Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!
Happy Friday the 13th! Not that it means anything to me...it's just the date today! I am expecting only GOOD things to happen today...planning to get out early this morning and go "shop 'til I drop". I tried going with hubby the other day, and he wanted to come home by 10:00 am, so that didn't work very well. Today it will be just me, myself, and I, and hopefully the three of us will be able to get the job done! I know all of you who do all of your shopping months early or online are chuckling at me and my inefficient manner of doing things, but hey, it works for me! I've tried all the other methods, and still it just seems that I work better under pressure, even if it does cause me to have meltdowns in aisle 4 of the store! LOL. It wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't have a meltdown or two in the process of shopping, wrapping, and all the other "fun" stuff that has to get done! So I will be putting on my "running shoes" this morning and heading out as soon as I've had my tea, breakfast and finished all my other morning "duties"...like trying to write this post!
It's been a busy week already...Wednesday was our church "Women in Faith" annual Christmas luncheon/party. Do you want to see the pictures? Sure you do...so here are the collages I put together of everyone at the party. We had a larger group than normal this year, with one table filled with our "sisters" from the Florahome church...which is the same church where we went last night for the Caroling and Candlelight service...but more about that in a minute! First things first:
Can you find me in the group?
Our youngest new member of the group slept through most of the laughter...
I'm the one wearing the shirt with the pink flamingos and palm trees with Christmas lights on them. Yeah, that would be me. Here's a close up in case you missed it:
And here's all the fun stuff: gifts and lots of food and desserts and ladies laughing and talking and having a wonderful time of fellowship! That's what Christmas parties are all about...
Plus, we always have a special tradition of having a birthday cake for Jesus, and we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
And one of the ladies from our sister church also led us in a special devotion about the birth of Jesus. It was a wonderful time, filled with joy and many blessings and fun!
Then last night we braved the cold (it was in the 40's) to go to our sister church in Florahome for that wonderful Christmas Caroling and Candlelight service.
Here's the church:
And this is the outdoor nativity scene, where we would gather after the service with our candles and sing Silent Night:
These pictures were taken inside their beautiful little church, which was filled to capacity with people from our church, their church, and another "sister" church from Palatka. This is an annual event, and our choirs sing a few songs and there was an mini-organ concert by a very excellent organist, and even a miracle happened, when the other church choir could not get their accompaniment CD to play correctly in the sound system...it looked like they would have to either sing their songs a capella, or pick a hymn to sing out of the song book. Suddenly a man unknown to them or us stepped out of the congregation and offered to play their music for them on the piano! He had NEVER seen this music before, and it wasn't just some simple music that would be familiar. He sat down at the piano and accompanied them as if he had been practicing with them all along! It really was a miracle! I love it when God shows us that He is present and there for us even in the special things like being able to provide music for a choir in need of some assistance! What a blessing that was for all of us! The man was a guest from out of town, with a God-given talent that he was willing to use on the spot so that the people would be blessed. I wish I had taken his picture!
After the service we bundled back up and went outside for this candlelight time of singing Silent Night together. It was very special to see everyone gathered together, holding their battery-operated little candles that were provided instead of real candles that always would blow out before...great idea!, but the best part was hearing everyone singing together in harmony and full of the beauty of that moment, remembering the night that our Savior was born!
It really was a special moment.
Then we went inside to their newly remodeled Fellowship Hall and had some delicious refreshments. I forgot to take any pictures of that as I was too busy eating and enjoying the sweet fellowship of friends. It was a beautiful night.
Well, folks, I need to get a move on if I am going to go shopping this morning. Remember to keep Jesus in your hearts and minds as you go about your Christmas duties. He truly IS the Reason for this season!
1 O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold Him, born the King of angels!
Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
2 God of God, Light of Light,
lo, He abhors not the virgin's womb;
very God, begotten not created; [Refrain]
3 Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation;
sing, all ye citizens of heav'n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest![Refrain]
4 Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! [Refrain]
Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we hope that 4 questions help you to blog, meet people and think about things in general. Sometimes the simplest questions can be a bit difficult to answer. Christmas is celebrated all over the world.
Let's talk about the countdown to Christmas .
1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Do you use an advent calendar?
This picture was several years earlier, when I was still "a little angel". That was my costume for the church Christmas program that year. I was 3. I haven't been an angel since, I'm afraid. LOL.
At our home when I was growing up we usually did not put up our Christmas tree until Christmas eve, and we would help decorate it before we went to bed, but we never saw the finished product until the next morning when we woke up. And yes, we definitely hung our stockings by the chimney with care. These weren't any fancy stockings, but just regular old socks! I remember getting nuts, candy, and maybe an orange in the sock. I don't really remember any particular gifts in our stockings, but these socks were kind of small (at least mine was! LOL)
Decorating the outside of the house wasn't as big of a deal as it is today, but here's my sister and I posing by the front door, and there is a pine bough with a Santa Claus face in it for decoration. This was Florida, so that is why we were bare legged and only wearing sweaters!
