"God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith;
the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;
the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
the all of Christmas, which is Christ."

Wilda English

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Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

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WHEN WE SEEK HIM (New Christmas song by Shawna Edwards and Angie Killian) - YouTube

(beautiful video)

The Wise Men were watching and praying

For heavenly signs of His birth

They followed the starlight

Through long days and dark nights

To worship the Lord of the Earth

if miles lay between us, then I'd walk to Jesus

O'er mountain and desert, I'd follow that star

But He doesn't ask us to journey so far

For He will be with us wherever we are

When we seek Him

Like Wise Men, I'm seeking the Savior

By learning and living His ways

His light shines inside me

Like starlight it guides me

Closer to Him every day

If miles lay between us, then I'd walk to Jesus

O'er mountain and desert, I'd follow that star

But He doesn't ask us to journey so far

For He will be with us wherever we are

When we seek Him

I don't have gold to lay down before Him

But I'll give my heart to show I adore Him

If miles lay between us, then I'd walk to Jesus

O'er mountain and desert, I'd follow that star

But He doesn't ask us to journey so far

For He will be with us wherever we are

When we seek Him 

If miles lay between us, then I'd walk to Jesus

O'er mountain and desert, I'd follow that star

But He doesn't ask us to journey so far

For He will be with us wherever we are

                                                             When we seek Him

~*~*~*~*~

Chex Mix

for Jacob

6 Cups whole wheat Chex cereal

2 cups pretzels

2 cups cheddar cheese crackers

1 cup peanuts

½ cup butter

4 T worcestershire sauce

1 t. sea salt

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. onion powder

In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and crackers; set aside. In small microwavable bowl, microwave butter uncovered on High about 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated. Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 6 minutes, thoroughly stirring every 2 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container.

TRADITION

Walk into our home and you will see more than 150 nativity scenes on display. When our children were little, we had a Santa Claus room, and a Baby Jesus room. Santa played a BIG part in those early years, but not the only part. Christmas Eve always included going to the Christmas Pageant in our community and seeing the story of Christ's birth acted out by the children.  Santa always came and made an appearance with bags of oranges, nuts and candy.  If you look at this picture, you will see Santa arranging the pieces of a nativity scene.

Our children all have families of their own now and Santa really belongs to them. 

Christmas Past

Each Christmas I remember
The ones of long ago;
I see our mantelpiece adorned
With stockings in a row.

Each Christmas finds me dreaming
Of days that used to be,
When we hid presents here and there,
For all the family.

Each Christmas I remember
The fragrance in the air,
Of roasting turkey and mince pies
And cookies everywhere.

Each Christmas finds me longing
For Christmases now past,
And I am back in childhood
As long as memories last."
(by Carice Williams)

extracted from Short Poems for the Christmas Season (specialmomentshome.com)

The day came, when all of the Santa, reindeer, snowmen and squeaky little Christmas songs (like the chipmunks) didn’t mean a thing. Candlelight and firelight, and beautiful music filled our home then. We still had a Santa Claus room, but we had a Baby Jesus “rest of the” house. Nativities sprang up in every room. No matter where you looked (except for the bathrooms) you could see one. It really helped us focus on remembering him. It’s been five years now since we set up a Christmas tree.  We no longer have a "Santa" room.

We now have a nativity tree. That’s our tradition. This month, take the time to set up a nativity, to make one out of painted rocks or out of candy melts, or cookies. 1 or 187 nativities doesn’t matter, just remember to keep him a part of your month. ~~ Marilee