Christmas In My Heart

He is always there

Being with my daughter and watching her children has helped me a lot to recognize the worth of Christ in my life. No matter how challenging the situation, I am never alone. He is always there.

~ Marilee ~

I recently discovered this story was posted at You searched for Last bit of strength - HeroicStories and is copyright protected. It's a very good story. I apologize to the copywrite holder and will delete all but 2 paragraphs from this blogpost.

Last Bit of Strength Story

by Donna E. Clayton

Bennett, Kentucky, USA

A few years ago, I was Christmas shopping at one of the local malls.
Although spirits were high, everyone I saw seemed exhausted. It was late in the season, and everyone seemed ready shop until they dropped. One woman in particular seemed closer to dropping than most of us.

There were several benches in a waiting area of the mall, but because of the holiday season, they were all taken. I watched as the woman, who was very pregnant and obviously due very soon, walked up. She leaned heavily on her husband. Seeing that all the benches were taken, she sat down wearily on the stone wall surrounding the area...

HOW TO MAKE THIS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER

It’s amazing how different our plans can be from how they originally are planned. Here’s an article from years ago which is still full of great ideas. Marilee

* * * * *

HOW TO MAKE THIS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER

Kelly Reber <toetrk@primenet.com>

(Putting Christ Back into the Holiday Season)

1. Contemplate whose birthday we are celebrating. What will you give Christ this Christmas season?

2. Give presents of the heart. (Gifts of time, babysitting, service, etc.)

3. Visit and sing at a nursing home. Ask if there is a particular resident that has few visitors and go back another time.

4. Go through your clothes, toys, possessions and give something away to someone less fortunate. Do sub for Santa or participate in a worthy cause to bring Christmas cheer to someone who might not have it.

5. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Put this saying on a can or jar. Put in your extra change and make some small sacrifices -- such as go without a pop, treat, make pizza instead of purchasing, etc. Put the money you save in the jar and then pray for a project that you can participate in and use the money.

6. The SALVATION ARMY has a list of names needing assistance. Many stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart have Christmas trees that you can select a name to buy something.

7. There are boxes in many stores for food or other needed items. Consider sharing in this manner.

8. The Rescue Mission needs help serving meals and delivering holiday baskets.

9. Give Church related items such as scriptures, Church News, subscriptions to The Friend, New Era, Ensign, church books or tapes, food storage items, 72 hour kit items.

10. Write a letter of appreciation to a teacher, coach, friend, or anyone who has been an influence in your life.

11. Write a thank-you note to your parents, a family member, and share some positive experiences.

12. Do your own life story to give out or the life story of someone else (even a one page history would be great!)

13. Do a tribute for a family member. Write to friends and relatives and have them share feelings about the family member you are honoring. Send a self-addresses, stamped envelope, have a deadline, and encourage pictures. Type up the responses and share with the person being honored and other family members.

14. Read The Polar Express and wear a bell during December to remind you that you truly believe and want to be Christlike.

15. Do the 12 days of Christmas for someone.

16. Write your testimony in a Book of Mormon and share with a friend.

17. Start some simple traditions; foods that you will bake each year, obtain a new ornament, decoration, book, tape.

18. Read the gospels in the New Testament or make a determination to truly read and ponder the scriptures.

19. Make decisions based upon the thought, "What would Christ do?"

20. Simplify, simplify, simplify!!!!!!!!!! Many times less is more ...

21. SING! SING! SING! And LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! To Christmas carols. READ! READ! READ! Christmas stories.

22. Do something your roommates or family members want to do -- no matter how messy, loud, or time consuming.

23. Do anonymous acts of service (shovel someone's walk, leave a card or treats, pray and listen to the spirit.)

24. Someone once said that decorations should reflect your testimony. Find the symbolism in the decorations. Emphasize decorations centered around the birth of Christ.

25. Prepare early so you can truly enjoy the holiday season.

26. Consider what you can do for the missionaries ... write to them, invite them to dinner, prepare someone for them to teach (the best present of all), give them small food items they can use in their apartments -- breakfast foods, Kleenex, new toothbrush, stamps, postcards about our area, a picture of your family, etc.

