Christmas Bread

Joy is the fourth candle on the Advent Wreath.
Make a pact with your family to be joyFILLed this week. 
Jesus is coming!

Now we break this bread together

Lord be with us here today

Make our lives your home forever

In Jesus name we pray.

Thank you for all you've given us

and on this special night

We share the gift of your son Jesus

Truly born in love's pure light.

Such a gift beyond all knowing

We are humbled in His sight

To live our lives like candles glowing

Our purpose to reflect His light.

So now we start but without merit

Lord please show us the way

Grant us your grace so we inherit

Christ, our bread, on Christmas day.

Amen.

*******

                                      ....Rockman, 12/24/90

Merry Christmas. From my home to yours. Blessings.
~Lori
       Miss you, Pops.

The Birth of Hope

The day my dad died, Hope was born.  Hope, a beautiful baby girl, my cousin Jim's fifth child. Jim is my Dad and Mom's nephew and Godkid. How poetic that God ushers in one life while bringing another home. My Dad's hospital room was just a couple floors below the birthing room in the same hospital. How like God to make sure we didn't miss the miracle of hope- the reminder of new life and eternal life. The day I let go of my Dad's hand was the same day I held a new life. Hope. 

On the third week of Advent make a pact with your family to hold onto hope. 

Hope...is what baby Jesus brings to a world in desperate need of him. Hope...what a crucified Jesus brings to sinful man. Hope...what  resurrected Jesus brings to a dying man. Hope...what Jesus, the coming King, brings to a broken world. 

The cradle, the cross, and the crown are all pictures of hope. 

Jesus... our Hope for a future- an eternal, heavenly future.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, 

I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 

You know the way to the place where I am going. 

John 14:1-4

How do you model hope to your children?

Keep the Faith

Faith is the second candle on the Advent wreath. It follows the promise candle. First the promise then the faith-the belief the promise will be fulfilled. Faith is believing without seeing. Faith, as Phillip Yancey says, "Only make sense in reverse." 

This week the second week of Advent, make a family pact to focus on faith.

This is a great opportunity to read through the Bible's heroes in Hebrew 11- The Hall of Faith.The men and women listed in this summary of the Old Testament were real people with real flaws but all had a strong faith. They each had an against the odds type of faith. The kind of faith Mary demonstrated when the angel told her she "was with child" even though she was a virgin. The kind of faith Joseph had when, in a dream, an angel told him to take Mary home to be his wife. Initially both were afraid, yet both believed.

Faith depends on the elements of steadfastness and courage.  Faith is not a wimpy response to a situation. Sometimes people of faith stand alone.

Encourage your kids to be able to articulate what they believe and why. Christmas is the perfect time of year to discuss the foundations of  faith. 

How do you set the tone for spiritual growth in your family?

 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 

Hebrews 11:1