*****
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (feat. Peter Hollens) | The Hound + The Fox - YouTube
God
rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember
Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all
from Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray
O tidings
of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and
joy
From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel
came
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the
same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by
Name
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O
tidings of comfort and joy
"Fear not then" said
the Angel
"Let nothing you affright
God rest ye
merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our
Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from
Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray
O tidings of
comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and
joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
*****
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
8 ounces orzo
pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped, or more to taste
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
3 (32 ounce) cartons fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
8 ounces cooked chicken breast, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package baby spinach leaves
1 lemon, sliced for garnish (Optional)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (Optional)
1 Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in orzo and return to a boil. Cook pasta uncovered until partially cooked through but not yet soft, about 5 minutes; drain and rinse with cold water until cooled completely.
2 Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, and onion; cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften and onion becomes translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Season mixture with thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper; continue cooking another 30 seconds before pouring chicken broth into the pot.
3 Bring broth to a boil. Partially cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir orzo, lemon juice, and lemon zest into broth; add chicken. Cook until chicken and orzo are heated through, about 5 minutes. Add baby spinach; cook until spinach wilts into broth and orzo is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with lemon slices and Parmesan cheese.
*****
Last
night was our church Christmas party. After dinner, the children
sang songs, and presented a shadow program of the nativity.
Listening to their voices, and seeing their performance filled my
heart with happiness and joy. What a precious gift from our Savior
– the gift of happiness and joy. After
He was born, an angel appeared to a group of shepherds near Bethlehem
and proclaimed, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord
(Luke 2:10-11)
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Jesus is the joy of the world. Peter explained, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls"
I hope you will feel His gift of joy in your life, and share it with others ~~ Marilee
*****
Christmas Wish
Author unknown
It was Christmas Eve and the lord looked
down from above at all His children. It had been nearly two thousand
years since the birth of His son and turning to His youngest angel
the Lord said: "Go down to the earth and bring back to me the
one thing that best represents everything good that has been done in
the name of this day." The angel bowed to the Lord and spreading
his wings, descended from heaven to the world of man, all the while
contemplating his mission. So much had been done in the name of
honoring the birth of the Christ Child. For this day, wars had
temporarily ceased, cathedrals had been built and great novels had
been written. With so little time, what could he possibly find to
represent all this?
As he soared above the earth, he
suddenly heard the sound of church bells below. Their tone was so
beautiful that it reminded him of the voice of God. Looking down, he
saw a small church whose bells were ringing out the carol, Silent
Night. As the final note died away, it was replaced by one lone voice
singing inside the church. It was shortly joined by a second voice
that embraced the first in perfect harmony, and then another until a
choir of voices rose through the night. Enchanted by the magic of
what he was hearing, the angel found himself listening until the song
was finished. As he resumed his flight through the night, he was
delighted to hear these sounds everywhere, from the largest cities to
the smallest villages. He heard melodies from massive orchestras and
in the voices of single soldiers alone at their post. And any place
where he heard these songs, he found hope in the hearts of
men.
Grasping a song out of the air, he held it in his
hand (angels are able to do this) and thought that maybe, these songs
could be the one thing that best represented Christmas. They seemed
to give voice to man's greatest joys as well as hope to those deepest
in despair. But, though at first glance it appeared to be the answer
he sought, his heart told him that this music alone was not enough.
There had to be something more. So, he continued his flight through
the night until he suddenly felt the touch of a father's prayer on
its way to heaven. Once again looking downward, he saw a man who was
praying for his child whom he had not heard from in a long time and
who would not be home that Christmas. Seizing upon the prayer, the
angel followed it until it reached the lost child.
She was
standing on a corner, in a quiet snowfall, looking very small in a
very large city. Across from her was an old city bar, the kind that
only the lost seemed to know how to find. The patrons of this
establishment rarely looked up from their drinks and so seemed not to
notice the young woman. Now, the bartender in this bar had been
working in there longer than anyone could remember. He believed in
nothing except his bar and his cash register. He had never married,
never took a vacation and as matter of fact, had never been seen out
from behind his counter by most of his patrons. He was there when
they arrived and he was still there when they left. He gave no credit
and for seventy-five cents, served shots of un-watered whiskey to
people who used their drinks like a moat around their lives. For
them, he provided a safe, unchanging world.
Suddenly, the
door opened wide and into this world walked a small child. The
bartender could not remember the last time that a child had been in
this place, but before he could ask the child what he was doing
there, the child asked him if he knew that there was a girl outside
their door who could not get home. Glancing out the window, he saw
the girl standing across the street. Turning back to the child, the
bartender asked him how he knew this. The child replied "That on
this night of all nights, if one could be home, they'd be already
there."
The bartender looked back toward the young
woman as he reflected on what the child had said. After several
seconds of thought, he slowly went over to the cash register and
removing most of the money, came out from behind the bar and followed
the child across the street. Everyone in the bar watched as he spoke
with the girl. After a few moments, he called over a cab, put the
girl inside and told the driver: "J.F.K. Airport." As the
cab pulled away, he looked around for the child, but the child was
gone. And what was stranger still, even though his own tracks leading
from the bar were still clearly marked in the snow, the child's were
nowhere to be found. Returning back inside, he asked if anyone had
seen where the child had gone, but like himself, no one had, for they
also had been watching the departing cab. And then, some would later
say that the most miraculous thing of all happened, when for the rest
of the night, no one paid for a drink.
Later that night,
the angel returned back to heaven and placed in the Lord's hand the
wish of a soul for the happiness of another. And as the heavenly host
looked on, the Lord smiled.
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