Saturday, November 14, 2009
Recipe for Joy
Help donate 1 million meals to the hungry this holiday season. Simply send FREE holiday e-cards from American Greetings to your friends and family. For each card sent, Kraft Foods will donate 10 meals to Feeding America. Be among the first to experience the joy of giving and spread the word about this program. Visit Recipe For Joy and send a FREE holiday e-card today and every day through December 31, 2009. For more information about Feeding America, visit Feeding America.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Unexpected Christmas
We were well over half way to our farm in East Texas when the storm broke. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and a tree fell with a great ripping noise. When the rain poured in such a flood that we could not see the road, my husband drove on to what seemed to be a bit of clearing deep in the piney woods.
As we waited I sensed we would not get to the farm that night to celebrate Christmas with our family. We were sitting there, miserable and dejected, when I heard a knocking on my window. A man with a lantern stood there beckoning us to follow him. My husband and I splashed after him up the path to his house.
A woman with a lamp in her hand stood in the doorway of an old house; a boy of about twelve and a little girl stood beside her. We went in soaked and dripping, and the family moved aside in order that we might have the warmth of the fire. With the volubility of city people, my husband and I began to talk, explaining our plans. And with the quietness of people who live in the silence of the woods, they listened. "The bridge on Caney Creek is out. You are welcome to spend the night with us," the man said. And though we told them we thought it was an imposition, especially on Christmas Eve, they insisted. After we had visited a while longer, the man got up and took the Bible from the mantle. "It's our custom to read the story from St. Luke on Christmas Eve," he said, and without another word he began: "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger ... "
The children sat up eagerly, their eyes bright in anticipation, while their father read on: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night." I looked at his strong face. He could have been one of them. When he finished reading and closed the Bible, the little children knelt by their chairs. The mother and father were kneeling, and without any conscious will of my own I found myself joining them. Then I saw my husband, without any embarrassment at all, kneel also. When we arose, I looked around the room. There were no bright-wrapped packages or cards, only a small, unadorned holly tree on the mantle. Yet the spirit of Christmas was never more real to me.
The little boy broke the silence. "We always feed the cattle at 12 o'clock on Christmas Eve. Come with us."
The barn was warm and fragrant with the smell of hay and dried corn. A cow and a horse greeted us, and there was a goat with a tiny, wooly kid that came up to be petted. This is like the stable where the Baby was born, I thought. Here is the manger, and the gentle animals keep watch.
When we returned to the house there was an air of festivity and the serving of juice and fruitcake. Later, we bedded down on a mattress made of corn shucks. As I turned into a comfortable position, they rustled under me and sent up a faint fragrance exactly like that in the barn. My heart said, "You are sleeping in the stable like the Christ Child did."
As I drifted into a profound sleep, I knew that the light coming through the old pine shutters was the Star shining on that quiet house.
The family all walked down the path to the car with us the next morning. I was so filled with the Spirit of Christmas they had given me that I could find no words. Suddenly I thought of the gifts in the back seat of our car for our family.
I began to hand them out. My husband's gray woolen socks went to the man. The red sweater I had bought for my sister went to the mother. I gave away two boxes of candy, the white mittens and the leather gloves while my husband nodded approval.
And when I was breathless from reaching in and out of the car and the family stood there loaded with the gaiety of Christmas packages, the mother spoke for all of them. "We thank you," she said simply. And then she said, "Wait."
She hurried up the path to the house and came back with a quilt folded across her arms. It was beautifully handmade; the pattern was the Star of Bethlehem. I looked up at the tall beautiful pines because my throat hurt and I could not speak. It was indeed Christmas.
Every Christmas Eve since then, I sleep under that quilt, the Star of Bethlehem, and in memory I visit the stable and smell again the corn shucks, and the meaning of Christmas abides with me once more.
Written by Marguerite Nixon.
As we waited I sensed we would not get to the farm that night to celebrate Christmas with our family. We were sitting there, miserable and dejected, when I heard a knocking on my window. A man with a lantern stood there beckoning us to follow him. My husband and I splashed after him up the path to his house.
