Wednesday Treasures: Ready For Christmas? Well, Almost!

 It's the Wednesday before Christmas, December 23rd.  I should be ready...are you?  I know many of you will say a resounding "yes!", and then there will be those, like me, who are still trying to make up for lost time and procrastination, and these next couple of days will be a whirlwind of activity.

This, I am ashamed to say, is my guest room, a.k.a. the "wrapping room".  Yes, there is still MUCH to be done.

Some progress has been made, under the watchful eye of my paternal great grandmother, LOL. I wonder if she would approve of my methods? Probably not. Life was much different then...and sadder for this dear woman, Mary Vogt Mursch.  She died at the age of 35 from complications of childbirth. Her infant son had died a couple of months previous to her death. And another baby son had also previously died at a very young age. She left behind four young children (my paternal grandfather was about 12 years old then) and a grieving husband. I'm sure she would tell me to not worry so much about all of this "stuff" at Christmas, and focus on what's really important, like family relationships and Jesus.

Little by little, thanks to my hubby helping, some things are getting wrapped...

Hubby insisted on taking this picture of me working on Christmas cards...thankfully this was early last week and those that are going out are long gone. I didn't think I was sending out very many, but by the time I was done, I'd gone through three books of stamps...and with the high cost of postage these days, wow...but I still love giving and receiving Christmas cards from loved ones and friends that we don't get to see or hear from except maybe once a year.  However, I am noticing that many have not sent out cards this year, and so, like other traditions that are dying out because of either expense or because of social media taking its place, letter writing and card sending are fading into the sunset.

But some things are all ready and waiting for Christmas to happen:

"Baby Elva" has been patiently sitting in her carriage, all decked out in her pretty red Christmas dress and Santa hat, and wondering when will the celebration begin?

Our little family in Pamela's Victorian Cottage are all wrapped up in the new winter coats that Mama made for them on her new sewing machine that was a Christmas gift last year from her dear sister from the city, so they can go outside and play in the snow.  

Their house is all ready and waiting for Santa to arrive as well...

And they can even go back to the cabin for Christmas now if they want to, because they have warm coats.  (Don't laugh at the style and design...they were lovingly fashioned from some fleecy socks that had lost their mates and a little Yankee ingenuity. Nothing fancy, just warm!)

The people in the little train village are all ready and waiting for Christmas Eve

A few weeks ago when I originally showed you some of my treasured Christmas ornaments,

I showed you this picture of this little choir boy bell that was a gift to me many years ago from my grandmother.  I didn't realize until I looked at the picture just how dirty his face looked! Yes, he is about sixty or more years old, but still...

And so he got a nice face scrubbing with some silver polish. Why? well, I've discovered that many of my old painted items (probably lead paint!) were "tarnished" when we lived in our last house because we had sulfur water and a lot of sulfur in the air caused things to tarnish more severely than normal, like silverware, brass, anything metallic.   And so this little fella looked like he had a dirty face, but when I cleaned him with silver polish he looked like this:

Much better, wouldn't you agree?

Likewise, this beautiful brass bell was very dark and ugly.  I used some brass polish on it, and it is much happier now and ready to ring in the Christmas celebrations!

This beautiful angel used to sit atop our tree, but our ceilings are little lower in this house and she just doesn't quite fit. And she had also lost her halo...

So with the help of a Christmas elf and a hot glue gun, she has her halo back on and she is ready for Christmas:

These two little "elves" are sitting on the shelf, waiting for the fun to begin.  (A sweet friend from church gave us these for Christmas this year. I think they are darling!!)

The nativity is set and ready to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is born!

And we have that "Christmas Star" in the western heavens, leading the way to the Baby Jesus...

Can you see it there?  Look real close:

This is how it looked through my camera last night:

"Oh, Star of wonder, star of night,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to that perfect Light."

Jesus is that perfect Light...

Jesus said in 

John 8:12

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

At this Christmas, let us 

"Come to the Light...'tis shining for thee...

sweetly the Light has dawned upon me...

Once I was blind, but now I can see...

The Light of the world is Jesus."

Do you remember this old hymn?

1. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin,
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
   Like sunshine at noonday, His glory shone in;
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
   • Refrain:
     Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
     Sweetly the light has dawned upon me;
     Once I was blind, but now I can see:
     The Light of the world is Jesus!
2. No darkness have we who in Jesus abide;
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
   We walk in the light when we follow our Guide!
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
3. Ye dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes,
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
   Go, wash at His bidding, and light will arise;
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
4. No need of the sunlight in Heaven we’re told;
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
   The Lamb is the Light in the city of gold,
   The Light of the world is Jesus!
5. (written by Philip P. Bliss in 1875. I believe was a blind man, but he was looking forward to seeing Jesus face to face.)

So my parting thoughts are, I may not be physically quite ready for Christmas, but in my heart I am very ready for "The Light of the World", Jesus, to shine in our hearts and lives and world once again.

Yes, I am ready for Christmas in the truest sense of the word,

Ready!

And now, if you will pardon me, I must get back to my wrapping, so that I have time for some baking tomorow...Have a blessed and very Merry Christmas!