The True Meaning of Christmas

To each of you I wish a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told

Joy

This drawing is from the blog Homegrown Hospitality.

Christmas should be a time of JOY. But for many it is a time of sadness and depression because of events that have happened in their pass. I love the blog site Homegrown Hospitality,http://www.homegrownhospitality.typepad.com/, who can just boost my spirits when I may be feeling down. Hope you will enjoy it also.

A Very Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Tote Bag

I love to sew Tote Bags. Sweetman calls me "the bag Lady" when we are getting ready to go someplace as I always have a bag full of projects or reading material to carry along. I found these two embroidery designs at Embroidery Library and incorporated them into these Christmas Totes. I love lime green. Never wear it but love to use it in quilts. These totes will carry groceries, books and quilt projects for the season

Blessing #3

This is the oldest of these three brothers. And he brought his friend, who happens to be a girl, to share Thanksgiving with us. Cute couple. These three young men are the children of our youngest son. Great kids who are so fortunate to have great parents.

We have truly been blessed with four exceptionally unique children who have given us two wonderful daughter in laws, eight wonderful grandchildren and from those eight we now have two great grandchildren. Blessings have been poured on us abundantly!

Blessing #2

This is another of our blessings. This young man is next to our youngest grandchild. Just a delight to be around him. He is a wrestler for his school and very, very good at it. Smart, good looking and we loved sharing Thanksgiving with him also.

Blessings

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love cooking for my family and sharing the day with them. This young man is our youngest grandchild. He is just a great person with a smile to melt your heart and those eyes will get him most anything from his Nana and Papa. He has been a joy to our family.