Merry Christmas

[The Birth of Jesus Christ]
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
[The Shepherds and the Angels]
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
(Luke 2:1-21 ESV)

Red-Nosed Caribou

What do you get when you have an Alaskan child who is deprived of secular Christmas stories?  You get to overhear the following  conversation.

My four year old was looking at a piano book earlier this morning and was on the page with the song Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  She noticed a drawing of Rudolf.  She pointed to his red nose and then with a bit of urgency and concern she asks,

“What happened to the caribou?!?!?!”

.

.

.

After a short pause she answered her own question.

“Oh, he is blowing a bubble out his nose.”

Image via Wikipedia

.

Do you think it is time for me to tell her the story??  LOL  Nah, overhearing these conversations is priceless!

Songs For Saplings

About a year or so ago a dear friend shared a CD with me.  She said that a friend of hers put these CDs together and thought that we would enjoy them.  The children LOVED it so we decided to purchase the rest of the catechism cds and have been enjoying them ever since.

The other day a very well known blogger posted about these very cds.  Challies posted about Songs for Saplings along with other music for children.  Challies wrote:

Songs for Saplings is James and Dana Dirksen from Porland, Oregon. They have recorded four albums, one of which follows an A,B,C format while the other three are questions and answers, much like a catechism. I suppose these albums will largely appeal to younger children. They are quiet and acoustic.

He is correct in his assessment of the cds. They are geared toward younger children. But they are beneficial for the entire family.  The catechism cds do appeal to older children more and more in the second and third cds.  There is a great variety in the style of music on each cd. You can even listen to excerpts on their website.

What I love about them is that the children (and us parents) learn the great truths presented in the Westminster Catechism which is derived directly from scripture. Each question and answer also contains the scripture that teaches the truth. This way your children are not only learning the doctrinal truth but the scriptures that proclaim that truth.

Songs for Saplings is a ministry of the Dirksen family and this is what they state on their website.

We create lively, fun songs that attempt to deliver the deepest of Biblical truth in a format that your children will love to listen to. We want them to understand who God is and what He has done, as well as what He wants your children to do and to be. We hope that you will benefit from these CDs and use them to help teach your children about our God and his great love for us.

With Christmas time approaching, what better gift could you give than the gift of music which teaches and proclaims the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ?!

I am pleased to announce that I can offer you a 20% discount off of your order when you buy CDs from their website. This includes the “12-pack bulk pack” which a lot of people order for gift-giving. This does however exclude the 24 and 48 CD bulk packs, which are already heavily discounted.

All you need to do is enter the following code as you go through the checkout: mamaarcher
It’s really simple.

Hopefully you will find this really helpful as you order CDs this Christmas!

As you seek to grow your little saplings……

into strong oaks of righteousness…

Songs for Saplings can be a musical and fun tool for you and your family to use and enjoy!

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
(Isaiah 61:3b)

Visit SONGS FOR SAPLINGS and order your CDs today! Order some for your friends and family too! Don’t forget to enter the discount code for your 20% off!

Please leave a comment and let me know if you plan on making a purchase and what you think of their music and ministry!

Regardless of whether you order, please tweet, email, and share on Facebook so that others can take advantage of the discount offer!

A Visit to the North Pole

Christmas in July, I have often heard of those who celebrate Christmas in July and this year our family had a little taste of that. Even though it is August now, our family was vacationing in July and I was unable to blog about this prior to now. I was without a computer all week and it was actually a really nice thing, until I came home and had to clean out my email inbox! I know I had blog entries posting here but that was all set up in advance.

OKAY! Back to Christmas in July!

On our vacation we visited North Pole, Alaska.

Here is a little history blurb from the North Pole website.

