The Days After Christmas

I, like most people, spend months planning and preparing for Christmas Day. My Christmas calender is filled with events. I buy presents to give following in the footsteps of the three kings. I put my manger out on display and hang festive decorations. I prepare Christmas dinner and treats to share with loved ones so we may give thanks for the birth of our Savior on Christmas Day. How well we all know the rush to get everything done on time and the inspirational excitement of the upcoming celebration of the miraculous birth of Christ.

Christmas Day comes and I rejoice! All the days and months of planning are realized on this day.

But what happens during the days after Christmas Day?

I find the rush is over and the excitement has subsided and my Christmas calender is a little bare from December 26th to December 31st. I am glad for some time to rest and I enjoy watching my son playing with his new toys, but I wonder how I can keep the Christmas season alive a little longer and feel inspired for the upcoming New Year.

The day after Christmas, I realized I had 6 days to fill with something inspirational and here is what I came up with...

December 26th - Create a small scrap book titled, My Favorite Christmas Present. Each member of the family must select a heart warming Christmas present they received, not one of monetary value, and decorate a page that illustrates that gift. My gift was the joy displayed on my step mother's face when she opened the Christmas present my son gave her that was engraved with "I Love Grandma".

December 27th - Watch a rented movie of the story of the Nativity. When the movie is finished, each member of the family gets to tell which is his/her favorite part of the movie and why.

December 28th - Have a candle and prayers night. Each member of the family will light a candle and say a prayer for someone in need. Then they will all decide together on a way in which they can help that person the next day.

December 29th - Put your plans for helping others into action.

December 30th - Go through all your old clothes and toys and donate all the items that are in good condition to a not-for-profit organization.

December 31st - Ring in the New Year with an abundance of Christian love! Each member of the family will select and mark a holiday on the 2008 calender (excluding Christmas & Easter) that they will be in charge of bringing Jesus into. Then they will write out their plan of action while enjoying a yule log cake and eggnog and then store their plan in a safe place.

I pray you have inspirational days after Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Christmas Eve Recipe

Ingredients

1 Reading of the birth of Jesus from the Bible
1 Shining Star Atop a Tree
1 Burning Candle to Welcome Those in Need
A Whole Bunch of Friends and Family
A Couple Dozen Christmas Hymns Sung at the Top of Your Lungs
And
A Prayer of Hope and Peace To Spread Throughout The World

One by one add all the above ingredients to your home and you will have cooked up a Blessed Christmas Eve!

The Ten Commandments

What God set in tablets for Mosses and his people to follow, The Ten Commandments, is the foundation of both Christian and political law because,

God's words are good. Let's face it, The Ten Commandments just plain make sense. If all people, everywhere followed The Ten Commandments, the world would be a better place to live in.

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Do not have any other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Snow Angels

My little boy his limbs spread wide

Lays in the snow and flaps with pride.

While angel wings and gown he makes

I see an angelic smile upon his face.

My little boy is having fun

Making angels one by one.

For every impression he leaves in the snow

Another angel says a prayer he knows.

My little boy's snow angels

May melt and be gone,

But the memory of making them

In his heart will live on.

What Is Love?

A group of professional people asked a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' These children really seem to know.

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' Karen - age 7

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

The Bible says:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

For Heaven's Sake

A co-worker sent this to my husband and I thought I would pass it along.

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him, "How do you expect to get into Heaven?" The boy thought it over and said, "Well I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, "For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!"

Win This Unique Set of Inspirational Trivets!

Win this unique set of Hope, Pray & Faith trivets with pictures of Jesus upon them! Three 6" ceramic trivets shown in decorative box. One says Hope, one says Pray and the last says Faith upon it.

All you have to do to enter is write a comment to this post that expresses one way in which hope, prayer and faith have blessed you. Limit one comment and one entry into the contest per person. There is no purchase of any kind required to enter. Contest is limited to USA residents 18 years of age or older. The winner will be selected randomly from all the entrants. The winner will be announced on this Blog in a separate post on January 1, 2008.

Here is one of my true stories of how hope, prayer and faith blessed me:

Many years ago when I was first married, I was in a car accident and hurt my back. My disability check was a lot less than I made working. Then my husband was laid off of his job and his unemployment check was a lot less than he was making working. The rent was due in a week and we really didn't have the money to pay it. Every night that week I prayed for an answer to our problem. I never gave up hope that by the time the rent was due, the money would be there. I had faith in our Lord who had never failed me in my greatest times of need. The day the rent was due, a check showed up in our mail box. That check covered our rent and tided us over until we were both back at work and able to pay the bills on our own again. If we have hope and we pray and never fail in our faith, the Lord does provide for us in many wondrous ways.

Elaine K Stephen

Inspirational Gift Gallery

Winner of the Noah's Ark Night Light!!!

Congratulations C. L. Glancy!

You are the winner of the Noah's Ark night light!

Please email me at inspirationalgift@yahoo.com with your mailing address so I can ship it to you.

Elaine K Stephen
Inspirational Gift Gallery