Luke 1:26-45 and 2:1-20And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, 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. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
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This is what I choose to believe, and this is what Christmas means to me! A child was born, so He could die on a cross, to free me of my sins, so that when this body, this shell I live in now dies, I'll be able to live forever with Him in heaven. With this belief, this KNOWING deep in my heart, comes a peace you will never find anywhere else. If you don't have this peace, find a local house of worship and tell them you need to know Jesus!
I won't be around much until after Christmas, so this is my prayer for you:
Father, thank You for your Son, that He died to forgive us our sins, and give us the peace and joy that come from knowing Him. I ask you to bless the person reading this, that they may know this peace and joy as well. Touch their heart, Father, and touch their life with Your loving mercy and grace. I pray these things in Jesus name, Amen
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
And the rules dictate I must give it to five others. You must also link to the one you got it from (see above), and also to the ones you give it to and let them know. And there is more . . . you have to write down five things you are addicted to! So here are mine:
(once again, the girls wanted in on the action! The gift card was packed tightly in this wine box!)
The fabric used for this lavender sachet is from an old pair of curtains that hung in my house as a child - the ric-rack, lovingly sewn on by my mother, is original. I added the buttons.
. . . and filled my grandmother's punch bowl with red, green, blue, silver and gold glass balls and put it in there as well.
A few of my favorite ornaments above - please forgive the really BAD collage - it's my first, and I'm proud of it, but it IS kind of hard to see!.
The window toppers - made very easily last year. The fabric was $1.00 a yard, and I already had the lace and ribbon. The fabric has a repeating pattern, and I cut it along those lines, hemmed and added the lace, then sewed the red ribbon for tabs - I love them! 
My prized kitchen table and chairs - I got them (table with leaf, 4 chairs), already painted red and antiqued - for $120 at the monthly antique market near here a couple of years ago. The old lace tablecloth probably came from a yard sale.
