Christmas

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Christmas Tradition

Merry Christmas!!

I hope you have a blessed time with your family and friends.  It has been a busy week in my house.  All my children were home for Christmas and we had a very nice time as family. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.  I think it’s the most beautiful season of all. I love the lights, Christmas songs, baking cookies, Apple Cider, Egg Nog, not to mention the shopping.  It’s the season of love and giving.  Ahh.. one more thing.. I love White Christmas.. I think Christmas without the snow is like hot chocolate without marshmallows 😊

In my house, the Christmas tradition starts on Thanksgiving.  It’s always a buffet style as we always have big company.  We invite friends who don’t have relatives close by to share the turkey and trimmings.  Then in the weekend, we put up the Christmas tree and decorate it together.    

On Christmas eve, we have a family dinner, then we open one present.  On Christmas morning, we open all presents and eat the leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner.  I hang Christmas stockings on the fireplace and we have a small tree with ornaments that we can open and stuff things like chocolate, money, notes, etc.  When my kids were little, each one of them gets one bulb a day and on Christmas day, whoever wakes up the earliest can take the last bulb on the tree. Now, they are grown up and don’t live at home anymore.  So, on Christmas day, they pick up 4-5 bulbs and open them at the same time.  Still it’s fun for them to see what they get inside the bulb. 

It still amazes me that after all the presents, slowly but surely they make their way to Christmas stockings hung on the fireplace and start reaching into it.  I realize it doesn’t matter what the age is, the traditions we created stay with them and they always look forward to the Christmas stockings 😊

When I created the tradition, I want my children to remember what we do as a family during the holidays to make memories and hopefully they can pass it to their children.  Now, they are grown up and they make it a priority to come home for the holidays even for a few hours and they have to drive a few hours to go home because they have to work the next day.  It blessed me more than anything, seeing my children sitting on dining table and having a great time with their siblings and enjoying the food and company.   

What is your tradition??  If you don’t have one yet, you can start now 🙂

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Good Morning America!

Good Morning America!

Thank God It’s Friday 🙂

It’s a week before Christmas, the celebration of a savior’s birthday.  The one who unselfishly gave His life so everyone can be saved by believing that His love is an everlasting love.  Because He loves us, He follows His Father to the cross.  For God so loved the world, that He gives His son for our sin atonement so we are free of our sins and washed it as white as snow.  The same with America, she has been gracious and generous to open her door for people to come and live off her land because America also loves her people.  May we not forget America in our prayers and bless her as she blesses us.

May this Christmas is a time for us to focus more on what’s important in our lives and that is family and our love for God.  May we enjoy our family and friends not only for the season but everyday from today on.  May love, peace and joy of the season reign in our hearts all days of our lives.  Remember, life is precious but love triumphs over all 🙂

Have a joyful weekend 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Merry Christmas :)

Christmas Is What You Have In Your Heart – Susy Pujiro

Christmas is the season of giving, the season of Joy, the season of peace on earth as a savior was born.  We celebrate the birth of Jesus.   In Matthew 2:11, the three wise men came to see Jesus and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.   The gifts have some meaning.

Gold represents something precious.  Gold can represent people you love.  Do you only think of your family members or relatives in Christmas season? Do you only visit them in Christmas season?  If people are precious, we should honor and love our family and relatives in every season of our lives.

Frankincense represents praise and perfume.  Your praise and worship are like a sweet smell to the Lord.  Perfume represents something smells good.  So Frankincense represent of how you see people and how people see you too.  Do you have good thoughts then it will be like sweet beautiful smell or it will be stinky like a skunk.  But whatever you think of a person, then it’s the perfume you projects about the person.  The same with other’s view of you.  What fragrance do you project…?

Myrrh represents oil or Holy Spirit.  It represents your heart if it’s oiled by the Holy Spirit or not.  What do you think in your heart? The Bible says in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”.  What is in your heart? Do you think of good things or evil things?

