Santa

Dear Santa,

If I could ask for just ONE GIFT this Christmas
I would ask for world peace.
But how would you fit it in a bag?
So I guess anything else would be fine!

PS. Fill it up!

Wise Men Still Seek Him

GIFTS OF THE MAGI
"AND WHEN THEY WERE COME INTO THE HOUSE, THEY SAW THE YOUNG CHILD WITH MARY, HIS MOTHER, AND THEY FELL DOWN, AND WORSHIPED HIM: AND WHEN THEY HAD OPENED THEIR TREASURES, THEY PRESENTED TO HIM GIFTS:; GOLD, AND FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH." - MATHEW 2:11

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE TRADITION OF GIVING GIFTS AT CHRISTMAS. SINCE THE ONLY GIFTS WE CAN GIVE JESUS NOW ARE OUR LIVE AND OUR SERVICE TO OTHERS, WE CELEBRATE HIS BIRTH EVERY YEAR BY GIVING TO OTHERS.
WHAT EXACTLY ARE GOLD, AND FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH AND HOW DO THESE GIFTS RELATE TO CHRIST?

GOLD:
A PRECIOUS METAL, GOLD IS REMARKABLE FOR IT'S BEAUTIFUL COLOR, IT'S DENSITY, AND IT'S FREEDOM FROM RUST OR TARNISH. IT IS WIDELY FOUND IN NATURE AS A FREE METAL BUT ALWAYS IN SMALL QUANTITIES. IT IS USED FOR JEWELRY, ORNAMENTS, GUILDING AND COMBINED WITH OTHER METALS FOR COMAGE. THROUGHOUT HISTORY IT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED PRECIOUS AND A SYMBOL OF WEALTH.

FRANKINCENSE:
FRANKINCENSE IS A SUBSTANCE THAT EMITS FRAGRANCE FROM OLD WORLD BALSAM TREES. IT IS CONSIDERED A LUXURIOUS INCENSE. FRANKINCENSE WAS BURNED BY BOTH EGYPTIANS AND JEWS IN THEIR RELIGIOUS DEVOTION. IT IS STILL USED TODAY AS AN INCENSE.

MYRRH:
THE ANCIENT HEBREWS REGARDED MYRRH AS ONE OF EARTH'S MOST PRECIOUS AND VERSATILE PRODUCTS. AS A MEDICINE IT HEALED THEIR BODIES, AS AN INCENSE IT LIFTED THEIR SPIRITS, AND AS A PERFUME IT PLEASED THEIR HEARTS. MYRRH IS A LOW AND BRANCHY SHRUB OR TREE WITH WHITEISH/GREY BARK AND BEARS FRUIT THE SIZE OF A PEA. THE RESIN FLOWS NATURALLY FROM THE BARK FORMING SOFT REDDISH BROWN DROPS WHICH GRADUALLY HARDEN AND FORM THE MEDICINAL GUM MYRRH. THEY POWDER READILY, GIVING OFF A PLEASANT FRAGRANCE, AND THE TASTE, THOUGH BITTER, IS NOT UNPLEASANT. OF THE THREE WISEMEN, BELIEVED TO BE MEMBERS OF THE CASTE OF PERSIA, ONE CONSIDERED MYRRH TO BE OF SUCH EXCEPTIONAL VALUE THAT IT WAS OFFERED BY HIM AS A GIFT TO THE INFANT JESUS, THE HIGHEST OF KINGS.

Jingle Bells rewritten

TO THE TUNE OF 'JINGLE BELLS'

DASHING THROUGH THE MALL
WITH GROCERIES YET TO BUY
LESSONS, WORK, HOUSECLEANING
LIFE IS SO CRAZY, WHY?

BELLS ON OUR PHONE RING
THE MACHINE WILL TAKE THE CALL
WE HAVE NO TIME FOR FAMILY OF FRIENDS
IT DRIVES US UP THE WALL!

CHORUS:
HOW ARE YOU? HOW'S YOUR LIFE?
WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW
HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR CHRISTMAS
NOW MAYBE IT WILL SNOW

A DAY OR TWO AGO
WE THOUGHT WE'D MAKE A TREAT
FOR ALL OUR SPECIAL FRIENDS
A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO EAT

OUR INTENTIONS WERE TOP NOTCH
BUT OUR SCHEDULES WOULD NOT BUDGE
SO HERE'S THIS YEAR'S EDITION OF
SOME HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS FUDGE!

The Lord is coming to visit

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again.
There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:

Dear Ruth:
I`m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always,
Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table.

"Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer."

With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.

"Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer.
I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner."

She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents.
Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.

A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk, leaving Ruth with grand total twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

"Hey lady, can you help us,lady?"
Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags.

"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us Lady, we'd really appreciate it."

Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.

"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."

"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway." The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. "Sir, wait!"
The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them.

"Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest."

She handed the man her grocery bag.

"Thank you lady. Thank you very much!"
"Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering.

"You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one."
Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders.
Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street...without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too.
The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have anything to offer Him.
She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day."

Dear Ruth:

It was so good to see you again.
Thank you for the lovely meal.
And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.
Love Always,

Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Give Thanks

AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Thankful...

For the spouse who hogs the bed covers at night, because that means they aren't somewhere else.

For the teenager who is not doing dishes, but is watching TV, because that means they are at home and not on the streets.

For the taxes that I pay, because that means I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because they tell me I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.

For the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I'm capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge winter heating bill, because it means I am warm.

For my huge summer electric bill, because it means I am cool.

For the lady behind me in church that sings off key, because it means that I can hear

For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means I have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of working hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I'm alive.

For too much e-mail, because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.

Good Stuff

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Stuff
Every fall I start stirring my stuff. There is closet stuff, drawer stuff, attic stuff, and basement stuff. I separate the good stuff from the bad stuff, then I stuff the bad stuff anywhere the stuff is not too crowded untilI decide if I will need the bad stuff.
When the Lord calls me home, my children will want the good stuff, but the bad stuff, stuffed where ever there is room among all the other stuff, will be stuffed in bags and taken to the dump where all the other people's stuff has been taken.
Whenever we have company they always bring bags and bags of stuff. Whenever I visit my son, he always moves his stuff so I will have room for my stuff. My daughter in-law always clears a drawer of her stuff so I will have room for my stuff. Their stuff and my stuff... It would be so much easier to use their stuff and leave my stuff at home, with the rest of my stuff.
This fall I had an extra closet built so I would have a place for all the stuff too good to throw away and too bad to keep with my good stuff. You may not have this problem, but I seem to spend a lot of time with stuff... food stuff, cleaning stuff, medicine stuff, clothes stuff, and outside stuff. Whatever would life be like if we didn't have all this stuff?
Now there is all the stuff we use to make us smell better than we do. There is the stuff to make our hair look good, stuff to make us look younger, stuff to make us look healthier. stuff to hold us in, and stuff to fill us out. There is stuff to read, stuff to play with, stuff to entertain us and stuff to eat. We stuff ourselves with the food stuff.
Well, our lives are with stuff, good stuff, bad stuff, big stuff, useful stuff, junky stuff, and everyone's stuff. Now when we leave all our stuff and go to heaven, whatever happens to our stuff won't matter. We will still have the good stuff God has prepared for us in heaven.

Poem of Thanksgiving

Coming up on that time of year again!

Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep.

I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned- the dark meat and white,

But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation, the thought of a snack became infatuation.

So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door.

And gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,

Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,

"Til all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky

With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.

But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...

Happy eating to all - pass the cranberries, please.

May your stuffing be tasty, may your turkey be plump.

May you potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump,

May your yams be delicious may your pies take the prize,

May your thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.