Story of hope...

I'm excited because next week I'll be flying to Chicago to work with Kristen Anderson on a book about her story of attempted suicide and the transformation that has taken place after she survived laying down in front of a train. I've talked with Kristen many times over the past few months, and I'm excited to finally meet her in person.

Last week, Kristen's story was aired on Oprah again. You can read the highlights of that here:
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200610/20061004/slide_20061004_284_106.jhtml?promocode=HP13

Please pray for me that I'll have a safe trip, that we'll have quality time together, and that everything we need to tell the story effectively will come together. Also, pray that we'll connect with the perfect publisher so that this story will reach the many, many people who need to hear this story of hope!

One of those days ...

We all have them. This "day" was a week or so before Christmas...I was all stuffed up with a head cold, a headache, and a sore neck. My kids gave me something. Man, I wish I hadn't taught them to share!

Then I was working on summaries for A Valley of Betrayal and A Shadow of Treason. They're going to be included in the front cover of A Whisper of Freedom so readers can remember where they left off. While I was looking over reviews of A Valley of Betrayal I found a 1-star review from a guy who threw my book away after reading 40 pages. I know I can't make everyone happy ... but why did I have to read that today?

I was also looking at comments made about my novels on other blogs. (It helped me to work on the summaries when I noted what people talked about the most.) Some blogs are fun and cool and have like 75 comments a day! My blog ... doesn't have near that. I hate comparing, and when I speak I tell people all the time NOT to compare. Yet sometimes it's hard, you know?

Finally, I finished up the summaries, dedication, and acknowledgements for A Whisper of Freedom. As I was sending it off I realized that was the last on my to-do list for Moody Publishing. After writing novels for them for four years it is weird to know that (as of now) my work for them is done.

Of course, there were good things that day too. Like working on a science project with my son Nathan. Discovering my daughter Leslie cleaned her room spotless (including her closet!) without me asking. Knowing my Christmas presents are 100% purchased and 90% wrapped. And then (as I was writing this) there was a kiss on my forehead from my 18-year-old who told me he loved me and he'd be happy to give his sister a ride to basketball practice so I didn't have to do. (I don't understand why I finally get this kid to be kind and thoughtful and then I need to send him off to college. I like him, can't I keep him?)

So, in the end, I suppose I'm okay with days like this. Seasons in writing change. There will always be someone else out there more successful than me. There will be people who throw my book in the trash ... but I have three amazing kids, a husband who adores me, and a stinking cold is just bothersome compared to the health challenges most people face.

There is much to be thankful for, even on a day like that.

Pondering Grace...

My teen daughter has a funny quote on her MySpace page that says, "I know God loves you, but He likes me best." When she showed that to me it made me chuckle. And while I know God doesn't love any of us "best," it also made me think ... because while I know God loves me, it's easy to forget that He likes me too. Being so human, and sometimes feeling so lacking in all I want to do or be, it slips from my mind that God--the creator of the universe--looks down upon me with a smile.

Every day I get a Daily Bible Verse from Zondervan. (To sign up to here:
https://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Registration/EMAS.htm?QueryStringSite=Zondervan )

I don't know how they do it, but those people who pick the verses always seem to find the exact one I need.

This morning's verse was this:

"God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’” Luke 1:26-28

The words of the angel caused me to pause, and the quote on my daughter's page came to mind. It's almost as if I could hear the Lord whisper to me, "You are highly favored, too. The Lord is with you."

Looking back, it's easy to consider Mary highly favored. She was chosen to carry, birth, and raise the son of God. But from recently watching The Nativity Story, the image of the young and completely ordinary teen girl is fresh in my mind. Today, we consider Mary highly favored for what she did, but according to the Word of God she was highly favored before she even took one step in her God-designed mission.

Still pondering all of this, I looked up this verse in my Amplified Bible which includes the meaning of the words in the verse. This is how it reads, "And he came over to her and said, Hail, O favored one [endued with grace]! The Lord is with you! Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women!" Luke 1:28

Favored one, it seems, means "endued with grace." Again, at the time of the angel's visit, Mary was favored and she hadn't "performed" yet. Her favored status had everything to do with God and God alone. In fact, listen to this:

"But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled and disturbed and confused at what he said and kept revolving in her mind what such a greeting might mean. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace (free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God." Luke 1:29-30 (Amplified)

So how can we soak this in?

Hearing: I am favored.
Knowing: God is with me.
Understanding: Being favored doesn't have anything to do with me.
Grasping: Favored means "endued with Grace"
Believing: The grace given to me is the free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness of God.
Living: As one who is loved and liked. As special ... not for anything I’ve done, but for everything He's done.
Walking: With thankfulness and trust.

Today, my goal is to ponder again this idea of grace. I want to let this word, and everything it means, to revolve around my mind just as the angel's words revolved around Mary's. It's a gift given. Free to me, but given with great cost. Spontaneous, which means I don't have to do anything to get it, just understand that it's given. Absolute favor. Absolute? Wow, that's a hard one to grasp, yet it's absolute not because of what I've done, but what God's done. Absolute favor even when I feel so human, so ordinary. Absolute favor AND loving-kindness. What an amazing gift, one worth unwrapping.

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Mindy Clark

Meet Mindy!

Mindy Starns Clark is the author of The Million Dollar Mysteries series, The Smart Chick Mystery series, and the nonfiction how-to guide The House That Cleans Itself. Her latest novel, a standalone mystery set in Louisiana called Whispers of the Bayou, will be released in January. A singer and speaker (and former stand-up comedian), Mindy lives near Valley Forge, PA, with her husband, two daughters, and two shih tzus. Check out Mindy's website at www.mindystarnsclark.com.

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I can remember getting a cowgirl outfit complete with pistols and holsters when I was about five. Perhaps the joy I took in those guns was a foreshadowing of my career as a mystery writer!
Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My grandmother was an excellent seamstress, and every Christmas she would give me a beautiful handmade Christmas nightgown (and pajamas for my brothers). This was the only gift we were allowed to open on Christmas eve, and as such it always took on special significance; Christmas was official once we were wearing the new jammies! Though I'm not much of a sewer, I did always try to put my kids to bed in something new—or at least something cute--on Christmas eve, so that they would look their best in the Christmas morning photos.

We also love the family get-togethers that surround the holiday. They're so much fun! With my husband's side of the family, we buy gifts for the children only—and every adult brings their favorite CD, wrapped without a tag. After the kids have had their present-opening time, the adults sit around and have a blast doing a round-robin CD exchange.

The Christmas Eve service at our church is the spiritual highlight of our holiday, especially when it ends by candlelight, singing Silent Night.

When do you put up your tree?

Growing up in the South, I was always taught that the tree goes up the Saturday after Thanksgiving and comes down on New Year's Day. My husband, however, would like to see it go up much closer to Christmas—and stay up at least a week or two into the New Year! Taking all of that into consideration, we tend to compromise somewhere in the middle.

Some years, our decorating is quite elaborate, though the older I get, the less I seem to do. (I have a feeling that once the kids have grown up and moved out, I'll scale it all way down and maybe just put up a small tree and maybe the lighted village.) I'm trying to go easy on myself these days and not always have everything so elaborate or so perfect. There are more important ways to spend my time than obsessing over the wreaths on every window!


What is your favorite Christmas song or album?

To sing at church or with a choir, it's Angels We Have Heard on High.

