Christ was love.............

This is excellent.

Christmas Love
(Also known as "The W in Christmas")

BY: Candy Chand


Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. But once again, despite my plans, chaos prevailed. I had cut back on nonessential obligations-- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and yes, even the all American pastime, overspending. Yet, still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and, of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old filled with hopes, dreams and laughter. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production.

Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, just as I promised, on the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in 10 minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment -- songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. The melodies were fun, cute and lighthearted, but nowhere to be found was even the hint of an innocent babe, a manger, or Christ's sacred gift of hope and joy. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love", I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row -- center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her -- a small, quiet girl in the front row who was holding the letter "M" upside down. She was entirely unaware, that reversed, her letter "M" appeared as a "W." Fidgeting from side to side, she soon moved entirely away from her mark.

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at the little one's mistake. But in her innocence, she had no idea they were laughing at her as she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

One can only imagine the difficulty in calming an audience of young, giggling students. Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood -- the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

CHRIST WAS LOVE.

And I believe He still is.

Thankful Thursday

Today is Christmas eve. I had most of my family at my house this year.

It was nice to not have to drive for a change.

Tomorrow we will have my Mother in Law here to celebrate. Hubby will go pick her up because of our snowy weather.

We will open presents with her. The little guy is excited. And big sister has been here all day, is spending the night, and will be here most of the day tomorrow!!

Today I am thankful for:
*my family
*safe travel for family members
*finally going to a Christmas eve service!!
*Jesus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 2:6-7
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

O Christmas Tree......

This is the final tree for this year.

It's made with red garland and it's for my own house.

I think next year I would use colored lights and look earlier to find the green garland, because that's really what color I wanted!

Winter Solstice

Today is the winter solstice. The longest night of the year.

After today, the days start getting longer!!

Info

Winter Solstice
Mon., Dec. 21, 2009, 12:47 PM EST (17:47 UT), marks the solstice—the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere

The precise moment of the 2009 solstice will be Mon., Dec. 21, 12:47 PM EST.


In astronomy, the solstice is either of the two times a year when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, the great circle on the celestial sphere that is on the same plane as the earth's equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn; the summer solstice occurs either June 20 or 21, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Cancer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter and summer solstices are reversed.
Reason for the Seasons

The reason for the different seasons at opposite times of the year in the two hemispheres is that while the earth rotates about the sun, it also spins on its axis, which is tilted some 23.5 degrees towards the plane of its rotation. Because of this tilt, the Northern Hemisphere receives less direct sunlight (creating winter) while the Southern Hemisphere receives more direct sunlight (creating summer). As the Earth continues its orbit the hemisphere that is angled closest to the sun changes and the seasons are reversed.
Longest Night of the Year

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, sun and -stitium, a stoppage. Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

Memory Verse Week 51

Proverbs 30:5 (New King James Version)

Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him

Only one more week for the Memory verse!! I can hardly believe it's been a year!

Three Santas

One of these Santas my daughter made many years ago.

As we were unpacking the Christmas decorations we came across this. The little guy wanted to make one. So, we finally made one. I made one too.

Here is the picture of the three Santas. We had fun making them too.

O Christmas Tree......

This one is blue. I made it for my Mom.