This figurine was on display and Dillard’s department store Rogers, AR.

This is a decorative gift box I found on a shelf at Marshall’s/Homegoods.

Christmas 2007

2024

Watching the grandcrew grow into young adults has been a special blessing. We live in the same town so we have seen all of those memory making moments throught the years. Some of you have seen my special tree that is covered with unique ornaments and this year I am something new. The kids have given me a Christmas ornament from their colleges.

From left to right this ornament represents our middle grand daughter who received her masters degree in sports therapy & training this past spring. She will be heading to Mesa, AZ to join the staff of the Athletics major league baseball team in January.

This ornament comes from the “Big Guy” who chose trade school and is now an electrical lineman in a nearby town. Think of him the next time severe weather or an ice storm knocks out your power and you see those trucks headed out to restore power to local residents.

This ornament represents the oldest grand daughter who received her Bachelor of Elementary Education and has been teaching kindergarten or six years. She loves her littles.

Finally this happy snowman represents our student athlete who graduated from Southern Arkansas this past spring with a Bachelors degree in Sports Therapy. She is working as a personal trainer in a local fitness facility.

God has been very good to our family and we are ever grateful for His love, mercy, and grace. Christmas is a special time around our house as we celebrate the birth of the Savior.

Christmas 2007

Among those who worshiped the one true Living God, the birth of Christ should not have been a surprise. It should have been anticipated and an event worthy of praise and great joy. The prophets of God had been telling of the coming of the Messiah for centuries.

Genesis 3:15 promised, through the seed of man, that the head of the serpent would be bruised. Isaiah 7:14 gives us the details of the events that will occur centuries later in the second chapter of Luke, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and call His name Immanuel.” In the ninth chapter of Isaiah we are given more details about this Son of the Living God, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). The following verse tells us the King of kings will be a decedent of David and His kingdom will never end, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.” That day is coming. Luke told us that the event described in Isaiah 7:14 was marked by a star and it was seen by many, some of whom had been looking for that day. There was a New Star Shining.

When I started the Christmas Music Marathon I never dreamed I would still be doing it fifteen years later. The original concept was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and give people a place to come and listen to some seasonal music that might be new to them. Fifteen years later this marathon is as much for me as it is for those who stop by. I enjoy the hunt for the music that appears in these posts and I enjoy capturing the images that accompany many of the entries. The only tradition that I have maintained throughout this journey is to begin the marathon with a Trisha Yearwood song that asks us to imagine what it would be like to walk the streets of Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve, not knowing what was about to transpire. Let the marathon begin.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years.