The Pony Express

So this is not the official Pony Express.  But guess who's back in town?  That's right:  it's Jingle Bell.  He's got a sleigh being pulled by our friends from "Friendship is Magic," with Rainbow Dash at the front.  In the sleigh is his first gift - something small and fun for Madison to open.

Oh, and see behind him?  That's the advent calendar Nana gets for Madison each year.  That's one of THREE advent calendars this year.  First, there's our standard advent calendar, a pop-up book that shows the Nativity Scene.  This one shows different people and objects associated with the story of the birth of Jesus, so it provides somewhat of an opportunity to teach the real story of Christmas.  The second advent calendar is the one above:  Nana brings it by once a year in November.  It's got a different piece of chocolate inside for every window, each one shaped like a stocking, present, candy cane, etc.  The third advent calendar we've had for years, but haven't opened yet:  it's an Olive the Other Reindeer calendar, based on the story and/or book of the same name.  This is another pop-up image, one that we keep up in her room on display.  Each day, a different character is added - I'm guessing Santa will appear on the 24th?  I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough!

Madison noticed our amaryllis too - it's been growing up and up lately, getting taller and taller.  These grow quickly, and soon enough will be blooming.  She's excited about watching it's progress, but so are we.  This was a tradition we did every year for Christmas, but last year we couldn't find the container for it last year, so we skipped one year.  But this year the amaryllis is back, and just in time!

Another tradition:  the Gävle Goat is back up!  

It looks nice, doesn't it?  There was a big festival today, making me want to go to Sweden for a bit today.  We haven't put our own small Gävle Goat up yet, but will probably do it this week.  Hopefully neither will be set on fire this year!

This morning was church - we did a message on "Arthur Christmas" to start out our Christmas movie-themed series.  In fact, Daddy is hoping to do a devotional entry per day on different Christmas movies, starting out with "Arthur Christmas."  As I close out, here's just one of the messages of the day, based on that Christmas movie.

DECEMBER 1st - "Arthur Christmas"

In the movie “Arthur Christmas,” Santa is getting ready to retire, and is about to pick one of his sons to take his place. Steve is taller, stronger, and seems to have his act together – but when a gift is left behind, we see that it is the other brother Arthur that has his heart in the right place. “Arthur Christmas” is a crazy, fun and wonderful adventure to deliver that gift to a special little girl. Through it all, Arthur never gives up, and by the end Santa discovers who will be the next one in charge.

Some time ago in the Bible, the prophet Samuel was faced with a similar situation – he was on his way to anoint a king for Israel. As he visited with a family, he saw the brother that just plain looked like “king material.” But then God spoke up. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord said, “Do not consider how handsome or tall he is. I have not chosen him. I do not look at the things people look at. Man looks at how someone appears on the outside. But I look at what is in the heart.”

And that’s when we met David. Like Arthur, his heart was in the right place. During this Christmas season, remember that God doesn’t look at the outward appearance of things. He looks at the heart!