For pure listening pleasure, I love Handel's Messiah. I always put it on as I decorate, so I can belt out the alto line as I work! I love almost every recording of the Messiah I've ever heard, even a hip hop version my brother once found for me.

I usually sing a Christmas solo, such as "Bethlehem Morning" or "Breath of Heaven." My daughters have beautiful voices but would rather die than sing a duet with mom—though a few years ago I finally convinced my youngest to perform with me at a distant church where no one knew her. Our duet on "Mary, Did You Know?" was thrilling for me. (Though when it was over, she said, "I did it because you wanted it so bad, mom, but don't ever ask me again." Sigh.)

I also recently discovered the beautiful "Perfect Love (Mary's Song)" by Darlene Zschech, though I have yet to perform it.

Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

My mom would be up most of the night getting things ready, so we always had a "minimum time" we were allowed to get up. Of course, I would usually pop awake an hour or so prior to that—then I'd have to endure the sheer torment of watching the clock and waiting.

Once it was time, my brothers and I would wake up our parents and then wait in the back of the house while they went out front to wake our visiting grandparents, make coffee, and get the movie camera ready. Once they yelled the "all clear", we would open the door to the den and step inside to see the vast array of gifts that Santa had left for us.

As we got older, that morning became less about the toys and gifts and more about the family just being there together, relaxing and laughing and enjoying the sweetness of the day. My grandparents were such special people, and the memory of their presence still lingers over every Christmas. It doesn't take much to picture Grandpa carefully opening each of his gifts with his pocket knife, or hearing my grandmother exclaim (as she did each year), "Well, I do believe this was just the best Christmas ever!"

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Growing up in Louisiana, there was little chance of snow, but we always hoped for a cold snap! I was devastated whenever it turned out to be a hot Christmas.

Now that I live in Pennsylvania, however, I'd give anything for some of that warm weather. I'm not big on cold or snow, and a late-December break from the chill would be a Christmas dream come true.

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

Running late despite all of my best intentions. Running late on gift buying, wrapping, decorating, planning for guests or travel, etc. Acting like a chicken without a head, scratching things off my list as I get them done, finally calling a halt to all of it around 6 pm—ready or not. Go home, get cleaned up, head to church for the Christmas eve service. Deep breath. Regroup.

Come home afterwards with priorities straightened out, family in a good mood, and the peace of our Savior in our hearts.

Eat a take-out dinner and relax a bit, then shoo the kids off to bed and spend a few hours alongside my husband, wrapping and setting things out in preparation for the morning.

Crawl into bed around midnight, thankful for my blessings—ever-mindful of the whole point, the birth of Jesus!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

On line!!! I live near the largest mall on the Eastern seaboard, and I will avoid it at all costs. Ugh. I hate shopping—except for toys. I dearly love to buy toys. Maybe I have an arrested development.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

It means setting the hustle and bustle aside…and focusing on the reason behind all of it. There's always a lot of "noise" inside my head—every item on my to-do list screams to be heard—but when Christmas eve finally rolls around, I'm able to quiet that noise and remember the point. Then with a big slap to the forehead, I'm wishing I had remembered earlier in the season so that I could have relaxed and enjoyed it all more.

As a child, it meant hanging our favorite ornaments on the tree, the arrival of our beloved grandparents from North Carolina, and the magic of a very generous Santa Clause who always seemed to know exactly what we wanted. It also meant lighting the advent candles every Sunday leading up to Christmas…and reading our way through Luke 2 a little further each week until the end.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

The menu varies year to year, though we'll usually have a ham or a pork roast—and never miss the sweet potato casserole. Most years, we split the cooking duties so that everyone takes responsibility for a dish or two. And we always end the meal with a birthday cake for Jesus, complete with the song and candles that we blow out for him.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Every year, my mother would buy two special ornaments, one for me and one for my older brother, which commemorated something important that had happened that year. The year that I was nine, we were blessed to adopt a baby boy, my younger brother Joey. After his adoption hearing—the day he finally became ours for good—my parents stopped at a Christmas shop near the courthouse and bought all three of us ornaments that looked like little baby toys. I remember getting it that Christmas and thinking it was the most special ornament I could ever own.

When I got married, my mother gave me all 27 of my special ornaments, to start my own tree filled with memories. I treasure each and every one, but especially that little baby toy.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

Just some advice for mothers and fathers that I learned the hard way: Remember that you set the tone for the holiday from the very first Christmas your children ever have. If you go overboard with the gifts and the massive decorations and the fuss, they'll grow up expecting that every time. As they get older, you'll find yourself wanting to scale back—spend less money, decorate less, enjoy it all more—but it's so hard to downsize if your celebrations set the bar too high too soon, and your kids end up feeling cheated!

If I could go back and do it all again, I take it all down to size by half—half as many gifts, half as much trouble—and make a point of scheduling more family activities and doing more for others at holiday time. Once our kids became teenagers, they actually began leading the way toward a simpler celebration. Last year our oldest daughter chose several charities and asked for donations in lieu of gifts. That was great fun, to turn our backs on the rampant commercialism of the season and do something more significant with our money. This year, she just wants Spanish Bibles to bring on a spring mission trip to give away to the children—and that's a gift that we're more than happy to give her!

Just remember that the toys eventually break, the decorations all have to come back down, and the big Christmas dinner is but a memory once it's been eaten. Better to focus on the reason for the season and the people God placed in your life to share it with. All of the rest is just fluff that sucks up your time and can easily get out of hand.

Simplify! These days, the harder the stores push us to spend, spend, spend, the easier it is turn our backs on that and have a real Christmas celebration—the kind Jesus would have wanted. So start when they're young by keeping it simple, and keep the focus where it belongs: on the baby that started it all.

Thanks Mindy! May you be "simplified" in the New Year!

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Maureen Lang

Meet Maureen!

Maureen Lang has always had a passion for writing. She handwrote her first novel around the age of ten, put the pages into a notebook she covered with soft deerskin for a “hardback” cover (nothing but the best!) then passed it around the neighborhood for rave reviews. It was so much fun she’s been writing ever since.

Eventually Maureen became the recipient of a Golden Heart Award from RWA, followed by the publication of three secular romances. Life took some turns after that and she gave up writing for fifteen years, until her faith sent her in a new artistic direction. Soon she won a Noble Theme Award from American Christian Fiction Writers, and a contract followed a year or so later for her Inspirational historical fiction Pieces of Silver, (nominated for a Christy in 2007). The sequel, Remember Me, released in February of ‘07. She also has two women’s fiction novels from Tyndale House Publishers, The Oak Leaves released in May of ‘07 and On Sparrow Hill will arrive on the shelves in Feb ‘08. Tyndale will release another contemporary women’s fiction novel in the fall of 2008, tentatively titled My Sister Dilly. Maureen lives in the Midwest with her husband, two sons and their puppy, Susie. For more information visit Maureen's website: http://www.maureenlang.com/

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I’m afraid this memory will give away my melancholy bend, but here goes anyway! When I was very young — preschool age — I received the most wonderful gift. It was a magic wand that sparkled all the way up to the star at the tip. Hidden at the base, just where a small thumb could easily find it, was a button that, when pressed, lit the star as “magic” was dispensed. It was truly a magical gift, mainly because I loved it so much. I remember wanting to take it with me to bed, up the dark, hardwood, uncarpeted stairway, lighting my way with the magic. Then it happened. I tripped. I was fine, not even a bruise, but my magic wand went flying and broke into pieces. It was a tragedy compared only to Heidi’s loss when the wicked nursemaid breaks the snow globe Heidi receives on that same favorite holiday. Perhaps if I’d had the wand longer than a few hours I wouldn’t have missed it all these years, but here I am, still thinking of that thing!

