Wednesday night's tour of Bethlehem was so neat! The kids did a great job remembering their lines (Noah and Olivia had a lot to remember!) and Sophie looked angelic (remember...looks can be deceiving!). It's always exciting to see the kids dressed up and part of something. Especially as homeschooled children, I just love to see them jump in and be part of the group. Let me tell you, my four bash all of those "socialization" fears right out of the water. They are in there like a bunch of dirty shirts!
Such a timely production, this drama really was an encouragement to me to follow the star, to chase after something more in Christmas than what the mall has to offer. We just returned from our weekly Costco trip and had to stop by the mall downtown for a couple of things (including an adorable coat for my youngest girl, but I digress...). I remember standing in our kitchen a few Christmasses ago, preparing breakfast for my family, thinking that it wasn't that much different than any other day. I was struck then at how meaningless and trivial it could all seem without the eternal value of celebrating the Christ child. Jesus has always been part of my Christmas but that was a moment of adult clarity, of knowing that the gifts were all opened, the food would soon be consumed, and hours of work would be exchanged for a few minutes of holiday fun. How very thankful I am that Christmas follows me through the year, that the Bethlehem star is one I chase every day, and that the baby born so many years ago didn't just come to give us a good December celebration, that His primary focus was, in fact, our Easter redemption. I hope your Christmas is about more than what you can find in the mall, even more than you can find at Hallmark!
I have to show you a pic of these cookies I made. I'm not sure what drove me to try this magazine recipe (the current Canadian Living) except that I had a few lemons in the new fridge. These might be the only "Martha moment" I have this year. I was thinking about that as I garnished these beauties yesterday and decided that Martha likely would have made her bed. Please note: they taste as good as they look!
5 comments:
Congrats to the kiddos on the program! We 'Journeyed to the Manger' last night at our church program. Helped to be reminded that Christmas hasn't always been about giving the next best gift. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you. As always. Christmas IS about gifts. Correction.... Christmas is about God's gift to us.
Love the pictures. Will be over later for cookies if there are any left.
Daughter has practice for her Christmas Even program after church today. She has a prayer to read. I look forward to see what they're doing!
I'm late to the party and am catching up on your blog! I love how you express yourself and really enjoy reading your entries. I would have loved to have been there to see the kids in their performances, it sounds wonderful. Your cookies look awfully delicious too, perhaps I'll have to go out and find a copy of that issue ;) Merry Christmas!
We've never had any problem with that socialization issue either even though that's my mil's biggest fear.
It's a shame that so many people get caught up in the commercial aspect of the season when, as you said, He is the real reason for it.
Your cookies look like they turned out Delish!! All the fuss was worth it I bet!!
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