I love Sunday mornings in December!  I love hearing all the traditional Christmas carols and hymns.  How well do you know the Christmas carols and hymns?

I know all 3 verses of Away in the Manger.  Beyond that, I only know the first verse of most of the carols we sing.

That’s really a shame.  Those 2nd and 3rd and sometimes 4th verses are the true gems of these hymns.  In these verses, the songwriters moved beyond Jesus’s Birth into the really amazing part of the story—His Death, Resurrection, and Grace.  These are the reasons I can celebrate Christ’s Birth!  Here are a few of my favorites.

We Three Kings

Angels, from the Realms of Glory

(vs 3)Saints, before the altar bending,

Watching long in hope and fear;

Suddenly the Lord, descending,

In His temple shall appear;

Come and worship,

Come and worship,

Worship Christ the newborn King!

O Little Town of Bethlehem

(vs 4)O holy Child of Bethlehem!

Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in,

Be born in us today!

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell:

O come to us, abide with us,

Our Lord Immanuel!

The First Nowell the Angel Did Say

(vs 4)Then let us all with one accord

Sing praises to our heavenly Lord

Who hath made heav’n and earth of naught,

And with his blood man-kind hath bought.

It’s Advent.  I grew up Southern Baptist, so until I married a Lutheran boy, that really meant nothing to me.  As for as I knew, an Advent calendar had 25 little doors to open as you counted down the days until Christmas.

Now, we’re both Southern Baptist.  But Advent is a part of the traditional Church calendar and I’ve realized that it has a pretty significant meaning, well beyond 25 little pieces of chocolate or silly prizes.  To me, it’s 4 weeks of preparing for Christ’s Birth, Christmas. 

The perfect-Mom-wannabe inside me struggles with how to “do” advent.  Should it be solemn and serious?  Can we still include little prizes or candy?  How do I help my kids focus on Christ’s Birth in this busy, gimme-driven time of year.

Here’s what I’ve decided:  We are going to have fun!  It’s Jesus’s Birthday!  We are going to prepare just like we would for any birthday—with sharing and baking and shopping and giving and celebrating.  We will fill our home with Christmas carols and praise music.  We will read the promises and prophecies and Christmas story. We will be joyful because not only did God come to us, but He came to save us!  This TobyMac song captures exactly what I want Christmas at our house to be.

Wowzer!  Christmas is only 28 days away!

Have you finished started shopping yet?  I’ve gotten a little done, but I have a few more gifts to pick up.  Cyber Monday helped.  A lot.

How about those Christmas outfits?  I have my Big Girl outfitted, but I’m still on the look-out for the perfect Christmas outfit for my 7-year-old.  He’d really rather just were a camo tee and some basketball shorts.  Um, no.

If you’ve been eyeing any of the the outfits at PersonaliTy Children’s Clothes, then now’s the time to order!  December 12th is the very, very, very last day that you can order and I can promise you’ll have your pieces by Christmas.  If you’ve got something in mind, please do me a favor and order it early!  Thanks bunches.

Still can’t find just what you need?  Don’t forget that I love to find new designs.  Just drop me an email with your requests and I’ll see what I can do.

Happy Shopping!

We are spending the day in Arkansas with family, but the kids and I snuck away to the local coffee shop for Wi-Fi access and time to journal our grateful lists. 

I’m so grateful for witty, smart kids and I love their lists.  I’m sharing them here, but you’ll have to guess who’s is who’s.

Child A:

I’m thankful for a lot of things.  I am very, very, very thankful for God, my family, food, and shelter.  Next, I am very, very thankful for friends, pets, and video games.  Last, I am very thankful for Legos, Lego games, and Nerf guns.  I am very thankful.

Child B: 

Zombie posters, cats, parents, friends, family, cookies, hard math, pecan pie, electricity, Harry Potter book series, Percy Jackson books, Warriors books, mind puzzles, freedom, corned beef, pound cake, ice cream, frappucinos