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My family has always read of Jesus’ birth from the Gospel of Luke Chapter Two, then we light candles and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. We always have a birthday cake to celebrate His precious birth. I plan to carry on this tradition until the day I die and can see our Savior face-to-face. Wow! What a day that will be.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up when my kids' begging is louder than my procrastination (around December 1). My husband works assembles my prelighted tree. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

The older I get, the more I intend to simplify. But year after year the same decorations seem to come out, either the day after Thanksgiving or on the evening of Thanksgiving. We actually made our own pre-lit Christmas tree! It’s seven feet tall, but Victorian style so it’s narrow enough to fit easily through doorways. We leave the branches in, the lights on, just taking off the ornaments to carry it downstairs for storage beneath the basement stairs every year. Works great, especially these days of fuses so whole light strands can be saved. We also have a Christmas village that’s a family favorite. It’s actually a hodge-podge collection that started with a set of ceramic candleholder houses, which my mother gave me a long time ago. Its value is measured only in sentiment.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I recently bought Unexpected Gifts and I love it! They are old favorites sung in a new way. Includes "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Bethany Dillon); "Do You Hear What I Hear" (Nichole Nordeman); "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Steven Curtis Chapman); and "Silent Night" (Sanctus Real).

Did I see someone not knowing who Johnny Mathis is? Goodness, his “Merry Christmas” album has been my absolute favorite since I was a kid. I was so pleased to see it’s still available, so I was able to buy my own CD of it.

But I especially love the old carols, which so sweetly convey the gospel message. It’s all about God loving us so much to send Jesus to save us, and so many of the old songs proclaim that. It’s sad, really, the way our society has secularized everything, which makes the old carols that much more precious.

Christmas morning, my parents brother and I would head over to my grandparents' house and open all our presents there. Or they'd come to our house ... so we didn't open them until we were up, dressed, showered and fed. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

In my German household it was Christmas Eve that offered the gift exchange. When I was a kid we used to dress up for the event — new dresses for my sisters and me, ties for my brothers. We would all pile into the family car and go to my grandmother’s for a big dinner. As I recall, my father would go out and warm up the car (no garage in the early days!) and all of us kids (I’m one of six) would have to wait forever for my parents to be ready and follow us out the car.

Little did we know they were getting everything ready for the BIG RETURN after dinner at my grandmother’s. Since there were so many of us, gifts spilled out far beyond the widest branch of even the biggest Christmas tree (always fresh, with those multi-colored, large old-fashioned lights and silver tinsel). I think I was around twelve when my brother brought home the gospel and started the tradition of reading from the Bible, something that was readily accepted by our entire family. We’d stay up until midnight and hear the church bells ringing for midnight mass, although we always went in the morning. Christmas Day we’d wake up whenever we wanted, play with the toys we’d received the night before, watch my mother bustle around to cook a huge dinner for us and a variety of relatives who would come and see what we received.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Snow!!! I don’t want to get into a big discussion about the natural warming cycle we seem to be experiencing in the Northern Hemisphere, but it does seem to me when I was a kid all of my Christmases were white. Not so true as I’ve gotten older, but then it may be that I’ve idealized my childhood memories so they were always perfect. (Well, except for the one when I broke my magic wand!)

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

As I mentioned above, this is the day all the kids were most excited about in my family. We still go to my mother’s, grandmother to my kids nowadays, and share a big family meal the way I used to do at my own grandmothers. But we’ve always stayed late at my mother’s house because of one schedule or another, so as an adult I’ve raised my kids with gifts from grandmother on Christmas Eve, and those from my husband and I are opened on Christmas morning. But my father passed away last year and my mother is too frail to host things the way she used to. We all contribute and pretend nothing has changed, my dad’s just in the other room, my mom is healthy, but times-they-are-a-changin’ and so I envision Christmas will soon be with my own kids coming to my house for Christmas Eve, and they’ll be in their own homes for Christmas morning. Well, except for my handicapped child, my insurance against an empty nest. We’ll go to the Christmas Eve service at our church, I’ll make a special meal, play Christmas music or movies in the background, we’ll read from the Book of Luke, have a birthday cake and sing with candles . . .

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I’m a mall shopper. I like to see what I’m purchasing – except for books. I get most of my books online, and my daughter always has several of those on her Christmas list.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

It’s Jesus’ birthday! We exchange gifts in honor of his incredible grace, the gift of Himself to us. As I mentioned, I love the old Christmas carols because they’re so full of the truth, of God’s love for us. They really help to remind me what this season is all about.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

We usually have a small ham and a turkey breast, with all the fixings that go along with that. Lots of vegetables, crusty rolls, and of course homemade Christmas cookies! I start baking weeks in advance and freeze them for the special day (if any are left by then!).

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

It’s hard to pick just one! I suppose I would have to go back to my childhood. I think a lot of grown up life is spent comparing life now to how it was as a child and some of the wonder seems to have worn off, or at least it’s changed. I’m probably more aware of the spiritual nature of the holiday now that I’m not as intent on what toys I might receive, but things everywhere seem to have become so overwhelming that it’s hard for just one thing to seem wondrous any more.

But as far as favorite Christmas memories… I remember one time my sister and I saw Santa Claus down the street from our house. I know it was real because my sister and I saw him at the same time! I also remember having my parent’s drive us along Candy Cane Lane. I was very young, and this was back in the day when most houses just had a tree in the window, maybe a wreath on the door. Lights weren’t nearly as common as they are these days! But every year Candy Cane Lane in Chicago would light up as bright as any downtown street. Every house had a candy cane, bigger than me, propped up alongside of the curb. It was so beautiful, partly because it was so unusual for the time.

What are you plans for this season?

This year we’ll gather with family as always, but we’re meeting the night before Christmas Eve because one of my brother’s, who is a Pastor, moved so far away. He has a Christmas Eve service and so we moved up our family gathering by a day in order to have him with us. Which means, for the very first time but no doubt not the last, I’ll be having only my immediate family gather around our very own Christmas tree this Christmas Eve after church. We’ll have a big meal, read from St. Luke, sing Happy Birthday and have cake…

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

Only this: we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus for a reason, but the older I get the more I realize the gift Christ gave of Himself was so incredible nothing else can compare. This is a season of giving – because Christ first gave to us. That means thinking about others first, putting them before ourselves. Maybe this is the best season of all to consider what Jesus would do in every situation, and as the busyness threatens to take over maybe that’s the best time to slow down just long enough to thank the Lord for all the gifts He’s given us.

Merry Christmas to you Maureen! And to all my readers. May your day be filled with Christ and the warmth of family!

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Neta Jackson

Meet Neta!

NETA JACKSON and her husband, Dave, are an award-winning writing team, best known for the Trailblazer books--a forty-book series of historical fiction for young people about great Christian heroes (see http://www.trailblazerbooks.com/). Neta is the author of the popular novel, The Yada Yada Prayer Group, and its sequels. These novels were inspired by a real women's Bible study and prayer group that, as Neta says, "God has used to turn my life upside down and rightside up." Neta and her husband Dave are members of The Chicago Tabernacle (a multi-cultural offspring of The Brooklyn Tabernacle in NY). They are also the parents of three grown children, including a Cambodian foster daughter, all with families of their own. (For more information, go to http://www.daveneta.com/.)

