Merry Christmas

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,  “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christa the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

                                                                                           Luke 2:8-14

 
 

 

Navitity

Made by Jim as a surprise for me years ago...

All these were made in Honduras...

Do you have some Nativities you look forward to setting out each year?

Night of Wonder

Our church works with a non-profit organization called 6 Stones My husband, Jim, also serves on the board. One of the things they do during the year is work with all 19 elementary schools in the area to have a Christmas Party for the children and their families. This party is called Night of Wonder and is held on each school campus in early December. At the party, each family will receive their gifts and a Christmas dinner to take home. They also have a very special gift created for the children to give to their parent(s) on Christmas morning. During this party a local pastor will tell the real reason for Christmas...Jesus! It is a very meaningful and fun evening.

I want to share Jim's story of one night when he went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things:

"I went to Walmart this past week. They had poinsettias on sale for $3.47. I picked up 3 of those. There was water right inside the store. Within 60 seconds, I was at the quick checkout. The lady said, "Oh, those are beautiful poinsettias. How much where they?" I said, "They're $3.47." She said, "Oh, I love poinsettias, but that's way outside my budget." She paused and a smile spread across her face as she continued, "Last year the strangest thing happened. My two girls were adopted by some organization and we went to this Christmas party they were having. They gave away these poinsettias as raffle prizes and we won 2 of them! We were so blessed last year.

I said, "Do you mind if I ask you, do you know who that was?"
"It was some group of people that call themselves 6 Stones."

We have adopted our family and bought our gifts.  We will be working at Night of Wonder next week. I want to share the love of Jesus and see smiles on the faces of those we are helping.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's cold outside, so look what I've been doing inside!

I found these Christmas ornaments in a box in the attic. 

They belonged to my mother-in-law.

I think my daughter, Stacy, bought them for her one year.

They look so pretty setting on my buffet with the other things I have.

(Card may be purchased at The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy . She has many other pretty cards and prints.  I love having it set on my buffet!)

This gingerbread house is one I purchased from Party Lite years ago and I love burning tea lights in it each year! I know little people that visit will be loving the candy canes! 

I even had time to make soup for our dinner!  It is simmering on the stove and smells so good!  Click this link for Company's Coming Soup

Fudge Nut Bars

I baked some cookies and bars today. It was fun being in the kitchen listening to Christmas music as I baked. While I was making the Fudge Nut Bars I began to think of the friend that gave me the recipe. I met Janet when we were stationed at Ft. Benning, GA in 1977.  We lived next door to each other and became fast friends. Janet loved to entertain and had a lot of good recipes.  I am glad she shared this one with me. Tomorrow I will share them with the ladies at our Christmas event.

Fudge Nut Bars

1 C. butter

2 C. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 C. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. soda

3 C. oatmeal

2 t. vanilla

Combine above ingredients.

Spread 3/4  of oatmeal mixture in bottom of 13"x9" pan.

Filling: 

Combine in double boiler

12 oz. package chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 t. butter

1/2 t. salt

Heat and stir until smooth. Add 1 C. nuts and 2 t. vanilla.

Cover oatmeal mixture with the filling.

Dot top with remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Don't overbake.

Freezes well!