PRESENT (Noun, Verb, and Adjective)
Christmas Recollection
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A Nativity Letter
Dear Joseph,
I had a dream. I don’t understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for Jesus, our Son.
The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They had gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts.
It was peculiar though, because the presents were not for our Son. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stocked them under a tree. Yes, a tree, Joseph right inside their homes. They had decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments and blinking lights. There was even a figure like an angle on top of the tree.
Everyone was laughing and happy. They gave gifts to each other, Joseph, but not to our son. I don’t think they even knew Him. They never mentioned His name.
I had the strangest of feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration, he would have been intruding. How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party I’m glad it was only a dream, Joseph How terrible if it had been real.
Love,
Mary
| Love is Patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude…it bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 |
Enrich your family with Acts of Love
- LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY – as God loves each of us. Show others you love them for who they are, not what they do. Develop a sense of trust among all members of your family.
- SHOW APPRECIATION – and be specific. For example instead of being “Thanks,” say, Thanks for this great looking shirt! I know you have dig deep into your pocket to but it!”
- SHOW FORGIVENESS for all wrong, remember God continually forgives you! Pass on the gift.
- PROMOTE GOOD SELF- ESTEEM – all of us, young and old, need to feel good about ourselves. Like Jesus, help each person recognize his or her worth.
SHARE AN ACTIVE SPIRITUAL LIFE
· Recognize Christ’s Presence in the family by recognizing “Christ-like” qualities such as honesty, compassion, and forgiveness – in its members.
· Celebrate the Christmas Event and make it a reason to praise God and to remember Hid goodness to you and to your family.
· Share Your Values. Remember the whole family is looking at you and hope to be edified by the way you live forth your faith in action.
· Organize Family Worship regularly, if there isn’t one. Pray a decade of Rosary together; take turn reading and discussing the Bible. Pray together and allow for individual styles, such as spoken prayers, silent prayer, or song.
· Cherish Family Traditions and add to them by creating your own. It can be as simple as having family worship at a certain time of the day, going to Sunday Mass together. Tradition can give a family a sense of identity and strength.
SO ENRICH YOUR FAMILY LIFE
- Support and Respect each other
- Communicate effectively and solve conflicts positively
- Serve God and your community
- Make time for talk and play
- Share an active spiritual life. Join n family worship and attend church together.
| “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12 |
What a way to start Christmas
I can’t believe it’s here! My favorite holiday of the year!
It’s been a crazy pre-Christmas week for me but I hope to get some rest for the next two days. We’ll see. Yesterday was the last day of work (yoohoo!) and getting everything done before the week-long holiday was tiresome. But DH and I did go to a date and saw the Nutcracker by the Russian ballet. Just dazzling! Today, our church went out to bless two nursing homes - sang to them, made them laugh, prayed for them. Tonight at 11 p.m., my youth group/band just finished practicing for a song they composed for tomorrow’s Christmas service. Really cool, and we’re so proud of them. In between that my dear daughter (DD) and I scoured the city for a white dress she has to wear as an angel tomorrow. Yes, I know. All the racks have been ransacked and it’s a rarity now, that dress. Found it though. Oops, need to wash that first! So it’s past midnight now, and I’m blogging my last posts before I take a break.
Tomorrow is Christmas eve. There’s a whole day of church tomorrow and we’re having a huge celebration/presentation/ play. A luncheon and a birthday dinner will make for a really long day.
I don’t know what I’ll cook yet for Christmas eve, since it’s only going to be me, DH. Our family is either in
What have you been up to? I hope yours wasn’t as hectic as mine. Yeah I went shopping too, and boy the sales can empty your wallet real fast huh?
I know… we all rush to get things done before the Day, trying to finish all the chores and cooking, shopping and parties. And then I saw this cartoon -
These people sure knew what mattered most. So here’s my wish for you AND me -
May we celebrate our Savior’s birthday the way He want us to. Peace and joy to you and your family this season and always.[1]
God bless you all!
Christmas a birthday celebration for Christ, a season of thanksgiving and forgiving, a time of sharing and gift giving, but most importantly an opportunity to…
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