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

A few memorable gifts: A baby doll (plaster head, cloth body) that said "maa-maaaa" when I tipped her backward, and "paa-paaaa" when I tipped her forward. And the family doll house which used to be my mother's, a handmade wooden affair with a green roof that lifted up on one side to reveal the second floor, all repainted and refurnished for me. (It has since been passed on to my daughter, and then her daughter!)

Also, I loved to draw as a kid, and at Christmastime, my indulgent parents always let me paint winter and Christmas scenes on our windows with poster paints! (Of course I had to clean all that paint off afterward :-)

Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

Growing up, we kids always had to wait until our parents said "Ready" because they always put an "open air" gift in front of the tree for each one of us (a doll, a train, a dollhouse, etc.). We kids took turns playing Santa and passing out gifts one at a time so everyone could enjoy the gift, the giftee, and the giver. We took a long time opening gifts, and I carried that over into our family life after I had children. My parents didn't buy us many gifts during the year, so Christmas always included socks and underwear and clothes we needed as well as a few toys. So even though we didn't have much money, Christmas always felt like LOTS of presents.

Tell us about your own Christmas traditions now.

Our Christmas season starts four Sundays before Christmas with the first Sunday of Advent. When our kids were growing up, our church celebrated the weeks before Christmas with an Advent candle dance, lighting a new candle each week, as well as "Advent plays," telling the stories leading up to Christmas through drama(Zachariah and Elizabeth, the angel and Mary, Joseph's dream, etc. up to the birth of Jesus). Then at home, we also celebrated Advent with an Advent candle wreath on our table, lighting a new candle each week with appropriate Scriptures about the coming Messiah and adding another verse to the carol, "O Come O Come, Emmanuel." On Christmas day, we lit the center Christmas candle and read the Christmas story of Jesus' birth.

When we put up the tree (about two weeks before Christmas) we put a stable under the tree with only animals in it. (And the manger scene we chose was wood so that the children could play with it.) Then we put the shepherds on a "hillside watching their sheep" (the living room), the wise men in a "far country" (the dining room), and Mary & Joseph & the donkey somewhere inbetween (and we hid baby Jesus till Christmas Eve). Each day at bedtime, our kids moved Mary & Joseph closer to the stable until they arrived Christmas Eve. After the kids were asleep we put Baby Jesus in the manger--if we could find Him! A a few times we forgot where we hid the Baby!--as well as the shepherds and wise men (yeah yeah, we know the wise men didn't arrive for a year or two, but oh well).

Other traditions: when my children were small, we continued my family tradition of having an "open air" gift for each child (unwrapped) in front of the tree, so they had to stay out of the living room until we brought them in. The most memorable "open air" gift for my daughter was the year we gave her a kitten in a "Take Me Home" box shaped like a house. I still get teary when I think of her joy and delight holding that kitten. And the funniest open air gift was the year we gave our son a winter parka, which was kinda boring, so we created a mummy on the couch with a balloon face, old jeans stuffed with newspaper, and wearing the parka! He laughed and laughed.

When do you put up your tree?

The tree goes up about two weeks before Christmas and stays until after New Year's Day. When my husband and I first married, we started a tradition of getting one new ornament each year to represent something about that year--a gingerbread house ornament for the year we moved, a Snoopy ornament for the year we got a beagle pup, an angel for the year my mom died, etc. Now that we've been married 41 years, the tree is getting full! It is fun to put up the "Special Year Ornaments" and reflect on our family history. (Well, I think it's fun. The kids sometimes got bored!) Now our tree includes ornaments for the births of our grandkids, too!

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

Last minute shopping, cooking, and wrapping of course. But as evening comes, we eat a light early supper--usually a hearty soup--then head to church for the Christmas Eve service, and often carolling in the neighborhood afterward carrying lighted candles in jars. THEN we come home and have chocolate and/or cheese fondu! Even though our kids are grown and now have kids of their own, the chocolate/cheese fondu tradition continues at one of our houses. How it started, none of us can remember!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

Catalogs! I don't particularly like shopping, unless I know exactly what I'm looking for. But "shopping" from home with a cup of tea or hot chocolate, dressed in my jammies . . . now that's what I'm talking about. (Okay, okay, sometimes I'm not organized to do it ahead of time, and then I have to go shopping. But I try to keep it to once or twice during the season.)

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Each year I ask God to reveal more of the meaning of Christmas to me. I'm particularly moved and challenged by Mary's response to God's plan for her life: "I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your Word." Oh, that that would be my response when God asks me to be His servant--even in difficult circumstances. Yes, Lord, Yes!

Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

When it comes to cookies, my favorite tradition is the Cookie Exchange Party! My neighbor started it years ago, invites all the neighbors to bring 6 dozen cookies, then we all take a few of all the varieties that appear at the party and go home with 6 dozen cookies. These tend to last us (most of) the whole season. We just moved to a new neighborhood and already I'm thinking I want to begin a Cookie Exchange Party in my new neighborhood--next year!

What are you plans for this season?

Our current church doesn't celebrate Advent or even have a Christmas Eve service (but they do a wonderful Christmas concert with the awesome choir a couple weeks before Christmas). But we miss the Advent traditions, so this season we're taking a "leave" from our church for the month of December and attending the church where our son's and foster daughter's family attend, where the Advent candle dance and Advent dramas are alive and well. (Plus we get to see our grandkids on Sunday morning.) Then we're going to celebrate our family Christmas the weekend before Christmas so we can have everyone together, before in-laws get them. (Yes, the fondu and everything.) But with gift-giving out of the way before Dec. 25, I'm wondering how my husband and I can give ourselves on Christmas day this year to others . . .

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

Just that I want to keep in mind that the first Christmas was God working His redemptive plan through humble people who were actually homeless that year. This year, I've been getting involved with a shelter for homeless women here in Chicago, many of whom are separated from their children, who don't have access to the money, cozy family traditions, and abundant food I've been blessed with. O God, open my eyes to see beyond the glitz of Christmas to Your blessed love for people like these, and help me to be part of Your heart and hands and feet toward the poor and powerless.

Thank you for sharing with us Neta. Merry Christmas!

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Karen Ball

Meet Karen!

Karen Ball is the acquisitions editor in charge of the fiction publishing program for the B&H Publishing Group. She has been both a full-time freelance editor and author, and has worked in the Christian publishing industry for more than twenty years. After nearly 12 years with Tyndale House Publishers as senior editor of books, she served as senior editor of fiction for Multnomah Publishers, and for three years was the executive editor of fiction for Zondervan. She has worked with a number of popular authors including Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Terri Blackstock, Robin Lee Hatcher and James Scott Bell.

Karen lives in southern Oregon with her husband, Don, and their "kids", a mischief making Siberian husky named Bo, and an irrepressible blue-eyed Aussie-Terrier mix named Dakota.
Visit her web site at www.karenballbooks.com.

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I'm not sure how old I was, but I remember going with our church family up in the the Mountains to get Christmas trees. We all piled onto a trailer filled with hay, pulled by a tractor, and rode it up into the mountains. We tromped around in the snow, laughing and throwing snowballs, and picked out the perfect tree. My two brother and I each got to pick a small tree to go in our rooms. Then, the trees all cut and tied and piled on the trailer, we hiked back down the mountain to where hot chocolate and homemade donuts awaited us. To this day, the fragrance of the Oregon mountains in winter makes me think of Christmas, Christmas trees, and the beauty of family and friends.

