A Lone Star Christmas

Whatcha think of our new series banner?  Daddy came up with this idea for a look, and it turned out pretty good.  Three cowboys, like Wise Men almost.  The Lone Star sort of suggests the Christmas star hanging over Bethlehem, but it also makes you think of Texas, of course.  The whole idea for this December series comes from the fact that we wanted to take our existing Western set, and simply decorate it for Christmas.  We'll be doing cowboys and Christmas together, and there's nothing wrong with that!  Here's sort of a description of one message during the series, one called, "Follow the Lone Star."

     Talk about a star search!  In the Christmas story, there were some compadres that came a long distance, just to see Jesus.  You probably know how it was they found him:  by chasing after a Lone Star hanging over the desert sky.
    When you stop to think about it, they must have been really Wise Men to mount up and follow that star.  They rode those dusty trails all the way to Bethlehem, where they had an encounter with Jesus that’s still talked about today.
     People have been chasing after that Morning Star ever since.  The shepherds and apostles had an encounter with Jesus, and so did folks all the way through history up to even the early circuit riders of the Old West.  And today, that badge has been passed to you.

    That’s right, partner.  Did you know that you represent the side of the right?  You’re kind of like a town sheriff wearing a star-shaped badge, one that has been passed to you.  Everyone wants to see the true grit you’re made of, so pin that badge on.  Swagger through town and show the world what you represent.
     The best way to do that is to do what that original star did:  lead others to Jesus.  Even if you’re just a lone star, you’ll shine brighter than ever – and show everyone the Way, the Truth and the Light.

    We wrapped up the storyline today for "Trailblazers," although we've got technically one more Sunday of this series after Thanksgiving.  The new series starts in December.  This storyline ended well though, with some surprises for even Madison.  See, she usually gets a glimpse of the scripts ahead of time as Daddy tries to work them out.  Not so much this time, as Daddy was racing to get the script done at the last minute.  Regardless of timing, the actors and actresses nailed their parts and delivered a wonderful series with bandits and marshals, and lots of laughs.  Today's message was about how we're all WANTED, which worked out really well.

     After church, we went to the car, across the cold parking lot - yes, we're talking about this walk because suddenly the temperature is starting to resemble the time of year that it should.  The weather is cold!  There wasn't anything gradual about this plunge in temperature either.  The winds were whipping up all around, which wasn't good for those forest fires up north.

    We got home just in time to turn around and go back to church.  We had some spaghetti first, but there was a Christmas play practice to attend, which we did.  Mommy was sizing up kids left and right, getting all kinds of costuming ready for new additions to the play.  Hopefully the list won't grow too much - there are a lot of kids wanting to be a part of the play, but only so many costumes!

    Anyway, after leaving church the second time, we got home and readied ourselves for another Christmas movie.  Popcorn in the bowl, Christmas tree lights on, we plugged in "Rise of the Guardians," and snuggled under the blankets for real this time.  The blankets were necessary because yes, it's a little chilly tonight.  In fact, just like we saw in this movie, I think Jack Frost may be on his way...