Christmas!

 The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity...joyous and awesome, but busy and somewhat exhausting as well.  But isn't that the way Christmas has been from the very beginning?  I mean, think about it.  Christmas is all about the birth of a baby, and not just any baby, but the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world! And not just any simple kind of birth in a sterile hospital...but a hard and exhausting labor, after traveling for days on the back of a donkey, and ending up in an animal stable behind the Inn, because there was no room in the Inn for Joseph and the very expectant Mary. We've sung songs about the birthday of Jesus and read all the Scriptures pertaining to His birth, and visualized in our minds how it must have been, especially for Mary, to have to go through labor and the delivery of her amazing baby boy in such difficult circumstances. Mary had much to ponder...the Angel's message to her before Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's surprise and confusion about her pregnancy, until he also had a visit from the Angel...and then the Angels announcing His birth to the shepherds...the shepherds coming to visit and worship the newborn baby in the manger...so many things happening at once! I can well imagine Mary's consternation and exhaustion at the same time. And yet she was willing to trust God enough to go through this, so that God's plan of redemption for all of mankind could be fulfilled. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mary for her obedience to God...but most of all, we owe a debt of gratitude to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who came to earth specifically to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life! That is a debt we can never repay...but all He wants is for us to be like Mary, and say "Yes" to whatever God asks of us, and leave the rest up to Him. He will always be there to carry us through to our destination.

With that being said...as I started this out saying, it's been a whirlwind of activity!  I didn't get around to doing the Tuesday 4 meme on Tuesday, which was about Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve! One of the questions asked about whether or not we would be attending church services or doing anything special on Christmas Eve, and I would like to answer that question...Yes! We attended the Candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church.

All five of the Advent Candles were lit, including the center white candle, also known as The Christ Candle, which is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

And as we lit each of the Advent candles, it was so wonderful to sing the familiar Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story once again as we lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and then we lit the center Christ Candle to remind us that the Light of the world was born this night. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined." Isaiah 9:2 "You, O Lord, have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy. For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:3, 6) And we were once again reminded that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, for in Him God is with us. This is what Christmas is really all about...and I am so thankful that we started out our Christmas Eve and Day with these special reminders of why we are celebrating.

The choir was singing "A Celtic Silent Night" while the candles were being lit throughout the sanctuary. It was a beautiful, peaceful and moving way to close the service of carol singing and hearing the Christmas story once again. (I quietly took this picture from the choir loft while we were singing. Try doing that while holding a lit candle in one hand, your music book in another hand, and taking a picture with your cell phone with ??  Thankfully we were sitting down while we sang, so my book was in my lap. LOL.)

I've shared this song with you before, and this video below was actually recorded by our choir on Christmas Eve, 2020, during the "pandemic", hence the "social distancing" by the choir.  We didn't record it again this year, so I hope you will enjoy this earlier version. I couldn't help but notice as I watched us singing that two of the dear ones singing in this video are now singing in the heavenly choir. I wonder if they sang Silent Night in heaven? I wonder if they even think about Christmas Eve and Christmas in heaven...or if they have a birthday party for Jesus?  These are all things we will find out someday...

Christmas day was a lovely day in every way.  Our son Scott arrived the night before, and true to his tradition, he baked cookies for us.  He didn't do the traditional Sand Tarts that he's done many years before, but did my mother's Orange cookie recipe that is another family favorite. I forgot to take pictures, but here's a picture from the past of when he baked these before:

They are always a welcome treat in our family, and we are thankful that Scott loves to bake them as his "gift" to the family.

Christmas morning was kind of quiet and laid back, while we waited for "the kids" Benton and Rose and the grand pups to come over to open gifts.  Baby Elva and Lily Grace wanted to come out and see the Christmas tree...(and Lily took a few pictures with her new camera, lol).

While I was taking this picture of them, we had some nice Christmas music playing on the television with beautiful winter scenes.  Little did I realize until after I took the picture that a "Barred Owl" had photo bombed the picture! LOL.

And then on second look, someone's leg and foot also photo-bombed the picture! LOL. That was Scott sitting in the recliner relaxing...funny pictures!

Finally Benton and Rose arrived, and Scott's help was needed to unload something from the back of the truck:

Yes, this is my "Mom's Secret Garden" bench from the past, but it has been totally renovated, rebuilt, repainted, restored, by Benton. This was supposed to be done for my birthday in September, but you know how that goes, life happens, and so now it is a birth-mas gift! LOL.  Originally this bench was a Christmas gift to me from Scott, who found the original iron parts of the bench in a dumpster, and he brought it home and restored it for me, (about 7 years ago now already!) Then over the years the boards started to deteriorate and rot out here in the weather, and it needed to be restored once again. So, Benton took it  home with him back in September with the intention of finishing it in time for my birthday. It's only 3 months, late, and well worth waiting for! 