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

Oh, my, yes! My mom was the queen of celebrations, and Christmas was a solid month of celebrating. So my memories of Christmas are filled with images of us all decorating, going after Christmas trees with the church family, going shopping with Mom to buy gifts (each of us kids had a night out on the town with Mom, and got to choose where we ate dinner), setting up the nativity scene, playing Christmas music, having a family sharing night with the church where everyone shared a talent, and our Christmas eve candlelight carol sing...and on and on. I LOVE Christmas because of the memories my family built together. We still have tree decorating night, where we play Christmas music and decorate the tree--and the ornaments are a mix of old and new. We even have the Christmas lemon, a decoration my mom had from when she was a little girl. The poor ol' lemon is kind of dried up now, but it doesn't matter. It still makes me smile when we pull it out of the decoration box.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up when my kids' begging is louder than my procrastination (around December 1). My husband works assembles my prelighted tree. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

Living in Oregon, it's almost against the law to have anything but a real tree! So it's real trees for us every year. Because of that, we generally put the tree up around the middle of December to ensure the tree stays fresh. We used to drive up into the mountains to get our tree, but lately we've found a lovely U-Cut It tree farm where it's a bit easier for my dad. So we all go pick out the tree, then it's back to the house for Christmas music and decorating. I live in a household of men (my hubby, my dad, and my older brother), and the guys wouldn't mind at all if I took over decorating the tree. But I am my mother's daughter, and I've informed them this is a family event and, as they used to tell my brother when he was in the Marines, "You WILL enjoy it!" Actually, I think they do enjoy it once they get down to it. When the tree is decked out, we turn off all the lights but the tree lights, then sit and have hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I recently bough Unexpected Gifts and I love it! They are old favorites sung in a new way. Includes "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Bethany Dillon); "Do You Hear What I Hear" (Nichole Nordeman); "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Steven Curtis Chapman); and "Silent Night" (Sanctus Real).

I absolutely love the Nylons' Christmas album and the Il Divo Christmas album! Wonderful harmonies, and many of my favorite Christmas songs, including "Joy to the World," "I Wonder as I Wander" (which my dad sang for many years at Christmas time), "Lo, How a Rose Ere Blooming", "Mary, Did You Know?", and my all time favorite: "O Holy Night."

Christmas morning, my parents brother and I would head over to my grandparents' house and open all our presents there. Or they'd come to our house ... so we didn't open them until we were up, dressed, showered and fed. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

My brothers and I would wake up in the wee hours, each one traipsing down the stairs, ostensibly to go to the bathroom or get a drink, just so we could see what lay under the tree! We'd poke through gifts, restraining the urge to peel back just a corner of wrapping paper... Then, when we couldn't stand it any longer, we'd pad to Mom and Dad's bedroom and beg them to get up. They always did, and our house was full of laughter as we gathered in the living room. First came stockings. We'd pass out the stockings and go through them, opening little gifts and sampling the goodies. All of our treasures went into shoeboxes with our names on them, and when we were done with stockings, the shoeboxes were set aside. My brothers and I would then to to the tree and take each person's gifts to them, until every gift had been doled out and lay in a pile next to where we sat. Then, starting with the youngest, we'd open one gift, then on to the next oldest, then the next, and so on until all the gifts were open. It was a wonderful way to share Christmas morning!

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

In Southern Oregon, the snow is so well behaved it stays up in the mountains! Seriously, we live in a valley, surrounded by mountains. By Christmas, the mountains are all wearing blankets of snow. What we get on the valley floor is fog. Lots of it. And cold, crisp air replete with the fragrance of evergreen and wood smoke. Almost every year, though, the temp drops on Christmas Eve and we get at least a dusting of wonderful, white flakes. They don't stick around long; just long enough to make it REALLY feel like Christmas.

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

The day is pretty much full of whatever last-minute tasks need to be done. Usually wrapping gifts! I can remember my poor mom being up until the wee hours of Christmas finishing up the wrapping. Also, I fix a creamy potato soup in the crock pot and leave it on all day. When evening comes, it's off to church for the services. Then back home for soup and a wonderful, heavy bread. We often play games--my family LOVES to play all kinds of games--and then we gather in the living room. Each one of us gets to choose one gift to open. Then it's off to bed, to try and get to sleep so Christmas will hurry up and come. I swear, I'm almost as excited as an adult as I was as a kid!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I shop in stores, but I do it all year long so I can avoid the mall in December. I have everything done by Thanksgiving. Not because I'm organized, but because I can't stand how crazy it's become!

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

That God sent us the most perfect, incomparable gift of all: His Son, to restore our relationship with Him. It means love and forgiveness, family and friends, peace and joy.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Ham. We've always had turkey for Thanksgiving, ham for Christmas. And yes, we make cookies, as well as our family favs: orange Jell-O (with the little oranges in it); my mom's Pear Jell-O (Lime Jell-O mixed with pears, cream cheese, and Cool Whip). And my sister-in-law makes these incredible sweet potatoes...Yum!

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

I don't have just one. Christmas has always been so special in my life, such a time of rejoicing in God's love and the love of my family. There's no way to single out one memory, because they're all such treasures to me. Especially the memories of my mom, who left us for eternity five years ago. So I guess what I'd say is my favorite Christmas memory is simply my family, sharing love and laughter.

What are you plans for this season?

Gathering at our place with family to celebrate our love and the love God has for us.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

Just that it never ceases to amaze me how this season brings a sense of love and kindness back into the world. That anyone could think it's just another holiday, or that it's offensive, stuns me. There really is a touch of magic in Christmas--the magic of God's eternal love and peace. My prayer is that, whoever you are, where ever you are, you'll feel that in new and powerful ways this Christmas.

Blessings to you.


And to you and your family! Thanks Karen.

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Susan Meissner

Meet Susan!



Currently, My husband is an associate pastor at a church in San Diego, California, and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. When I'm not working on a new novel, I enjoy teaching workshops on writing, spending time with my family, playing keyboard in worship teams, reading great books, and traveling. For information go to http://www.susansmeissner.com/.

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

My guess is I was about five or six and the memory begins like this. . . I woke up in my bed in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, in the bedroom I shared with my two sisters. I heard the distinct sound of boots on the living room floor, it was an uncarpeted floor and the sound was very distinctly boots. Omigosh! Santa! Santa was in my living room at that very moment, puttering about my tree, leaving me presents! I was scared to death. I wanted to get up and peek at him. I wanted to get a glimpse of the legendary icon. I wanted to be able to tell all my friends I’d seen the real Santa Claus; not the department store fake. The Real Guy. But I was certain if I snuck out of my bed and peeked in the living room, he would see me and it would be like seeing God and I’d probably collapse dead on the floor. So I lay in my bed shivering with dread and desire until the boot sounds stopped. I was totally bummed that I couldn’t summon the courage to get a glimpse of the real Santa. And I totally forgot that my Dad wears boots. Only boots.

