Happiness

Happiness is dancing with your mommy at DisneyWorld. Last week, on Christmas Eve, Sarah and I went to Epcot for the Candlelight Procession. Prior to attending that concert, we ate at the German restaurant. After we ate, there was a wonderful show by the actors there. German music, complete with an accordion, delighted us. During the show, they invited guests to dance. At our table was a couple with their two young children. The mom and dad took the children by the hand and proceeded onto the dance floor. I think you can see the joy on this young lad's face as he gazes into his mother's eyes.

We'll be visiting DisneyWorld again this week...this time with David, Sabrina, and Ella. I'm excited to go with a little one again and see the magic through her eyes.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know why. Happy New Year, everyone. I appreciate you all so much for what you bring into my life through your posts.

Welcome to Our World

Take time today to consider Him. Merry Christmas to you all.

The Music of Christmas

I think I have listened to more Christmas music this year than I have for a long time. Several old carols have caught my ear and lodged in my heart.

Many years ago, not too long after Don and I were married, we had a new pastor come to our church. We loved and respected him so much. He was a faithful teacher of the Word of God and loved the hymns of the church. When Christmastime came around, he led us in a Christmas hymn that was unknown to me at the time, and I have not heard it sung much since he left.

I began looking for it on YouTube, not really expecting to find it, but I did find a few versions of it. Please watch the video and then read the words of the hymn, and be blessed.

Who is He in yonder stall
At Whose feet the shepherds fall?
Who is He in deep distress,
Fasting in the wilderness?

Who is He the people bless
For His words of gentleness?
Who is He to Whom they bring
All the sick and sorrowing?

Who is He that stands and weeps
At the grave where Lazarus sleeps?
Who is He the gathering throng
Greet with loud triumphant song?

Lo! at midnight, who is He
Prays in dark Gethsemane?
Who is He on yonder tree
Dies in grief and agony?

Who is He that from the grave
Comes to heal and help and save?
Who is He that from His throne
Rules through all the world alone?

’Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!’
Tis the Lord! the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!

Our Christmas Rose

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming

from tender stem hath sprung!

Of Jesse’s lineage coming,

as men of old have sung.

It came, a floweret bright,

amid the cold of winter,

When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,

the Rose I have in mind;

With Mary we behold it,

the virgin mother kind.

To show God’s love aright,

she bore to men a Savior,

When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story

proclaimed by angels bright,

How Christ, the Lord of glory

was born on earth this night.

To Bethlehem they sped

and in the manger found Him,

As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender

with sweetness fills the air,

Dispels with glorious splendor

the darkness everywhere;

True Man, yet very God,

from sin and death He saves us,

And lightens every load.

O Savior, Child of Mary,

who felt our human woe,

O Savior, King of glory,

who dost our weakness know;

Bring us at length we pray,

to the bright courts of Heaven,

And to the endless day!

A Must-Read Post

I've been reading The Anchoress for some time. Today she has a post about a young girl in India who was persecuted for her Christian faith. Please go here and read it. Those of us who call ourselves Christians here in the U.S. get upset when we hear people ridiculing us, but we have no idea what it is to suffer for the sake of the gospel. We have no idea.

More ornaments

When I was in Virginia in October, we visited a farmer's market, which was actually a nice, small mall that had some really neat shops. One of them was Ten Thousand Villages. This organization has shops which sell crafts from countries around the world. It is a fair trade business, meaning that the artisans receive a fair price for their wares. I immediately went searching for any items that I could find from Haiti. In my search I found this Christmas tree ornament. The "tap-tap" (pronounced "top-top") is made of painted metal. This is a popular form of art coming out of Haiti now.

When anyone is Port-au-Prince, this is the way that many people travel about the city. I don't remember how much it costs to ride, but when you get on board, you are in a crush of people, their wares, their chickens and whatever else might be transportable. I never did brave riding on one, although I did use some of the other public transportation in the city and country. That's another post altogether.

In 2003 I traveled to Estonia with a group from my church and loved getting to know some wonderful people who only 12 years prior had lived under Communism. We spent ten days visiting, sharing, shopping and getting to know these wonderful people.

Recently a documentary, The Singing Revolution, has been in select theaters around the country. It tells how Estonia sang its way to freedom. They never gave up hope. Go to the website and watch the trailer. It gives a glimpse of the long struggle for freedom.

And, finally, the froth. We had one cat who lived in our house for eighteen years. During that time she became a member of the family, and we loved her so much. I became a little foolish for anything about a cat. So in my foolishness, I ordered a set of cat figurines. They pretty much tell the life of a cat, being caught in precarious spots...or...

living in the lap of luxury, being catered to, and given anything his heart desires.

