Elf in the Mix

Jingle Bell is getting started with the gingerbread house making, although things have been a bit messy.  We found him there this morning, apparently caught in the blender.  From the look of it, things could have turned out worse!

Today was Tuesday, and a return from Thanksgiving break in many ways.  Firstly, Madison was back at school again, sort of catching up.  The weather is wet and rainy - and warmer.  We're looking at a bi-polar sort of month so far, with extremes on both sides of the thermometer.  Next week, we're supposed to plunge on the temperature roller coaster again, although I don't know about any snow.

Daddy met with Mommy and Madison today at piano class, the first meeting in a few weeks, and the first official class in three.  It goes without saying that much of the class was a little rusty!  Still, our teacher was ready for this, and the assignments seemed a little easier to manage.

We got home in time to watch a few more Christmas specials, and read some Christmas stories.  Madison ordered a few books from school, including one about Gingerbread Pirates.  That's one of those titles you don't really question.  You just buy it.  Who cares how good the book is, it's about Gingerbread Pirates.  That's Daddy's general area of weakness, as it is related to pirates.

The book, however, was good.  Madison and Daddy enjoyed the adventures of the peg leg Captain Cookie, attempting to find his crew and escape from the jaws of Santa.

SPEAKING of jaws, tonight before bedtime, Madison lost another tooth.  Bicuspids!  That means the Tooth Fairy will be here tonight while Jingle Bell the elf is somewhere around the house.  I wonder what will happen if the two meet up?

All was calm and all was bright today.  It was a nice afternoon, despite the gloomy weather.  We all went to bed early too.  We're all still recovering from illnesses, and a good night's rest was the perfect prescription.  Before going to bed though, here's today's "Tinsel Town" devotional entry:

DECEMBER 3 - "A Muppet Christmas Carol"

"Merry Christmas!"

Ebenezer Scrooge heard his nephew say this, and scowled. He asked, "What right have you to be merry? You're poor enough."

His nephew Fred quickly replied, "What right have you to be dismal? You're rich enough."

"Humbug!" was Scrooge's only reply.

If anyone needed to be shown the true meaning and joy of Christmas, it was Ebenezer Scrooge. Perhaps that is why a second visitor came to his house – to come and know it better!

How well do YOU know Christmas? Do you know what the first present ever given at Christmastime was? It was the greatest one of all, as God gave us the ultimate gift. No Christmas present could ever match the one given nearly 2,000 years ago. Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life for our sins, so that we could all be together with him in heaven.

This is why we should return a gift to Him. This is why we should make our lives a present to God. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift – that is why it is called the present. Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God. Be grateful for the gift and use the present to honor Him in any way you can.

In “A Christmas Carol,” even Tiny Tim does all he can to honor God. His father, Bob Cratchit, talks about poor Tim: "He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see."

On Christmas Day and beyond, God is with you. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you. He’s your present help in time of trouble, and a friend who right now sticks closer than a brother. Simply put, Jesus is your Christmas Present.