NATIVI-TEA: MY FAVORITE DECEMBER CUPPA!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

"for unto us a child is born."

In the mailbox.....

Outside.....

......Swain County Heritage Museum

Inside.....

.....a church

.....and within view of my prayer chair

and a warm cuppa Bewley's Irish breakfast!

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Christmas Blessings to all His children far and wide!

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE!

Unto us a child is born! Unto us a Son is given:...(Isaiah 9:6)

Joy to the world! The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King ....and every heart prepare Him room!

Merry Christmas!

REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Drive into Bryson City on Friday, December 1, and the signs, manger scenes, lights and decorations shine with a glorious Friday Focus!

Praises for a community whose focus is on the One who is the reason for the season! (Luke 2:7)

PREPOSITIONS!

Prepositions are very small, common words. We're all familiar with them as they point to or show direction.Think....by, for, to, through, in and of. My 4th grade teacher Mrs. Munday taught us not to end our sentences with a preposition but that rule seems to have vanished these days.

What hasn't changed: Prepositions all have an object. Prepositions precede said object. Objects of prepositions are nouns or pronouns, NEVER a verb. That's the "golden rule" of prepositions.

Yesterday's New Morning Mercies (July 11) was filled with prepositions pointing to the ONE who is always the answer!

For to us a child is born, (Isaiah 9:6)

For from him and through him, and to him were all things. (Romans 11:36)

For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, (Colossians 1:16)

And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

...by your will (all things) existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

BTW, regardless of the preceding preposition....The answer is JESUS! 

BEHOLDING WONDER!

Christmas Eve journaling.....

Hark (Behold) Pay attention.

Dr. Luke invites us to behold the birth of Jesus. Behold God's mercy in the manger.

Christmas Eve Service @ Allen Bible Church

Unwrap Jesus in His humanity.

Unwrap Jesus at the cross. 

At the cross, He was wrapped in our sins, to give us His righteousness.

Come let us adore Him.

Changing gloom to gladness.

"The essence of the Christian message is not Behave! but Behold!" (Jared Wilson)

Beholding changed to wonder is where life begins!

CHOOSE: TO CELEBRATE CHRISTmas!

They say "there's more snow up in Colorado" and Massachusetts but.....

we do have a magnificent sun rise!

A great reminder as we focus on the birth of the risen Son!

Merry Christmas from Memphis to wherever you are!

CHOOSE: TO REMEMBER ADVENT TRADITIONS

On this "Wordsmith Wednesday" a son's words recall "Advent, Liles style" for Allen Bible Church.

HOW ARE YOU “DOING ADVENT” THIS YEAR?

If “the Ghost of Christmas Past” could take you back to the Christmas of my childhood, you would end up at 1152 Longreen Drive in Memphis.  Approaching the house, you would already hear an “awfully off-key, yet strangely uninhibited” rendition of “We Three Kings” being belted out. Peek through the dining room window, and you would see a homely Advent wreath with candles lit at the center of the table.  Around the table, you would glimpse a mom and a dad trying their best to lead 3 squirmy kids in a few minutes of reflection that we called “doing advent.” “Advent” simply means “coming.”  And we did Advent as a family to remember that Christmas is about Jesus “coming” to our world.  God had promised this “advent” of a Savior long before Jesus was born in an animal feed trough.  That’s why we would read from normally untouched parts of the Bible—like Micah and Isaiah! That’s why we did Advent at 1152 Longreen. How we did Advent was more fidget than focus…more unraveled than seamless…mostly wiggly with a smidge of worship-y!

I couldn’t sit still then, yet now I can’t shake off lessons that somehow stuck with me.  Somehow by doing Advent God did something in me. Doing Advent Liles-style circa 1986!

How will you do advent this year?  How will you prepare yourself or your family to worship Christ the newborn King?

CHOOSE: TO LOOK FOR THE BABY

Afte Lucy's question, "Where is the baby?" I have been diligent to look for a manger filled with its symbolic resident. A Nativity with a capital N.

Seeking----as to physically see the babe in the manger. 

This morning I found Him in the hallway at the Baptist Surgery Center......

....as well as outside on the northwest side of the entryway.

Spiritually my prayer is for all to choose to seek Him. As Jeremiah 29:13 reminds me, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart." 

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Maybe the "memory moments" began as I sat by "my Molly" at the funeral of  6 yr. old Milla G. this week. Such a service can have any parent wanting to hold on to sweet memories of their precious children.

This morning I wondered what memories my children and grandchildren would carry with them once I am gone. Would they remember that in their early years I always sang a little 2 line "ditty" to help them ease into their mornings. "Good morning Sunshine. How you doing friend?"

Guess what made me think of that today! My morning cuppa!

But would they recall the spiritual & sometimes quirky Christmas happenings---

• Donald Duck always goes on tree first as it's the 1st ornament bought for a Liles tree in 1969
• 24 days of no TV which they gave me as a gift (and then wanted to take it back, but didn't) 
• the lobster races on the kitchen floor, 
• Pop's "little" prayer for the "big" meal "For these and all our many blessings we thank you."
• country ham (cooked in black ironskillet) with biscuits & re-eye gravy on Christmas eve
• In 1982 when we walked "late" on the night of the full moon and discovered 2 moons that  December---13 moons that year---one of those "once in a blue moon" years
• the year the lights went out, only on our street, so we had to entertain a house full of Advent guests in the DARK---at least we could use our camp stove & run an extension cord across to our back door neighbors to plug in an electric skillet, 
• our Advent Sundays with a Jewish neighbor in attendance just to hear Mr. Liles sing "We Three Kings", 
• the on-going "hunt" for the lost Double Bubble bubble gum canister/tub, 
• always picking out a "real" Christmas tree, 
• Cutting the names off of every Christmas card we received and taking turns throughout the next year praying for the names we "drew" from the yellow smiley mug. Mug had been given us by Maxine (Mommar's sister) & Clyde---along with King Leo peppermint sticks for Molly
• taking 20 leftover Christmas trees the day after Christmas to use in Molly & Corey's wedding, 
• Lucy being small enough to bathe in the kitchen sink on our first Colorado Christmas, 
• the deer in the front yard on our 2nd Colorado Christmas as it snowed everyday we were there in 2014,
• making Christmas angels in the snow then darting back inside to the hot tub
• magic wands that turned on the Christmas lights over the big mantle,

Maybe this Christmas we can all share what we remember and then I can add to the list---remembering the One who should be the ultimate focus of the entire celebration. (Isaiah 9:6)

You, reader,  might want to start your own "Christmas Memory" list!