with
the peace of simple beauty.
Empty me, Lord, of
the gluttony around Christmas sweets and treats.
Fill me with
glad-hearted moderation.
Empty me, Lord, of
the need to have my calendar full of holiday fun.
Fill me with
the desire to spend extra time with You.
Empty me, Lord, of
the temptation to spend more than I have on gifts.
Fill me with
the kindness of unpretentious thoughtfulness within my budget.
Empty me, Lord, of
the black hole of “gotta-get-It-done” that tries to swallow me in December.
Fill me with
the unending pool of Your peace each moment, each day.
Empty me, Lord, of
the tyranny that Christmas can become.
Fill me with
the wonderful joy of Your birthday party.
Amen.

Christian Christmas Favorites

Christian Christian Favorites ~ Various Musicians

Contemporary Christmas Songs

Contemporary Christmas Songs ~ various artists

Peace on Earth ~ Casting Crowns

Peace on Earth by Casting Crowns

It's About the Cross

It's About the Cross by Go Fish

How Many Kings by Downhere

How Many Kings

Instrumental Christmas Music

Christmas Peace - Relax With Instrumental Christmas Music And Winter Scenes

What Do You Want for Christmas?

"What we really hunger for will not be found under the tree on Christmas morning. We hunger for meaning, for joy, for hope in the face of despair. We hunger to know that we can be forgiven and start anew after things we regret. We hunger for a love that will not let us go and for a life and triumph in the face of death. These come through a baby born in a stable, laid to sleep in a feeding trough, visited by night-shift shepherds. He is for us the bread of life. And we must come to the stable to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts." ~ Adam Hamilton

Advent Thoughts

Today our Pastor talked about preparation for Advent leading to Christmas. My husband said that Christmas preparation brings happiness and that is what life is all about being happy. I said...no it's not all about being happy because there will always be things in our life that bring sadness or pain, BUT we can always walk in joy despite our situation. Then I took it to the next level...We should be living now (every day, not just in December as we prepare for Christmas) in JOY as we anticipate the second advent of Jesus. Our conversation continued, but to sum it all up...

We as Christians should be living everyday in joyful anticipation for the second coming of Jesus. Our whole life is an advent season. Live in Joy!

It's About the Cross

It's About the Cross is a beautiful song that shares the message of Christmas.

Verse 1

It's not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It's not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It's not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It's not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar

Chorus:
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross

Verse 2:

It's not just about the presents
Underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling
That the season brings to me

It's not just about coming home
To be with those you love
It's not all about the beauty
In the snow I'm dreaming of

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about God's love
Nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/go_fish/#share

Operation Christmas Child

As the Christmas holidays quickly approach, I wanted to take the time to share about a ministry that my church enjoys participating in - Operation Christmas Child. Basically what we do is collect shoe boxes (adult male shoe boxes work best) and fill them with goodies that a child would appreciate receiving at Christmas. It breaks my heart realizing that the gifts I can squeeze into this little box may be all this particular child receives for Christmas. My children love to go shopping with me to select gifts for a child of their age. It's a great project for young and old to join together and share their blessings with others.

From the Samaritan's Purse Web site:

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.

National Collection Week is November 17-24.

How to pack a shoe box.
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Samaritan's Purse

For more information you can contact Samaritan's Purse by calling (828) 262-1980 or checking their website.

What Are You Doing with Jesus?

Flower of the Family shared a post that brought this situation back to my memory...

Christmas 2006

My in-laws gave us a $300 Sears gift card to buy whatever we wanted for Christmas. We were thrilled. My husband loses things easily, so he asked me to keep the gift card. I'm a thrifty person and I try to use things as long as I can and maybe a tad bit longer. Well my wallet was falling apart, so I put the gift card in the front pocket of my jeans for safe keeping. I was traveling sick (antibiotics that didn't agree with me) and we had to stop 3 times with one time in the dark and rain. We woke up the youngest to go to the bathroom and as he got out of the car he stepped into a 6" pot hole full of rain water. It was so cold and the wind was blowing the rain. When we got home we unloaded the car and let the kids unwrap their gifts from my family and then went to bed.

Fast forward to January 10th

My husband asked me for the Sears Gift Card because he wanted to buy something with it and I realized that I had no idea where it was - aughh. They told us NOT to lose it because they bought it with cash and of course the receipt was with it. I was SICK! I could have lost it at any of our stops and I wouldn't have noticed it, especially the wind, rain, and crying stop. I spent the week praying I would find the card to no avail. We prayed that it would turn up, but were afraid that it probably wouldn't because I had no recollection of the gift card after stuffing it into my jeans pocket. I was so upset with myself because I'm supposed to be the responsible one...

