Our Anniversary is coming up next week (34 years!!). On our 25th anniversary, we went to Niagara Falls. I bought this beautiful glass ornament as a memento to hang on our Christmas tree every year as a reminder of our December anniversary.
On Christmas morning, there was a gift under the tree from our sweet little kitten. Inside was a beautiful glass ornament with these smiling Christmas cats. They were all saying, “We’re so sorry your special anniversary ornament was broken. Please forgive little Wiley!!” Of course we did and they have been a reminder of this story every year since.
This Christmas allow God to bring forgiveness and reconciliation to your life. It is a time when many families gather together and the season when many hearts are open to hear the message of reconciliation. Watch closely for the opportunities to “give” the gift of forgiveness. Then allow God to heal past wounds and restore estranged relationships. This could be your best Christmas gift ever – the one that lasts all year long!!
This will be a "First Christmas" for many families - First Christmas together - First Christmas tree of their own - First time to cook a Christmas turkey (yikes!!! remember that??) - First Christmas away from home (ours was in BC - a long way from NS) - Baby's first Christmas - The first year of new traditions.
There were 8 cousins (I am the oldest) and we are pictured here at our last traditional Christmas together. After this year, everything changed. The next year I spent Christmas with my uncle's family with an invitation to Christmas Dinner with my future husband's family. It was actually the first time to meet his mother (very stressful to do this on a holiday!! but all went well). The next year we were engaged and every year after that we have shared Christmas with our own family.
Three weeks until Christmas!! This month will be filled with Christmas Pageants, Christmas Concerts, and children bursting with excitement. Kids love to dress up and they will be have plenty of opportunities this month, whether it's in their school play or a Nativity presentation at their church. They love "pretend" times and we love to take pictures as we sigh, "Aren't they cute??"
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! December is here!! One of my favourite Christmas decorations is my Nativity set. I made it when I belonged to the Ceramics Club on the radar station in Baldy Hughes (near Prince George, BC). I was the Sunday School Superintendant there and this represented my SS kids re-enacting the Christmas story. The stable actually belongs to a nativity set that Wayne brought home for me from Israel when he was with UN Peacekeeper in Egypt for 6 months. It is made of olive wood and makes it an "authentic" Hebrew stable!
Mary and Joseph are the central characters of the Christmas story so they are always "in the center" with the Baby Jesus slightly in front. After all, HE is the REASON why we even have a Christmas season! It is the celebration of HIS birth - His arrival in fulfillment of God's Promise to us. His name (Yeshua) means "Saviour" because He came to save us. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to watch "The Nativity Story" on DVD. It's a wonderful view of the story we all know so well, but from how it may have affected Mary & Joseph personally. It's very well done - not filled with action (or violence!!) and you know the ending, but just reminds us again of sacrifices made so many years ago that WE are reaping benefits from 2000 years later. 
With the birth of a child comes the Birth Announcement. The Shepherds were watching their flocks by night, just as they had always done night after night. Suddenly, angels appeared and told them the Good News. They rushed to see and confirm that what they were told was true. Then they ran and told everyone who would listen. Wouldn't you if you had experienced what they did? Pretty hard to just go back to the field as if nothing special had taken place. I love it that the very first to learn about Jesus' arrival was not the officials or most important in terms of position, but the simple every day people. Maybe those who would have been overlooked once the news made headlines. They were given front row seats to the great event.
The Wisemen are an interesting group. We don't really know how many there were who traveled so far to see for themselves what they believed was about to happen - the birth of a king that was foretold by the stars! They believed and took action. We know they brought at least 3 gifts and that they were truly sent by God, even though they were not even from Israel or of the Hebrew faith. (Do you think they carried down something from the time of the Babylonian captivity when Daniel was in Persia? God has ways of preserving His Word for such time as HE wants to release it. He loves keeping it hidden from those who want to destroy and wipe out even the memory of what He has done, but He will ALWAYS keep a remnant with His true testimony.) How do we know that they were sent by God? They were warned in a dream to go home a different way and not report back to King Herod. Why would they listen to the dream and not obey the command of the king of the country they were visiting unless they knew it was God directing their path. (Commands of the king in those days was NOT taken lightly. Disobedience could be fatal).