27. Have a Shepherd's Night. Eat a simple meal (bread, cheese, stew, etc). Sing songs and read scriptures about the shepherds. Sleep out around the Christmas tree. Ponder how the shepherds went with haste to see Christ.

28. Submit genealogy names and do the work. Attend the temple as often as you can.

29. Indicate a blessing you enjoy when you put the ornaments on the tree.

30. Turn off the lights except the tree light and listen to music.

31. Have "secret pals" in your apt/family the week before Christmas and do anonymous acts of service.

32. Give your children/grandchildren/family members a gift from the heart -- an ornament they can take when they leave, a painting, life story up to date, scrapbook, special letter, etc.

33. Have family home evenings centered around the gifts Christ has given and write down what you will give. Save in an envelope, put on the tree, put on your mirror so you will remember throughout the year, etc.

34. Prepare a Christmas scrapbook of fun things you've done, pictures, stories, ideas.

35. Have a picture of Christ in your home. Put on a note, "Am I keeping Christmas all year through?"

36. Have a Christmas advent calendar and move one space closer to the stable. Read a scripture reference each day.

37. Give a basket of IOU's that you will give throughout the year.

38. Remember the families you home and visiting teach. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

December 16,2019

I have still not been able to access my google docs. Hopefully tomorrow.

THE MAN WHO ALMOST MISSED CHRISTMAS

~ author unknown

"I'm one of those lucky people who can look forward each year to two Christmases; one with my foster parents in Modesto, California and one with my birth mother in Sacramento, California. Last year, I spent Christmas Eve with my foster parents and early the next morning I left by bus to spend Christmas Day in Sacramento. I arrived back in Modesto at 11:30 p.m. Although, as usual, I'd celebrated Christmas twice, I felt empty and let-down. I couldn't understand it. On the two-mile taxi ride from the bus station, the driver was a woman. After a few blocks, I asked her how her Christmas had been.

"It gets very lonely not having any of my family home at Christmas," she told me. "It's just another day to me."

I didn't know what to say and I was glad when we pulled up in front of the house. I paid my fare and she drove off. Everyone was sleeping, so I went to bed too. But I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about the woman who had had no Christmas while I had had two Christmases. Then, an idea came to me. Maybe I could do something to keep her Christmas from being a total loss. I made a basket of the nice things the family had enjoyed at our Christmas festivities: fruits, homemade candies, cookies, and a piece of homemade pie. I called the cab company and asked them to send the woman back, identifying her by the number of the cab. When she arrived, I paid her the fare for coming out.

"Change your mind?" she asked, puzzled.

"No, ma'am," I told her. Then I handed her the basket and the card I'd enclosed, which said, "This may not make up for not having your family with you at Christmas but at least you will know that someone does care. Someone bigger than you and I."

As she read it, I saw tears glisten. After she left and I went back into the house. I realized something. The empty feeling that had bothered me came from just one thing: Receiving too much at Christmas time and not giving enough. Now that feeling was gone. So, that was my greatest Christmas ever. The Christmas that I learned to give.

December 15, 2019

Dear friends,

I am away from home and do not have access to my materials. There will only be a story tonight and tomorrow. Then I should be able to start publishing again,

THE SPIDER AND THE CHRIST CHILD

by Elizabeth Houghton

He was the littlest spider in all his family. Yet he could run faster
than any of them. He was always playing hide-and-seek. In and out of holes, under tables and chairs. Up the walls he'd race. So fast and
little was he, indeed, that nobody could catch him.

"I shall teach you how to weave," said his mother. "Than perhaps you'll keep out of mischief. Idle hands do no good. You must learn that life is not all play."

Soon the littlest spider was weaving great and beautiful webs. He
covered the high corners of the walls with intricately woven silk webs. He created lovely creations, larger and faster than anyone else could weave them.

"Such beautiful webs!" exclaimed his mother proudly. "God has given you a great gift. I hope someday you will use it to benefit others."

One cold winter day the littlest spider went for a walk alone. He
wandered across the cold hillsides and fields. He traveled far and wide, down bleak Judean roads. He met some people. The man was leading a donkey, on which sat a young and beautiful woman. She was holding an infant close to her heart.