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My parents always threw a big open house at Christmas time. All their friends would come over and they’d play their Johnny Mathis Christmas album and my Dad would make gallons of spiced cider. It would simmer all afternoon on the stove and the next day, every surface near the stove, including the floor, was sticky and sweet-smelling. We make the same cider at my house now and sip it while we decorate our tree. I bought the Johnny Mathis album as soon as it was made into a CD.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up when my kids' begging is louder than my procrastination (around December 1). My husband works assembles my prelighted tree. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

For the better part of my children’s growing up years we lived in Minnesota, where winter arrives very early and it feels like Christmas even before Thanksgiving. Most of us on our street put up our outdoor decorations the day after Thanksgiving because it would be too cold to wait any longer than that. And once those are up, well, why wait to put up the rest? So we’ve decorated our house and put up our tree on the day after Thanksgiving for the last 15 years. We still do, even though we live in a warmer climate now.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I recently bough Unexpected Gifts and I love it! They are old favorites sung in a new way. Includes "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Bethany Dillon); "Do You Hear What I Hear" (Nichole Nordeman); "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Steven Curtis Chapman); and "Silent Night" (Sanctus Real).

I love the choral arrangement of Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. Stay with me here. I sang it an ensemble in high school (we’re talking more 25 years ago!) and I loved it so much I actually kept the sheet music . My very bad. The words and the tune are so beautiful.

Lo’ how a rose e’er blooming, from tender stem hath sprung/Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung/It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter /When half-spent was the night. (verse 2) Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind/ With Mary, we behold it, the virgin mother kind/To show God’s love aright/She bore to men a Savior/When half-spent was the night.

It’s the gospel set to music, like so many Christmas hymns are. Here’s a group of college guys singing it on YouTube:

Christmas morning, my parents brother and I would head over to my grandparents' house and open all our presents there. Or they'd come to our house ... so we didn't open them until we were up, dressed, showered and fed. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

Up at dawn, drag parents out of bed, tear open the presents, play with them until it was time to go Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Our favorite dessert, and Grandma made it often, was Broken Glass Cake. Mmmmm. Here’s the recipe.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Last year we were in MinneSNOWta. There wasn’t always snow on the ground in the Midwest on Dec. 25. But there FOR SURE won’t be any here in southern California. I like the snow, but I’m okay with that. There wasn’t any snow in Bethlehem in 0 AD, either. . .

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

When the kids were little, we had a birthday party for Jesus. Cake, party hats, balloons, the works. Then the kids gave Jesus “presents.” Each one would write a prayer of something they wanted to do for Jesus for the next year, like take better care of their things, be kind to the kid at school who’s hard to be friends with, complain less, that kind of thing. Then we’d wrap them up and put them under the tree and sing Happy Birthday. The following year at the next birthday party, we’d unwrap the presents to see how we did. Sometimes we had to re-wrap the same present over again!! We don’t do the hats and balloons anymore, but we still do the birthday presents. . .

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

Wherever I want, GOSH!

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Christmas is God meeting me at the center of my need. I am the manger. I am that cold, lonely place in need of the Light of the World. I needed it. And I got it!

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Italian food, of course!! It’s red and green. We make cookies a couple of days before Christmas so that they are still around on Christmas Day. Candy Cane cookies and Christmas wreaths made of cornflakes, green food coloring, melted marshmallows and red cinnamon hots are yearly favorites.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Waking up Christmas morning 1991 in our little village in Germany. We were stationed there (Bob was in the Air Force) and the bells in the village church began pealing at dawn. It was incredible. . .

What are you plans for this season?

Home for the holidays, that’s us. We haven’t been home for Christmas in 14 years. It’s going to be grand.



Enjoy it Susan! Thanks for sharing with us. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Treats

My kitchen is FULL of tasty treats. Treats given to John by his co-workers. Treats brought to me from Kaylee, my other daughter. Treats sent to me by one of my publishers. And a big box of homemade treats from my 2nd mom (which sounds better than stepmom).

I just had to show you these cookies! Have you ever seen any done so beautifully? And the best part is they are delicious. Yum!

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Nancy Moser

Meet Nancy!

Nancy Moser is the author of three historical novels about real women-of-history: Mozart’s Sister, Just Jane—about Jane Austen, as well as Washington’s Lady about Martha Washington coming out in July 2008. She is also the author of over a dozen contemporary novels including the Christy award-winning, Time Lottery, the Mustard Seed Series, and The Good Nearby. Coming out in January 2008 is Solemnly Swear about the jury on a murder trial. Read excerpts at: http://www.nancymoser/. com

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

1960. I was six years old and received a Barbie doll from my parents—one of the first ones in the black and white striped swimsuit, with the blond ponytail. The clothes were too expensive to buy, but my mother sewed many Barbie outfits for her, though I will say her wardrobe was heavy on the prom and wedding dresses. All my dolls had wedding dresses, whether they were baby dolls or fully grown. I carried on the tradition for my daughters’ dolls. The poor things may not have had pajamas or a play outfit, but they had a frilly prom dress! A couple years after receiving my first Barbie, Mattel had a trade-in program where any little girl could trade in her Barbie for one of the new bubble-haired Barbies. So I gave up my original Barbie. Hmm. I wonder if Mattel knew what they were doing?

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

We always celebrated on Christmas eve, with a dinner and the presents. Santa was not a big deal. I don’t remember ever getting more than an orange and/or my very own Scotch tape or crayons in my stocking. When I had my own family we continued many of these traditions, but added many more. Now, my grown kids are very into finding a certain ornament, or eating certain foods they remember from their childhood. One tradition I did not carry on (because I hated it) was having the kids put on a Christmas program for the adults.


As my siblings and I married, we started having our family Christmas with our own children on the 23rd, went to the Mosers on the 24th, and my family on the 25th. Three days of celebration!
When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up when my kids' begging is louder than my procrastination (around December 1). My husband works assembles my prelighted tree. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.
Growing up, we always put the tree up on my birthday—December 2. But with our own kids we put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Before they grew up and moved away, we put on a Christmas CD (Mannheim Steamroller is a favorite.) My husband assembled the tree and I usually did the lights and the garland. The kids would put up the ornaments—many were hand-made sequined balls. I still love making those. Also, I bought three ornaments every year, one for each of our kids, and wrote their initial and the year on them. When they got married I gave them all their old ornaments. The rest of the Christmas decorations inside are mine to do (I have little charts to tell me where I put things last year) and my husband does the outside. We have a few decorations that I didn’t know were important to my kids until this year when they started to claim them “I want the Bumpkin crèche someday.” “I’d love to have the advent tree.” Sorry, I’m not done with them yet! But I’m looking for duplicates on Ebay.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I recently bough Unexpected Gift and I love it! They are old favorites sung in a new way. Includes "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Bethany Dillon); "Do You Hear What I Hear" (Nichole Nordeman); "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Steven Curtis Chapman); and "Silent Night" (Sanctus Real).

Besides Mannheim Steamroller, I love the Time/Life traditional Christmas album because it has the oldies I remember, the songs with Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Perry Como.


Our church has a big Christmas cantata a few weeks before Christmas, complete with a small orchestra. I love singing in that, and usually sing all three services. I think it is very important for the next generations to learn the traditional carols/hymns.

