Our Jesse Tree Shining in the Light of His Glory
Our Nativity Set by Mama Says
Notice the Wise Men are not here yet. They are still on their way. They really are! I messed up the order, so they’re getting here late. But Late is right on time in this case. Maybe they don’t belong in a Nativity scene, but at least they will be arriving later, much later than the Shepherds.
Our beautiful Christmas tree. It’s just the way we all like it.
Stockings hung with care and filled with goodies.
Hot chocolate for everyone. There went another gallon of milk!
Shawn read the Christmas story from our One New Man Bible that is written from a Jewish perspective. We put on our armor and prayed a blessing over the day. Then we dug into the presents. Our children are the most patient children in the world!
Kelsey handed out presents. She knew which paper belonged to whom. We buy a certain wrapping paper for each child then wrap all their presents in that paper. No need for tags that way. The older kids had ordered most of their stuff online and had already received their presents and been using them for a couple of weeks before Christmas, so they didn’t have much under the tree. But I managed to surprise them with some DVD’s and things wrapped in their paper on Christmas morning.
Morgan got lots of puzzles.
Katie’s really good about helping the little ones with their stuff.
Morgan likes his horse, Kayla. Kelsey and Garrett picked it out for him. They knew he would like it.
What the Big Kids Were Most Interested In
Kelsey got what she wanted – including bibbed overalls which she has been wanting for a couple of years.
A puzzle I got from Wallbuilders for Katie. She and Shawn worked on it all day Christmas day. You have to finish things right away around here. You can’t leave anything sitting because little ones won’t leave anything alone!
The Little Girls Were Dreaming of a Pink Christmas
We all got some very special gifts – some that we have wanted for a long time. My best gifts were having Gary home with us, having Jesus at the center of the holiday, and enjoying the excitement and happiness of my sweet children. They really were patient. They waited several hours for everybody to wake up and come down before they opened their presents. They didn’t whine or complain. They were very excited, but they waited calmly for me to say it was time to gather in the living room. Then they waited quietly while we read the Christmas story and prayed. I was very proud of them and thankful for their attitudes. They have learned this over the years. They expect to have to wait, so they do. A good lesson for them to learn early.
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller
