CHRISTmas is Coming!!

 Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!!   We were excited to see the geese arrive back on Still Waters Pond this morning...the first time we've seen them since last spring!

If you aren't familiar with this little tune, here it is for you:

Christmas is coming, goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do

If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!

Christmas is coming, goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do

If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!

Christmas is coming, candles on the tree

Please hang a stocking for Saint Nick to see

If you haven’t got a stocking, a little sock will do

If you haven’t got a little sock then God bless you!

Christmas is coming, season of good cheer

Let’s sing a carol for the brand-new year!

If you haven’t got a carol, a joyous song will do

If you haven’t got a joyous song then God bless you!

Christmas is coming, goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do

If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!

I was happy to see not just ONE goose, but four geese swimming on the pond!!

We are very excited to see them return, and hope they will decide to stay awhile, and perhaps at least one couple will decide to build their nest here again! Time will tell. But for now, I am considering this a Christmas blessing!!

And not only the geese, but there were bluebirds in the yard the other day when we were having so much rain! This one was checking out the birdhouse!  I certainly hope they will be back to nest here again also!! Another Christmas blessing!

Joy to the World, The Lord is Come!

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing!

The carolers are all singing and rejoicing in the Good News!

Looks like Mrs. Santa and Santa Claus are getting ready for the big day!  Hey, Santa, where's your sleigh?  Are you taking the train this year?

Oh, Someone hijacked Santa's sleigh and put some beautiful flowers in it, and sent it here special delivery!! What a wonderful surprise from some sweet family members!

Looks like everyone is ready for Christmas at the cabin:

The Martin Sisters are gathered round the piano and ready to sing...

Oh, there's another Santa, and he's got gifts ready to bring...

The snowmen are warming up by the fire...better watch out! You might melt!

Baby Elva and Lily Grace are enjoying the tree and the train and village...

The sleepy little village of "Bethlehem" is ready for the weary travelers...

(this is the modern day version of Bethlehem, not to be confused with the real Bethlehem...)

Lily Grace and her friends are getting ready for the Birthday Party for Jesus:

See? The cake is baked and the friends are all dressed in their best Christmas outfits, ready to celebrate:

All the family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage are ready to celebrate Jesus' Birthday:

Uh, someone might need some help in gift-wrapping...Actually they are mostly done, but just waiting for Santa to pick them up and deliver them...

Yes, Christmas IS coming, and yes, there will be gifts under the tree on Christmas morning...well, maybe not exactly under the tree due to the train and village, but somewhere in the neighborhood...

And yes, there are some cookies being baked a little at a time...This is a new recipe that turned out really good...Cranberry/white chocolate chip and pecans...yummy.  (found a recipe online).

Yes, all this is being done because of one very special reason,

CHRISTmas is coming!

Jesus, Our Savior and Lord...

He is coming!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory, 

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

And that, my friends, is why we do all of this celebrating!

CHRIST-mas is coming!!

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright.

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight.

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,

Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God love's pure light.

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

From all creatures great and small here at our house to yours:

Merry Christmas everyone!!

This will probably be my last post until after Christmas, unless something else exciting happens!

So until then, have a very blessed and beautiful CHRISTmas with your loved ones and friends.

And remember,

"Jesus is the REASON for the season!!"

Monday Morning Reflections

Well, I started writing this early this morning, when Still Waters Pond looked like this and the morning sun was reflecting on the trees and on the pond...it was so lovely. I thought I'd get something written before now, but the day got away from me...

You know, this time of year there's always something to do!

Our church choir sang this song yesterday:

"Christmas Is Comin'"

(turn up your sound to hear it better, and just remember we are a small church country choir!)

and then if you want, stay around and listen to great sermon by our pastor from Luke 1:26-45, "The Announcement".

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

People celebratin’ the birth of a King

Shoutin’ hosanna till the heavens ring

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

Christmas is comin’, Mary’s baby boy

Bringin’ us a message of comfort and joy.

Glory hallelujah, what a wonderful thing.

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

Glory filled the heavens. Music filled the night

Shepherds heard the angels sing. Wise men saw the light

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

People celebratin’ the birth of a King

Shoutin’ hosanna till the heavens ring

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Glory filled the heavens. Music filled the night

Shepherds heard the angels sing. Wise men saw the light

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

People celebratin’ the birth of a King

Shoutin’ hosanna till the heavens ring

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

Let the church bells ring! Let the church bells ring!