Here I am testing it out...it's perfect!

And sweet dil Rose came and sat on it with me. What a sweet blessing, and a great way to start out our Christmas day.

We decided that before we started opening family gifts, we would give Sugar and Spice their gifts, so they would have something to entertain themselves with while we were all busy opening up our gifts.  They were  happy to get some new toys that will stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house to play with when they come to visit.

Rose and I were busy in the kitchen getting the lasagna ready to put in the oven, so it could bake while we opened gifts.  The guys were patiently waiting for us to come get this 'party started'. LOL.

So finally things were under control in the kitchen, so Rose could join Benton on the couch...

and I could join John in our recliners....Oh, I forgot to mention that one other little pleasant "delay" we had was a phone call from our grandson Noah in Maine, along with his mother Nicole. So we all took turns talking to them and enjoyed a wonderful conversation getting caught up on what they have been up to. That was definitely a happy diversion.

Meanwhile, Scott finally put the star on top of the tree for us. It's been waiting for him to do it all these weeks! LOL.

I won't bore you with tons of pictures of us opening our gifts and oohing and aahing over every thing, but suffice it to say, God has been VERY good to us and we have had a very blessed and beautiful Christmas.  Here we are, sitting down to the table to finally eat our wonderful lasagna dinner...

I wish we had thought to take a picture of all of us in the same picture together, but still you can see we are all there.  Rose and I collaborated on the lasagna, salad and garlic toast...a simple and yet delicious meal.  We had pie and cake and cookies for dessert, so no one went away hungry for certain!

But here's the most important gift of all:

"Jesus, the Heart of the Holiday".

Amen.

And with that I will say good night.  

And also say a prayer for our Rose...after leaving here last night she became very ill with a stomach virus. We were afraid it was food poisoning, but no one else has gotten sick. And today she has a fever, so it must be the flu. She is feeling some better tonight, but has slept most of the day, which was good for her. (although she was scheduled to work today, so that was too bad she had to call in sick).

So please pray that Benton doesn't get it or any of the rest of us.  John is going to be preaching this Sunday at that little church out in the country in Florahome, where he has filled in for the Pastor before. Oh, and then after church Scott is coming down again and bringing steaks to cook for us to celebrate Rose's 50th birthday, which is next week!

So again, we pray we will all stay well. 

I hope to get caught up with the rest of you in the days to come. I know you are all probably busy too, but hopefully we will get back in the routine soon!

God Bless you each and every one!

And Happy New Year!

Still Processing Christmas...Day One

Technically, Christmas is over...at least the day we celebrate Christmas is over. But Christmas itself is not over!  It's still lingering in our minds and hearts and spirits...and probably still lingering in our homes in the decorations, leftovers in the fridge, gift wrap and packaging in the trash, cookies and pies and candies still lurking around tempting us to keep nibbling away at things we shouldn't...and hopefully in our memories...sweet memories especially...

Welcome to Christmas memories from our house and my heart...

Christmas morning started out with a lovely sunrise...

Which was only preceded by a magnificent sunset on Christmas Eve as we traveled to church for the Christmas Eve service:

And as we lit each of the Advent candles, it was so wonderful to sing the familiar Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story once again as we lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and then we lit the center Christ Candle to remind us that the Light of the world was born this night. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined." Isaiah 9:2 "You, O Lord, have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy. For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:3, 6) And we were once again reminded that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, for in Him God is with us.  This is what Christmas is really all about...and I am so thankful that we started out our Christmas Eve and Day with these special reminders of why we are celebrating.

As I sat in the choir loft singing a

(this video was actually from our church last year, but same song)

Celtic Silent night with our choir, the congregation was passing along the "light of Christ" to their neighbors

Such a beautiful and peaceful way to usher in Christmas...

On our way home we drove around our neighborhood to see if there were any Christmas lights shining, and we were surprised to find quite a few. Our neighborhood is a rather modest community of mostly manufactured homes.  There were no elaborate displays like one would expect in larger communities, but this one above touched my heart.  There in the middle of their Christmas candy cane lights and hanging icicle lights, was a beautifully lit cross, reminding us of why Jesus came to earth in the first place...to save us all from our sins. We must never forget the price He paid for our redemption.

