What a wonderful (weird) Christmas!

Let me preface this by saying I'm not complaining whatsoever.  But this Christmas season has been one to remember.  The weekend before Christmas, the meteorologists were already forecasting a blizzard for Kansas and Missouri over the Christmas holiday.  They were right!  Starting Wednesday we had quite a bit of rain.  It turned into a misty icy slush that evening.  Then on Christmas Eve (Thursday), it started with rain in the morning and afternoon.  By that Evening, Here is came!  Christmas Day was no different....snow all day!  And same with Saturday!!!!  Grandma's Christmas Eve dinner was cancelled.  Mom's Christmas Day celebration was moved to Sunday.  It's Sunday now, and we are supposed to be over there around 2pm.  Everything is still white, and our roads are still packed.   We have snow drifts in our back yard that are 3 feet tall!  Dylan was able to make a miniature snow fort!  Out in the middle of the yard, I measured anywhere between 6 and 8 inches.  They are saying that this is a record for KC, somewhere back in 1880??'s last time KC had this much snow on Christmas!  Merry Christmas all, and God Bless!

A carol of truth, history, and legends...

"Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht") is one of the most well know Christmas Carols of all time; and I must say it's one of my favorites. There is something eerily romantic that sucumbs your thoughts as you listen to the echoing melody and harmonic verses. It's been translated into hundreds of languages around the world. The Silent Night Society says there are many "romantic stories and legends" that surround the carol, although most historians believe that the Austrian priest Father Josef Mohr just wanted a simple piece that could be played on his guitar.

Silent Night was originally written in German, by Mohr and the melody was composed by an Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber (primary school teacher and church organist in the village of Arnsdorf. At the same time he was organist and choirmaster at St. Nicholas Church in the neighboring village of Oberndorf). Mohr was ordained in 1815, after special permission from the pope allowed him to study for priesthood, as Mohr was born an illegitimate child.

On December 24th, 1818, the carol was first performed in the Church of St Nicholas (Nicola-Kirche). Mohr made a drastic plea with Gruber the morning before Christmas, asking him to compose the melody on guitar for the Christmas Eve service that evening.

Nothing can be found as far as Mohr's inspiration for the song. It's a rumor that the church organ was broken, so Mohr and Gruber created the song for accompaniment by guitar.

Silent Night was popularized by the World War I, Christmas Eve truce between the British and the Germans. On December 24th, 1914 the artillery in the region (Ypres, Belgium) fell silent that night. German troops began decorating the area around their trenches for Christmas. They started placing candles on trees, then continued by singing many Christmas Carols, most notably Stille Nacht. The two sides started shouting Christmas greetings to each other and leading up to small gift exchanges, such as whisky, jam, cigars, and chocolate.

To this day, many Christmas Eve services and the Christmas Story always include the song, Silent Night. There is something about the melody, and the versus that tell the story of that night long ago. Every time I listen to the song, it brings a mix of emotions that can't quite be described.

Martinstag, St. Martin's Day, Advent...

I'll use any reason to start the Christmas Season sooner! In early days Advent lasted from November 11, the feast of St. Martin, until Christmas Day. "St. Martin started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me." cited from Wikipedia

Yep -it's that time of the year again. KUDL is already playing Christmas music, and the shopping centers have had the Christmas Trees on display now for over a month! Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, and that's when I know it's time to stay away from the store's mad rush of holiday shoppers!!!

As most know Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times of the year. It seems that as soon as Thanksgiving and Christmas come and go, I can't wait for them to come again. I think I'm so fond of these Holidays because of the tradition and upbringing my parents and Grandparents instilled. For most, unfortunately, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are more of a 'have-to-do' holiday, than a sacred holiday. As soon as some people hear the Christmas music on KUDL, they feel the anxiety of the holiday rush. I, rather, feel the love and greatest gift that anyone could ever want. The gift that God gave us that Christmas morning; not so long ago. For that,… we have much to be Thankful for!

Thanksgiving couldn't come at a better time; with Christmas following. Last year around this time I came up with a short Christmas lesson for my kids to get them in the Spirit. The very first question I presented to them was, "What kind of things do you think of first when you hear the word 'Christmas'?". They all paused for a moment, with the older kids realizing that this might be a 'trick' question. The younger kids were about to spout off the latest X-BOX game when one of the older kids shouted, "Jesus!" Then the younger kids followed suit mentioning things like the manger, Joseph and Mary, and other items as such. As far as I was concerned, the question didn't have a right or wrong answer. My point wasn't to catch them saying something wrong, but rather keep the true meaning in their minds. Obviously kids will associate gifts with Christmas, but it's our job to keep the truth with them. Without subtle reminders like the one above, it may become very easy for them to fall in the 'have-to-do' Christmas Spirit when they get older.

So my whole point? This is my subtle reminder that Thanksgiving and Christmas go hand-in-hand, so we might not succumb to the mad holiday rush. Now is the time to give thanks, and keep the true meaning of Christmas close to our hearts. Advent is the time to prepare for the celebration of the coming. Prepare your hearts and remember what is true. We should treat every day of our lives as if Thanksgiving and Christmas were in the midst. We have too much to be thankful for. The fact that you are reading this page means you are alive and well; be thankful for it! My only request from you is that you take a moment today or tonight to pray for this Holiday season. Thank Him for all you have, and for what we have yet to be given. Thank Him for your problems, as problems are our way of learning how to deal with tough times. Thank Him for your children, as they are our heirs and mirrors of who we are in life. Pray that we don't succumb ourselves to the mad holiday rush. And most of all, thank him for our Savior and that he stays close to our heart,…the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas!

What about Christmas?

Okay,

This is my attempt to do the blog thing. I have all this stuff in my head, and this sounds like a good place to let it out. Lets just see how often I can keep it updated. LOL Anyway...

Christmas is just around the corner. 11 days I think. When the kids come over, we have been creating some Bible studies that deal with Christmas and Christ. Trying to teach them the importance of keeping Christ in Christmas. They seem to enjoy the time together. Its especially nice that we can talk about the Bible as a family.

We finally wrapped the last present today. Ohh my... we went way over budget. Joe was the last one for us to shop for. Dana didn't like what they had at the WM when we first did our shopping. We went again last night, and found some things that we think he would like now.

It's always hard to figure out what to get people. Especially when we went over budget. I just feel bad that I'm leaving someone out or that they will get there feelings hurt. For those people we couldn't afford actual gifts, we decided to make Peanut Butter Cookies with kisses and chocolate covered pretzels. We bought some big tin cans with a Christmas decor to put them in. Can you go wrong with that??? I hope not. I didn't mean to leave anyone out, and next year,.... I'll try to keep to the budget better. It's just that now that the boys come over often, and even Kaity has been coming over now (yeah!), we had a total of 5 kids to get gifts for. Wow... I could never imagine that I would be getting gifts for 5 kids...lol. It's nice that we are able to though.

We even bought my mom and dad as well as Dana's mom a present this year. Andy and Laura were able to help chip in to get grams and gramps a 1 year memebership to the Liberty Memorial. I hope that they enjoy it. They have a new WWI museum that just opened. I think they will like it.

What else? Well... Joe was baptized on November 16th. That was a great feeling, and Pastor Trost did an excellent job. I have never seen a baptism like he had done. Joe is 6, so pastor sat next to Joe and explained to him in Joe's terms what baptism means. It was really nice. Mom and Dad, grams and gramps and Andy and Bethany were able to make it too. That meant a lot!