"Joseph," said the mother, "I am tired. May we rest here a while?" The man looked anxiously up and down the road. No one was in sight. "There is a small cave close by," he told her. "There you will be cut off from the wind and cold. Come!"

As they reached the cave they were startled to hear hoofbeats in the
distance. "Herod's soldiers are coming to find our Babe," sobbed the
mother. "They will kill our Little One!" She covered the infant with
her shawl. Hurriedly, they entered the cave.

The littlest spider watched, then stood guard at the entrance. As the soldiers approached, he began to weave a web back and forth, to and fro, across the opening. He worked so swiftly that by the time the soldiers reached the cave a fine and beautiful web completely covered the entrance.

"No use looking in there," one of the soldiers remarked, eyeing the web. "Evidently no one has been in the cave for a long time. The web would have been broken had anyone entered." So they continued hastily on their way. And the Holy Family rested in peace and safety.

When the littlest spider told his mother what he had done she was very pleased. "God gave you the gift to work fast and well. You have used your gift to save the Christ Child."

(Adapted from an old Legend)

December 14, 2019

Matthew 2:11

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child

with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

******

Candle Light Carol

words and music by John Rutter

performed by Aled Jones

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJR52cv6enc

How do you capture the wind on the water?

How do you count all the stars in the sky?

How can you measure the love of a mother,

or how can you write down a baby's first cry?

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and starglow

Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.

Gloria, Gloria in excelsis deo!

Angels are singing; the Christ Child is born.

Shepherds and wisemen will kneel and adore him,

Seraphim round him their vigil will keep;

Nations proclaim him their Lord and their Savior,

But Mary will hold him and sing him to sleep.

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and starglow

Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.

Gloria, Gloria in excelsis deo!

Angels are singing; the Christ Child is born.

Find him at Bethlehem laid in a manger:

Christ our Redeemer asleep in the hay.

Godhead incarnate and hope of salvation:

A child with his mother that first Christmas Day.

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and starglow

Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.

Gloria, Gloria in excelsis deo!

Angels are singing; the Christ Child is born.

*****

Once again, I have spent much of the day traveling, so there is just going to be a song and a story tonight and Tomorrow ~~ Marilee

Gift from the Children: A Christmas Miracle

by: Donna Wallace, Source Unknown

Helen. Dear, sweet, elderly, Helen. Such a beloved lady, and friend to all who knew her.

Helen had belonged to the same church for almost all her adult life. She saw many members come and go, bond and feud, but she had always remained faithful to her beliefs, and she was highly respected, and cherished, among all the other parishioners.

Poor Helen. She wasn't a young spry chicken anymore. She was well into her 90's, and not quite as energetic and bubbly as when she first visited the church so many years ago.

Christmas 1998 was not destined to be a very kind year to Helen. She had suffered many losses. She lost her beloved husband six years before, but this year she seemed to have lost it all. After her dear husband passed away, she had moved in with her daughter, Becky, and her young granddaughter, Jennifer. They saved her from the loneliness she would surely have visited without their love. They grew closer every day, and each new day, life brought them more to be grateful and appreciative of. They knew they were blessed, and always remembered their blessings in prayer.

Jennifer was only two years old when Helen first came to live with them. Cute as a button, rambunctious, outgoing, and always joyful and singing. She made a house a home. Becky and Helen used to kid how it took the two of them to even half keep up with the whirlwind they nicknamed "Sunshine". Jennifer was curious as a cat, and filled the day with endless questions - some deep, some comical, and each one needing answers! Her mother, and her grandma were careful never to carelessly brush her questions aside, or grow impatient. They answered each and every one, if not with wisdom, then at least with unbridled love. Jennifer grew into a brilliant young lady, and everyone predicted a bright and sunny future for the special little girl.

Life is funny. Predictions sometimes don't come to pass. Future's sometimes only last today.

One night, driving home from the store, Becky and Jennifer were hit, head on, by a drunk driver. It was a mistake. A horrid mistake. If it weren't for a flat tire, they would have been home long before the intoxicated man drove down their street. Nobody can predict the future. Their shiny future ended that night. Their dreams, and plans and goals scattered among the broken glass, and the shredded steel. They were gone - forever. Once again, Helen was alone.

