December 17, 2009

Merry Christmas Ya'll



Merry Christmas my wonderful faith-filled, prayer warrior bloggy friends!!!

As many of you know our family had the most wonderful, awesome, miracles from the Lord recently when our daughter Katie in Florida was gravely ill and miraculously recovered completely and is totally whole.....PRAISE JESUS FOR EVERMORE!!! HE IS FAITHFUL!!!

I just got back to AZ a few days ago and kicking my Christmas shopping into HIGH GEAR before returning to FL next week to celebrate a joyous Christmas with Katie and her husband. As you can imagine, having only gotten a few things done before I suddenly went to be by her side I've got my lists and checking them twice before heading out today!!!

I "power decorated" my house last night (a far cry from ABabyChangesEverything - luv her site)........this year less is more, easier and quicker.....We're having Christmas with our AZ kids and my mom this weekend. Needless to say, my last minute Christmas shopping will go into hyper speed today and I'm gonna love and treasure every minute of it...........When you've almost lost your child and seen God's hand perform such miracles, it puts "things" into a powerfully precious perspective.

Before I dropped everything to rush to Florida to be with Katie several weeks ago, I found an old magazine article that touched my heart and want to share it with you. It is in such sharp contrast to the days we are living in! I dare say that nowhere, in any secular magazine or retail store will you find such clear references to Jesus, His Birth and His affect upon this world. My heart was deeply saddened when I went to my neighborhood Walmart and found that they didn't sell nativity scenes or individual nativity characters like they always have. I inquired about it with the store manager and was told to talk to their headquarters.........their buyers determine what will sell and apparently there is not a market for Nativity scenes. No real surprise, considering the times we're living in. But having just witnessed first hand with my Katie's healing what the wonderworking power in the Name of Jesus and His Promises will do it saddens my heart! He came to set man free and shed His Blood for each and everyone of us. The blindness of their eyes and hardness of heart is astounding to me! But before His Love and Grace pierced by heart and I "saw" Him and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, I was just like them! I'm earnestly praying that during this season and in 2010 the hearts of men will so hunger and thirst for righteousness and be so overshadowed by the Holy Spirit that they will cry out to KNOW the one and only true and living Savior - JESUS!!

So without further adieu........Please take a moment and enjoy this fifty year old Christmas article - I think it will bless you!

Christmas Thoughts For All The Year
By the Editors of McCall's, December 1959

CHRISTMAS is celebration; and celebration is instinct in the heart. With gift and feast, with scarlet ribbon and fresh green bough, with merriment and the sound of music, we commend the day - oasis in the long, long landscape of the commonplace. Through how many centuries, through how many threatening circumstances, has Christmas been celebrated since that cry came ringing down the ages,

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord".

Christmas is celebration, but the traditions that cluster sweetly around the day have significance only if they translate the heart's intention - the yearning of the human spirit to compass and express faith and hope and love. Without this intention, the gift is bare, and the celebration a touch of tinsel, and the time without meaning. As these attributes, exemplifying the divine spark in mankind, informed the first Christmas and have survived the onslaughts of relentless time, so do they shine untarnished in this present Year of our Lord.
Faith and hope and love, which cannot be bought or sold or bartered but only given away, are the wellsprings, firms and deep, of Christmas celebration. These are the gifts without price, the ornaments incapable of imitation, discovered only within oneself and therefore unique. They are not always easy to come by, but they are in unlimited supply, ever in the province of all.

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust.
Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Find the time.
Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen.
Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy.
Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else.
Appreciate. Be kind; be gentle. Laugh a little, Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency.
Express your gratitude. Go to church. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again.
Speak it still once again.
These are but inklings of a vast category; a mere scratching of the surface. They are simple things; you have heard them all before; but their influence has never been measured.
Christmas is celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning - with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself toward
the core of life.
Then, only then, is it possible to grasp the significance of that first Christmas - to savor in the inward ear the wild, sweet music of the angel choir; to envision the star-struck sky, and glimpse, behind the eyelids, the ray of light that fell athwart a darkened path and
changed the world.

Praying that the wonder of His Presence dwells in your heart and home this Christmas season!

Love, Merry Christmas and Sweet Blessings!

Fa La La La La going shopping!

Jackie


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21 comments:

RCUBEs said...

Merry Christmas to you sister and thank you for sharing that great article. I'm happy for you, for the miracle of healing that the Lord gave to your daughter to be with you this Christmas and more days of her life. She is a living testimony!

Have fun shopping and may the Lord bless you richly!

Beth E. said...

What a wonderful article! Those sound like great ideas for us to do all the time.

