Hope. It’s so easy to lose but so generously available. We need hope. In a world where uncertainty and disillusionment are mixed into the air we breathe, we need a fresh perspective. For centuries people hoped for the coming Messiah—Jesus, the Savior of the world. He...
Hope in Waitinge stood together at the icy-cold window. Outside, bowed winter grass and scattered brown leaves sparkled white with frost in the morning sun. Inside, the warm air smelled of baking cinnamon rolls and freshly sliced citrus. My sister...
Sprinkles for the Savior he Christmas season often brings with it many traditions, especially those that include extra baking of all sorts of treats. My childhood through my adulthood with my own children included the usual making of sugar cookies...
Keepsake: Christmas Card UpcycleI love receiving Christmas cards, but I always find myself at a loss with what to do with them once the season has ended. It doesn't feel right to throw away lovely cards that people took the time create and send, but saving them in a...
Remake: Social Media Gift Exchange Two things Sherri Edmond's husband Paul loved before he died in 2013 were Christmas and anonymous acts of kindness. Since Sherri and Paul never had children, she found herself both lonely around the holidays as well as looking for a...
Baby Jesus and the Six Cats of Christmasam not a big decorator, and I have not purposefully established a Christmas tradition. I do, however, set out two decorations each December: a nativity set with small figurines, and the book The Twelve Cats...
Bake: Peanut Butter Cracker CookiesJolita Peterson's father grew up Amish as one of 16 kids. These cracker cookies were an inexpensive way for his family to come together in making them by the hundreds to share with neighbors and friends at Christmas. Jolita remembers...
A Time To Givehis is the first year that my husband and I are spending Christmas together as a married couple, and to be completely transparent, deciding how to spend the holidays has been a big source of tension in our new marriage. When we first...
Keepsake: Thumbprint Plate for Santa's CookiesKeep track of your little one's Christmases by adding a new thumbprint "light" to this plate each Christmas Eve before you set cookies out for Santa. As those fingers grow, you'll have a colorful reminder of each print...
Seven Fish, One Lights an adult, many of my Christmas Eves were spent with my wife and children at our small, local church service. The kids and I would hang up our coats, grab a candle out of the box, and proceed to the pew closest to the piano....
Remake: Operation Community Christmas I first discovered Operation Christmas Child 10 years ago – it quickly became one of my favorite holiday traditions. OCC is an annual program that collects shoeboxes filled with gifts and delivers them to children in need around...
Christmas Cards and Open Heartsy recently married cousin called the other day to ask if she needed to start sending Christmas cards now that she was officially an adult. She liked receiving cards but wasn’t sure that she was ready to get on board...
Bake: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip BreadStephanie Saltz grew up watching her mother bake pumpkin chocolate chip bread instead of cookies each Christmas. "At the time I thought we were being ripped off," she says. "All of the other families I knew made cookies at...
Light Workhated the idea of hanging Christmas lights outside of our home. I thought it was a waste of time to put up lights only to take them back down a few weeks later. My wife, on the other hand, had trouble imagining Christmas in our home...
The Wonder of Advents a child, I would eagerly await the arrival of December 1, the day we could start opening our Advent calendars. The thick, paper calendars – imported from Europe by my mom who’d spent most of her childhood there as a missionary...
Keepsake: DIY Advent CalendarCreating your own Advent calendar isn't just a fun family activity - it allows you to choose the contents for each day in December. Puzzle pieces, hair accessories, matchbox cars, stickers, K-cups, lip balm, scripture versus, fizzy tub...
Lullay, lullayMy little tiny childBy-by, lullay, lullay Oh, sisters two how may we doFor to preserve this day? This poor youngling of whom we do sing Herod the King in his ragingCharged he hath this day His men of might in his own sightAll children young to slay Then...
The arrival of God to earth could have been the most extravagant welcome ever seen—an all-out effort for an over-the-top celebration. But it didn’t happen that way. A few private announcements confirmed the arrival of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. But the Savior’s...
Oh, holy night! The stars are brightly shiningIt is the night of the dear Savior's birthLong lay the world in sin and error piningTill He appeared and the soul felt its worthA thrill of hope the weary world rejoicesFor yonder breaks a new and glorious morn Fall on...
Mary, did you knowthat your Baby Boy would one day walk on water? Mary, did you knowthat your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you knowthat your Baby Boy has come to make you new?This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you. Mary, did you...
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem O come and behold Him, born the King of Angels O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord O sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation O come, o come ye to Bethlehem O Come and...