The sorrow and remorse that lived in Helen's heart surely should have killed her, she thought. The agony of losing those closest to her, the loneliness of being all alone, in a house as quiet as a tomb, and the emptiness of having nothing more to live for were more than she could bear.

Every Sunday she continued to go faithfully to her church, pray to her God, and she was always polite, but oh so sad. She had changed - withered, deflated, crumbled. She seemed to hardly be able to put one foot in front of the other. Her joyous laughter was seldom heard, her excitement and zest for life was simply no longer a part of who she was. She was no longer inflated - just completely deflated - flat. Zombie-like instead of lifelike. Just waiting for her turn to go be with her loved ones.

Naturally, all the other parishioners saw the change. They felt her sadness, and loneliness. She had always been such a pillar of strength, a friend in need, someone who could be counted on when the rest of the world had checked out. She was always there, in every way, for everyone. But now, she wasn't there at all, and nobody seemed to know how to comfort and help her.

But everyone saw. And everyone knew - from the oldest members, to the toddlers. They all saw the change, and the grief, and the pain.

Months passed. It was now December, and the holiday season was proving to be harder than Helen imagined it would be - and lonelier. She still went about living, kept up appearances, prayed, and was kind to everyone she met. Yet she felt like she was melting - dissolving - dying, slowly inside. She wondered if she would see Christmas this year, or go to spend it with those that went before her - the ones she loved.

Then, the second Sunday of December, the Sunday School Teacher came to her with a special request. Would she be kind enough to help with trimming the tree that stood in the middle of the children's classroom? Each child had handmade a special ornament, to place on the tree, and they needed assistance, and adult supervision. Helen tried to gracefully decline, but the teacher smiled, and said that the children had requested that she be the assistant this year. It was important to them for some reason, the teacher whispered.

The night of the special event, Helen was present. She was dressed as immaculate as always, and wore the best smile she could muster. The sight of the young children was bittersweet. The laughter and playfulness were refreshing, but they also held memories of her dear, granddaughter, Jennifer, who had passed away just four short months before. For the first time in months though, you could occasionally see her eyes shining, through a veil of tears. She decided she was happy that the children had thought to invite her, and thankful that she had decided to come join in the merriment. She felt more alive than she had since that dreadful day in August 1998.

Most of the ornaments had already been placed on the tree when an excited, almost giddy group of children came to her and took her by the hand. They led her to an ornate, red velvet chair that the teacher must have pushed into the center of the room, and they begged for her to sit down. Curious, and a little apprehensive, Helen obeyed, goodheartedly. You could see a tiny smile light up the corner of her mouth as she wondered what the little gremlins were up to.

A group, of five girls and four boys, sat in front of her splendid chair, smiling up at her with eyes moist with tears of happiness, and mouths trying not to prematurely babble the secret they were about to share with her. In the middle of the group sat a magnificent gold, gift-wrapped box addressed to: "Our Grandma, with Love."

Eight year old Christine stood before Helen, tears overflowing, smiling from ear to ear, eyes dancing at the speed of light. Christine had always been special to Helen, for she had been Jennifer's best friend ever since she could remember. They had spent much time together over the years, and they had grown close. She placed the box in Helen's tiny lap and the whole group rose in unison, and began to sing just for an amazed and delighted Helen, who seemed to be crying and laughing and praying all at the same time! With pride in their eyes, and love in their voices, and their notes sometimes off-key, they musically told her the reason that she was there. It was easy, yet touching to see that the children had written the words, and the song just for her. A gift to be cherished. Wonderful memories to last forevermore.

Each of the nine small children either had no grandmother any longer, or had never even known theirs. This was a very special celebration and union - a new family meeting, and bonding, and growing and loving - and sharing a very special Christmas. One by one, they unpacked the special ornament they made, and proudly showed her their surprise. Each ornament was addressed, "To my special Grandma, with Love - on our First Christmas". Every ornament was unique, special, splendid, and every one was a miracle beyond belief, to a heart so desperately in pain.

