Merry Christmas to You by Sidewalk Prophets

“Lights, please.  "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field…” Linus Van Pelt’s childlike voice filled my car. And I loved it.

Sometime in early November, I listened to a radio interview on K-Love with David Frey, the lead singer of Sidewalk Prophets. He talked about making their new album, Merry Christmas to You. They had wrapped up the music and thought they had everything ready to go when the producers realized they needed to ask the voice of Linus for permission to use the monologue. Unfortunately he had passed away. But, at the last minute they reached his wife and added Linus’s voice to their wonderful new Christmas album.

The music exudes joy as it celebrates the season with fun and reverence. I’ve enjoyed the four new songs the group composed as well as their renditions of familiar songs and carols. This is a great CD for family time in the car or to decorate the tree by. I liked it so much that I bought it for my daughters, and they all gave it a thumbs up.

Link to the story behind Oh What a Glorious Night: http://www.sidewalkprophets.com/becauseitschristmas

Do you have a favorite Christmas Album or CD? Please share.

Silver Bells by Deborah Raney

In Silver Bells I took a peek into an era before technology took over the newspaper business. Throughout the story Deb’s descriptions of the 1970s are right on. From early microwave ovens to Little Golden books illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, I revisited many of the joys of my youth. Yet under it all the turmoil of the Vietnam War wrestled with everyday life. 

Even though Michelle Penn had a very different future in mind, she took a job at the local newspaper to make ends meet. She never dreamed she’d meet up with Mr. Popular from high school, let alone actually enjoy his company. In an era of women’s liberation, war, and a fight for women’s freedom from domestic abuse, how does a hometown girl confront reality and find love at the same time? What appears as a simple romance dives into the importance of surrounding others with compassion that has no fear. Deb Raney created a story of love and forgiveness that plays on the heart. I enjoyed the love story between Michelle and Rob and the story of love they shared for Becky, a young mom in need. I recommend Silver Bells as a warm-hearted Christmas read that reveals the true spirit of the season.

Wednesday Wisdom

Romancing Christmas: Mistletoe

There is something magic about love at Christmas that encourages new friendships, sweet affection, and mutual adoration. For December I thought it would be fun to focus on some of the more romantic symbols of Christmas.

The lowly mistletoe, a symbol of peace and joy, has brought giggles from girls, kisses from boys and all around good fun for all. The Norsemen tell a tale about Frigga the goddess of love. She worked to protect her son Balder from death. In her haste to bring together all the elements of earth to protect him she failed to include the mistletoe. Loki, the god of evil used the mistletoe to destroy Balder’s life. Broken-hearted, Frigga cried for her son. Her tears healed him as they turned into the pearly white berries of the mistletoe plant, raising the greenery to a plant of love that conquered death. From that day on anyone who stood under the mistletoe received a kiss and found protection from evil.

Years later in the eighteenth-century, the simple green plant was hung in doorways and proclaimed the kissing ball. A young lady might stand under the beribboned symbol of love and wait for her young man to give her a kiss and promise of marriage. Sometimes they just shared a friendly kiss and went on their way. If the girl was not kissed she had to wait another year for a proposal.

Folks still hang mistletoe around the holidays. Whether there is magic in the green leaves and white berries or if it encourages a man and woman to get to know each other, the mistletoe adds fun to the Christmas season.

Do you remember a kiss under the mistletoe? Did it lead to marriage?

Thanksgiving Blessings

I will join my family later today to eat the bounty of food we all prepared for this special day. I know we will have a great time. Yet, I've already been blessed beyond abundance by the Thanksgiving service we shared with our church family. What a service. The church family joined with a local Christian outreach and provided turkeys and trimmings the recipients would take home and cook for their families today, Thanksgiving. We sang, prayed and heard the truth from God's word along side people we'd just met, who came for the blessings. 

So many folks worked together to prepare for this spiritual feast of Thanksgiving. Thank you to all who took their time and resources and put this all together to praise God and his bountiful blessings. 

I pray you are all blessed on this day as you meet with family and friends to celebrate all the joys of life.

Psalm 100:4 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.

Blessings

Hospitality in a Small Town

A woman bundled in a blue sweater and fleece vest hung greenery around the window. Her helper added a sparkly ribbon. Down the street, several people flocked on the bridge and draped greenery and bright red bows. Trees shrouded in lights lined the main thoroughfare. These acts of preparation confirmed hospitality in a small town.

One of the things I love about villages and towns is their tendency to work together for the good of the residents. The town I live in plans a Christmas parade every year to open the blessed season. I grew up in a village. Just before Christmas, many people opened their homes to show and sell their handmade items. Folks gathered, chatted and enjoyed the welcoming arms of their neighbors.

Now when we come home in the evening, we’re welcomed by snowflake lights and trees shining along the street. A little shop in town has an open house as do several other businesses. My husband and I love to drive around and view the displays our fellow townsfolk hang. One of the churches hosts a living Christmas tree where the choir sings the story of Jesus birth. Some years there’s been a live Nativity.

Christmas in a small town is the best. People wave and shout Merry Christmas. They celebrate the reason for the season. As much as I enjoy visiting the nearby city and seeing the fancy lights, I wouldn’t trade in the small town celebration of the holidays.

Do you have memories of small town life during the holidays or do you live in a town now? Share your happy experiences.