The Song of Christmas 

Whew! I'm barely squeaking under the door on this December post! & what a ride this month has been on the Christmas train which has been more like a subway!                                                 

To start off the season, I stretched, pulled, twisted, whatever,  a ligament, muscle, whatever, in my leg while dancing with my kids to a Celtic song. Ouch! I was using a walker for about ten days, so that set me back in all the little Christmas chores that I love to do. Then came a snowstorm of monumental proportions, three to four feet which included winds that produced blizzards, that produced drifts that in some places were several feet high, burying all vehicles, which meant no one was going anywhere which meant no grocery shopping, no Christmas shopping, no going to the Post Office, just plain, no going. On the heels of this, & I mean nipping at the heels, came the most brutal cold that I have not experienced since 1981. With the wind chill factor some days were sixty BELOW zero!!! 😬 Other days were minus forty  or minus 20 degrees without the wind chill factor. For several days it never got above ten below zero. It was dangerously cold & whole towns shut down, including ours. No businesses were open at all. The interstate closed for hundreds of miles because of the freezing, literally, cold. So that meant Christmas plans were either postponed or cancelled. In spite of all of the setbacks though, I achieved most of my Christmas goals, just in a more reduced form, starting with decorating.

A few of my favorite things! Just a few, I have a lot of favorite things!

A lot of Christmas paraphernalia remained in my barn shed because we weren't able to get to it, let alone get in it because of drifts, like wrapping paper, ribbon, Christmas napkins & plates & such. Also, the cold kept us from venturing out to do anything. Even the kids stayed home from jobs. But at least I could do my holiday baking while listening to Christmas music which is a pure country Christmas pleasure. Mix & stir the fragrance of the baking mixed with the clean, fresh pine-scented candles & you have olfactory heaven! Mmmmm-ahhhhh...

I watched my annual menu of Christmas movies...

"It's A Wonderful Life"

"The Man Who Invented Christmas"

"The Star" (animated)

"Holiday Inn"

"White Christmas"

"A Christmas Carol" (Alistair Sim)

& added to the mix a few Veggie Tales Christmas tales,

"It's A Meaningful Life" &

"The Story of St. Nicholas"

to name a few, 

while I cleaned, ironed, polished my silverware (so shiny!) & wrapped Christmas presents. A little aside that I read somewhere, I wrap presents on my ironing board which really gives my back a break. I also just use pretty gift boxes to put presents & add a cute ribbon bow. Easy, quick & also gives the back a break!

Our two youngest kids got sick with the stomach flu in the early hours of Christmas morning. Double & triple YUK!!! & we had family coming from Oklahoma & eastern South Dakota to visit for Christmas holidays! They all had to delay for two days because the interstate was closed, so that gave a little time for some recovery, but only some. They & my grandsons were sick in one form or another & my son-in-law had to go to Urgent Care for a sinus infection. Gee! What  goes on here?!

!!!!!

However, our Christmas Dinner table was laden down with all kinds of Holiday delicious dishes & the adults did it justice. There was much fun & hilarity with games & conversation & I was laughing so much my face hurt! We have pretty funny relatives I'm happy to say! We probably laughed ourselves healthy. There was much Merry hearts in our Christmas! I have to say though, there were times when I would say out  loud to myself, in spite of PAIN, an energy drought (to the nth degree. I'm not sure what that is but it sounds like a lot!), & sickness, "I will have the best Christmas ever! Nothing is going to take away my joy & fun! Nothing is going to steal this celebration of Jesus' birthday!" & the Lord always provided grace. & hope. The little pictorial analogy at the beginning of this post is me & this whole season thus far. This sweet little angel was hanging between the Christmas stockings "hung by the 'chimney' with care". I accidentally bumped her (I'm not sure how) & she catapulted off & landed, clinging to the church steeple that was underneath her! What are the chances of that happening??! Enter object lesson. When the unexpected happens, cling to the steeple, Jesus.

One of the Christmas songs that seems to pop up over & over this year to me is "O Holy Night", especially the phrase,

"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices..."

It is a weary world, not just tired but 'tired of'...& then, here comes Jesus, born to give HOPE, to this very weary world. Hope, which gives meaning, purpose to our existence.

"...to give you a future & a hope." We all have a future  assigned to us by Jesus Himself. It's written in His stars. He doesn't do failure. You have, we all have, a pre-destined victorious future with Jesus, our Immanuel, which means,  "God with us." It truly does not get any better than that. You could say, hope is the gateway to an exciting & beautiful future. 

This is Jesus' Christmas stocking that I made several years ago.

The manger, attached to His destiny, the cross.

The evergreen which represents eternal life, which is our destiny, attached to His cross. The Great Hope. 

& because of that, I have named our little angel 'Hope'. I have left her in her dubious position all of the Christmas season to remind me in my little or big 'unexpecteds' to cling to my steeple, which is hope...which is Jesus. So, sing it loud & strong, in your house, in your heart, from the rooftops! Go tell it, sing it on the mountain! this song of Hope...this Song of Christmas.

Raintree Perk of the Day

"...& His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

& here's a bonus perk!

"You shall call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

Merriest, merriest Christmas Season.