Are we missing the concept of Christmas?

With Christmas coming up soon I wanted to share this post with everyone...
We have commercialized Christmas SO much that we have taken out what it is truly, really about and have made it all about presents, food, Santa, & just plain ol' us (the wretched humans we are)!  Did we mean to do it? Was it our plan?  I don't think so, but as we try to hustle and bustle about hurrying to do the things that are "normally" done during the Christmas season we tend to forget the "reason for the season".   I know that I am guilty of this more than I'd like to share.  There still is hope for all of us-- it exists with Christ and we can put him back into Christmas.  As one of my facebook friends put as her status Merry Xmas!!!  It just isn't the same without CHRIST now is it?!?!?!?!

We heard during, a Wednesday night church service, about the symbols of Christmas....these are the everyday things we see during this season that you just may not realize the symbolism within the Bible!!  This was just such an awesome sermon that I just HAD.TO.SHARE!!! 

Symbols:

Star (Matt 2:1-2)Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”:  the star shown bright & high over the stable and even the Christ child's home as a toddler to serve as a guide to HIM.

Angels (Luke 2:8-12) Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”: announced the birth of Christ to the Shepard's while watching there sheep.

Ornaments (Isaiah 61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,  He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. : God wants us to be prepared & to hang righteousness & salvation onto our souls.

Bells (Exodus 28:33-35)   And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not die.:the bells were sown into the old testament (& even up to Christ's death) priest's hem of his robe to show that there was still life behind the veil...if the bells stopped ringing he was no longer worthy before God & was struck down instantly!

Lights (John 8:12) Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” :He is the light of the world and His light shines thru us when we become saved & serve Him.

Manger (Luke 2:2-7) This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.: It is there where it all really happened; the King came humbly & lowly so we could know that He has been there.

Shepard's (Luke 2:8-12) Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” :the first ones that are able to witness a lamb being brought into the world- also first to witness the birth of the Lamb of God!!


Tree (Romans 11:16 & 21)For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. :If we are with Christ than He is holy & if He is holy & we are called the branches than we too are also holy with Him.

The question we were asked...Why is the Christmas tree the focal point of Christmas?  This type of tree is born & harvested just for the Christmas season and then it dies.  We raise them from a seedling just for them to die shortly after being cut down & decorated.  We can also relate this to Christ's Birth-Life-Ministry-& finally Death.  Think about it for a while......
*This post was originally written in 2012*

It Has Been A While

It has been a while, a very long while in fact.  I am not sure why I stopped writing and telling our story. Was it because life happened, work, not enough time, or maybe it was all of the above.  I am not sure but I am bad about getting back into things. I want to try to be better at writing.


My boys are so much older now and all things are new since the last time I wrote on here.  The one thing that remains the same is that they both love their parents, grandparents, and many more people that are in their lives.  They are thriving, learning, and becoming true gentleman and men of God.  Any mother would be proud of the young men they are becoming. 

Our animals have changed some too.  We still have crazy I mean Rascal, who has calmed down quite a bit.  We have two dogs now and one other cat.  They definitely keep us on our toes and moving.  We love all of our fur babies though.  We miss those that have left us over the past few years.   

So much more has happened but I will save some of that for a later post.  It feels good writing again.  I hope I can keep it up. 

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Ringing in 2012 in style with 2 parties!!

We went to a sweet little Diva's birthday party for the first part of our New Years Eve celebration. 

She got lots of great gifts and we even rang in the new year, really early, with a toast to the birthday girl!

We then headed over to my friend's Mom's house to party karaoke style...

Everyone got into the action and had a turn at singing....

and there was even dancing to several songs

It was a great time that was had by all who was there.  We all had so much fun, food, and the boys were excellent...although if memory serves me correctly my lil man didn't make it to midnight.

Cheers and a Happy Blessed New Year from our family(ies) to yours!



Thanksgiving 2011

We, as in we I mean Mom & I, made all kinds of things for Thanksgiving (with the help of Publix-ya know because we both had to work until Tues).  We take Thanksgiving seriously around here, being thankful for everything God has given to us and so much more.  Even on face book there is always a "thankfulness aire" about the month of November.  I love it!!  I love to show how thankful I am, even in the midst of the storms that are around us. 

I digress though... getting back on track....

We cleaned up the house making it all sparkly and getting everything all cleaned up (including the kitchen) and setting up the table to be festive for the season and full of all the yummy food that we (& Publix) cooked. 

We also had a guest too, one of my husbands friend came after work to eat with us (it was his holiday & weekend  to work).  So we had somewhat a full house and it was wonderful.  We are working on new family traditions since our family traditions have changed somewhat.  I can't wait for them to be in place and for my kids to be excited and to know what to expect each holiday. 

Dear Little Blog,

I honestly did not mean to "forget" about you, nor have I not taken pictures of our adventures this past year. 

We've had major changes here in our home in the past year and well other things took priority over recording our precious memories onto you.  I do have much to update and many pictures to post (although not as much as normal). 

Hopefully, I can "fit" you into my new-new (& hopefully soon even new) normal so that we can keep you updated and so that our memories will be recorded for our children and more. 

I will update you, my dear, as soon as I figure out where in the world I left off & what I left off with.  Soon you will be fully updated and we will have our memories preserved for future generations.

For now though, I leave you the way you were until I return with knowledge of where I should start once again.

Missing blogging on you,
Me

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

From our house to yours.....Merry CHRISTmas!!! and a very BLESSED new year!!!