A woman with a lamp in her hand stood in the doorway of an old house; a boy of about twelve and a little girl stood beside her. We went in soaked and dripping, and the family moved aside in order that we might have the warmth of the fire. With the volubility of city people, my husband and I began to talk, explaining our plans. And with the quietness of people who live in the silence of the woods, they listened. "The bridge on Caney Creek is out. You are welcome to spend the night with us," the man said. And though we told them we thought it was an imposition, especially on Christmas Eve, they insisted. After we had visited a while longer, the man got up and took the Bible from the mantle. "It's our custom to read the story from St. Luke on Christmas Eve," he said, and without another word he began: "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger ... "
The children sat up eagerly, their eyes bright in anticipation, while their father read on: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night." I looked at his strong face. He could have been one of them. When he finished reading and closed the Bible, the little children knelt by their chairs. The mother and father were kneeling, and without any conscious will of my own I found myself joining them. Then I saw my husband, without any embarrassment at all, kneel also. When we arose, I looked around the room. There were no bright-wrapped packages or cards, only a small, unadorned holly tree on the mantle. Yet the spirit of Christmas was never more real to me.
The little boy broke the silence. "We always feed the cattle at 12 o'clock on Christmas Eve. Come with us."
The barn was warm and fragrant with the smell of hay and dried corn. A cow and a horse greeted us, and there was a goat with a tiny, wooly kid that came up to be petted. This is like the stable where the Baby was born, I thought. Here is the manger, and the gentle animals keep watch.
When we returned to the house there was an air of festivity and the serving of juice and fruitcake. Later, we bedded down on a mattress made of corn shucks. As I turned into a comfortable position, they rustled under me and sent up a faint fragrance exactly like that in the barn. My heart said, "You are sleeping in the stable like the Christ Child did."
As I drifted into a profound sleep, I knew that the light coming through the old pine shutters was the Star shining on that quiet house.
The family all walked down the path to the car with us the next morning. I was so filled with the Spirit of Christmas they had given me that I could find no words. Suddenly I thought of the gifts in the back seat of our car for our family.
I began to hand them out. My husband's gray woolen socks went to the man. The red sweater I had bought for my sister went to the mother. I gave away two boxes of candy, the white mittens and the leather gloves while my husband nodded approval.
And when I was breathless from reaching in and out of the car and the family stood there loaded with the gaiety of Christmas packages, the mother spoke for all of them. "We thank you," she said simply. And then she said, "Wait."
She hurried up the path to the house and came back with a quilt folded across her arms. It was beautifully handmade; the pattern was the Star of Bethlehem. I looked up at the tall beautiful pines because my throat hurt and I could not speak. It was indeed Christmas.
Every Christmas Eve since then, I sleep under that quilt, the Star of Bethlehem, and in memory I visit the stable and smell again the corn shucks, and the meaning of Christmas abides with me once more.
Written by Marguerite Nixon.
Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas
Check out this wonderful devotional journal for women. It features scripture-based reflections and journal pages for gratitude, intention, and to-do lists. Written by a Christian mom and beginning on Thanksgiving Day and ending on the Feast of the Epiphany, the book is an insightful prayer companion for busy moms!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Christmas Examiner
First article is up and my column is now active. Check it out at Christmas Examiner.
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Star Still Shines
The Glenn Mohr Chorale released a Christmas CD recently. The title is "A Star Still Shines." The CD is aptly named for the chorus shines with Christmas carol favorites and newly loved songs. The lyrics -- my favorite is Christmas in Heaven -- are beautifully written and the choir is brightly talented.
A new site, The Glenn Mohr Chorale, was launched this week and links to Youtube and Facebook are available. You can get a catch an wonderful earful of the music on the site too. If you're on Facebook, befriend the Chorale for updates.
(Updated 11/11/09.)
A new site, The Glenn Mohr Chorale, was launched this week and links to Youtube and Facebook are available. You can get a catch an wonderful earful of the music on the site too. If you're on Facebook, befriend the Chorale for updates.
(Updated 11/11/09.)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Christmas Before Halloween
Why start thinking about Christmas even before Halloween? Every wonderful experience starts with a vision. In October, we're going to figure out what our holiday season will look like and we'll take November to make it happen.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/21/09
Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete.
~~ Charles Dickens ~~
~~ Charles Dickens ~~
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Christmas Thought of the Day - 9/20/09
To celebrate the heart of Christmas is to forget ourselves in the service of others.
~~ Henry C. Link ~~
~~ Henry C. Link ~~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
