Preparing Our Hearts in Simple Ways

With so much pain and suffering in the world, so much hostility and prejudice, so much anger and fear, so much abuse and hatred, so much greed and power-grabbing from every dark corner of every level of society, it is pure Joy to celebrate our Savior’s birth! He alone can … Read more…

For Unto You is Born This Day

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel … Read more…

The Christmas Story

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own … Read more…

‘Tis the Season for Joy and Hope

And yes, it’s the season to be jolly, too! In spite of ‘flu bugs and other nasties that seem to hang around waiting for us to actually take a break from our overscheduled (read: crazed) lives so they can jump in. Gotcha! And if we are overextended, it might be … Read more…

My Favorite Christmas Tradition

When you and I were kids. That’s when Christmas traditions started. And it’s been up to us to keep them going. Well, if we liked the traditions, that is, such as having a Christmas stocking. We can probably forget about the lump of coal in our stockings. I never did … Read more…

My First Christmas in Heaven

The poem below was recently mailed to me by Rose Family Funeral Home who made the arrangements for my husband’s funeral in July this year. I researched the poem and found there are several different versions of it on the Internet. The original was written by Wanda Bencke. I see … Read more…

Ten Things to be Grateful for – Part 2

I make no pretense of being all things to all people. God Bless Us all in this joyous Christmas season! And so to my final five things to be grateful for: Comprehending that a dear friend in San Diego area, who only gets TV news from The Weather Channel, is … Read more…

Ten Things to be Grateful for – Part 1

Coming off a Thanksgiving season I wasn’t sure we’d see, led into by watching the movie The Secret, it occurred to me last weekend that I did indeed have much to be grateful for as we approach the end of this wild 2010: In today’s excruciating economy, having a job, even one where … Read more…

An After-Christmas Sale

Department managers at my day job elected to have the holiday party after the holidays for a number of reasons. One of them was that “everyone is too busy to get together before then.” A second reason was that it would avoid a conflict of cultural celebrations, if we held … Read more…

It’s over for another year

Sometimes I feel as though I am the only person who is happy when Christmas is over. It isn’t right; I shouldn’t feel this way. But with all the hustle and bustle, and the wonderful lighted displays, excited children, and smiling adults’ faces, the season is so much work for … Read more…