Once again, proving that predictions, don't always come true.....Xmas 1998 wasn't unkind to Helen whatsoever. No, Christmas 1998, was a new beginning, a brand new start, and nine new reasons to celebrate many more Christmas's to come. The next two weeks Helen became a human dynamo! She baked, she decorated, she sang and filled her house with so much cheer until at last it warmed up again, and became a home. She invited her nine special grandkids over and celebrated a Christmas as only a very special, wonderful grandma knows how to do, filled to the brim with magical memories that only the nine most special grandchildren on earth could ever have provided.

You see, dear sweet Helen wasn't the only one in need that Christmas. She wasn't the only lonely soul who felt the emptiness and a void which needed filling. The children in their infinite wisdom saw her need, and in filling her need, they filled their own. There is no love as pure and unpretentious as a child's love, no mind as wise and true as a child’s mind can be when given the opportunity to flourish and grow. Every single child is a miracle you can mold and design. Parents have the power, the opportunity, and the responsibility to teach their children love and compassion, peace and kindness. The future is in the hand's of our children, but our children are first placed in our loving arms, and under our tender guidance. Teach them love. Teach them the true meaning of Christmas. Not only one day in 365 days, but 365 days each and every year. Each new day providing an opportunity to celebrate, and rejoice, and give the gift of love. The gift of abundance that only grows, with no chance of diminishing in time.

Christmas is magical. You can see it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it. Christmas is a blessed event, that makes believers out of the staunchest cynics at times. It's wishes being granted - dreams coming true. But most of all, it has to live, all year long, deep within your heart. Christmas isn't for a day - it's all year long. Christmas is a lifetime affair. Merry Christmas to all....today, tomorrow, and forevermore.

December 13, 2019

John 6:20

But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

*******

"The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas." WC Jones

*******

Tip: Put out a bowl of pinecones. Spray with non-stick spray, and then sprinkle with sugar. It will look like snow.
Bonus tip: Simmer a small pot of apple juice or two cups of water and a cut up apple on the stove. Add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon. Your home will smell like an apple pie baking.

*******

Be Born in Me

performed by Francisca Battistelli

Everything inside me cries for order

Everything inside me wants to hide

Is this shadow an angel or a warrior?

If God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified?

Someone tell me I am only dreaming

Somehow help me see with Heaven's eyes

And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees

Holy is He. Blessed am I.

Be born in me, be born in me

Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me

I'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end

Every moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem

Be born in me

All this time we've waited for the promise

All this time You've waited for my arms

Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpected

So we might know that Love would go that far?

Be born in me, be born in me

Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me

I'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end

Every moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem

Be born in me

I am not brave

I'll never be

The only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy

I'm just a girl

Nothing more

But I am willing, I am Yours

Be born in me, be born in me

I'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end

Every moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem

Be born in me

*******

Faith in Jesus Christ can help us to not be afraid. After rowing 3 – 4 miles out to sea, Jesus’s disciples were frightened when they saw someone walking towards them on the rough waters. In fact, they were terrified. Jesus spoke to them saying, “it is I, don’t be afraid.” What does this have to do with me and my walk? Well, yesterday, I had a dentists appointment. That doesn’t sound like much, does it? The truth is, I’m afraid of dentists—terribly afraid. I had to have a cavity filled. That meant I would have to open my mouth, and let the dentist put a drill in it and chisel on my tooth! Horrors!! The dentist prescribed 2 pills for me to get from the pharmacy. I took one an hour before the appointment, and took the other with me. I was going to try hard to not need it. I had it all planned out, I wouldn’t take the other pill and would be just fine. Wrong. Not only did I need the second pill, I had to have gas, too! Sometimes there are things in this life which seem insurmountable. I came home yesterday afternoon and slept until this morning. That’s why no blog yesterday. I’m still very much a work in progress, but I’m going to develop more faith. I went to the dentist’s office today, parked in the parking lot and didn’t feel sick at my stomach. that’s progress, right? And just as those disciples conquered their fear, so will I ~~ Marilee

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Untitled Lell Farley

Mary knew ere long she'd be ready.

Her back and legs were tired and weary.

The evening seemed lonely, dark and dreary.