Regarding a "countdown", I remember my sister and I had a little Advent Calendar with windows/doors that we opened each day that had some kind of picture about Christmas in it. I am sure we also had an Advent wreath at Church, but I don't remember much about it then. Later as an adult we re-introduced the Advent Wreath to our family and our churches where we served, as it had not been their tradition to have one. You can read more about the Advent calendars and wreaths if you click on any of the Advent topics in the right sidebar on my page under "Some Special Topics". To me, celebrating Advent is a special way to prepare our hearts for the true meaning of Christmas. It is a great way to teach our children about the real Christmas story.
2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?
I think I took this picture, so I am not in it. That is my cousin Becky standing in the background, and she is wearing a "shag wig", which was popular that year. I also had one, but apparently no one took my picture wearing it. It was a big deal to me, because it was blonde, and I was a redhead, so it was fun to pretend I was a blonde for a while. LOL. This is at my grandparents' house. We usually rotated around for Christmas dinner: one year at our house, one year at my grandparents, and one year at my Aunt Marion's house (she is on the left). We all lived within 10 miles of each other.
Oh, one more thing...in the evening when it got dark we would drive around town and look at the Christmas lights. There was one home in the town where my Grandparents lived that we always went to look at. The house had a big bay window in the front, and they always had a beautiful dancing ballerina doll in that window! She was quite large, maybe at least 4 feet tall I would guess, and it was the most beautiful sight to see! I wish someone had taken a picture of it because I would love to see it again.
What do we do now? Well, usually we have our gift opening time in the morning after breakfast and before dinner, depending on who's coming and how far they have to travel. Most often now it is just our own immediate family who live here in town (our kids and us) for Christmas day, and then if we are going to get together with the extended family it is usually on another day since we live about 2 hours apart and it is just too much to try to do in one day for everyone. Sometimes we wait until New Year's and have our extended family Christmas gathering then. It just depends on everyone's schedules, which seems to be getting more complicated as the years go by.
Me on Christmas morning...many moons ago...I sure was excited about getting that Doctor's Kit!
3. What foods did Mom and Grandma make for those days? What snacks were out? What is the food situation in your home today?
This must have been the year we had Christmas dinner at our house. I think this might have been the first or 2nd Christmas we had in that house that my daddy built. I am holding a new baby doll in my arms. Mom is holding the turkey that she must have just taken out of the oven...her pretty turquoise 1957 variety oven! Seems like we usually had ham for Christmas and turkey for Thanksgiving, but this particular picture shows a turkey for Christmas.My Mom always baked sugar cookies and pies. My Grandmother made her special Sand Tart cookies, which our son Scott now does for the family. (click on that link for more information!) It seems like my Aunt Marion always made fudge. Of course there's always a lot of little snacks around at Christmas...candy, nuts, pretzels, cookies...way too much stuff. My mother in law always made a fruitcake, and she and I were really the only ones who liked it.
Regarding our food situation today: LOL. If anything gets baked or made special, it will have to be in a week or two...right now I'm busy with shopping, preparing for our Christmas Cantata at church and various other church activities...all wonderful times of celebrating Christmas with our church family...but I don't have a lot of extra time for making things...however, it's just hubby and me and we don't need a lot of extra goodies around us...We'll see what develops between now and Christmas day...
4. What is Christmas dinner for you and yours? Goose? Turkey? English Roast Beef?
This year we are having Lasagna again. We've done that over the past few years, because it is easier to make and bake in the oven while we are opening gifts, etc., and not a lot of fuss and clean up.
Tomorrow night we will be going to visit the little church in Florahome, and have a caroling and candlelight service. Our church choir participates in this every year, and it is always so special. We end up with our candles outside, and sing Silent Night in front of this Nativity Scene, but it is usually dark at that time, and is so pretty with the candles lit. Tomorrow is supposed to get rather cold again, so it will feel a lot like Christmas! Then we go into their nice fellowship hall and have a time of refreshments and fellowship.
This morning I am headed to our Women in Faith's Christmas party at our church Fellowship Hall. I'm making some punch and an Amish Fruit Salad. It's always a very special time of Christmas fellowship with our ladies. So I need to get a move on or I'll be late!
Yesterday was the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and the role of the Shepherds at the birth of Christ was remembered:
"In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.'" Luke 2:8-10
Today we remember the shepherds, workers for the common good, steadfast watchmen isolated and alone, far from the warmth of home, doing the job no one wants. And yet God saw them, God valued them, and God declared the greatest news of all to them alone.
People: Today we give thanks for the shepherds among us, back-breaking laborers on whom our economy stands, those we overlook or rarely see, yet rely on for our very survival, the ones who have much to teach us about watching for God in the darkness.
On this second Sunday of Advent, we light the second candle as a symbol of the shepherds, agents of the gospel and redeemers of the world.
