Luke 2: 48-49

48 and when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold , thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father’s business?

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Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life." -Corrie Ten Boom

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The Holly and the Ivy

(traditional British folk song. The first written references to this song was found in 1823)

The Holly and the Ivy - YouTube

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.

The rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly bears a berry,
As sweet as any flower,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
To be our sweet savior.

The rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly bears a prickle,
As sharp as any thorn,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
On Christmas Day in the morn
The rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly bears a berry,
As red as any blood,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
To do poor sinners good

The holly bears a bark,
As bitter as any gall,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
For to redeem us all.

The rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
The rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.


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Thanks to Ev for sharing this with me ~~ Marilee

Ev: This is a tradition we did as my children grew up):

"One December we gathered our family together for a family meeting. We asked our 11-year-old son how it would be if on his birthday the family members gave presents to everyone but him. He didn't like that at all. We went on to ask if there was a holiday when we gave gifts to others but not to the person whose birthday we were celebrating. It didn't take the children long to realize we were talking about Christmas. That year, however, we wanted to make Christmas more meaningful by giving gifts to the Savior, whose birthday we were celebrating.

Three-year-old Laralyn headed to her room and returned carrying her favorite doll. "Daddy, could I give my dolly to Jesus?" she asked. We explained that the Savior knew of her willingness to give Him her most prized possession and that He would want her to take care of the dolly for Him. She was delighted and said, "I love giving gifts to Jesus."

By now our children had become more reflective. What could they give the Savior? We discussed what He would want. We talked about how He paid for our sins and wanted us to give them up. We talked about how He would want us to give of ourselves through service and sharing our talents. Gifts could also include being more obedient in such areas as journal writing, scripture reading, and keeping the commandments.

We put a little white box on the fireplace mantle (for our family it's in the manger by the fireplace) and asked our family members to write their gifts (letters) to Christ on slips of paper and place the slips in the box. then we explained on Christmas morning, before all the other gifts were opened, we would finally have family prayer and then share with each other the gifts we were giving to the Savior for the coming year. (ours is Christmas Eve)

My little box for notes to Jesus with goals - in the manger I made years ago with my sis Marilyn

As the years have come and gone, the traditions of the white (ours gold trimmed) box has helped our family focus on the real meaning of Christmas and on our love and gratitude for the Savior."

~~~~

Here’s another tradition which was sent to me. Mary’s family places a pickle on their Christmas tree after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. The child who finds the pickle first, gets to open the first present on Christmas morning. I’ve been trying to track down the history of the pickle. Here’s what I’ve found so far. Some say that the tradition started almost two thousand years ago when Saint Nicklaus resurrected 2 young boys whose bodies he found in a pickle barrel. Another legend says that it all began in Germany hundreds of years ago, and that German immigrants brought it here to the states with them. Another legend states that during the Civil War, a captured soldier named John Lower, was sent to Andersonville.  Starvation was a reality in that prisoner of war camp.  Lower wished for a pickle to ease his hunger-his last meal. A compassionate guard brought him a pickle.  John lived, and every year after that he put a pickle on his Christmas tree.  A 4th story says that the legend of the pickle was started by a salesman in Michigan who had lots of glass fruit and vegetable ornaments in his store. People bought everything but the pickles, so he made up a legend to sell his ornaments. Whoever made it up, it could be fun. You could even make up your own legend.  For example, our oldest daughter loved sweet pickles, even as a baby.  Her Grandpa would give her a sweet pickle and she would fall asleep sucking on it like a pacifier.  We could make up a legend about that the pickle ~ Marilee

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Here is a fun recipe for Grinch popcorn.  Follow this link, or goto my pinterest page.

Grinch Popcorn - Two Sisters (twosisterscrafting.com)

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Christmas Blessings

By Willis A. Potter

The many blessings we receive stem from our Savior’s birth

When as a babe in Bethlehem, he came to dwell on earth.

We find the Christmas holidays bring extra love and cheer

And we enjoy the happy times with loved ones kind and dear.

The Christmas trees, the caroling, the myriad Christmas lights,

The gifts, games and special treats add all to our delights.

Our foremost blessing is the gift of God’s beloved Son,

Who will forgive us as we repent and right the wrong’s we’ve done.

As the rock of our salvation, Jesus came mankind to save.

His atonement brought redemption from our sins and from the grave.

He gave us the Beatitudes, taught us faith and prayer,

He taught us not to lie or steal, to be honest kind and fair.

The Good Samaritans kindness was our Savior’s teaching tool,

To love our neighbor as ourself, we must heed his golden rule.

He said, “I am the Good Shepherd,” we become his faithful sheep,

As we can love and follow him and his commandments keep.

For blessings at this Christmas time, we thank our Savior dear,

May each one share his love and care all through the coming year.