I know, I am sort of a bah humbug. Christmas has always bugged me. I am pretty sure it is mostly because of my birthday being right before Christmas along with the YUCKY WEATHER. But I have to say that all the stuff "Christians" do during the holiday makes me shudder. It seems to me like they are ignoring God, and doing what feels right to them without even consulting God's feelings about it. The expression, "Jesus is the reason for the season," REALLY bugs me. Is Jesus not the reason for EVERY SEASON?!?!?!?! Grrr.
All the associations with Jesus' birthday bug me.
But, let me tell you what truly bothers me about how supposed Christians "celebrate" this thing we call Christmas.
It is the Nativity Sets.
They have always bothered me.
I just want to show you the verses in the Bible that make me think that Nativity Sets and Christians just maybe should not mix.
The first one is in the Old Testament. As a matter of fact it is the second of the Ten Commandments:
Exodus 20:4
4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. KJV
(4You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. NASV)
Now, it is not that I am saying that we are under the Old Law. Hebrews pretty much covers that, obviously. But now.. Jesus was a Jew and also the son of God who laid down that law; and I have a hard time believing that he would approve of any type of "image" of himself as a baby or otherwise. Because it is obvious we humans have this tendency to worship the creation and not the creator...
Romans 1:25
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. KJV
(25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. NIV)
How many times in the Bible does it say to "flee idolatry"?
Here is one place (That should be enough!):
1 Corinthians 10:14
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
Is that not JUST as important as the verse that says:
Flee fornication. 1 Corinthians 6:18
Isn't that just as important?
I think so.
And I am sorry, but I see people worshiping a baby this time of year.
Some people might say that there are those who worship trees and lights and a jolly man in a red suit this time of year too... And I would say that maybe sometimes people do that too. HOWEVER, I don't think it is the same thing to enjoy a lights display or bring a tree in your house as a decoration as to sit a "graven image" on your front lawn or on a table in your house and call it a deity.
The drawers and doors will be next. Then the counter top, crown molding, hardwood floors, tile on the walls; and we'll have a completed kitchen!!! haha
We are using our old counter top until we get the new one ordered :) I don't care though. I am excited to be getting so far! :)
If you think my life lacks excitement just because I live up-heres in the country and don't go hardly no-wheres, well, you are tee-totally WRONG y'all. ;)
This morning the girls were TOTALLY excited because they were looking out the windows and seeing all kinds of fluffy white stuff. You know, the cold white winter precipitation people lovingly refer to as snow. (Ugh.)
Anyway, so they were chattering wildly over all the fun stuff they were planning on doing in the snow when all the sudden they all start hollering, "THE COWS ARE OUT!!"
Lo and behold: here come two of Daddy's cows moseying down Mommy and Daddy's driveway (it runs in front of our house, perpendicular to our driveway and parallel to the Meadow)...
So me and Kevin got all bundled up, and some of the kids did too. (So much for all their plans. Although they had a blast with this adventure! haha) We followed the meandering bovines down to the end of the driveway and they pretty much stayed by the fence and so it was not too difficult getting them to run up the hill toward the gate in front of Mommy's house. They went in the gate, but they do not belong in the Meadow, which is where they now were. So we had to herd them up toward the other field. Much like we did the last time we had a cattle drive. Only this time we had handicaps. Remember? That cold white stuff? It be slick!!! haha
So here I was, for it was me, how does it always end up being me? Yes... so here I was: walking behind these cattle to try and get them to go to the other end of the meadow and into the gate to go toward the correct field. (After that gate there was another gate, but we'll get into that momentarily ;))
The cattle decided they didn't WANT to mosey up the fence line. They wanted to get me a little exercise! So they veered off to the left, up the hill. I tried veering off to the left to get there before them and thus herd them back in the correct direction. But alas, I slipped and fell and SLID on my side clear back down to the fence.
Fun times, let me tell ya.
So I finally got back up, no sense lying down when there is work to be done ;) And got them headed back in the right direction. Again. Somehow. And then when we got them through the gate, there was of course, more work to be done, remember the other gate to get to the OTHER field. Well these cattle belonged in the other field. And guess what? Babe had decided that she would do this her way. They are her cows after all. So she got into the field before we could get that gate shut. Drat.
Anyhow. All she did was make a 20 minute job into an hour job ;) hehe
We had our neighbors helping us, and we FINALLY herded those crazy ramblers into the right field.
And I didn't fall again, but the cattle, who Babe was keeping in their places, socially speaking, was running the poor cows up and down the field. Said field happens to be entirely on an incline. So said cows kept slipping and sliding right down into the fence!! Poor things. I felt bad for the poor dumb things.
But I didn't feel bad for Babe when she slid right into the gate. Not at all. In fact I may have yelled, "Serves ya right ya pain in the toukus!" haha
But I forgive her. I am not sure Kevin has, though. haha
I adore talking about baby names. This is one reason I was a little upset when Paula decided she wasn't discussing her baby's name until she had the baby. I was like, "Well, why'd ya tell me you were pregnant then?!?!" LOL Not really, but I was wishing she didn't do that. hehe
I have been picking out baby names since I was a young teen ;) And I love my kids' names :) I love them all. And I love it when someone picks out a name I adore, too ;) Although I am willing to give just about any name a chance :)
I just love to talk about names of babies! Karen, my sil, called me up and asked me to help her with her baby name, and I had so much fun. They didn't really have any "criteria" so that even made it more fun, or at least made the choices list a lot more broad ;) haha
They are still thinking on it, since they were leaning toward girl names and then found out it was another boy. We had come up with Eli, but I am not sure PJ was very fond of it. But I thought Ethan and Eli would be cute together ;)
So how do you pick YOUR baby names?
