Joy to the World

AC loves Christmas music this year and that makes this mama happy! She patiently listens to my favorites and then asks for hers. This year she really likes "Joy to the World", "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells". AC tells me that EK really likes "Deck the Halls" too. :)

I am trying to teach her about the reason we have Christmas. We are reading lots of christian christmas books, like The Christmas Story by Patrician Pingry(she has most of this one memorized), Christmas Angels by Crystal Bowman, and God gave us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren. At 3 years old, she doesn't know to ask for presents. I am not sure how much longer this will last, but I love her innocence. She'll be thrilled with new toys, but it's not an expectation that she'll get a lot of things. The girls have been playing with our Little People Nativity. AC knows all the characters and where they go.

The verse I've been meditating on the past few weeks is Matthew 1:21
"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Jesus is a derivative of the name Joshua, which means the LORD saves.) Jesus Christ is the only one who could save us from our sins! I am so thankful he was willing to leave his place in Heaven and come to earth to take on human flesh. As we celebrate Christmas in a couple days and thank God for sending Jesus, I pray we'll also be thankful that Jesus grew up to be a man who later died on the cross to pay for our sins, so that we can be reconciled to God. That is what Christmas is all about!

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