It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

My 2013 Ornament

I love the month-long traditions and anticipation of Christmas. I physically make ready, but I also spiritually and emotionally prepare for the exciting morning that is so inextricably linked to the cross and the resurrection--the Gospel itself. Don't miss these learning opportunities!

:: Hallmark Ornament Shopping with Sandi and Ron

:: Christmas Programs galore

:: Family and Church Advent readings

:: The creamy minty goodness of Candy Cane Lane Tea

:: Reflecting on the fact that, for Jesus, Christmas was a humiliation. It is grand and glorious   and worthy of celebrating and rejoicing over, because it is a part of God's master plan, but it signaled pain, temptation, and suffering for Jesus Christ.

:: Christmas Caroling as a church

:: Frosty snow! {Sledding, snow angels, snowballs, snow forts...}

:: Majestic Christmas concerts--attending and performing

:: Time with loved ones

:: A heart filled with gratitude to God as Joel and I continue to daily add to our burgeoning gratefulness list

:: Christmas movies {It's a Wonderful Life, The Nativity, The Christmas Carol}

:: Attending an outdoor reenactment of the Christmas story and understanding to an even greater degree the beauty of that night in Bethlehem so long ago.

:: Decorating

:: Christmas Cookies

:: Christmas Eve candlelight service--a time for reflection and peace

:: Finding the perfect gift for each person

:: Listening to "Teaching Kids About Christmas"

:: Getting our Christmas tree from the same farm as always, taking a picture in front of the chosen beauty same as always, riding in the trailer with the tree to the hot cocoa station--same as always--and listening to "The Happiest Christmas Tree" on the way home {same as always}!

:: Christmas CDs: old favorites and a new favorite from Joel, with the lyrics about Jesus: "the Promise showed their wildest dreams had simply not been wild enough."

:: Teaching Christmas songs--from "Friendly Beasts" to "Up on the Housetop" and everything in between.

:: Eggnog

:: Packing shoe boxes for children around the world and realizing again how blessed I am.

:: Not bowing at an empty manger, praying to Mary, glorying in the angels, or shutting my Bible at "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel {Isaiah 7:14 NKJV}", but continuing on to "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." {John 1:14 NKJV} and rejoicing in "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." {John 3:16 NKJV}

How do you prepare for Christmas?