We pick our names like this:
1. I pick out tons of names I like, then Kevin tells me which ones he likes from my list and that usually narrows it down to just a few. Cuz let's just say he is pickier than me ;) I think we sat down together a bit and discussed names from A to Z in baby books too, maybe. Yeah, I think I remember doing that! haha
2. The names always have to end up with 12 letters. That is for his mom's sake. That is just her thing, and I like it.. actually her thing is that all the first names should have 5 letters, but me and Kevin ruined that cuz we liked "KELA" as/is so much... so we consoled her with the 12 letters each. (I hope so anyway!)
3. The names must have some sort of biblical import, even if it is vague. ;) As long as I get the biblical significance, it is fine.
4. And our babies are all named after people we love :)
So we came up with:
Kela Danielle - Ke from Kevin, La from Lawanda. We were weird, what can I say ;) hehe... Danielle is the feminine form of Daniel - a family name and a biblical name ;) See? kinda vague, but good enough for me ;)
Cassandra Joy - My middle name is Joy, and my mom's name is Joyce. We named her after my mom, not me, though ;) And Cassandra was one Kevin really ended up loving :) Joy is obviously biblical. :)
Faith Annalin - I had SO many pretty names picked out for a girl that we were actually lucky she didn't end up a boy! Kevin really loved Faith, which was one of my top picks. And his mom is Linda Ann, so I switched it around to name Faith after Linda ;) Again Faith is obviously biblical. :)
Raechel Naomi - I wanted to name her after a couple of older ladies at church whom I had known and loved my entire life. Their names were/are Roberta Rae Davis and Naomi McDonald. Kevin did not like anything I came up with for Naomi + Rae or variations on Roberta together. BUT he really loved Rachel. So I said if I could name her Rachel and spell it RAEchel like Roberta's middle name, then I would take it. ;) Plus that got us the 12 letters for my mil, too! :) Nothing vague about the biblicity (is that not a word? Well, I just made it one then! hehe) of those two names, as they are both main characters in the Old Testament ;)
So that is how we came up with our babies' names. If I am lucky I will get to name another one or two before I die ;) haha I would love to hear about how you came up with your kids' names, or even your fur kids' names. I actually enjoyed naming our dog, even though I was not happy with the idea of having a dog! LOL
Let me know if you post it on your pleo, I would love to read your naming stories!
My aunt suggested you scream the potential name out the back door to see what it sounds like. Of course, with cell phones these days, not many moms are screaming out back doors to get their kids to come in for supper.
hehe no kids yet but I like looking at places like babycenter.com which has where you can search names and just browse meanings and such. I have some I like that I've heard before and others where I don't know anyone named that. Like the more common shane and jamie and the less common jaelyn and rilynn (there's various spelling of each;-P
I (ofcourse) have no kids.But,I like to think about the names I will use for my kids. I like Bible names and/or names that make me think of things I love :) Nick and my sisters make fun of me for liking the name "Skye" :P
I know I don't count, but... Ever since Sarah's ex mentioned the idea of the name Excalibur I've loved it. Of course having that as a first name would lead to a horrendous life for any kid, so I like: Joel Excalibur Currence. As for a girl's name... I like something having to do with the moon, but Luna seems too out there, and I already know some Serenas. I think Selena could work.
I LOVE picking out names. I found Chloe's name in a baby name book and the Bible (the house of Chloe). I wanted Chloe Morgan, but Kent wasn't crazy about Morgan. After my grueling day of labor and eventual C-section, he said WHATEVER I wanted, so YAY! Chloe Morgan. Morgan is actually my Great-Grandparents last name - so that is for them. Then Chloe and Kent picked out Spencer whose middle name is Kehl after Kent's Aunt and Uncle's last name. Reason was Kent's grandfather who he never got to meet. Reece is what he went by. Our Reason's middle name is Thomas which is Kent mom's maiden name and my other Great-Grandmother's maiden name. So all their middle names are someone's last name in the family. If Reece was a girl, he would have been Lydia Grace. We knew a lady name Lydia. She was soooo sweet. We called her Lidy! I LOVE it. Maybe I'll hold out for a grandbaby Lidy! I LOVE my kids names too! Wish I could've picked out bunches more! :)
Well thank you! :) as for baby names, I too have been picking out names for my future babies since I was a little girl. It's a good thing that 5 yr olds don't name the kids because somewhere in this world there would be a P.J. (named after my brother, C.J.) and Penelope (named after my favorite baby doll, haha. My tastes have changes I got older and have been influenced by the west. My first son will definitely be named Wyatt. For a girl I like the name Audrey or Adriana (like the Vince Gill song).
And now everyone names their girls Morgan. I think I have known more girls named Morgan than boys. I like it for both. (Wyatt Earp had a borther named Morgan...so I could use that for a boy or a girl and still be keeping with the wild west theme, haha)
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
O beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
'Til all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!
Is that not beautiful??? Today is the 90th Anniversary of Armistice Day. This part of the song was new to me, and made me cry! I am so glad to be a child of God who has the hope of seeing "the cities undimmed by tears."
The part in red is the one that gives me chills and makes me cry......'who more than self their country loved....' Thanks for posting the entire song. So many people know nothing past the first verse.
