Merry Christmas!!!

I was delighted to hear the checker at Walmart (don't tell anyone I was there) say "Merry Christmas" to me first this year. What made it even cooler was that she had a half sleeve unabashedly exposed, and the checker on the next aisle had some lovely body art too!! Have not seen any Salvation Army buckets thus far this season.

So I broke out my lovely "Merry Christmas" sweat shirt this year. It feels like I have the whole Christmas thing down. Christmas used to sneak up on me, and I felt woebegone when it came and went too quickly. This year, I wore my red velvet hat with the white snowball like puff on the tip, the first Saturday of the month. Everyone else at my house pretty much did most of the decorating so I could take some pictures, to document our first annual family decorating day. I may get a scrapbook page out of those. Broke out some ornamentation that I have never used, though it has been sitting in boxes, some longer than a decade. The Christmas music has been playing practically non-stop since Thanksgiving. Paula Deen's Pecan Rum Pie is sitting at the ready for Christmas day. The day is almost here, and I feel ready and satiated in the Christmas spirit.

One thing that has been a challenge is feeling that awe-struck wonder of what Jesus Christ means for the world. I have acknowledged it daily for the past couple weeks. I have thanked God for sending His Son, our Savior, to this planet. I even heard and accepted that the expression "Xmas" is not sacrilegious. That the X is not necessarily a deletion of Christ from "Christmas." In Greek, the "X" actually stands for "Chi," and was a symbol used for "Christ." I find that awesome to know!! Even when folks' motives are not necessarily God-honoring, God is in Christmas/Xmas. So with all the nonsensical objections to celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, no one can stamp Him out.

Philippians 2: 8- 11
"8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every other name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (NIV)

Luke 1:30 - 33, 37 the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary
"30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name of Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.
37 For nothing is impossible with God."

Rejoice!! Rejoice!! Emmanuel (means God with us, or God is with us) has come to us, oh Israel." - John Mason Neale (Jesus birth prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 to Ahaz)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! PEACE ON EARTH! GOOD WILL TO MAN!! AND MAY EVERY DOG HAVE A REALLY NICE BONE NOT ATTACHED TO HUMANS!!