Max Lucado: A Christmas Prayer

Dear Jesus,

It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

Prayer borrowed from: huffingtonpost.com

Christmas Cards

www.wooddogcrate.com

It's Christmas card time!  I love everything about Christmas cards - from taking the pictures, to picking out our cards, to getting all our friend's cards in the mail and hanging them up in our house.  We're blessed because my sister is a photographer who is willing to capture us each year (EELaine Photography).  This year, I had even more fun with our Christmas card picture, because we had a new family member who joined us in front of the camera...

Isn't he just so handsome?!  He looks so regal in this picture...Princeton, that is :)

He's looking a little unsure of this whole thing in this picture.  Needless to say, this wasn't the choice for the 2012 Christmas card!

     

If you didn't already know it, these pictures should verify how well loved this dog is!

Here we are trying to get Princeton to howl....his thoughts? "Really, guys???  You sound ridiculous!"

"Let me show you how it's done..."

After sifting through all the great pictures that my sister took, we finally decided on this one:

I felt like this was the best one of all three of us :)

And here's a sneak peek at our 2012 Christmas card from tinyprints:

What about you?  Do you send Christmas cards every year?  Do you love tinyprints as much as I do?  (Here are our Christmas Card pictures from 2011 Christmas)