Tuesday 4~ Holiday Specials

 Holiday Specials

Thank you for joining in for Tuesday 4, begun by Toni Taddeo and kept in her memory.


Christmas is fast approaching for billions of people...

1. Do you have a favorite Christmas carol and if so is there a particular version you especially like?

I don't know how to answer this...I love them all. My list would be too long...but I love all the old traditional Christmas carols. We only get to sing them once a year, so I enjoy them all I can while I can.

2.Do you have a special dinner for the holidays? What foods are included?

Seems like we've been doing something different each year lately. Used to always be ham on Christmas, but we've done lasagna a few times too.  I was kind of thinking about a Prime Rib Roast, but I don't know how to cook it and they are so expensive, so that probably won't happen. I have to talk to my daughter in love Rose about it and see what she's thinking. We try to work it out together. I am SO thankful for her help.  We usually have a Hamloaf sometime during the holidays. My paternal grandmother always made one after Christmas with the leftover ham ground up with ground pork  and a mustard/vinegar/brown sugar glaze...so good. We may do that at some point.  Scalloped potatoes goes well with that.  

3.Holiday movies ... which do you like to watch?

National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, The Bishop's Wife, A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol (preferably the old one with Reginald Owen as Scrooge), and I'm sure there's others.

4. What traditions do you continue to keep year after year for the holidays?

This Wednesday evening our kids are coming over and we are going to make homemade pizza, and then we will work on setting up the train and village under the Christmas tree. That has become our family tradition here in the past few years.  I grew up with a train/village under the tree as my father was quite a Lionel Train collector, and then we also had a small train set for our boys to play with but not always under the tree.  I'm not going to post any pictures with this post so I will save that for after this Wednesday to share with you.

Oh, this is a link to another time we answered these questions!  There's some good pictures and stories here!

Here's another link to an older post with some Christmas traditions.  

I am thankful to be feeling better. I didn't go to church on Sunday or to Bible Study today, but I do plan to go to choir practice Tuesday night because we are practicing for our Christmas cantata,  which will be on Dec. 21st.  And this Wednesday is our Ladies' Annual Christmas Party/Luncheon at church, and it is always a lot of fun and I don't want to miss that.  Rose is going to go with me too, so it will be very nice.

Also, regarding the rain...we received almost one inch of rain,  which was very nice, but definitely NOT enough to fill Still Waters Pond.  So we continue to pray for more rain whenever it can get here! We are missing our geese and ring-necked ducks this year because of the lack of water. Thankfully we still have the Sand Hill Cranes and Great Blue Herons and hawks and other birds.

Today's Bible readings came from Luke 1:26-38, in which the angel Gabriel foretells the birth of Christ to the virgin maiden named Mary.  We've heard the story many times, and you may look up the reference there and read it again for yourself if you wish. But out of all those verses today, the one that stands out the most for me is this one: 

37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”

And once Mary had her questions answered by the angel, she was satisfied that what she was told was true, and her response to the angel was:

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

And even though Mary's life was being changed dramatically from that moment on, she was willing to believe God's messenger and accept the challenge and calling upon her life that God had placed upon her and move forward in peace and confidence.  

Although we may not be faced with the same kind of challenge that Mary faced, we do each one come to times in our lives when we may be asked to take a big step of faith, or to have our faith stretched to the limit.  Things happen beyond our control to ourselves, our mates, our children, and/or our homes and other loved ones. We may have huge doubts and fears at times, not knowing what the future may hold when there's a loss of a job, or a serious health issue, or other totally unexpected losses. But that one verse above, "For with God NOTHING will be impossible"  speaks volumes.  With God we can face our uncertainties without fear, knowing that He is in control, and that He is able to provide whatever it is we may need.  His love and care for us is unlimited...and no matter what...please remember, "with God, NOTHING will be impossible."  Amen.