Christmas Time's A-Coming

We are continuing to celebrate the Light of the World in Jerusalem: Yeshua's birthday is only a few days away! Right after Thanksgiving most people in the States put up their Christmas decorations, and I have to admit, it was hard looking at facebook and seeing everyone with their lights and trees and coziness. When we packed for Israel we did not pack Christmas decorations and last month I began to rack my brain on what Cassidy and I could do to make our home reminiscent of my childhood Christmases.

Well, it is Jerusalem, and I'm pretty cheap when it comes to decorations, so I got online and searched out home-made Christmas decor (much like I did for Hanukkah). I also kept my eyes open as we walked around town. My heart leaped a few weeks ago when Cassidy pointed out huge pine cones on the side of the road. Pine cones! In the past I used to get a big bag of pine cones and greenery from Tom's folks so this felt like a wonderful gift from the Father.

Madebyjoel.com posted a paper nativity to color and cut out and things began to come together.

There weren't any shepherds to color, so Cass created her own.



We decorated empty salsa jars (a gift in itself) to make votives and cut out paper snowflakes. These aer such simple things, but they've helped us anticipate His birthday so much more. If you or your child love to craft I highly recommend these activities, or any others. Cassidy's excitement about each of these crafts was beyond measure and I loved seeing her joy and participating with her.

My one dilemma was where to put the presents. In the past we've enjoyed the tree. It's very nostalgic for me; my family always went out and cut down a tree and I loved every aspect of a live tree (I didn't have to pick up the needles or water it). When all the kids moved out my parents wanted to go with a fake tree creating quite a stir amongst us children. We finally conceded, and my mom decorates it beautifully, although it lacks that Christmasy smell. Tom liked the tree because it gave him somewhere to put his fancy LGB train. Watching him teach the kids how to control the speed and seeing the excitement on Wyatt's face is a great memory. But even if we had packed Christmas decorations, the train would not have made it into the suitcase.



I know I could get a tree somewhere here in Jerusalem, but where? And am I really going to bring it home on the train? And is this really where I am going to focus my energy this Christmas? So while processing all of this with the L-rd I felt Him make a simple suggestion...a star.

עמנואל, Emmanuel

Yes, I thought, that is perfect. It reminds us of the star that showed the wise men the way to the newborn King, where they presented their gifts of gold (for a King), frankincense (for a Priest), and myrrh (for One whose death was going to be as important as His life).

So we re-used our stars from Hanukkah and cut out some bigger ones which we then colored and glued together. We hung them by our patio door and have started putting presents underneath them. I am so thankful to the L-rd for this idea: it represents His guiding light and His very Light and now we have a great tradition of decorating the stars together. As time goes on I'm sure it will change and improve, but this year I am thankful for this new tradition that points to Yeshua and helps us celebrate His life.

ישוע, Yeshua

 

Every craft has brought a lot of joy to Cassidy and we've been able to see her creativity grow and encourage her artistic side. We're so blessed to have a little girl who loves to sit and draw and sing about Yeshua. She has as many songs for the L-rd as there are crayons in the box. We pray He will continue to fill up her spirit with His love and truth so that she will shine His light here in Israel. I hope you all have a joyful and beautiful time celebrating Yeshua, his brave parents and the grace that G-d poured out on us that special day.