Compassion

“Finding the real joy of Christmas comes not in the hurrying and the scurrying to get more done, nor is it found in the purchasing of gifts. “When we see shepherds, may we remember to be humble. When we see wise men, may we remember to be generous. When we see the star, may we remember the Light of Christ, which gives life and light to all things. When we see a tiny baby, may we remember to love unconditionally, with tenderness and compassion.”  Bonnie L Oscarson

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This Is Christmas

Luther Vandross - This Is Christmas (Official Video) - YouTube

Don't be discouraged

Don't be dismayed

There's hope for all in this world

'Cause this is Christmas day

Say a little prayer for the world

God teach us love

Though you think that He doesn't hear

I know He does

This is Christmas, let the world sing

Let us all begin to heal

Hallelujah, this is Christmas

And with love we can begin today

Christmas bells ring

People's hearts sing

And I forget about all the troubles I seem to have

And I tell myself to feel how my brother feels

Try to love him and maybe then I'll understand him

Make a little room in our hearts

No heart's too small

Can't we love each other today?

'Cause after all

This is Christmas, let the world sing

Let us all begin to heal

Hallelujah, this is Christmas

And with love we can begin today

(Come, come, come see the little one)

Come (come, come, come see the little one)

Come see the baby, yeah, yeah, ooh

Come (come see the baby) yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh

You know, you know

(This is Christmas) yes it is, (let the) world sing

Let us all begin to heal, all begin, we can all begin

(Hallelujah) hallelujah (this is Christmas) yeah yeah

(And with love) we can begin today

(This is Christmas, let the world sing) yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (let us all begin to heal) ooh, today

(Hallelujah) this is Christmas

And with love we can begin

This is Christmas, let the world sing

Let us all begin to heal

Hallelujah, this is Christmas

And with love we can begin

This is Christmas

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We went to a Christmas dinner last night with friends and enjoyed playing “Jingo” (same as Bingo only using Christmas images instead of numbers) Playing games and laughing together makes wonderful memories.  This site has some fun, easy christmas games for children:  13 Christmas Party Games for Kids of All Ages (thespruce.com) There are also sites which have interactive online Christmas games.  

 

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White Chicken Chili

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 T olive oil

2- 14 oz. cans chicken broth

1 - 4 oz. can chopped green chiles

2 t. ground cumin

2 t. Dried oregano

1 - 1 ½ t cayenne pepper

3 - 14.5 ounce cans great northern beans, drained

1 cup shredded jack cheese

Optional *** hot sauce, sliced jalapeno pepper

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook chicken and onion in oil until lightly browned. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, chiles, cumin, oregano and cayenne; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low. With a potato masher, mash 1 can of beans until smooth. Add to the saucepan. Add remaining beans to the saucepan. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and onion is tender. Top each serving with cheese and, if desired, jalapeno pepper

 

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Compassion. The gift of compassion fills our life with joy.   As I mentioned earlier, showing compassion, reaching out with a helping hand gives people hope. There are many activities you can do to help your children develop compassion. We did the 12 Days of Christmas for a neighbor family one year. We tried being sneaky about it, determined not to get caught. It all went really well until the night when the mother in the family (and you probably know who that was) realized it was HER turn to drop off the mystery item. It was late, she was in her nightgown with fuzzy monster slippers on her feet. She got into the car without a coat and made the drop off. She hurriedly raced back to the car and discovered her keys were in the ignition, and she was locked out! This was before cell phones, so she had to return to the door and ask to use the phone. Nightgown, monster slippers, and no coat – she was the recipient of a lot of giggles and snickers and even some rolling on the floor with laughter, but also much compassion. We never know when WE will be the one in need.

From the scriptures, we learn that Our Savior loves:

CHILDREN “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God”, 

WIDOWS “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” 

THE POOR “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.”    Matt 25:40  This Christmas, let us follow the Savior’s example and give to those around us

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  

 ~~ Marilee

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Christmas in the Sticks

By Debby Mongeau

 

The year I moved to Alaska, I lived with my husband's family while he stayed in Montana and worked. I had never been around a huge family before, and he was the oldest of ten children, most of them married with kids of their own. They all lived within a forty-mile radius and used any excuse for a family gathering.

 

No one had any money. Kids were small, families were young, and many of the parents worked more than one job just to pay the bills.

 

But that first year, the Christmas of 1981, they showed me what giving was all about.

 

I had only been there for about six months and was still in awe of the strength and power that the love of a big family can generate. What they did that year was a long-standing tradition for them, but I had never seen anything like it.

 

Two days before Christmas, the entire family gathered at Mom's house. Each couple threw one hundred dollars into a pot; singles tossed in fifty dollars if they could; kids pitched in allowances or baby-sitting money.

 

Then the church assigned us a name and an address, and we got "our family." We were all eager to help once we knew the situation: Dad's been out of work; the baby's been sick; Mom didn't want to put up a Christmas tree because she didn't want the children to be disappointed when Santa didn't come; the power company had shut the gas off once, but the church had paid the bill.

 

First, we went to the grocery store. Ten adults, a dozen or more kids, we took the store by storm. Stomping snow off our boots and shedding hats and gloves, we worked up and down the aisles with five carts, soon full of turkey, dressing, potatoes, pies and Christmas candy. Someone thought of simple stuff, how about toilet paper? Did anyone get butter? What about orange juice and eggs for breakfast?

 

Then the kids got to work. I watched, amazed, as a six-year-old gave up her two-dollar allowance so another little girl could have new mittens. I saw a ten-year-old's eyes light up when he found the illuminated sword he'd wanted, and then put it in the cart for a little boy he didn't even know. A warm, fuzzy blanket for the baby was my four-year-old nephew's choice.

 

Back to Mom's to wrap the gifts. There were two separate boxes of hand-me-down clothes, sized, pressed and folded. Soon ten grocery-store boxes, overflowing with holiday food, joined them.

 

The kids created an assembly line to wrap gifts: big gifts, little gifts, special mugs and warm driving gloves. Paper and ribbon were everywhere. Laughter was woven in and out of satiny bows; love was taped to every tag.

Colorful plastic sleds were shoved in the back of the Bronco and stashed in the available trunk space of warm cars idling in the sub-zero Christmas chill. The moon was out, and the trees were covered with hoar frost, glittering like a snow globe in a happy child's hand.

The favorite uncle got to play Santa. Dressed in a dapper red suit, he led the caravan to the trailer stuck back in the scrubby alder woods. Once we had to stop because the ruts in the snow got too deep, and someone's car bottomed out. We transferred gifts and people, and we carried on.

There were no other houses around the frosty mobile home, but the lights were on and a dog on a long rope barked from the wooden porch when we pulled up. Most of us stayed out on the main road, but we loaded the boxes on the sleds, tied them together and sent "Santa" and a few of the older kids to the door. We hung back and sang "Silent Night."

Santa and his helpers knocked and went right in when the door opened. The young family had, after all, decided to put up a tree, and they were stringing lights when we got there. They stood, stunned, as the Santa's helpers unloaded box after box, piled gifts upon gifts. It wasn't long before the tree was dwarfed by a mountain of presents.

Santa said the mom didn't start crying until she pulled the wool coat out of the clothing box. She only said, "Where did you come from?" and then, softly, "Thank you so much."

With the standard "ho, ho, ho" and lots of "merry Christmases!" the delivery crew sprinted back to the car.

We sang one last verse of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" jumped in our magic sleighs and disappeared into the night.