Yesterday I dug out one of my favorite old dresses from a Christmas in high school and was trying to figure out if I’d be able to wear it this year. Here’s what I have so far:
Red Sateen Bolero Jacket: $8 on Debit MasterCard (1/2 off sale at Meijer!)
Leopard-print peep toe platforms: $0 ( Matron of Honor gift from my sister. That’s right I did NOT buy these shoes! Gifts are allowed!)
Rocking a velvet black LBD from high school: PRICELESS!
I am very excited for something from a Christmas long ago to be useful again this year. At first I was quite tempted to go out and find something new. I feel like I wear the same outfits every Christmas. I saw a gorgeous red pleated number on a mannequin while out shopping last weekend and of course they adorned it with fur cropped jacket so I was instantly drawn to it. But it’s so much more rewarding to utilize and reinvent something old…not to mention the fact that it fits again!
You know, sometimes I think we assume that the old story we’ve heard dozens…maybe even hundreds of times about baby Jesus being born in a stable and placed in a manger…and the wise men following the star…the shepards in the fields…the angels singing is just something old. After all, we’ve heard that story over and over and over. Do we really need to read it again? It isn’t until we pull it out and take a look do we realize we DO need to read it again…and again…and again! I urge you this Christmas to read that story…again. Ask God to show you something you never realized before. I really believe, that just like me, you will see that this something old…much more than anything you can dig out of your closet…is something you will find to be one of your favorite things!
Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
The Magi Visit the Messiah
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Wonders of HIS Love 