For Christmas

Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,47and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior,48for he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed,49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name;50from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.51He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.52He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position;53he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.54He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,55as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
From Luke Ch. 1.
Also another good/thought-provoking christmas read found here

Christmas time is here...

Is Christmas really 4 days away? I'm afraid i haven't been feeling too much holiday spirit. Perhaps it's cause the family is kinda crazy these days... everyone has something to do, and though the tree is up, there's no christmas CDs going, and though there's presents under the tree, two of the brothers have birthdays: Austin turned 6 yesterday, and Luke... well, he'll be 11 on... Christmas day itself. And i have to admit, it's hard to feel all Christmasy when one can wear a short sleeve shirt outside. 22 C today. Gosh. Guess it's a northern hemisphere thing...we want Christmas cold! And snow! But alas, i live in one of the warmest parts of the US of A. It's never really cold. I've never seen a white Christmas (which may shock those of you in the north and upper midwest), but this is Georgia for ya.
But this is silliness... why complain? As we all know, Christ was born in Israel, though probably not on December 25. And it's only a little colder there. And they certainly won't be seeing snow. In fact, most of the world won't be seeing snow this Christmas. (insert global warming joke here?) It seem's i've bought in to our dreamy, fantastical version of Christmas. Blame it on Hollywood. Christmases are always white, magical, and an amazing time of family and when the world is perfect again. But it's not.... life's not like that. And though Christmas is an amazing time for family, it takes effort to keep it that way. So make time for those Christmas CDs. And Merry Christmas to all.