Woohoo! I just saw that I had won a gift bag from you! I'm emailing my address...thank you so much!

Now...hop on over to my blog. I'm having a giveaway, too!

Blessings,
Beth
P.S. I love your decorations. :-)

Karen said...

Amen...gifts without price...wonderful article...so glad you shared it today!

Jacquelyn Stager said...

wow, amazing article. Sad where we've come as a society in just 50 years. Happy shopping! Fa la la , la la la, la la la!!!

Denise said...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family...... I will be logging off of the computer till after Christmas.........

Sending warm winter hugs to you and yours...

christy rose said...

What a beautiful article to share this Christmas! And, if you power decorated, I would love to see some pics of your slow and intentional decorating!

I am so thrilled to hear of the intervention of God in your daughter's life. He is so worthy of our praise!

Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping! :)
Christy

Grace on the Narrow Path said...

Jackie,
I love the pothole voice!!!! I bet that was a lot of fun to do!!!
So glad Katie is doing well!!! GOD is GOOD!!!!!
Thanks for the ideas!!!
Merry Christmas,
Bren

Saleslady371 said...

What a great article, Jackie! It sums up the real meaning of holiday giving and honoring our Lord's birthday. Have a wonderful celebration with your AZ family and your Katie in FLA soon! You witness great faith in your intercession to me, dear friend.

Rose said...

Jackie,

Your house looks lovely. I can imagine you were flying around the house getting everything ready. Let's face it you got a most wonderful early present when your daughter Katie was miraculously healed. Praise God.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Fa, la, la, la, la....woohoo! By they way, thanks for the email message!

Beth Herring said...

Merry Christmas my friend. Thanks for that great article.

I am praising the Lord with you still, for the miracle you and I both experienced with our daughters.

GOD is so good!

Love you - Beth

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

First of all this Ozarks farm chick wants to thank you for that wonderful article and for keepin' the Christ in Christmas! This is so like Walmart these days. I would boycott but they have put all the Mom and Pop stores out of business in Smallville, USA leaving us nowhere else to shop.

My daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and spent much of her first year in NICU. Then many years and surgerys to follow. We were told time and time again she was too weak for the operation, she would not make it thought the night, she would not see her next birthday. This little gal is now 31 and the mother of baby Ian in my blog. Take that Satan!

We serve an awesome God!

Ya'll have a wonderfully blessed weekend from the Missouri Ponderosa!!!

Marsha said...

Merry Christmas, Jackie! God is so good! What a wonderful Christmas celebration you all will have this year.

Enjoy your weekend with family and have a safe trip back to FL.

Blessings.

Deborah Ann said...

Beautiful Christmas article. Love your fireplace! It looks so cozy.

What a joyful Christmas you will have this year! Thanks again for the 'Jesus Calling' book. I treasure it.

God bless,
Debby

Denise said...

What a beautiful article. How times have changed and it breaks my heart.. BUT HE has not changed and HE still watches over us today. I know you are celebrating a season of thankfulness for the gift of your daughter....... He is mighty and greatly to be praised.

Merry Christmas

Debbie Petras said...

I am so glad to read that Katie is doing so well. When I first read about her accident, I couldn't get her out of my head. I prayed for her and for you. I was so relieved to hear the news. I'm sure your perspective changes after going through this experience. This life is so fleeting.

It's amazing that McCall's printed an article like that. Now it wouldn't be printed.

But we can proclaim the name of Jesus. I am so thankful for my sisters in Christ and how we can pray for one another.

Jackie, let me know if I can ever do anything for you. Since you also live in Phoenix, one of these days we should figure out when we could get together.

Merry Christmas and have a safe trip to Florida.

Blessings,
Debbie

Beth E. said...

Jackie,
I got my gift bag today...thank you so much! You are too generous! I'm looking forward to using everything!

Blessings,
Beth

Terri Tiffany said...

Enjoy your time back here in Florida! So happy to keep hearing good reports!

Wylie @ Shout A Joyful Noise! said...

Praise the LORD & MERRY CHRISTMAS friend!!!!!
Joyfully,
Wylie

Edie said...

Sadly it's Christians who have caused retailers to stop selling Nativity Sets and things related to the Birth of Christ. We can't expect the lost to purchase such things. We are the ones who have stopped making those purchases and opted to spend our money on all things Santa instead. A culture shift is long overdue.

I'm going to go read about your miracles now.

Merry Christmas and Rich Blessings for 2010!

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

Beautiful words....So glad to be back reading special blogs.

Janean said...

Jackie, how wonderful you're a giver....just like your Heavenly Father!

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