Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ Matthew 2:23 (NLT)hen I think of Christmas, I think of home. Home is a place we all long for and sometimes cannot...
Christmas
Day 1: Present With Us
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. John 1:14a (ESV)he cold night air frosted my breath as my chore boots crunched across the snowy farmyard. On my way toward the goat barn, I paused to look up at the crisp,...
Light of Joy
The wise men followed the light of a star toward Jesus. Have you ever wondered how they decided to make that long journey following light from a star and who these wise men were? Maybe you have more in common with them than you realize. How could responding to God’s...
Week 4: The Light of Joy
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. Ecclesiastes 11:7 (ESV)s I walked along the dry-stone wall, the last rays of sunlight gasped a final breath before disappearing behind the scenic peak in the distance. It wasn’t even...
Week 3: The Light of Love
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) ecently, I was tidying my house when one of my six-year-old’s ‘masterpieces’ accidentally found its way into the trash. A meltdown ensued, partly...
Week 2: The Light of Peace
Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, To shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:78-79 (NASB)his trail sure looks different in...
Week 1: The Light of Hope
Dark Nights, Faithful GodAll of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ Matthew...
Jesus, The Hope of the World
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 Waiting
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
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 Upcycle
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
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 Christmas
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 Cookies
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 Give
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 Cookies
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 Light
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
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 Hearts
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 Bread
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 Work
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...