by Donna:
The month of December started out just as any other time of the year. Our lives were immersed in school, work and ministry and the general business of life. The area where we live is not particularly dedicated to the beauty of Christmas but rather the consumerism of the season. It was definitely a struggle to stir up any resemblance of a festive occasion.
Then everything changed. We traveled back to the place where we pay our taxes and began to prepare for the coming of the celebration of the birth of the Savior.
Jorge and Jason labored for days to add warmth and comfort to our living room by covering the cold, ceramic floor tiles with wood. A decorative tree was set up and most important of all, Christmas praises began to ring through the air! It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!
Then, the extra ordinary began to happen! Little Aurora arrived and ran over to the stable and exclaimed, “Baby! ” and 4 year old Isabel broke out in her joyful chorus “Come and see Jesus!” These beautiful children ran to see Jesus! Friends and loved ones arrived sharing wishes of good cheer! What Joy! Christmas had indeed arrived! Jesus came into the center of the picture and that is when everything became transformed! Many years ago in Bethlehem, Jesus was born. Nothing was ever the same again! The King of kings lie in lowly manger, an angel revealed to nearby shepherds that in the city of David a Savior was born, which is Christ the Lord, and a multitude of angels began to sing
“Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth good will toward men.”
Christ blessed our hearts this Christmas as we sang of His advent and His glory! Everything is changed since we received our Savior!
New Year Resolutions:
As usual every year, for the past 40 years or so, we held our New Year Resolutions ceremony on the 1st of January. This is a simple but meaningful time together, where we pray and thank the Lord for the all that He has done during the previous year and make a Resolution for the New Year. Each person also claims one or more scriptures. Those who are not present may send their resolutions, which are read and kept in our records. Many burdens and wishes were brought before the Lord. My personal verse for the New Year was/is Isaiah 43:19 : “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
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