Joyful Laughter

One of the best things about Christmas is the laughter! The laughter of friends, of family, of children, as jokes fly back an forth between family members and kids shriek with excitement at they open their presents. Christmas isn't complete without a lot of laughter!
Sometimes the laughter starts early though.

Standing in the kitchen with some friends the other day we were chatting when one of the kids ran in. With a wide-eyed, panicked look on her face she stared at us in horror, "Mom! Mom they're saying we're going to get 1,500 to 2,000 feet of snow!"
Laughing I shook my head, "No kid that's the altitude!"

Maybe it was one of those things you had to be there to appreciate but this sweet girl didn't even mind that we were laughing. She was just happy that we were having a good time, even at her expense! And that's a great start to this Christmas friends, I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow with your family and friends! So may God bless you tomorrow as you celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas!

Do you say Merry Christmas? How about Happy New Year? Maybe Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings? These days it seems like there are fewer and fewer people saying "Merry Christmas" because they're afraid of offending someone. If you don't celebrate Christmas then that is your choice but why judge someone who does? Because make no mistake my friends being offended by someone wishing you best wishes by way of giving you a sincere and friendly greeting is judging them. If you don't celebrate Christmas then all you have to do when someone wishes you a "Merry Christmas" is smile and say "thanks". You don't need to say it back, you don't need to explain that you don't celebrate it if you don't want to, just return their kindness with your own and then everyone can move on.
Which brings me to why I'm so joyful. I'm joyful because I know the true meaning of Christmas and I love celebrating that my Savior loved me so much he left all the glory of heaven to come to this earth as a helpless babe where He took on my sins and died on the cross so that I could be forgiven and that someday I will live forever with Him in heaven.
Secondly I'm joyful that I live in a country where I do have the freedom to say Merry Christmas!

So my friends whether you celebrate it or not let me just wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Trees and More

This weekend I had the privilege of hanging out with friends all afternoon and evening to start decorating their home for Christmas. First we went to the Christmas tree lot to find the perfect tree. With six kids and two parents trying to make the decision it took some time to find just the right one, it had to have full branches with no gaps, be tall enough but not too tall, be the right kind of tree and of course have good color with no brown spots. But after some searching we found the right one and got it loaded up in the trailer.
Next was a stop to pick up pizza for dinner and hot chocolate for the trip because what is more Christmassy then hot chocolate?
Making our way back to the house we began the process of decorating the house. With plenty of places to put things and plenty of people wanting to decorate their own way it was quite the experience but with Christmas music playing in the background it was plenty of fun!
Finally it was time to decorate the tree, with the lights on their Mom passed out the ornaments so the kids could put them on, even the baby helped!
By the time we finished decorating we sat down to watch Miracle on 34th Street a Christmas movie for the ages! =)
While their family puts the angel on top of the tree before they put the ornaments on my family also put the angel on last. Everyone has their own version of Christmas traditions. But no matter the traditions it's the fun and joy that brings families together and it was an honor and a privilege to be part of the tradition with this amazing family.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions was when we were kids. My brothers and sister and I would always sleep by the Christmas tree at my grandparents house on Christmas Eve. I remember climbing into my sleeping bag, with my head on the pillow and staring up at the tree, all lit up with the angel on top and the stockings on the wall with presents underneath. The anticipation of wondering what would be in those packages was almost as much fun as actually getting to do it.
I love the joy of Christmas you see in a kid's eyes. I hope to always hang on to that joy and wonder of this wonderful season.

Christmas Joy

Just as much as November is a month of thankfulness December is a month to be joyful, to remember God's great gifts and take joy in our everyday, crazy lives! So often it's easy to be stressed out as you're trying to get things ready for Christmas, wrap presents, clean up that guest room and make sure you have all the cooking done! But Christmas isn't about the stress or the busyness or the holiday parties that go along with this time of year. It's about being thankful for the greatest gift any of us have ever received. Jesus Christ's willing sacrifice on the cross for our sins but before Jesus' resurrection could happen on Easter Sunday Jesus had to die on the cross on Good Friday but years before that came Christmas...

A young woman and her young husband. Have you ever read the Christmas story? Have you heard about how there was no room at the inn for this pregnant young lady who was about to give birth to the child of God? Have you ever read about the angel's who appeared to declare Jesus' birth on earth? The shepherds who received that message? Or the wise men who traveled from the East to see the baby Jesus? The king, Herod, who wanted to kill the baby? The people in the temple who rejoiced at His birth or the earthly parents Jesus was entrusted to who were given such a huge responsibility or raising this child. And through it all there was God, His hand can be seen in this whole story just as His hand can be seen in our lives.
So check it out. In your Bible you can read the Christmas story in Matthew 1:18- 2:23 and Luke 1:5- 2:40.

But although Jesus Christ's  birth is the reason we celebrate many of us choose to have that celebration with family and we have traditions and memories that are some of the many reasons we're joyful.

I'm joyful this week for my family. They've always been there for me and I know I will always have their love because they love me with the love of Christ. My family is one of the most important things in my life and I have many, many memories of them that coincide with the Christmas season, over the next few weeks I'll share some of those memories, traditions, songs and favorites things that make me love Christmas time and I hope you'll do the same by leaving your memories, traditions, etc. in the comments below.

I grew up in the Northwestern United States and if you don't know much about our weather we don't get a whole lot of snow this far west. But one year I was in Elementary school and we got probably three or four inches of snow, maybe a little more. Too many people that wouldn't be much but to us it was cause for celebration. My parents had some cross country skis in our garage and my siblings and I pulled out those skis that none of us knew how to use and we "skied" all over our property that year. I don't think any of us ever really got the hang of it and we probably spent more time pushing each other on the skis then we actually did skiing but we had so much fun playing in "all that" snow! It was a Christmas I'll never forget.