Christmas

Our Christmas cards and nativity scenes portray peaceful, lazy animals, glowing faces and cozy, pretty surroundings.

The truth probably is that the barn was nasty, the stench of manure strong and nauseating, and Mary, exhausted from giving birth without a midwife or one experienced woman at her side, was no doubt terrified and disappointed all at once at her surroundings–this is not what she had pictured–with a bewildered Joseph at her side.

Nevertheless, this couple was no doubt sturdier than we are today, and more grateful for their meager provisions than we are at our abundance.

And what’s more…far more…is that they knew they were sharing this crude shelter with the very Son of God.

It is my prayer that you would know, whatever life has brought to you, that a Savior has made a way for sins to be forgiven, brokenness to be healed and hopelessness to be banished. I pray you know Him, and I pray He knows you.

“Harden not your heart when you hear His voice…while it is still called Today.”

May your Christmas, and every day, be filled with this hope and joy of the Messiah…the one Who gave His life for you. Let us be in awe.

A great article by R.C. Sproul, Jr.:

“What though, if we mean something else by “celebrating Christmas?” What if we ask the question this way- is it wrong to remember the incarnation? Is it a sin to devote some time to rejoicing over the coming of the Messiah? Can we in our celebration feast with our loved ones, even giving them gifts? Can we sing of that little town of Bethlehem? Can we preach on the glorious gospel truth that God took on flesh and dwelt among us?” Read the rest

We have a winner for the beautiful turquoise ring giveaway! Congratulations to Allison Barracco!

I hope you enjoy the collection of “Christmas Past” as I collected some favorites and put them all in one place (well the Pinterest board is new)!

Simple Christmas Series: Easy Holiday Dishes

Giving Gifts

Saving Money During the Holidays

Practical Ideas for Relieving Christmas Stress

Christmas Ideas & Money-Saving Tips

My Pinterest Craft & Gift Idea Board

Frugal Christmas & Blessings in Disguise

And–oh my goodness!–I had forgotten about this post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did rediscovering it. Christmas is Not About Peanut Brittle (It’s so weird seeing our old house. My 5-yr.-old actually said, “Mom, where was that place?”)

Last idea: Wrap presents without spending money…

• use brown paper bags, turned inside out–decorate with ribbon, raffia, leaves, pine cones, fingerpaint, etc.
• use sheets of old music
• use old maps
• use old fabric
• use old wall paper
• Tuck gifts in basket, unwrapped

(Reposted from last year…a good reminder to me, even now, that trials never surprise our Lord.)

We reflect on many different things at Christmas, but rarely on the perfect sovereignty of God in the manger.

So many events in our lives, and as far back as history goes, look messy to us, while the Lord sees beauty. Such was the case in Nazareth a long time ago. A young, single girl discovering she’s pregnant. A dreamy engagement tarnished. A difficult journey, a difficult labor, a difficult delivery.

Then His life. Void of the esteem one would expect of the Savior of the world. Criticism, exhaustion, rejection and then cruel death. Our earthly view is confounded while He, enthroned in glory, smiles at it all, His perfect, “odd” plan.

Is this “the best life now”? Or has God always delighted to confound the wisdom of the world and give us the real “best” in another way?

Pre-tornado: our old house, our simple lives

Christmas looks different, feels different for me this year. Different is good sometimes. But I wouldn’t have chosen change.

I think I’ve shared here before that a few weeks before our home was destroyed in April’s tornadoes this year, my brother jokingly tried to persuade us to move to Colorado. “Chris, you don’t understand the ‘thing’ about me…I. don’t. like. change. I love the normal-ness and routine of my days and I can’t imagine anything else.” LOL!

April 27, 2011 A few hours after the storm

A clearer understanding of the sovereignty of God, a fresh reminder of the peace in knowing He holds all things in His hand, and a new appreciation for the simple, important things in life–the people in it.

We have seen God work ALL things for our good and for those around us suffering deeper losses than we have. It hasn’t been painless, but we are not called to live painlessly. Just as Mary wasn’t. Nor Jesus. Nor anyone who has named the name of Christ. But the difference is in our Hope…our joy through all things, and our peace, resting in His perfect will.

We can say with Mary, “My soul doth magnify the Lord!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I’d be upset if we weren’t in our new home by Christmas, as if our atmosphere would determine the quality of our celebration. (I wonder if Mary had longed for a more comfortable birthing room?) We are not in, and I am not upset. I am rejoicing. Rejoicing in the sweet faces of my children, in my steady, work-horse of a husband, in another year with my father whom we almost lost to a heart attack that same fateful day, and in too many unbelievable blessings to count as a result of what we called a tragedy.

I am rejoicing in His perfect sovereignty, which removes all fear and confusion.

I’m rejoicing in the messy birth of a skin-wrapped God come to die in my place. What love…do we know it?

If you are struggling with some providence in your life, let me leave you with this that has so encouraged us, written by Chris Strevel, a pastor in GA:

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas season, full of the tenderness of a Savior’s love. If you don’t know Him, I pray He finds you, and you fall in love with Him. I thank you all, from the deepest gratitude, for your love, prayers, support, gifts and tender thoughtfulness to our family over this past year.

It. changed. everything.