In 1944, bon Davis homesteaded this area. Dahl and Gaske Development Company later bought the Davis Homestead, subdivided it and named it North Pole. The name was selected to attract the toy industry to manufacture articles made in “North Pole”. This endeavor failed to blossom, but North Pole has continued to grow. There is continued interest to develop North Pole as a theme city, “Where the spirit of Christmas lives year round”. Many streets bear holiday names: Santa Claus Lane, Snowman Lane, Kris Kringle, Mistletoe, Holiday Rd., Saint Nicholas Drive, North Star Drive, Blitzen, and Donnor. Street lights are decorated in candy cane motifs and many buildings are painted with Christmas colors and designs. The Santa Claus house, the “official” home of Santa Claus greets all visitors who pass through the city on the Richardson Highway. Live reindeer and Santa Claus himself are available for photographs year round. Each year the community starts the holiday season with a candle lighting ceremony and tree lighting event the first Sunday in December.

We visited the Santa Claus House.  It is really a big gift shop.  You can purchase Alaska related Christmas ornaments, letters from Santa, snow in a bag, t-shirts, and other gift shoppy things.  We enjoyed looking at all of the nativity sets and the live reindeer. I think that one of my favorite parts was actually the visit with Santa. Let me explain.  We really do not do much with Santa in our home.  We focus on Christ.  We also do not shun every tradition.  I love tradition as long as it is done with purpose and it can be used to point to Christ. Back to my explanation……..

We spoke with St. Nickolas ….  the man with the beard was such a sweet man.  He noticed the Biblical names of our children and a homeschool t-shirt one of the children was wearing.  He asked one of the children which church we attended and realized that my hubby is a minister.  As he was speaking to the children about where we worship on the Lord’s Day.  He said that it was great that we go to worship.  He said ” You know Santa loves Jesus too!”  He shared with us his favorite verses!  I was so thankful to have that man there to share with my children that even he thought that Christ was Lord!

I just want to end this post with a couple of photos and with the favorite verses of the North Pole Santa…..

Philippians 2:10-11

So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

A Glow Stick Christmas

Typically on Christmas Eve our family will attend the Candlelight – Lord’s Supper service. It is one of the traditions we have and it helps us to focus our minds and hearts upon the Lord. It allows us to make sure He is at the focal point where He should be. This is one service that our family looks forward to each and every year. Not only is it an enjoyable service but it is one that is filled with reverence for our Lord. It is one in which there can be solemness and joy expressed with a still, quiet spirit and be filled with music and praise. This year however the tone was much different. There were many who disagreed with my hubby, my children, and I on this matter. The reverence and seriousness of the celebration was lost.

Am I the only one who realizes that you can be serious and joyful at the same time? You can be serious and have fun at the same time? You can take things seriously and still enjoy them? There are times and places to act, to behave in certain ways. We do not have to remove the serious nature of things to enjoy them and be blessed. When we try to make things practical and fun all the time the meaning is often lost.

This year while the Lord’s Supper was being served many people were chuckling, giggling, and talking (rather loudly too). Where is the reverence and the gratitude due to our Lord? Did it even mean anything to them?

When it came time for the candlelight service instead of candles we were given multicolored glow sticks. The reasons given for this choice were: no fire hazard, easier for children, and solidarity with our troops. Let me ask, what is wrong with parents supervising their children? The hazard is not that high if children are supervised. It is not that difficult to help a child. I can understand the solidarity with the troops who are deployed but personally I think this was not appropriate. For those in the deployed setting I do not have issue with them using them. In this service though we are to be honoring Christ not other people.

It was not necessarily the fact that we used the glow sticks, it was the attitude and atmosphere that accompanied their usage and was associate with them. The sense of reverence was gone. It wasn’t even about solidarity with the troops, it was about fun. There were people laughing, children waving them around, teenagers using them as drumsticks, and we even noticed someone holding up a cell phone! At least with candles, children have to be still, you are more focused and aware. There is more of a sense of reverence rather than the carnival atmosphere we experienced. There were several people who thought it was wonderful and so much fun. There was one person who said it was great and that he will always remember the service. We will too but it will not be a good memory it will be one in which we saw the Lord take a backseat to entertainment.

So, is our family alone in this? Do you think we are over reacting? What would you do or feel if this was a service you attended? What are your thought and ideas? Share with me your Ponderings!

Merry Christmas

What is the foundation for the joy of Christmas? Here is a great article by one of my favorites, Dr. R.C. Sproul, entitled Born of the Virgin Mary.