Back then I wrote, I'm hoping that I can just rest in God's peace since there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to change what is done, but I have been beating myself up something awful. I'm hoping that it will turn up when we least expect it... I've been praying that God would teach me something through this yucky experience beyond the "Be careful with gift cards..." speech.

My friend, Karen helped to turn my mind with one of her emails. God spoke to me and asked me what I'm doing with the biggest and best gift I've ever received? My salvation and the gift of HIS Son Jesus Christ. I'm always concerned with being a good steward of money/gift cards, etc... and using coupons and getting the best price... But when you get right down to it - you don't take any of that with you when you die... You either have Jesus or you don't and then the question is what did you do with Jesus? Did you say thanks and stick Him in a closet or did you commune with HIM constantly? Did you ask what do YOU think, Jesus before doing anything? Did you seek HIM and HIS will? So if I had to lose $300 to get me thinking, then it was worth it...

Shortly after realizing the gift card was missing, I rushed out to the store and bought a wallet for $9.88. So now, I have my wallet worth $309.88 - for that price it better last 200 years (haha). In all seriousness, I hope the lessons learned here have eternal value beyond anything money could buy.

May 7, 2007

I'm so excited! The other day, my four year son got some books down from the bookshelf and messed it up a bit, so I decided I needed to straighten it up... I noticed a pack of batteries that didn't belong and a couple receipts and a little red piece of cardboard... Guess what I found? You're right - the $300 SEARS gift card. I immediately called my in-laws and shared the good news. They were overjoyed and as you can imagine so was I.

The Parable of the Lost Coin
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:8-10

Gifts of Self

I was impressed with this past Sunday's (December 2, 2007) "The Mini Page" for children. I couldn't find a link to the specific article, but its front page focus was on "Gifts of Self." The article suggests that the best presents are giving our selves away. Some of the ideas mentioned are:

~ Giving your time (walk a neighbor's dog, play games with people in a retirement center)
~ Giving your talents (play a musical instrument for someone or give lessons in a sport to a younger child)
~ Share something you know (reading to young children or to the elderly or baking cookies and delivering them to friends and neighbors)

We as adults can encourage this type of giving in our children by modeling it for them and by working side by side with them as they give the gifts of self.

It would also add some intrigue and excitement to try to come up with some ways children could secretly do special services for others.

Giving at Christmas

"Commercialization has obscured the meaning of Christmas. The commercial has become more important than the carol. What man has to sell [has become] more important than what God has given." ~ Anonymous

What is Christmas really about? It’s so easy to get caught up in giving gifts to people we like and people who are able to give gifts to us as well. What would bring Jesus the most joy this Christmas?

1) If we give gifts to those who are able to give gifts to us

or

2) if we give with anonymity and give to those who are not able to return monetary gifts to us.

Of course there is nothing wrong with giving gifts to people we love and people who give us gifts. It always brings me joy to give gifts to my children because I like to see them happy. Their enthusiasm is there regardless of the gift they receive because they like to be loved through gifts.

What are some ways we can love Jesus by loving other people this Christmas? Jake and Jessica, friends of mine have a great Christmas gift giving post so instead of trying to recreate it I'm just linking to their blog.

My health insurance, Kaiser sent out a newsletter that had some neat ideas for spending little, but loving much. To see the article, Gifts that Really Give click here.

Finally, reading together can make Christmas special. One book I checked out of our public library for my children was:The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans. It is a children's book that I recommend reading aloud with children under 10 to make sure they understand what the author is attempting to teach to those with eyes to see. The book can be read in minutes, but the discussion that follows can help your children discover the true meaning of loving as Jesus loves and loving others as if they were Jesus especially at Christmas time.

Another neat book is The Special Guest: A Christmas Story by Lee and Donna Hall - The authors wrote the book for their children, but it's a short story with a beautiful message that can be enjoyed by all ages at Christmas and throughout the year. I read the story aloud to my daughter who was capable of reading it to herself, but it was a special time for us to read it together.

If you have any unique ideas you'd like to share about how you are making Christmas special or gifts you will give to make other's life more meaningful, please share in the comments section.

Merry Christmas!

Advent Calendars

Since the Advent Season is upon us I thought I'd share some online Advent Calendars that I found last year.

A Christian Christmas Advent Calendar

Christmas Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar: Celebrate Meeting Jesus

Greg's Advent Calendar

Teaching Mom's Advent Calendar