I love you.

This year--home enjoying the season of our Messiah.

Even now, I cling to the truth here. Almost two years later and still rebuilding–both our home and our lives. So much change and adjustment and for some reason, finding footing again escapes me some days. Am I changed forever? Will I find the vigor and energy I once had? If not, I am content to keep plodding, clay in His hand, receiving grace in tiny doses, as needed for each day. He is enough.

With glory sprawled from height to depth Your heart not satisfied,

You took a deep and crowning breath for the apple of your eye.

Your masterpiece, the one like You, treasured over all,

The only one who could break your heart–with one world-wrecking fall.

And wonder of wonders–yet to come–Your love so zealous burned,

Redeeming grace o’ercame the grief of perfect Love so spurned.

To exalt my wretchedness into the glory of Your Son,

You became a skin-wrapped child, the sacrifice begun.

Christmas–oh the wonder isn’t lights and gifts and song,

It’s the miracle of God-made-flesh to make right what we made wrong.

Kelly Crawford, December 8, 2012

Do you question things? Ask yourself why you believe a certain way or not? I think it’s good that we do that.

When I read a church sign that said, “Get Your Picture Made with Santa Claus”, I immediately pictured what could have been the church’s sign a week before: “Thou shalt not lie”. Santa is a firmly-planted icon in the American life, including most Christians. Does it matter?

I started a process of thinking about how our children might be affected by having a 10-year long joke played on them. “It’s all in harmless fun!” We dismiss it. But how does it affect their perceived verity of the rest of the hard-to-believe stories of the Gospel that we tell them, on which their eternity hangs? Can they discern that “part of what I’ve told you all these years is not true, but part of it is”?

Maybe it doesn’t matter. But isn’t the question important enough to ponder?

Then I read, Christmas Confessions: Should We Lie to Our Kids About Santa Claus, and it so concisely summarized my thoughts I just had to link to it.

I realize there are many who do not celebrate Christmas at all (I have very close friends in this camp that I respect for their decision). That’s not where I am. But I wonder if we give enough thought to our tightly-held traditions?

Read the article…you’ll be glad. And then let me know your thoughts.

“A parody of a possible consequence is epitomized by that poor, traumatized kid who laments melodically, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” I doubt therapy was needed for the child to overcome his confusion. But there does exist a subtle long-term danger, namely that of placing impossible fiction on the same shelf as impossible fact, and forcing our children to discern arbitrarily which is which, based on our flip-flopping propositions.”

Thank you, Clint, for a concise word to ponder.

I love the ambiance of Christmas decor, soft lights and beautiful music. But if ever a society has gotten caught up in overdoing a thing, surely it is decorating for Christmas.

My husband and I pass jokes back and forth when we drive around at Christmas time about how we are going to rush to the store to buy giant, inflatable yard things. (Sorry if you like those!) I’m no Scrooge, nor have we decided to stop celebrating Christmas as “doctrinally-exact” Christians, but I think a hard look at common sense in this area can greatly improve our enjoyment of the season.

Some of us, I think, just need permission to simplify. Status quo can make us do all the things we’re “supposed” to do meanwhile zapping us of joy trying to keep up. I’m guilty. But if I’ve learned anything this past six months, being displaced from all that is normal home life, it’s to “let go” if necessary, and focus on the important things.

And the important things at Christmas are the same important things any other time–people and seeking to live a life that glorifies God. That’s our litmus test!

One of the things we lost everything of in the storm was our Christmas decorations. This was one of the saddest things for my husband, particularly, because before his mother died, she had given him all his childhood ornaments–lots of them. Of course they were stored in the attic, which was the first to blow away.

However, despite the sadness, I have found it so freeing to not have anything and kind of “start from scratch”. It looks like we won’t be in our new home before Christmas, so after I got over that disappointment, I decided to enjoy the simplicity of our decorations here. We bought a small tree for this tiny home, and the kids have made homemade paper snowflakes to put on it.

Alexa had made a lovely Christmas sign from old barn wood that looks perfect hanging on the wall, and we gathered some wild, red berries and have hung them here and there. They enjoyed doing all the decorating. I would prefer more candles, if we had surfaces on which to put them, but for now we’ll enjoy these things. An important note: my kids could not be more jolly or excited with these humble decorations as they would be with a winter wonderland. They gasped just the same when we first lit up our little tree and they sit around it and stare, and keep making things to hang on it. *Contented sigh*

So, for your simplicity inspiration, here are a few ideas to make home feel festive without spending too much time, money and energy…

Candles, candles, candles. Nothing adds warmth, beauty and Christmas cheer as easily and quickly as candles.

For our little table decoration, the girls gathered some long, slender limbs,  several bunches of limbs with red berries, and some limbs with small greenery, stuck them in a quart-sized mason jar and tied with a cute red ribbon. It was such a sweet, simple addition to our table.

**LOVE**

Ahhh….white lights. White lights make everything dreamy. I want to do this over the door of our new home, even though we’re not there. Kind of like “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel” kind of thing. Most Christmases, we just string some white lights and set out some candles…simple bliss.

One more white light idea I can’t wait to use year-round: white lights behind a row of mason jars.

These are simple ideas, I know. Tis the point 😉