That peppy little song should get you singing along...you'll now be doing like me and going around singing "Christmas is comin', let the church bells ring!"

Speaking of letting the church bells ring...guess what we did last night?

Yes, we set up our train and village!

Here's a little video of the train running around the tree:

This is becoming a new tradition for our family, started last year. Well, not really new.  Just being resumed from probably 30 years or more ago, and carrying on the tradition of my father from my childhood and his childhood too. (Click on that link for last year's story about this to get more history).

So the "kids" came over for pizza supper and to help put together the train and village.

Here's my sweet DIL Rose and I putting together the village

And Hubby was supervising everyone and taking pictures of us working:

(while he watched football on TV)

Son Scott did most of the on the ground work because he's really the only one of us

still agile enough to get down on the floor and get back up again. LOL

Benton and Rose relaxing and enjoying the fun...

I couldn't wait to start playing with the train, but soon discovered that getting down there and back up is going to be a challenge for me this year...

Of course we had to bring Lily Grace into the room so she could see the train for the first time in her life:

And of course she wanted to take over being the engineer right away:

Yes, I think she's going to have a lot of fun this Christmas:

If you want to watch another short video, here goes Lily Grace, enjoying the train for the very first time:

Here's a couple of great quotes I read on one of my newer blogging friends' posts today:

Thank you to Kirsten at "Loving Life" for sharing these quotes.

Obviously, I "resemble" those quotes...

Well, friends, that's it for today. My Monday Morning Reflections became a Monday Evening Sunset Reflection...

Isn't God's artistry in the skies just amazing?

Praise God in the morning and in the evening too!!

Amen!

Good Night!

and May God bless you all with His peace and joy and love.

"Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!

People celebratin’ the birth of a King

Shoutin’ hosanna till the heavens ring

Christmas is comin’, let the church bells ring!"

 

Sermon Notes "Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

Today is the first Sunday of Advent...the time of preparation for the first advent of our Lord as a baby in the manger...God With Us...

As we lit the first Advent candle... the Pastor read:

 "This morning we light the first candle, the candle of hope.  This candle reminds us that God's promises give us reason to be filled with hope~hope for unity in a world of division, hope for healing in a world of pain, and hope for peace in a world filled with anger and strife.  We remember that Christ is our light and the source of our hope." 

My view from the choir loft during the prelude. Such a peaceful, beautiful Sunday morning. So thankful to be able to worship in God's house each week.

And then the choir sang this to help begin the Advent Season. 

A little later in the service the choir sang the following anthem:

"Christmas is coming...Let the Church bells ring..."

With the onset of the Advent Season, we are preparing our hearts to welcome the Christ Child at Christmas. But it is not necessarily so out  there in the rest of the world.  Sadly, Christmas has become "sanitized" as Christ has been removed from the commercialized version of Christmas, and has been replaced with cash.

Our scripture reading today tells of the current world view:

II Timothy 3:1-7

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,

boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

having a form of godliness, but denying its power.

And from such people turn away!

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, 

led away by various lusts,

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Christmas commercials that we see on the television may sometimes be heart-stirring and well-done, but they are still all about sending us a message to sell their product, whatever it may be.

God has been sending a message of salvation and reconciliation to man since the beginning of time and the fall of man. He has sent signs and wonders...plagues, parted the Red Sea, defeated big armies with just 300 men, healed those riddled with disease and leprosy.  He sent messages through the patriarchs and prophets of old...Abraham, Moses, David, Micah...He even sent a message through a donkey to get man's attention.  And yet we miss the message...we continue on in our own way..."lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...having a form of godliness, but denying its power!"

Get amazed by the simplicity of God's message to us...He loves us...no matter what...He wants us to be reconciled to Himself...He wants us back.  This stubborn world continues to sin and rebel...God knew that only a personal act could redeem man...so God came down to live among us...to a dirty, dark, smelly stable...He didn't send some regal production to get our attention...He sent His Son...a Baby...Emmanuel, God with us.

Internet photo

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory, 

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

Christmas, the ultimate act that demonstrates the unfailing and unconditional love God has for us, His precious children. God with us...Emmanuel.

Do we keep it for ourselves, or do we have a responsibility to share this gift with others?

The true message of Christmas is to learn to love unselfishly as God did...and start to love people unconditionally, just as He has loved us and sent His Son to redeem us to Himself...

What will you do with this precious gift?  Will you keep it for yourself...or will you share it with the rest of the world...?

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL., Pastor A.C. Myers, 12/2/2018

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.