A Christmas Heart Is A Giving Heart

 

"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart." George Matthew Adams

~*~*~*~

The Star

written and performed by Kathy Mattea

The Star Kathy Mattea - YouTube

Click on this link, then click on the link it brings up

Just another homeless family

Hoping for a stranger's charity

Just one night in one safe place to stay

Underneath a star so far away

She carried everything they had and more

The little one the world was waiting for

And somewhere in the night her child was born

Into every heart so tired and torn

And the light shining from that star

Will show you who you are

And his life shining with its light

Will lead you through your darkest night

They couldn't find a room for him back then

But he found a place in the hearts of men

The hope that all the world would come to know

Born beneath that star so long ago

Just another homeless family

Hoping for a stranger's charity

Just one night in one safe place to stay

Underneath a star so far away

~*~*~*~

Decorating tip:

Who says wreaths are only for the outside doors? Get door hangers and put a wreath on each door inside your house. The can be any size, any material. You don’t have to worry about the weather. Check out DIY Christmas Wreath Ideas: 12 Easy Crafts (With Pictures!) (tasteofhome.com) for some fun do-it-yourself wreaths.

~*~*~*~

Holiday Pretzels

square pretzels

candy melts, chocolate or vanilla

M&Ms

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Spread foil on a cookie sheet. Lay the pretzels out on the cookie sheet and place a candy melt on the center of each pretzel. Place in theoven for 10 minutes or until the candy melt gets soft. Remove from the oven and press an M&M in the center of each pretzel treat. Let cool. Super easy to do with kids!

~*~*~*~

Walk with Christ

Please excuse me for the lack of commentary.  I am struggling with a migraine today.  Write a Christmas letter to a missionary or someone in the military and send it to him/her.

~*~*~*~

FAR, FAR AWAY ON JUDEA'S PLAINS ~ Jeanne P. Lawler

https://myfavoritechristmasstories.blogspot.com/2009/07/far-far-away-on-judeas-plains.html

I was a missionary "Far, Far Away" in Bangalore, India, for Christmas in 1993. On the first week of December, three days after I arrived, I was asked if I would help organize and direct a choir in the Bangalore Branch of our Church. I said, "Happy to."

The members wanted to participate in a choir festival that was an annual event in Bangalore. I selected the above number and sixteen people attended the two enthusiastic rehearsals which were held on a rooftop of a member's home. None of them were familiar with part singing, so we sang in unison without musical accompaniment. Should there be piano, I
would play it. We were not aware what this "festival" entailed.

The date of the performance arrived. As we alighted from our harrowing
rickshaw ride to the location in downtown Bangalore, we stood gaping
before a huge city building, draped with a large banner that read
FESTIVAL OF CHOIRS. Stunned, we walked up the broad flight of stairs and
into the foyer which was milling with costumed participants. We
scrambled to get a printed program. This was a BIG event! Listed were
the names of several church, college and university choirs who were
participating. We were listed as the "L.D.S. Choir (Mormon's
Tabernacle)." We gasped! We didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. We
went aside and prayed, pleading for heavenly help. I turned to my
companion and said, "You'll have to direct." She said "I've never done
that before in my life!" I replied "Just smile, make a figure eight and
look confident."

When the curtain opened for our number, my companion had our Indian "Mormon's Tabernacle Choir" arranged on risers ready to perform. All seven ladies on the front row wore beautiful saris and the nine men behind them wore suits and white shirts. The director was magnificent. She even took a bow! I took a deep breath as I sat down to accompany them on an old upright piano with missing ivories.

The shock from the sound of the first chord nearly threw me off the chair, but when she raised her hand and started her figure eight, I could hardly play, and I don't know if I did. It was as if The Choir, whose name we bore on the printed program, were singing. I knew then our prayers were heard and a choir of angels was singing with our little choir. As the last note sounded, there was silence; then, thunderous applause from the packed auditorium. The curtains closed and we wept and jumped for joy.

Guess who won a prize? We did! The fourth verse says "Hasten the time when, from ev'ry clime, Men shall unite in the strains sublime." It happened in India!

My husband loved this hymn, and it was sung at his memorial service in 1986. Fred was not gifted musically while in mortality, but I like to believe that he was among those summoned to sing "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains" with the L.D.S. Choir (Mormon's Tabernacle) in Bangalore, India, December 1993. --

Jeane Peterson Lawler died 22 June 2013 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah