And it came anyway

One of my favorite Christmas cartoons is How the Grinch Stole Christmas closely followed by The Little Drummer Boy. It wasn't until I was an adult that I came to realize that these were the only two cartoons of my generation that depicted the meaning of Christmas as something other than gifts and toys from Santa Claus. It quietly made its way into the Grinch through the following passage and quickly became overshadowed by all the hoopla over the stuff being returned but it was enough for me to pick up on. My favorite quote from the movie is:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Guess what, it does... mean a whole lot more. In Luke 2:9-11 it is explained beautifully.

"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."

A Savior for all the people in the world. What a joyous blessing to behold. That is what Christmas is all about; not Frosty, Rudolf or Santa - not toys, electronics or clothes. It's much simpler than that but greater all the while. Life everlasting what joy to behold to know that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that the little babe born in a manger on Christmas is the Savior of the world and that is why we have celebrated Christmas.

Yes, Mr. Grinch Christmas means so much more than...things from a store. It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. It started in a manger surrounded by animals in the humblest of circumstances. The greatest gift of all a Savior was born and his name was Jesus Christ.

So while you are out hustling and bustling here, there and everywhere; picking up to put down, checking your list once, twice even three times to make sure you've included everyone and gotten everything thing take time to remember that Christmas will come anyway even if you haven't brought anything.

Merry Christmas everybody. May you remember the reason for the season this year and every year.

Christmas & Holiday Cards from Shutterfly

Hello all. It’s that time again… you know the time where you pull out all the family photos from all year long to see which one will go well on your Christmas card. And… when you can’t find just the right image you’ll head to the mall to have a picture taken.

Well once you’ve gotten the hard part out of the way head over to Shutterfly at www.shutterfly.com and check out over 400+ different card designs, 20 new calendar designs and more styles, colors and choices any one person can make. I love their new designs for 2010 and have already picked out three cards our family just have to do this year to accommodate all their different styles and personalities. I really love Family Wall in Red, Pretty Poinsettia Print, the Classic Red Squares and We Heart You. Hmmm wonder which ones we’ll go for… you’ll just have to wait and see.

Happy Christmas Card Shopping made easy at Shutterfly.com!

Check out the links below to get started on the most fun you’ll have all holiday season as we prepare to eat, drink and be merry in 2010.


• Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
• holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
• Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
• wall calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Recap of CHRISTmas 2009

Twas the day after CHRISTmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even ME! I got up a little late, had my quiet time with the Lord and crept back to bed. At 7:30 the first little pitter patter could be heard. They got up and played and we dozed back to sleep. At 9:00 I awoke from a nice morning nap and quiet time with my husband and fed the gang. It was a great way to start the day after such a fun packed CHRISTmas day.

I pray that you all had a very Merry CHRISTmas! Our morning was great. We had blueberry and triple berry muffins, bacon, juice and milk. We listened to Christmas music of all sorts and they got the biggest kick out of the Jackson 5 singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". We brushed our teeth and settled down to read the CHRISTmas story in Luke 2 and talk about the GREATEST GIFT OF ALL - JESUS CHRIST! We shared our thoughts and feelings about this season and the reason we celebrate it and then the mayhem began.

They opened their stockings from us and big brother and then we moved to the living room where the tree and their other gifts awaited them and dug in. Paper was flying everywhere, there were squeals of delight, groans at the gag gifts and lots of love and joy flowing around the room as CHRISTmas carols played in the background. All too soon the gifts were all unwrapped and the mood was somber. Is this all???

My heart stopped for a moment at those words and I gathered them around to pick up the wrapping paper, etc. and talked to them once again about it not being about presents and gifts but about Jesus Christ. They nodded and wandered off to start opening everything and the day ensued with a lot of - Can I open this? Can you help me open that? as I cooked our CHRISTmas dinner. The aroma of the ham, yams and turkey cooking filled the air and lots of thoughts filled my mind.

I decided that we have had enough of the commercialism of CHRISTmas in our lives and that next year will be much different. I know they are relatively young but this is the best time to start. We have already reached the point where they don't believe in Santa Claus as a real live person, rather he is a symbol of the "spirit of giving". So I've decided to take some very wise advise and limit the number of gifts we give our children to three apiece much like the offering of the three wise men. Don't applaud me for this great undertaking because it is not an original thought, it came from Sheila Wray Gregoire, Canadian columnist, author, speaker, and mom.

"... several years ago we started a new gift giving tradition with my children. We call it the “Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh” ritual, where they each get three gifts, and nothing more. The gold gift is something they want. The frankincense gift is something they need, like socks. And the myrrh gift is something to nurture their souls. It could be a journal, or a book, or a CD, or a movie. It’s something that reminds them of their purpose here on earth, or encourages them to think, to write, and to pray about what’s important."

This way I know that all the joy, fun and celebrating will focus mainly around CHRIST and not the gifts. It will also add joy back into our lives as we won't feel the pressure to buy, buy and buy gifts that will lose their luster within 48 hours of opening them and the headache of paying for them into the new year. Although we did the Angel tree this year and sponsored a boy and a girl I didn't let them in on the process but next year we will let them pick out the gifts for the children we choose to sponsor so they can start to feel the joy that comes from buying for others - giving not just receiving.

How was your CHRISTmas?