Have a good rest of the week.

Reminiscing

Last year I didn't put up a Christmas tree. I don't really know why. I had other decorations around, but I decided that this year it would go up. A few years ago, I bought a pre-lit tree on sale and thought it would be so much easier. The only problem with it was that it was fairly flimsy and the branches didn't support the weight of many of my ornaments. I had ordered it from a catalog and so ordered it sight unseen, more or less. Anyway this year Sarah came over and helped me put up the older one that I've had for a long time. After she left I started putting the lights on. That's a job in itself, and I didn't do it all in one day.

Finally today I put the ornaments on. Yes, I know it's the 15th of December, but I plan to leave it up until after Ella comes January 1. As I pulled the ornaments out of the boxes, memories or early years of my marriage and memories of my children when they were younger washed over me. Don and I started going to DisneyWorld after we were married. We went every year around the holidays and every year I would look for a Norman Rockwell ornament to hang on the tree. They date back to 1974 and some of them have faded a bit. I know that somewhere along the way, a couple of them have gotten broken.

Strawberry Shortcake made her presence known in our house, along with her friends. She has been on the tree for 28 years or so. Also on my tree are many of the ornaments that were given to David and Sarah by my husband's parents...ornaments for the granddaughter and the grandson. They haven't claimed them yet for their own trees, and so they go on mine. Sarah, with two cats, has chosen not to put up a tree.

I love this little guy. When David was three, the one thing he wanted for Christmas was a "fishing pole with a crank." His pre-school teacher must have heard his request, because when he opened his gift from her, here was an ornament of a beaver with a fishing pole with a crank. He got his fishing pole as well.

My tree isn't very artsy, and it isn't picture perfect, but it's full of many wonderful memories of Christmases past.

All Is Bright

Carmi's theme last week was "shadows. " This week it's "bright." Last Saturday our Sweet Adelines chorus did a show with the theme Christmas in Toyland. The Bradenton Christian School has a Joy Luncheon each December to help usher in the Christmas season, and this is the second time that we have been their entertainment.

The first half of the show opened with the song "Toyland" Two of the ladies were dressed as toy soldiers. They were in gift boxes to the side of the risers, and when we got to the part of the song where the toy shop comes alive, they came out of the boxes and did a bit of choreography. Then as the parade was over, they went back in the boxes and the toy shop was quiet. If you know the song, you know it says "Toyland, toyland, mystical girl and boy land, once you pass its borders, you can never return again."

The second half of the show was filled with songs about the birth of Christ. We started with "Sing We Noel," When Jesus Was a Tiny Baby," What Can I Give Him?" a medley containing "Silent Night," "Go Tell It on the Mountain," and ending with "Rejoice." The last song contains parts of "When they Saw the Star," We Three Kings," and "The First Noel." That one took us a while to learn since each part is doing something different almost all the way through the song.

In the evening we shared the stage with the Ditchfield Family Singers. This family is made up of the mom and dad and four of their adult children and a daughter-in-law. One other young lady has joined them and has become part of the family. Being family, their voices blend perfectly, and they are a real crowd -pleaser. If you go to their site, you can hear samples of their music

Everyone who came said that it was one of the best shows they had seen and worth the price of the ticket. We were very glad to hear that!

New Lungs

Are you an organ donor? Read this very moving article.

Carmi's New Theme - Shadows

Carmi's new theme this week is "shadows." I tried to think what I might have in my files that would fit this theme. It's amazing what one keeps on file in a computer. As I was looking out my son's front door one February, this was what I saw, the lovely maple tree all bare. Its shadow graced and laced the front yard.

Living in Florida, one doesn't see the changes of seasons as one does in other parts of the world. I love looking at the bare trees, seeing the clear blue sky through the branches. When my daughter turned 21, she was in college in North Carolina. Her birthday is in January, and I flew to Raleigh to be with her over in Mount Olive. As the plane was approaching Raleigh, I looked out the window and saw beautiful houses with trees around them with no leaves! I thought that someone should do something about the dead trees. The next day we were out driving, and it struck me, "The trees aren't supposed to have leaves this time of year, dummy!"

I'm reminded of the wonderful hymn which mentions shadow and the seasons--"Great Is Thy Faithfulness." What a comfort these words are to me. The hymn speaks of God's faithfulness to His people, and it is one of my favorites. You can read the words and hear the song here.