"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...
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...
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!)
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...
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...
Gloria in excelsis deo
Gloria in excelsis deo!
Gloria in excelsis De-e-o!
Amen!
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ReplyDeleteHi Pamela! I love all the Christmas pictures - especially the pictures from past years with your sons playing with the train and the picture of your dad, Matthew and Noah. What great memories for you. We had a little train around our tree for a few years when our kids were little. I love all of your nativities and your Christmas decorations both inside and outside. I would love to put you on my Christmas card list. Please email me your address and I will send you a card and add you to my list! See you again soon!
ReplyDeleteThat Tis the Season does really speak!
ReplyDeleteI loved the pictures of your sons, so special to see Matthew and for you to have those special memories.
The pond in beautiful at sunset!
I love all of your photos, Pam, and especially enjoy the Sandhill Crane updates. It's so fun that they continue to visit your yard and the pond. You have a busy week ahead and so do I. It won't settle down (for any of us) until after Christmas, now. Good times and good memories made!! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post Pam. The train photos are great. Hurray for Scott! I know the one with your Dad, Matthew and Noah is extra special to you. I, too, love the season of Advent and I've missed the first two Sundays of it at church. This darn bug! My voice is still gone but I'm not coughing as much so I'm hoping to go to the ladies Bible study on Wednesday. I skipped a funeral today because of the coughing. I know I'm not contagious anymore but no one else knows that and I'm afraid they'll hear me and immediately think the "C" word. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe crane family is so dignified. I love how they went straight to the Nativity. They know what's important even though many have forgotten. And I REALLY love the meme about the reason Jesus came.
I understand why you don't know about cards now or in the future. We spent well over $100 on stamps alone this year. I think I'll have to cut back severely next year. The cards have gotten so expensive too. With all of the other things like groceries, electricity and just about everything else going up, up, up. Something has to be cut out. Please don't worry about sending one up this way.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
P.S. I still want that house, but we can't leave Mom.
I received your beautiful card...the first one we received! Thank you!! And I would so love for you to come live next door to me, but I DO understand about Mom. That is the reason we moved back to Florida from New England many moons ago...my parents and John's mother (his father had passed away several years prior), were at that age where they needed more attention, and so it made sense for us to come back home to be here for them. Now they are all up in heaven having a great time, waiting on us to join them some day. And we are thankful our kids are not too far away from us here so that they are available to give us "more attention" as needed in our "old age". It creeps up on all of us sooner or later, and we are very thankful for the help we have. I know you probably won't want to leave your kids that are near you either when that time comes. I feel sorry for the many retired folks who move to Florida away from all their family, and then they are kind of stuck here when they get too old to take care of themselves and their children are too far away to help, so they end up either being very lonely here or having to move again in their older age to get back "home" to be near family. So it is something to consider...I'm afraid us old folks living next door to you wouldn't be much help! LOL. Like the "blind leading the blind", or something like that. Oh well...let's just enjoy what God has given us now and leave the future to Him. He knows best always!! Merry Christmas my dear friend!! You can always come down and visit!
DeleteThose figurines are so dear! I love that first little fellow holding the lamb... the expression on his face warms my heart. I'm so glad you included this picture of your father with Matthew and baby Noah. My Tom would have been beside himself at that array of trains and tracks. Sadly, he tried to interest Tommy and Mitch (grandson) -- to no avail.
ReplyDeleteThe SandHill Crane family make the perfect Wise Men, don't they. (Rather, two men and a lady!)
The video showing Scott and Benton watching the train they successfully got going is delightful, Pamela, as are the still photos of all your boys when they were young. Trains are so enchanting to me, too, especially at Christmas. Yes, I completely understand about not sending cards this year as everything is so expensive; I'm so glad we already had a bunch of Christmas stamps that Danny got a deal on last year before the prices went up. Happy Second Advent Week!
ReplyDeleteI think the Sandhill family are decor inspectors in disguise. They do seem to nose around a lot. Once again, I've enjoyed all the wonderful photos of your home being Christmas'ed up!
ReplyDelete