And then we went home to prepare for what would come in the morning:

Son Scott, who had gotten home too late from work to go with us to church, was busily preparing one of his Christmas gifts for our family, a batch of my grandmother's Sand Tart cookies! (recipe can be found on that link to a much older post from past.)

I was amazed that he had these all baked and the kitchen cleaned up by the time we got home. What a great guy!!

And next, Santa Claus had to slip in and distribute the gifts for the "kids" who would be arriving in the morning for Christmas day...

Lily Grace and Baby Elva had fun watching Santa at work...

Oh, look who got a stocking hung by the chimney with care:

Next morning, the "kids" and Grandpuppies arrived, ready for fun:

Sugar and Spice saying hello to "Uncle Scott"...

And then discovering that they had a special stocking filled with new toys just for them, which kept them occupied and happy for the rest of the morning:

Sweet Daughter in Love Rose and Son Benton, opening their gifts...

And son Scott and Daddy  sharing a good laugh over a very "interesting" fun gift sent from a relative..."Pooh Ping Pong"...there's always gotta be a silly gift somewhere in the bunch...and this was the silliest ever...

Thankfully Lily Grace's gifts were much better...

She got a couple of new outfits sent from her Auntie Peggy and Uncle Billy, among other things...

Yes, I know, our family is a bit "touched in the head" sometimes, but we do have fun...

And we do love to eat.  While opening our gifts, the hamloaf was baking in the oven with the scalloped potatoes, and butternut squash, green beans, rolls...

And oh, I almost forgot, Rose also made some deviled eggs! It was a delicious and simple dinner, and I "believe" everyone was happy and quite satisfied!

We ate off of my "good Wedding China", on a plastic Christmas tablecloth, but I did use red cloth napkins...LOL.  Tried to keep things simple but still special.

Speaking of special, our sweet daughter in law, (with a little help from her hubby the carpenter) created some wonderful signs for us.  She asked us for a special verse or saying that was meaningful...and the above picture is exactly what my hubby said.

And then she looked on my blog somewhere and found this verse below and created this sign for me:

And also this one I mentioned particularly, because of course, we live "beside the still waters" (pond).

Another sweet gift was this set of jigsaw puzzles:

I said this is where I want to live someday:

Well, maybe not with the snow. LOL. Actually, I feel like we are pretty close to living there already.

Oh, one more very special thing that happened on Christmas day. For some time we have not had much communication with our grandson Noah, who is our only grandchild, and also the son of our son Matthew who passed away from cancer in 2014.  So staying in touch with him is especially meaningful to us. But he is 22 years old and a typical young man living his life and not really realizing just how much it means to us to hear from him.  And the fact that he lives in Maine makes it a bit more difficult to just run up and visit anytime.  So anyway, long story short...recently Noah and some friends have embarked on an adventure of a lifetime.  I told my hubby they are like the pioneers of old, searching for new lands to "conquer" and begin a new life.  Two couples have set out across the country in campers, working their way along as they head south to warmer and hopefully more economically productive locations. And recently he decided to start responding to my texts, by sending me a few pictures of the sunsets as he travels:

Ah, he's a young man after my own heart!! He loves the sunsets just like I do!

And better yet, on Christmas day he called us and talked and talked and talked, and excitedly told us all about their journey and their hopes and dreams and plans and schemes...and told us about his girlfriend that we realized we had actually met at his graduation party 3 years ago...and well, even though some things may not be exactly ideal about this trip, it is a new beginning and he is happy and full of the joy of the adventure...and you know what?  I believe God will take care of the rest of the details...I don't need to worry or "preach"...I just need to pray for their safety and that God will guide them and keep them on the right path as they seek their new adventures.  My hubby and I both agree that keeping the communication going with him is the most important thing we can do right now. And I have to tell you, this truly made my Christmas day complete.

After the hubbub died down and the "kids" went back to their house, our son Scott went to work on his next gift for the next Christmas family gathering that was arriving on Sunday afternoon...yes, you heard that right...

These cookies are my mother's famous "orange cookies", (click that link for the rest of that story) and she would bake these anytime the family was coming home.  Now not only Scott, but at least one of my nieces that I know of, carries on this same tradition in memory of my mom. And so he wanted to have them ready for my sister and her hubby and their daughter and her hubby when they arrived Sunday after church.

Oh, these pillows are a gift from our kids too.  And they say what I want to say right now...

"Merry Christmas to all...to all a good night"

Stay tuned for "Still Processing Christmas-Day Two" coming up in a day or two, as I continue to process everything. It's been a very beautiful and meaningful Christmas here.

I hope it has been for you as well. I look forward to hearing your stories.

So, until next time, 

Amen!