Christmas morning, my parents brother and I would head over to my grandparents' house and open all our presents there. Or they'd come to our house ... so we didn't open them until we were up, dressed, showered and fed. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

As I said before, we opened presents on Christmas Eve. I have no memories of what we did Christmas Day! I do know that presents were not the big deal they became when my husband and I had our own kids. We received less, but plenty. I do remember saving up my money in order to buy my parents a gift. For some reason, I remember buying them some crackled glass salt and pepper shakers for $1.98. Odd what we remember…


At some point in our children’s upbringing, I remember being rather disgusted by all the gifts we gave them. We cut back after that. And started doing more of the Angel Tree type of giving.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and now live in Kansas (though we go back to Nebraska for Christmas with both sides of the family.) I was always disappointed if there wasn’t snow. My childhood home had a nice hill in the back and the year I got a saucer sled was a favorite. I never remember being cold and used to play and play and play until I was soaked.

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

Both, though I’m doing more online than I used to. Especially when a company has free shipping. I like being able to peruse at my own pace, in my jammies, and have it sent to my house.

I sure like the sales. When I was growing up (even into adulthood) there were NO sales before Christmas. My sisters and I would go shopping on the 26th to get half-price things. But now, you can get that before Christmas. That’s fine with me.

We give far fewer presents than we used to. After all my siblings were married, we used to draw names, and then our kids would draw names, but even that got ridiculous because none of us needed anything. So, instead of buying presents for each other we started to trade off adopting a family in one of our towns, buying presents for the children and the parents, and groceries. But eventually, we realized the logistics of that were daunting (as was the shipping) so we each started to adopt families in our own towns.

Now, as far as family gifts, we only give to our own children, and to our parents. I like that a lot.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Love. I know that sounds trite, but that’s the gist of it. God gave His Son to us because He loved us, and now we get together and celebrate with those we love. It’s all about tradition, warmth, hugs, music, and laughter. And cookies. Lots of cookies and kisses.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

There’s ham, mountains of mashed potatoes, corn, my mother’s rolls and butter, cranberry relish, Jell-o salad, lots of green olives, and pie—pumpkin or cherry or pecan. I also make my homemade Heath toffee. I like how everyone gets “known” for something. Our daughter in law Mallory brings peanut butter balls, my SIL Nikki makes “trash” (Chex mix) and hard fudge (don’t ask. It’s a Moser thing that makes no sense whatsoever. Hard as a rock fudge! Yuck.) For many years I changed the menu and made some fancy dessert for our dinner. But then the kids would whine about not having mashed potatoes, and no one ever had any room for dessert, so I went back to the staples. It sure makes menu planning simpler!

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Once in awhile I’ve thought of a special gift for someone that is just perfect. At those times, I am like a kid, almost sick with excitement wanting to see people open it. One recent gift was a set of DVDs for our grown children. I took all the old VHS tapes that we had taken of them growing up, and transferred them onto DVDs. On the face of the DVD I made a label with a photo from the year that the DVD represented (or the vacation.) Each child got a set. We had such fun watching them! Plus, it’s nice to have those tapes backed up like this. Another gift I had fun creating was a three-ring notebook with all the family recipes the kids loved from their childhood.

Memories…I’m a chronicler (I’ve kept a daily diary for 28 years) so any gift that celebrates memories is high on my list.

What are you plans for this season?

The kids’ Christmases are more complicated now, with them needing to be with their spouse’s families. We will have our own Christmas on the 23rd, as usual, here at our house, then my husband and I will travel up to Nebraska to be with our siblings and parents—without our kids! I know I will not like that one bit, but time marches on and traditions adapt, and change.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

This year we celebrate the birth of our first two granddaughters so suddenly Christmas is more.

More important, more special, more poignant, more full of traditions—old and new. We look forward to see the season through their eyes . . . I am already creating precedent for new traditions as “Grandma”. For instance, I made each girl a needlepoint stocking for their home, and a special stocking for the mantel here. I also created a sequin ball with their name on it. And on the 17th, I had both girls overnight. I know since they’re only six months old, they don't know what’s going on, but I want to be able to tell them “You’ve always stayed overnight at Grandpa and Grandma’s house during the Christmas season. You’ve always come to “Grandkid night”…” Who knows? I sat both girls on the counter and made cookies—cookies they can’t eat yet!

All this said, I want to extend many blessings to all of you. I hope the old memories and the new ones created, are as special as the season.

Christ is born! Hallelujah.



Amen Nancy! Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing!

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Rene Gutteridge

Meet Rene!

Rene Gutteridge is the author of thirteen novels with over 150,000 books in print. She is a full-time novelist and mom. She studied screenwriting under a mass communications degree and has also worked as a playwright. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and two children. Her next release, SKID, is due Spring 2008. Her latest release is Boo Humbug, available now. Visit her website at http://www.renegutteridge.com/.


Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I remember coming down the long hallway of our home and through the living room into the den. It seemed like the entire den was filled with toys for my sister and me. It looked endless. I remember the Barbie Winnebago and pool. I believe it was that same Christmas that I accepted Christ as my savior on Christmas Eve. I think I was five. I totally understood all of this was about him. The beauty of the season reflected everything I believed about Him.

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

We always watched Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph and all those great cartoons. For some reason, the Wizard of Oz always played during that time, too. And the Sound of Music. As a parent now, we always attend the Christmas Eve service and then have my In-laws over for dinner. My husband writes a note to the kids from Santa and always puts Jesus in there to remind them what it's all about. We ALWAYS go get coffee and hot chocolate from Starbucks and drive around and look at Christmas lights a few days before Christmas, while listening to Christmas music.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up when my kids' begging is louder than my procrastination (around December 1). My husband works assembles my prelighted tree. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.
It's up the day after Thanksgiving. I also put up my 100 piece Dickens Village collection, which I've spent a decade acquiring. That stays up through February because it takes so long to put it up and it's really cool! We have a big tree we all decorate together and then a slim tree that is mine to do themes on. That's only been in the last couple of years so I'm still trying to figure out what my theme is. I think I'm going to start collecting cross ornaments.

My husband always does the outside lights. Each year it's a different design with the exception being the cross, which he always hangs above our garage.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album?

O Holy Night. That makes me week in the knees, except when it's sung poorly. Then the hairs bristle :)

Christmas morning, my parents brother and I would head over to my grandparents' house and open all our presents there. Or they'd come to our house ... so we didn't open them until we were up, dressed, showered and fed. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

My parents were very frugal. We rarely got extras, but at Christmas, they went all out. My mom made gigantic stockings for us. I bet they were four feet tall or so. We had Santa gifts plus wrapped gifts from mom and dad. We'd open presents and then eat pumpkin bread. In our teen years, we'd try on all the outfits we got. Mom even bought extras so if there was something we didn't like, we could exchange right there on the spot!

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, and in Montana that's almost a given! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

In Oklahoma, it can be snow, ice, rain or 90 degrees. We live in a very unpredictable climate. It's usually at least cold, but sometimes not even cold enough for a sweater. December is a big ice month, so we tend to get that more than snow, which makes travel hard.

