Countdown to Christmas - 1 Day

*This week I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas of sorts. I'll share just a few things relating to Christmas each day this week to get us all into the holiday spirit!*

Found here

I said on Wednesday that I had more I wanted to say about presents and being a symbolism for love. It all started around 2000 years ago...

Luke 2 (NLT)

(Joseph was on his way to Bethlehem for a census decreed by Caesar) 5 He took with him Mary, his fianc'e, who was obviously pregnant by this time. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn. 8 That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, 10 but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11 The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!" 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others -- the armies of heaven -- praising God: 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors. " 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Come on, let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, 19 but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.

Found here

Jesus was a gift to us. He was a gift to all mankind because God loved us. God loved us so much that he sent his only son to die on a cross to save us (John 3:16). This selfless gift of love made it so we can go to Heaven with just a simple phrase of "I believe." All we have to do is believe and love God with our whole being. I believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross for me, I believe that God loves me and wants me to have eternal life with Him. How incredible is that!? A sweet little baby boy came to earth, lived a human life, suffered just like us, and then died on a cross to prevent us from separation from His Father, OUR Father. That is the most amazing gift, the best gift I have ever received. And it's all a gift of love. We didn't (and don't) deserve the sacrifice God and Jesus made for us. Humanity is quite simply put, wretched, but that's what makes the gift so incredible. We don't deserve it yet God loves us so much anyway he was willing to give up everything to save us, everything to draw us closer to Him. True love does not get any greater than this.

Remember this Christmas the true reason we celebrate. It's not about the decorations, the gifts under the tree, the food, Santa or anything like that. It's all about the little baby born in a manger to a virgin and a carpenter. Remember and be thankful. Celebrate with JOY this year knowing that God loves you so much He would give us the best present ever!

Merry Christmas!!

Cindy

Countdown to Christmas - 2 Days

*This week I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas of sorts. I'll share just a few things relating to Christmas each day this week to get us all into the holiday spirit!*

Taken by me

Isn't there just something so beautiful about a Christmas tree? I had a good time decorating ours this year. After all, it is our first Christmas married so this is our first tree! The Sunday after Thanksgiving we turned on some Christmas tunes, Collin sat on the couch unwrapping and handing me ornaments and I placed them on the tree. I invited Collin to put some on himself but he said he'd rather me do the job. But I didn't mind. I always liked helping my mom decorate the tree at home growing up. Her trees are always so pretty and classy.

Our tree this year is mostly a hodge podge collection of ornaments, but I like it that way. Some are from my grandmother that she used to always put on her tree, some are ones my mom didn't want anymore that she offered to me, some are ones I've gotten as gifts over the years, some are ones I've bought within the past year knowing I'd need to have ornaments of my own and one was a gift from Collin's parents, a ornament for our first Christmas together. It's a beautiful glittery sunflower with a little lady bug on it. Our tree is mostly a collection of things from people who love us. It's nice to look at the tree and think about the people who made it possible for us. Even our tree itself is a gift of love. A friend of ours had the tree that she had been decorating for the past few years as a second tree for her house but decided she was done with it and only wanted to decorate one tree this year. She graciously offered it to us. We were so extremely grateful. And both the angel atop our tree and our tree skirt were gifts of love. It's so wonderful to be surrounded by so much love from our friends and family. I can't wait to be able to put the tree up each year and be reminded of how much we're loved.

Taken by me

Do you enjoy decorating your tree? Do you put it up right after Thanksgiving or do you wait until just before Christmas? Growing up we used to go to the tree farm and buy a live one but about 5 or so years ago my mom bought a pre-lit artificial one. Do you get a live tree each year or do you put up an artificial one? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments!

Cindy

Countdown to Christmas - 3 Days

*This week I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas of sorts. I'll share just a few things relating to Christmas each day this week to get us all into the holiday spirit!*


Found here

As a kid growing up my sister and I couldn't wait to wake up on Christmas morning and open gifts! It was so exciting to run into the living room and see what Santa had brought us. My parent's had a rule though (the older we got the more enforced it was) that we weren't allowed to wake them up before a certain time. I think that was pretty good for their sanity. Christmas morning must be terribly long and tiring for a parent. Anyway... my parents continued the tradition of not putting out the "Santa" gifts until after my sister and I went to bed on Christmas Eve. As a teenager I remember not wanting to see the tree and all the presents under it until it was time to actually open the gifts (I love surprises). I would lay in bed reading until it was time to wake my parents up and if I had to go to the bathroom I would purposefully not look at the tree. I'm actually still like that today. Christmas morning has always been relaxed and nice in my house, for as far back as I can remember anyway. Once my dad finally got up we would all sit in the living room and take turns opening presents. To me that's the best. I really enjoy seeing what everyone else has gotten and their reactions and what not so it's not enjoyable to me when the presents are all being opened at once. I want to see the joy on everyone's faces! Is anyone else like this? I do enjoy getting gifts, I'm not gonna lie, but giving is so much better!