(picture taken in church following the service)
Our choir sang a beautiful song entitled "Gesu Bambino". This was recorded at our rehearsal, and although it's pretty good, I think we did better on Sunday morning. It was a difficult song to sing for our little choir, but I pray the message was clear. Following the song, our pastor preached an excellent message from Matthew 1:18-25, "What Dreams May Come", the story of Joseph, the betrothed husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Gesu Bambino
When blossoms flower e'er 'mid the snows
Upon a winter night
Was born the Child, the Christmas Rose
The King of Love and Light
The angels sang, the shepherds sang
The grateful earth rejoiced;
And at His blessed birth the stars
Their exultation voiced
Chorus:
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Again the heart with rapture glows
To greet the holy night
That gave the world its Christmas Rose
Its King of Love and Light
Let ev'ry voice acclaim His name
The grateful chorus swell
From paradise to earth He came
That we with Him might dwell
Chorus:
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Was born the Child, the Christmas Rose
The King of Love and Light
It was a wonderful service. I love this Advent season...
Wow! That speaks volumes! Jesus came with one mission in mind...to save us from our sins! Pure and simple. All we have to do is accept His free gift of salvation and we will be saved! It's really that simple...but we tend to make it so hard. He did the hard work for us. We just need to believe.
When we got home from church we were pleased to find that our son Scott had arrived. Benton also came over and had lunch with us, as Rose had to go to work. So the boys had fun figuring out the problem with the train, and Scott finally got it running again!
Here's a video of it in action! Yay!
I'm adding this old picture from 1980 of our three sons playing with that same train set and village. There may be a few extra buildings there, and I think they had just had a major crash when this picture was taken, but that's what they loved to do the most. It's a miracle there are any train cars left in one piece! LOL.
L to R: Matthew, Scott, and Benton
These are precious memories especially since our son Matthew is no longer with us, but if there are trains in heaven, I imagine he and his Grandpa are having a good time.
My Dad "Grandpa "Choo-Choo", Matthew, and his son Noah, our grandson, who is now 25 years old. This was my dad's train collection, but I've shared this before. I wanted to add it here, just because...
Moving on to a different subject, I know you all love to see The Sand Hill Crane Family. So do I. Here they are finding something good to eat in the pond...
When I see them lined up like this together at this time of year, I always think of them as being the Three Wise Men riding on their camels. If you watched them walking along, you'd see what I mean...
They ended up in our front yard...
And sure enough, they headed straight for the Nativity:
"We Three Kings of Orient Are...bearing gifts, we traverse afar...field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star...O-Oh, Star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to that perfect Light..."
I just thought that was pretty cool!! They seemed pretty curious about what all this new stuff was in our front yard!
Speaking of the front yard, here's the sunrise from this morning...
And this is the sunset tonight over Still Waters Pond:
These last two pictures were taken from the back yard of that new house next door, which is still available, in case you are interested...BTW, I believe they have recently reduced the price too! What a great Christmas present this could be to yourselves! (and me too, if you became my neighbor!)
This week is going to be a bit busy...we already had Bible study today, tomorrow morning we hope to go do some Christmas shopping, tomorrow night is choir practice, Wednesday is our church ladies' Christmas luncheon, which is always very nice and fun, Thursday night we are going to a church in a nearby community for a Candlelight and Carols service, which is always nice. Our choir will sing a couple of songs. Friday...I don't think we have anything planned YET, and I hope we can keep it that way, at least not anything too time or energy consuming...maybe just play catch-up here at home. There is a monthly "Agape" luncheon at church on Saturday, which is a pot luck luncheon just for fellowship with anyone who wants to come. I'm not sure yet if we will do that or not. And that brings us to Sunday, which is always a busy, but wonderful day.
I still haven't started on my Christmas cards...although I did buy Christmas postage stamps today, so that was a start (and a shock at how much postage is now!) I'm not promising that I will be sending a LOT of cards this year...I usually try to send to people that I don't communicate with as much during the year on Facebook or otherwise...relatives that we try to stay in touch with at least once a year, and old friends we only catch up with at Christmas...and then after that we will see.
I love all of you who are so good about getting your cards out already and to so many of us fellow bloggers. You are the best group of friends ever! I hope you won't be hurt if I don't manage to send cards to everyone. Time will tell what I can and can't do, but please know that I love you all and enjoy reading about your activities here all the time. I feel like I know many of you better than I know a lot of my "old friends" and "family". They just don't communicate as well as we do here in blogland.
Well friends, I guess I need to wrap this up. Tomorrow is the Tuesday 4 meme, and I need to look at that and see what I haven't already told you. LOL. But that will be another post...if I can find the time to get it done! One thing about the Christmas season, we sure do stay busy!
Closing with a few pictures from the Christmas angels and small nativities...
(porch tree)
"Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plains...
And the mountains in reply, echo back their joyous strains...
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