Friday, December 21, 2007

The Christmas Story

Matthew 2:18-25 ~

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

Luke 2: 1-20 ~

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Christmas

Well, five days and counting... There are no more official activities on the calendar, although my husband wants to drive to Plano to check out the house whose lights flash to music. Tonight is church; last night for two whole weeks.

Just remember, you can't have Christmas without Christ. And although many people say He is the reason for the season, I heard one preacher say that sinners (that's me {and you, too, BTW}) are really the reason for the season. If it weren't for us sinners, God would never have had to send his Son... Interesting concept, huh?

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

To be busy...

Well, now that we're on the downhill slide to Christmas, it seems as if everyday is has something scheduled. And whose bright idea was it to get pregnant in March?? Not this year, of course, but back in 1995. So now we have a birthday to celebrate a week before Christmas every year.

Parties, school programs, and shopping, but no slow season. Usually around this time of year, our business experiences a significant slow down... but not this year. I'd been hoping for slow days at work to catch my breath, maybe get some writing done, but no...

I hate being so busy that I don't have any down time. I'm very much an introvert and need time to recharge my batteries so that I can keep on keepin' on one day at a time.

Well, stop and take a breath. Me? I'm actually going to go spend some time recharging with God's Word...

God bless...

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Cover Art


Well, it's official - we have cover art. I am one of eleven authors whose short story will be included in an anthology to be published March 2008. It's getting really exciting now, and I'm so glad I decided to take part. I almost didn't. The editor assigned to my story was very encouraging about my writing skills - and just in time; I was thinking of giving up. But I'm glad I decided against it. I've also hooked up with a couple of chapter mates to form a critique group. We have similar personalities, and we write in similar genres. Well, at least ones we all enjoy reading.

And I was voted in for another year as president of my local RWA chapter. That's a mixed blessing to be sure, but 2008 just can't be any worse than 2007.

I hope you like the cover, and if you're interested in reading the book, stay tuned. I'll be posting more info as we draw near to the publication date.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Christmas Cheer

I'm feeling a little over-burdened today. Work has been crazy as we've been implementing new features on a major client's Web site. Of course, getting calls as people try to navigate through the new system. For some learned people with major degrees, they can be quite dumb.

Needless to say, I'm not feeling the Christmas cheer right now. I've got a huge tingly knot in my left shoulder - a tell tale sign of major stress...

A useless path to go down, but I sure do wish I didn't have to work. Maybe someday that'll be true, and it'll coincide with no longer having children in the house. And then I can focus and concentrate on whatever I want. Whether that be reading or writing and or anything else.

I remember the days when my son was a toddler. The quiet afternoons when his sisters were in school and he napped - okay, actually he watched a movie (Disney's Winnie the Pooh) and I napped. When my husband worked outside the home. And I had very little responsibility save the kids and the house.

Ah, well... maybe someday I'll have the house to myself again during the day. But not anytime in the very near future. Not unless I start selling a lot of books. One can dream... er, write. Yeah, in all my spare time.