The 25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 23

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

We have carried our sins with us for so long. Why would anyone think that we could live any other way? We have grown complacent and numb to the pain that is caused by those sins.

And when the Torah is read, we say that we love Your Law, Yahweh, and yet we leave the synagogue to berate our neighbors and steal from our customers. 

O Father in Heaven how long can we go on, living this way? 
When will You send Messiah? . . . 

To read more of this post,

and the thoughts of a people in waiting

so long ago,

please join me over at 

Purposeful and Meaningful 

with my friend Ifeoma Samuel.

Christmas is only two days away!

Are you prepared 

to welcome the Savior?

~~~~~~~~

And this is the last day to join in

with the great #Holyhaiku challenge

hosted by my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where the prompt is
"Jesus as a child."

 

  

I Pray that you will

have the most

Blessed Christmas

of all~~to find

the Babe of the manger

to be

your Lord and Savior!

And may you have

A New Year

filled with

HIS GIFTS OF GRACE.

I will be taking a small break,

and return back here in early January, 

sharing with you

the #Oneword for 2018

that I believe the Lord has

been whispering to me. 

I am so thankful for the gift

of getting to know each one of you! 

I am linking with:

#Graceandtruth 

#Tellhisstory 

 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 19

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” Matthew 2:10

Christmas morning comes bright and early to homes where little children live. No one has to tell those little ones to get excited, or to be joyful. Their eyes sparkle as they dance and twirl before the glittering gifts waiting to be opened.

 

Our Father sent us the Greatest Gift of all when He sent His Son.

 

And those early players in the story of His birth were taken with great excitement as they watched the story unfold before them. 

The Shepherds REJOICED. 

The Wise Men were OVERJOYED. . . . 

to finish reading more of this post,

please join me over at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am sharing with 

my friend Ifeoma Samuel

short devotions and activities

for your family.

May your Christmas Season be blessed!

~~~~~~~~

Today's #HolyHaiku prompt on Instagram 
is "Emmanuel." Come join

my friend Susan Shipe,

@hopehearthome 

for more 

beautiful Haiku this Season. 

Into the days of Holiday Busyness,

I found myself sitting

with the nurse

as she taught me the technique

for yet another injection

for new medication. 

Emmanuel?

Are you with me even here?

"Yes, my daughter, even here"

as His Presence

carried my heart,
and brought joy
in the midst of hard.

May you find Emmanuel,
the true Gift of Christmas,

in the midst 

of your days also.

I am linking with: 
#TeaAndWordTuesday 
#Sittingamongfriends 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 17

“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” Matthew 2:9

A miracle led the way for those Wise Men. But the miracle appeared in the sky, as a star. It was the same night sky that they had watched every night. 
 
It was the same charts that they had poured over every day. The miracle came to them where they led their everyday lives. . . .

To read more of this post

please join me over at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where my friend Ifeoma Samuel 

and I have prayerfully prepared

short Devotions and activities

for you and your family.

Be Blessed during this last week 

before Christmas!

~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku on Instagram continues

with my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome,

where the prompt for today is "Hospitality." 

  My Vietnamese daughter-in-law's family

gave me a beautiful gift of 

hospitality

from their HOME.

How can I not give the gift of

hospitality

from my HEART

when the King 

of all the Universe

has come to

dwell with me? 

I am linking with:

#LMMLinkup 

 

 

 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 15

“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Matthew 2:6

 

Our Father sent the Angels to announce the birth of HIS true Shepherd, to the humble shepherds in the field that night. It could not have been a coincidence. 

 

God plans every detail of how this world moves—He planned for their knowing and pondering and then rejoicing.

Isn’t it the lowliest among us who often have the clearest view of Heaven?

Jesus himself told us that in order to see Heaven we would need to become as little children. . . . 

To read more of this post, please come join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

with my friend Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully 

prepared devotionals and activities

for you and your family during this 

Advent Season.

Be Blessed!

