My two older daughters came over for dinner.
My granddaughter was here as well.
She has not been here since we decorated for Christmas a week ago.
She was enthralled with everything she saw.

She looked at the Nutcracker that is the same height as her.
My oldest daughter made the Nutcracker talk.
She was a bit skeptical about his moving mouth, but she was still intrigued.
It is so wonderful to see Christmas through the eyes of a child.

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This post was originally published on December 13, 2016. It needed to be published again for the precious heart of someone who is grieving this Christmas.

I passed their house almost every day.
It was a typical colonial house with a front porch.
I never turned my head towards the house except at Christmas time.
The spotlight on the front lawn helped call attention to what was intended to be a focal point.

A wicker settee and two chairs could easily be passed over on any given day.
However, at Christmas time the settee became the resting place for Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
The festive couple were not gaudy in any way.
Actually, as the Claus couple go, they were quite subdued.

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The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word, adventus, meaning, “coming.”
It is a translation of the Greek word, parousia.
During the 4th and 5th centuries, Advent was a season of preparation.
By the 6th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ.

The “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem.
They thought of His second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world.
In the Middle Ages, Advent was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.
Today, the season of Advent lasts for four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

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Toddlers constantly crane their necks.
They spend their days looking up.
Everything is above them.
Everything is out of reach.

We adults might not remember what it was like to be a child.
A person’s knees were the only thing right at our level.
No wonder children can get bored during a conversation.
No one is looking at them; no one takes the time to talk to them.

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I was just finishing my third mile on my morning walk.
I was coming down the hill ready to go home.
The day was ahead of me.
There was meal planning and food shopping to do.

I was deep in thought.
I noticed that the bus stop was empty.
I usually see the elementary school children at this time of morning.
I wondered if they were being driven to school.

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This was previously published on December 10, 2015.

Any mother of boys will attest that boys are quite different from girls.
Their play is different.
Their approach to life is different.
That is by God’s design.

I never saw this more obviously than at Christmas time.
Simple decorations took on new meaning in the hands of my sons.
There was no point in having decorations that added a little whimsy.
What I saw as whimsy, they saw as battle ready.

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Look at the faces this time of year.
Whether you are shopping or in traffic, the faces look the same.
The faces are serious.
The faces have a frantic look about them.

People blame it on the holidays.
I have so much to do, they say.
I am so far behind, they admit.
Who is writing the list? Behind what?

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My daughter-in-love grew up in Annapolis.
Her father was in the Navy.
After moving around for many years, Annapolis became the family’s home base.
Going to school in the Baltimore area opened her eyes.

There were so many students that did not have the same color skin as hers.
In fact, she stood out quite a bit since she is extremely fair skinned and has blond hair.
That was just the way it was in her growing up years.
She loved it.

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This is the time of year to listen to Christmas music.
I confess that I begin listening a bit earlier each year.
I used to wait until after Thanksgiving.
I usually stop listening a few days after Christmas.

Maybe it is the headlines in the news.
Maybe it is the uncertainty of our times.
Maybe it is just a bit of nostalgia.
Perhaps it is a little bit of all those reasons.

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We have a country bench in our dining room.
Throughout the year it has a few decorative pillows on it.
It also has a bear called, Prayer Bear, from when my children were little.
That is another story.

Many years ago, a local shopping center did something very special.
For a few weeks during the Christmas season, you were encouraged to save your receipts.
After a certain amount was spent, you took the receipts to a store.
The amount could be accumulated over time.

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