Full of wonder
The story of the first Nativity scene is a well-known Christmas staple: Saint Francis of Assisi is traditionally believed to have asked the citizens of the village of Gre... »
Volume 16.12 | December 2015
The best Christmas
The year we had very little money to spend on Christmas turned out to be our best ever! After a recent move to a new country, we’d had to leave behind all of our Christma... »
Celebration, not perfection
If you’re like me, you have an idea of what the perfect Christmas should be like. Maybe you have a mental picture of the perfect tree and decorations, somewhere ideal to... »
Telegram of hope
The well-known motivational author Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” This q... »
A time of miracles
A number of years ago, I lived and worked in a small volunteer center in the south of Russia. A week before Christmas, a snowstorm blew down the main power line for the w... »
Why the stable?
She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.—Luke 2:7 The Lord of th... »
God with us
Some people cannot understand how God could have come down and been wrapped in human flesh. That isn’t strange to me, though. In fact it is quite easy for me to believe,... »
Following the star
Every Christmas I picture the three wise men as they traveled through the desert in pursuit of that mysterious star. I can visualize them crossing the hot, sandy deserts... »
In it for the long haul
It’s wonderful to think about the manger, the angels, and that night when Jesus came to earth. It’s a thought that we focus on for a few weeks over the Christmas season,... »
Alone at Christmas
I’d been trying not to think about Christmas, dreading the day, hoping against hope that some angel would come into my life and make everything okay. I even tried pretend... »
The most important thing
—A Christmas adaptation of 1 Corinthians 13 If I decorate my house perfectly with holly, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not show love, I’m just anot... »
At the close of the year
The path of the past year is ending. We can look back at what has passed and recall the happy moments, the unanticipated joys, the good news that arrived like refreshing... »
What will you give Me?
What can you give Me, the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose throne is Heaven and whose footstool is Earth? [[See 1 Timothy 6:15; Isaiah 66:1.]] What could you possib... »