~~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues with my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where the prompt yesterday was "Search me O God."
Even though I am a day late, I found myself
compelled to ponder this prayer:

 

In the humblest of days,

In the smallest of journeys,

Christ would come to dwell

in me

and you. 

May we prepare Him room. 

 

I am linking this week with:
#GraceandTruth 
#TuneInThursday 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 13

“and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2

 

 The Wise Men: we all place the little statues of them carefully around the manger. But they were not there on the night He was born. 

 

No, they came much later. After the Shepherds had gone, after the mystery of the birth had waned, the Wise Men still were persistent to follow their charts, to trace the star, and worship the King that the star foretold.

When the crowds thin out, when my friends go the other way, will I still follow the path of the KING born that night? . . . 

To read more of this post,

please join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am joining my friend

Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully

prepared short devotions and activities

for you and your family this Season.
Be blessed!

~~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues

with my friend

Susan Chamberlain Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where the prompt for today is

"Herod."

Earlier this week I thought that I would be

skipping this prompt. But only God would

see how much I needed these words myself.

In the midst of heaviness and pain

will I let the enemy

steal my praise?

Or will I choose to honor

MY KING

and give Him all the Glory

due His Name?

Jesus still reigns eternal!

And He still has my Worship!

I am linking today with:
#SittingAmongFriends 
#Chasingcommunity 

  

 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 11

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18

 

 She was so young. The betrothal was well known in her village—it was the way of life, and the expected path to take. 

 

But her heart bowed to Someone greater than just the traditions.

When the Holy One sets before you HIS way of living, how could you refuse?

 She was so young. But she chose the way of Holiness . . . 

To finish reading, please join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am so blessed to be sharing

with my good friend Ifeoma Samuel.

We are prayerfully offering

short devotions and activities

for your family this Advent Season.

Be blessed as you prepare for Christmas!

~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues with

my friend Susan Chamberlain Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where today's prompt is

"Adoration."

 

Even if the days 

are painful or hard,

I pray that we will come 

before the King

and let Him melt our hearts

with His own Love. 

I am linking with:

#LMMLinkup 

Barbie Swihart, #Glimpses 

  

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 9

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

We see the Baby in the manger. We watch the story unfold as the Angels sing, and
the Shepherds rejoice. We look with wonder at the Wise Men traveling so great a
distance to worship the King.

Yet even when we are filled with wonder over the miracle that came to be, do we
look deeper to see the true gift that the Father gave?

The world was changed when Grace and Truth stepped into our humanity. . . 

To finish reading this post

please join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful

where I am blessed to be sharing with

my friend Ifeoma Samuel.

We have prayerfully prepared short devotions

and activities for you and your family

during this Advent Season. 

~~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues

with my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where today's prompt is "Mary."

Because of Mary's obedience to host

the Almighty,

the free gift of salvation

is available to all of us now,

just for the asking!

 I am praying for you today,

my friend,

to know the blessed freedom

that comes

when our Lord washes our hearts 

whiter than snow. 

I am linking with:

Brenda Bradford Ottinger, #ChasingCommunity 
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday 

25 Days of Christmas~Day 7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

 

This child, this tiny baby in the manger, He was given to all of us.
 
What do we see when we look at this small image? 

Do we see the One who will rule the world?

Our memories are stirred when we come to the manger every year. . . .

To read the rest of this post,

come join me at:

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am so excited to be sharing with my friend,

Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully prepared

short devotionals and activities

for your family this Season!


~~~~~~

Over on Instagram @HopeHeartHome,

the prompt is "Hope"

for today's #HolyHaiku.

And my heart was set to remember

a surprise sleigh ride that was a gift 

from my husband several years ago.

Into a dark time, his gift 

stirred an even deeper gift

of hope for my heart:

 

My heart is praying for you today,

to be blessed with

HOPE

from the heart of Jesus

and LIGHT 

on the darkest

of days, because

HE IS OUR PEACE. 

I am linking today with:

Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

Jaime Wiebel, #SittingAmongFriends