Keeping Christmas

This is a repeat of something I published about a year ago.
I think I just may make it a traditional January post,
because I need to be reminded of it every year!
Maybe some of you will find it helpful, as well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the retail world, Christmas is “over with” for now.  It didn’t take long for leftover merchandise to be banished to sale bins, as the seasonal aisles were hurriedly transformed into Valentine Land…and King Cakes replaced Christmas cookies in the bakery aisle.

Most of us (even the procrastinators) have stored away our decorations for another year.

Many people were ready to pack them away on December 26^th.  Others would like to have enjoyed their company much longer.

For some of my friends, it was difficult just to get through the holidays.  They were relieved when the merriment and festivities were finally over and they didn’t have to endure a continuous playing of jingly Christmas music everywhere they went…or force themselves to act cheerful when they didn’t really feel that way inside.

Regardless of which category each of us finds ourselves in, I think all of us would like to see the “Christmas spirit” of love, kindness, thoughtfulness, and sharing kept alive throughout the new year.

When God sent His Son to earth, it was an event meant to change our lives FOREVER…not just to be celebrated for a few days each year.

Even though we’ve taken down our Christmas trees and packed away our ornaments, I hope all of us can “KEEP CHRISTMAS” fresh in our hearts by loving God — and then sharing His love with those around us.

Just remember…

…WE CAN NEVER KEEP IT ALONE!!!

Savoring the Season

 

savor
v.tr.
To appreciate fully; enjoy or relish

♦

Are you savoring Christmas?
We have taken down our decorations,
and I’m filling in dates on our 2012 calendar…

…but I’m not ready to pack the real Christmas up in a box
and stick it in the attic or the garage until next December.
I’m still savoring Christmas!
It takes longer than the week between 12/25 and 01/01 to appreciate it fully!

When a baby is born, there is much rejoicing…
not just for a few days…
but continuing on and on and on!
This new life is a permanent part of the family.
Everyone is eager to get to know the little one
and establish a relationship with the baby to build on
as the newborn grows into childhood and beyond.

So it is with the birth of the Christ Child.

Celebrating Christmas in the truest sense
means rejoicing in the birth of the Savior
and then growing in our relationship with Him
every day for the rest of our lives.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks for stopping by to visit Little Things!
I hope your new year has gotten off to a good start…
but that you’re also still savoring Christmas in your ♥!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Christmas IM’s

Throughout human history,
God has used His angels as supernatural “instant messengers”
to communicate with the people He created.

God sent the angel Gabriel to visit Mary
and give her the news that she was going to be the mother of the Christ Child.

Later, an angel from God visited Joseph
to inform him of the virgin birth and to explain his earthly father’s role in this all-important event.

For generations, the Jews had been looking for their Messiah — their long-awaited King.
The angels revealed to Mary and Joseph that Jesus was this Messiah –
the HOPE of the world!

When the time came for Jesus to be born,
Mary and Joseph found no room in any local inn in Bethlehem –
so they had to spend the night in a lowly stable,
surrounded by the smells and noises of the animals
who shared their space with the expectant couple.

When Mary had delivered her baby,
the first people to learn of Christ’s birth
were shepherds keeping watch over their sheep under the night-time sky.
An angel suddenly appeared to them, announcing the birth and saying,

I bring you good news that will bring great JOY to all people. 
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—
has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
(Luke 2:10b-11)

Then the first angel was suddenly joined by a whole army of heavenly angels,
proclaiming this message –

Glory to God in highest heaven,
and PEACE on earth to those with whom God is pleased.
(Luke 2:14)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank y’all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♦
During this Christmas season,
may we all know the
HOPE, JOY, and PEACE
that come with the celebration of Jesus’ birth!
♥
Special (((hugggs))) to my friend Margie
who brightens up our neighborhood every Christmas
with these cute lil’ angels!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It’s OK!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank y’all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
…and remember,
It’s OK to say “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Gift Goes On

 

In my recent “Keeping Christmas” post, I started off with pictures of Christmas decorations packed up in containers, not to be seen again until next holiday season.

However, the real Christmas can’t be put on a shelf or stored in the attic until next December.  The ‘real deal’ is Jesus Christ, sent as God’s Gift to the world.

We can never enjoy any gift and receive the blessing that its giver intended, unless we open it and accept it as our own.  So it goes for The Gift of Jesus – But how do we unwrap it and make it our own?

The original Gift from God to us was His sending of His only Son to earth – God in human form – to teach us Who God is, and then to suffer and die to pay the penalty for our sins.

After Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven, to sit at God’s right hand and intercede for all believers, the second part of The Gift was sent to earth – God in the form of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the part of God that lives inside every believer.  Jesus in human form is no longer with us on earth, but His Spirit is with us and in us at all times – to:

• convict us of our sins
• guide and counsel us
• encourage and comfort us
• pray to the Father for us when we don’t know how to pray
• be “God with us” at all times

It is up to each of us as believers to determine how important this Gift will be in our lives — and how much we will allow God to bless us through it.  When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He fills us with God’s love and guides us in sharing it with others.  In this way, “The Gift of Love” goes on…..and on…..and on…..

The Spirit of Santa Claus

*Adventure with Grandma*

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she jeered. “Even dummies know that!”

My Grandma was not the gushy kind – never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. “No Santa Claus!” she snorted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

“Go?  Go where, Grandma?” I asked. I hadn’t even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun. “Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

“Take this money,” she said, “and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.

I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.   He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class.  Bobby Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. “Yes,” I replied shyly. “It’s….for Bobby.” The nice lady smiled at me. I didn’t get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, as Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, a little tag fell out of the coat — and Grandma tucked it in her Bible.  She wrote on the package, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus.”  Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker’s house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa’s helpers.  Grandma parked down the street from Bobby’s house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus,” she whispered, “get going.”  I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker’s bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous.  Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team!

I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.     

 

He who has no Christmas in his heart
will never find Christmas under a tree

 

Thanks to my friend Rose for sharing this story with me.  Many such stories are circulated on the Internet — but I haven’t read this one before.  I thought it was worth sharing with you.  It would also be a good story to tell to a child when explaining to him or her the true meaning of Santa Claus.

 

Good News!

 

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them [the shepherds],

and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.

They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.

“Don’t be afraid!” he said.

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—

has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

And you will recognize him by this sign:

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—

praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Luke 2:9-14