Dear Readers:

During this Christmas season, please select from the following resources to enjoy the true present of Christmas … His Presence. God bless you and Merry Christmas. Jane VanOsdol and Mary Kane

Podcasts:

Join Jane and Mary as they discuss the people God used in the miraculous story of Jesus’ birth. What’s so interesting is that God uses everyday people to bring about His plans in the world–and He wants to use us too! Please click on the link: God Uses Every Day People podcast

Happy Advent! Mary and I would love to have you join us as we discuss Advent and how you can get ready for Christmas during this time of preparation. We’ll be discussing the background of Advent, ways you can celebrate it with your family, and the meaning of Isaiah 7:14. Don’t let the busyness of the season prevent you from truly celebrating Christ’s birth.

To listen to the podcast, scroll down to the bottom of the post and look for the sideways triangle under the print button. Also, here’s a link to last year’s Christmas podcast on Christmas Story: God Uses Everyday People

Bible Studies:

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the expectation and the preparation of the season as we ready our hearts and minds for the coming of the Savior. God wants you to know that whatever you are facing this Christmas season you have reason to hope and rejoice because He is with you. To do the Bible study please click on the link: God With Us

Did you re-gift a gift this year? Did you know that re-gifting is a Biblical concept? God is the author and creator of everything–even re-gifting! To do the study please click on the link: Re-gifting

Articles:

Join Jane as she poignantly relates the birth of her third child to the Christmas story of long ago. Please click on the link: Mary and Joseph

In Something to Celebrate, Jane writes about adjusting her vision and focus at Christmas time. Please clik on the link: Something to Celebrate

Music:

Please be blessed by Josh Groban’s beautiful rendition of O Holy Night:

“Image courtesy of FeelArt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”

Over the weekend, Mark and I were sharing pizza with friends, talking about our family Christmas traditions. One of our friends is from Columbia, and I asked him about how they celebrated Christmas in Columbia when he was a child. It’s so interesting to learn what’s important in other cultures.

In his village, Christmas Eve is the big celebration, marked by fireworks, special food, attending mass, putting up a small outdoor tree, and exchanging gifts. “The gifts, however, don’t go under the tree,” he said. I looked at him waiting for the explanation for this and was touched to hear this memory:

“In our village what was important was the Nativity. All the families would make their own Nativities. We went outside and gathered moss and other materials to build our own nativities. Then we took the time to put it all together. The tree was not the focal point of Christmas, the Nativity was, and the baby Jesus was the reason why we had gifts. We put our gifts around the Nativity, and we exchanged gifts because of Him.”

What a wonderful Sacred Everyday moment. How blessed he is to have years of building nativities with his family that engraved on his heart the real reason for Christmas.

Did you re-gift a gift this year? Did you know that re-gifting is a Biblical concept? God is the author and creator of everything–even re-gifting! To do the study “Re-gifting to the King,” please click on the link!

Image: Naito8 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the expectation and the preparation of the season as we ready our hearts and minds for the coming of the Savior. God wants you to know that whatever you are facing this Christmas season you have reason to hope and rejoice because He is with you. To do the study “God With Us,” just click on the link.

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1556″>Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Jesus has gifted every Christian with talents to use for His kingdom. It is His will that you greatly affect your culture for Jesus. Please click on the link to access a Bible study on how to use your gifts for His Name.