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

I'm usually preparing for the meal that evening. We'll bake cookies, drink hot chocolate and stay at home. Then we get dressed up for the Christmas Eve service. The kids get to stay in the service with us, so I let them bring a drawing pad and a pencil, but they love listening to our pastor, too, and my husband leads worship, so that's a thrill for them. Then my husband's parents come over and we have a nice non-Christmas type meal. I really go gourmet for them, and we have egg nog too. Then we spend two hours trying to get the kids to bed!!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

Both! Though these days we have things like Kohl's and free-standing JC Penneys, so I don't have to go to the mall as much. I do love ordering online, though.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

A few years ago, I became very sick and chronically ill. I got out of the hospital two days before Christmas. It meant so much to be able to just enjoy everything. I don't take anything for granted anymore. It's a blessing to wrap presents, be well enough to go shopping, have enough energy to bake cookies. I feel a peace and warmth during the season, and I feel the wonder of Jesus in so many ways.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Luckily, my mom still likes to do the Christmas meal, so we go over to their house for it. Often times it's an exact replica of our Thanksgiving meal but nobody minds because we all love turkey. But Mom has decided to try ham on occasion. Not our favorite but we can't complain since we're not cooking! We have tons of pumpkin pies and pecan pies. That's a must. With whip cream. Coffee comes all day.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

I think it's the night I accepted Jesus as my savior. I remember being tiny in my bed, wrapped in warm covers, staring at the ceiling like it was heaven and knowing God was there with me.

What are you plans for this season?

Lots of time with friends and family. I have a new nephew so that will add to the fun. Our church is doing a series called Christmas Uprising, talking about God's command to take care of the poor, so we're putting an extra emphasis on it this year and doing some additional things we haven't done before in terms of charity.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I pray for those whose Christmases aren't filled with warm memories. For some, Christmas is the worst time of the year. I pray that they would allow God to embrace them and give them a glimpse into what that Baby means for their lives.

Thanks Rene! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Last week's winner is...

Last week's winner of a copy of A Valley of Betrayal and A Shadow of Treason is


Doris S.

Watch the Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War series trailer!

*****SPREAD THE WORD! I'm having a weekly drawing during the blog tour! Anyone who signs up for my newsletter, will be eligible to win both A Valley of Betrayal and A Shadow of Treason! Wow...how easy is that? Go here, sign up for my newsletter and wait by your mailbox! Easy...(well actually I'll notify you via email -- so don't really wait at your mailbox!)

The 12 Authors of Christmas -- Roxanne Henke

Meet Roxanne! (is that a dreaded fruitcake I see in her hands?)

Roxanne Henke’s, first novel, After Anne, was selected as Christianbook.com’s Favorite Book of 2002. Her subsequent five books (Finding Ruth, Becoming Olivia, Always Jan, With Love, Libby, and The Secret of Us) have appeared on a Bestseller list, been “Top Picks” for Romantic Times magazine, and given a Retailer’s Choice award. Her most recent release is titled, Learning to Fly. (Coming in January 2008) Roxanne was named Writer of the Year at the 2003 Mt. Hermon Writers Conference in California, and has served on the faculty of the Glorieta Writers Conference in New Mexico.

In addition to writing, Roxy also speaks and teaches at conferences and events across the nation on the topics of friendship, depression, achieving goals, and writing. She writes from her home in rural North Dakota, where she lives with her husband and an annoying-friendly dog. She has two, young-adult daughters who are also friendly…but not annoying! Two wonderful son’s-in-law have recently been added to their family. You can find Roxy on the web at: http://www.roxannehenke.com/


Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

Besides opening up a very LARGE box that was filled with homemade Barbie clothes (that my mom had sewn...including a prom gown and cheerleading outfit in our school colors), the incident burned in my mind is when I was at my cousin's house (before Christmas) and he told me, "There is no Santa Claus." I didn't say a word. I got up from where I was sitting, walked out of the house and walked home, pondering what he'd said. I was in shock. I had no idea~!


Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions?

When I was growing up we always celebrated Christmas with several Aunts and Uncles and lots of cousins.

One tradition was making homemade ice cream in the basement. The kids would line up, youngest to oldest, and take a turn at cranking the ice cream machine handle. It was easy to crank at first (which is why the youngest got to go first), but then got harder and harder. Eventually our dads took over.

As the ice cream grew stiff we'd stand around and count out loud, amazed at how strong our dads were.


When do you put up your tree?

I almost always put up my tree on Thanksgiving weekend. It's nice when our (grown) girls are home for Thanksgiving...I get some help putting my almost 300 ornaments on the tree. Otherwise, my husband sets up our artificial tree, and I'm on-my-own for decorating.
He doesn't "do" ornaments. I leave the tree up through New Years. I have a Dec. 29th birthday and I enjoy not having the un-decorating mess until after ALL the holidays of the season.


What is your favorite Christmas song or album?

Can I say "all of them?" I love Christmas music. But I do have a couple time-tested CD's that are favorites.

I have an "old" Amy Grant CD called 'Home for Christmas.' (My favorite song on that album is "Breath of Heaven." Just beautiful!) In the a-little-bit-off-beat category I love the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's CD "The Christmas Attic." It's different and I love it.


Tell us about your Christmas setting?

I live in North Dakota...the perfect Christmas setting! Snow. Cold. Hot cider. Friends. Family.
Everything you imagine Chirstmas to be. It's perfect...except now that our two girls are grown and married we have to "share" them every-other-year with in-laws. Sigh...


It's Christmas Eve. Describe your day and evening.

Christmas Eve starts out leisurely...sleep in, coffee, cereal, and the newspaper. My husband usually has to work that day, so in one sense it's a "regular day"...but one with lots of anticipation surrounding it. As evening arrives we don't have dinner...just snack on whatever is around.

Then it's off to church and our traditional, little-kids' Christmas pagent, ending with a candlelight "Silent Night" with a few verses in German. Then it's back home, to have Green Punch (a family recipe and tradition), lots of snacks, and OPEN GIFTS!! We're never in bed until after midnight. (And Santa still comes!)



Confession time: shop on-line or at the mall?

I live 100 miles from a mall. I do most of my shopping on-line...and it gets delivered right to my door!


Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Celebrating the birth of Jesus by gathering with family (we live far apart so getting together is NOT easy...but we do it as often as possible). One of our traditions is going to the Christmas Eve service reeeeaaaalllly early in order to fill two pews so we can all sit together.


It's Christmas day. what's for dinner?

Christmas dinner...it varies from year-to-year, but it often is a peppercorn rubbed beef tenderloin (a holiday splurge). And LOTS of side dishes!


Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

I don't do a lot of baking since our family isn't real big on sweets. But I do make an Italian cookie (Pizzelle's--we are NOT Italian, which makes it all the more unusual that we love this anise-flavored cookie.) I also make a wonderfully-delicious fruitcake (no jokes, please!). It weighs four pounds and I send half of it to my mom in Arizona, and we eat the rest. Sometimes, if they're lucky, I share a slice with friends. ; ) Yum!


Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

I have a dozen favorite memories, but one that comes to mind is the year our youngest daughter was born on December 14th. We'd only had her home from the hospital for a short time when we heard a knock on our door. It was Christmas caroler's come to sing to us.
They stood outside in the snow in front of our living room window and sang, while my husband held our new baby, and our older daugther (age 5), and I stood inside and listened. One of the caroler's told me later the scene reminded her of a Norman Rockwell painting. And I remember it 'feeling' that way, too.


What are you plans for this season?

Oh, goodness, they are still up in the air. It was supposed to be a North Dakota Christmas, but our youngest daughter and husband are in the process of moving to the Chicago area and will barely "be there" by late December. We'll still trying to figure it all out.


Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I wish readers everywhere a Christmas filled with faith, family, and friends...and just a little bit of time to sit down and read a great book!


Roxy

Good suggestion Roxy ... any "great book" suggestions? :)

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Other authors spotlighted on the 12 Author's of Christmas:
Kim Sawyer
Tamara Leigh