This year Christmas morning is going to be different. Good, but different! It's a year of starting new traditions, and new memories with our families. This is the first Christmas my sister and I are married. I'm excited to wake up Christmas morning at my house, just me and Collin and the cats. We'll open our presents to each other, get ready and head on over to my parent's house where Kaity and Tim will meet us and we'll open my family's presents. We'll open them one by one each getting excited for the others in the goodies they've received. Then we'll have a delicious brunch (I say delicious not because I know what's being made but simply because my mom is an awesome cook!) But you know what, it's really not about the presents at all. The day is so special because we're all together and we're all showing each other that we love them and appreciate them. The gifts are just a simple way of doing so.

So this Christmas I hope you are able to spend it with your loved ones, showing them you love and appreciate them. And even if that doesn't involve presents, there are many ways to let someone know you love them. The presents are just a nice bit of symbolism.

Cindy

(I have more I want to say about presents and being a symbolism for love but I'm going to share more about that on Friday... stay tuned!)

Countdown to Christmas - 4 Days

*This week I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas of sorts. I'll share just a few things relating to Christmas each day this week to get us all into the holiday spirit!*

Today I'm going to tell you about some of my favorite Christmas music. It's one of the things I love most about this season! But yet again, I love music so anything involving awesome "new" (meaning I have not listened to them in 11 months so they feel new) music is great in my book!

First off, I'm going to start with my ultimate favorite Christmas song. The orchestral version of Sleigh Ride. This song is SO much fun and it's so much better than the worded version. I enjoy the ones with words but this is the best. There's so much depth to it and the parts are fun and intricate. It even has a horse whinny at the end. =) Have a listen, here. This version is by the Boston Pops Orchestra but I also have the London Symphony Orchestra's version and it's just as good. It just all depends on the interpretations of the conductor.

	Arthur Fiedler: Boston Pops Orchestra - Sleigh Ride .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

On another note, I've heard this song live, in July. =) Our local college, St. Mary's College of Maryland, hosts a summer concert series called the River Concert Series and the Chesapeake Orchestra plays with guest artists each week. At their very last concert in 2009 the conductor, Jeffrey Silberschlag, announced at the end that they had one more piece for us and since they wouldn't see us until next summer they wanted to wish us a Merry Christmas as well. And then they started to play Sleigh Ride. I just about keeled over from excitement!

The next thing I'm going to share with you is an album. My favorite Christmas music album is MercyMe's "The Christmas Sessions". This album is full of wonderful songs that just bring a smile to my face. It has some traditional hymns that are made contemporary, some fun traditional carols/songs and some heart warming originals. I definitely listen to this one often throughout Christmas time. My favorites from the album are Winter Wonderland, Silent Night, and Joseph's Lullaby. I highly recommend picking up this album if you haven't already.

And one last thing I want to share is any and all of Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas albums. If you don't know, Mannheim Steamroller is produced by Chip Davis and the music is contemporized produced versions of classic Christmas songs. Even if you don't realize I'm sure you've heard their music in a store. The music is extremely popular and it wouldn't be Christmas to me without listening to it. It's one of those things that we listened to while growing up and it really interested me in produced (and instrumental) music at a young age. I remember one time having the album playing and I was sitting on the couch and there were sleigh bells that sounded in the left speaker and then slowly moved into the right speaker to sound as if a sleigh had ridden through my living room. It was incredible to my 11 year old self. Here's a song sampling the music.

	Mannheim Steamroller - Joy to the World .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

So what's your favorite Christmas music? I have TONS more that I love and enjoy listening to, but these are just my favorites or else this would be an INCREDIBLY long post. Please share with me some stuff you think I should check out in the comments!

Cindy

Countdown to Christmas - 5 Days

*This week I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas of sorts. I'll share just a few things relating to Christmas each day this week to get us all into the holiday spirit!*

Friday night Collin and I went to Bubby Knott's farm (a Christmas tradition of sorts) with Jim and got to look around the shops and at all the animals. He even has llamas and alpacas! Plus of course we got to see the amazing light show. If you don't know, Bubby Knott's farm has a light display every year and for the past few it's been set to music like you may have seen online.

That's an actual video from 2008 of the farm. The quality isn't great but it can give you an idea. It's fun though because you drive through and tune your radio to a lower frequency FM station and you can watch the two main houses dance in time to the songs playing on your radio.

At church on Sunday our youth group presented a really good drama about sharing the story of Christ's birth. It reminded me that the story is something BIG. Something to share and not just keep to myself and talk with amongst other Christians. It's something that needs to be spread far and wide with everyone who will listen. If you really think about it, it's an amazing story! I'm going to share another video that a friend posted on facebook because I thought it was a powerful way of sharing the Christmas story in a way that relates to our day and age.

Isn't that just incredible? And it really puts into perspective the struggles and emotions Mary and Joseph were going through. Could you imagine being either of them? Mary excited to be the mother of the Son of God but yet scared of what may face her in the future and then poor Joseph having to make the decision to stay with Mary or leave her because she is having a child who isn't his. But of course the angel speaks to him and tells him it will all be okay and that it's God's Son. Incredible!

Are you getting excited and ready for Christmas? I know I sure am! It's so close and I can't wait for all the festivities!

Cindy