Christmas also means a season of love…. We give because we love or we love so we give.  No matter how you want to say it, Love = Give.  You cannot give without love.  Even when you give with a grouchy heart,  you are driven by love.  That’s why you give.

I believe Christmas should be every day and every moment.  If we say we love Jesus and He dwells in our hearts, then our heart should beat with love.  Because the heart has to beat so we can live.  Let it be with every heartbeat, there will be a beat of love.

So let love also be our motivation to live our lives that can be an example to the world, not only by words but also by deed.

I wish you “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”

May 2015 be a year of good health, love, peace, joy, happiness, dreams come true and prosperity.

May God’s hands will be upon you all days of your life.

May you count your blessings every day whether it’s small or big.

Because miracle happens every day 🙂

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What A Wonderful Christmas :)

Christmas in our home usually starts a night before Christmas with a family dinner and of course the excitements of opening the presents after dinner.  We usually open 1 – 2 gifts and then we leave the rest of the gifts for Christmas morning and not to forget what is in the Christmas stockings.  I usually get up earlier than everyone and start stuffing the stockings.   Then I make a cup of coffee with some Bailey’s and have some quiet time before the Christmas buzz starts again.

My oldest son who is mad at me and skipped the Christmas dinner, came home this morning and join us for Christmas day.  I would admit, Christmas is not complete without him.  As mad as he was, he got me what I wanted for Christmas – scarves 🙂  and exactly what I would have bought.

My second son who is in college, came home and asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told him fuzzy socks.  He told me there is no way, he was going to get me only socks.  In his words, he would not spend more money on his girlfriend and just buy me socks.  He touched my heart so much and I know I have trained him well :)Don’t get me wrong,  He told me what he got her and I am proud of him.

My third son is the sweetest and he has the cutest smile with dimples and big brown eyes. He did not ask me what I wanted but he bought me gifts that made my heart swell and I know he puts thoughts of what to give me.  On top of this, he bought groceries and cooked for the whole family.  He has been watching the Food network on TV and he made everything from scratch.  I am so proud of him.

My daughter who has been quiet about Christmas, finally told me that I deserve something nice because I have been working so hard.  She is a vibrant, beautiful, generous, kindhearted, intelligent girl.  She and her 2nd brother split a gift that is so wonderful for me and cost them a fortune.

This Christmas season has been one miracle after another.  I realize it’s God’s way of letting me know that He sees everything I have gone through and this is His way of blessing me with the restoration of my family and I guess we just add another Christmas tradition whereas my third son will cook on Christmas day 🙂

I look forward to a new year 2014 and excited of what He has for me 🙂

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Tis The Season…

Christmas is the beautiful time of the season full of joy, lights, decorations, baking and presents but also can be the hardest time of the year to celebrate because of the broken relationship, death, broken promises and missing someone you love.

I am experiencing it right now and I don’t feel like putting up the Christmas tree and decorate my house like I used to.  As my children get older and they are spreading their wings, being with their friends are more fun than being with family. I got the taste of what my life will be once my children are out of the nest and live their own lives. 

There is a reason for a season and that is the same with every event in our lives.  There is a reason why we are still here.  There is a reason for the broken relationship and broken promises. Sometimes, we can’t see what lies ahead of us because we only can see the hurt at the moment.   Holiday season just makes it harder to go through the day. 

I realize I have a choice to make because time keeps moving forward and I can’t be stuck in the time zone of the past, or waiting for the broken promise or mourning of the deaths and broken relationship. Because life doesn’t wait for me.  I either move on with the time and get on with my life or I will be left out and let life goes by me.

So, I decided today that I won’t let any circumstances in my life to hold me back to enjoy my life.  So, I took out my Christmas tree and I put it up and I will decorate my house as the day goes til Christmas. I also going to bake some cookies and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  After all, life is worth living and there is a brighter future ahead of us 🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🙂