Join us as we start the new year off right!!! 

Here are a few more suggestions….by the same author.

Lower your expectations, or “prune your perfectionism.” Makeyour holiday party a dessert thing and forget cooking a full dinner. Promiseyourself you’ll focus on time with loved ones, not clean bathrooms orpresents.

Decide what you want for Christmas. When people ask, “What can Iget you?” provide them with the name of your favorite charity. Or direct themto your Amazon gift list (you can create one for free, for yourself and everymember of your family—and include on your lists items requested bycharities). If you think ahead, you’re more likely to receive what you canreally use, instead of one more fruitcake. 

Cut back. Really do it. Defy commercialization and give ofyourself. Start with scheduling “down” time in the same way you would schedulecooking and football time—go ahead and mark off those days today. (Maybe thiswould be a good time to find out when the church parties, office parties, kids’concerts, and musicals will take place, so that I-need-a-costume demand doesn’tcatch you by surprise.) De-stress with prayer, stretching exercises, hotpeppermint tea, and sticking to your boundaries.

Matthew1:23 Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call himEmmanuel, which means “God with us.”

John3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, sothat everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Luke2:30-33 For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in thepresence of all peoples: a light, for revelation to the Gentiles, and for gloryto your people Israel.” So the child’s father and mother were amazed at whatwas said about him.

Luke2:10-11 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for Iproclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today yourSavior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.

Luke2:13-14 Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising Godand saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people withwhom he is pleased!”

4.Decorate. Use your Christmas tree as a reminder that Christ hung on a tree sothat one day we might be invited to eat freely from the tree of life. Placeyour crèche in a central location, but leave the cradle empty until Christmasmorning—when you make a grand celebration of the baby’s arrival. Give thought towhat your home’s exterior decorations can communicate. Hang a banner that says,“Welcome, King of Kings!” or add a lighted star on the chimney. 

5.Invite. Ask friends to join you in attending a Christmas production. Inviteneighbors over for dinner and share about what Christmas means to you. Take achild shopping with you to buy toys for underprivileged kids. Throw a birthdayparty for Jesus. Put 2,009 candles on the cake. Or not.

6.Give wisely. For the people on your Christmas list, select gifts that matter…Donations to charities. Books that inspire. CDs that direct the heart inworship. A contribution toward youth summer camp. Think about your recipient’sspiritual needs.

7.Give of yourself. USA Today reports that 30 percent of Americans spend $750 ormore on Christmas presents; 19 percent say they’ll shell out over $500 forgifts; and 22 percent will buy $250 worth of stuff. A mere 8 percent expectChristmas to cost them less than $100. Instead of laying out so much cash,create meaningful gifts. Make a gift certificate for three hours of freechildcare for a neighbor. Write your life story, and give copies to your kids.Get your parents’ home movies transferred to DVD and distribute to the wholefamily. Give Grama’s holiday recipe in a basket full of all the ingredients.Record yourself reading a favorite story and send it to your grandkids. Make ahomemade book about Josiah, the eight-year-old king, for your favoriteeight-year-old.

8.Give food. Take a basket of Christmas fixings to someone in need. If you havechildren, take them with you (or borrow a neighbor’s kid) and talk about theOne who said, “It is better to give than to receive.”

9.Clear your shelf. If you have ten different versions of the Bible, send a fewto the Bible League. They can send five Bibles overseas (to people longing forthem) for the cost of printing one.

10.Clean your attic. If you have extra bedding, pillowcases, and coats, send themto the homeless outreach nearest you. Rather than saving stuff for later, putit to good use now.

11.Invest. If people ask what you want for Christmas, provide the name of yourfavorite charity and ask your loved ones to make a donation instead of buyingyou another pink lampshade. Gather your jars and cans full of pennies anddonate the total to World Vision.

12.Go. Spend time visiting shut-ins or teaching literacy. Build bridges of love soyou can cross them with the good news. Do you need to pencil in time away for across-cultural mission trip in the year to come?

Postedby Sandra Glahn on 15 Dec 2009

 I found this article and thought that it can let us to encounter Jesus during this Christmas season!!! Here are three suggestions I will post for today.

Twelve Steps to a More Christ-Focused Christmas-Postedby Sandra Glahn on 15 Dec 2009

   At what other time of year can we walk into the mall and hear music that directsus to worship Christ the Lord? Or stroll through business offices and seestrings of cards depicting nativity scenes? Let’s take advantage of theseasonal opportunities, keeping our focus on the reason for the season. Hereare some suggestions:

 1.Read your Bible. Take a few minutes to plan out a Bible-reading schedule to carry you from now through Christmas with daily meditations on topics such asthe first advent, incarnation, virgin birth, and Davidic lineage of Jesus Christ. If you haven’t already done so, memorize the Christmas story in Luke 2.“And it came to pass…”

 2.Pray. Make a list of the people in your life who are in physical and spiritual need. Pray for them. Regularly. Ask people how you can pray for them. Then follow through.

3.Correspond. When sending cards, remember the child you sponsor. He or she might like Christmas stickers and an explanation of the celebration—even if yourletter will arrive several months from now. And while you’re at it, send a card to: A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20307–5001.