Journey to Excellence

If you are reading along with me in The Christmas Story by G.A. Myers, spend some time this week reading Chapter 4 on "The Journey to Bethlehem" and meditating on Luke 2:1-7. My children will be reading "Little Donkey's Tale" in The First Christmas by Francine M. O'Connor, and I will be reading to them out of First Christmas by Alastair MacDonald. We will be making a hand print donkey craft found at Planet of the Apels . For this craft you will need construction paper, gray paint, a black sharpie marker, little hands, and lots of baby wipes. Enjoy your time with your children reflecting on the journey to the birth of Christ. I will post all of our activities on Friday.

On Monday, the kids and I started our Rediscovering Christmas activities. As promised, we read in The First Christmas by Francine M. O'Connor about Isaiah's prophecy and Mary's encounter with the angel(s) and how they related to the birth of Christ. Then we read the account of Gabriel's visit to Mary in the One Year Children's Bible . Our activity for the day was making "stained glass" angels. I drew a pattern on black construction paper and cut it out. Then I put a sheet of clear contact paper on the cutout, with the sticky side UP. The kids and I tore tissue paper into small pieces and they stuck it to the contact paper. When they were done, we added another piece of contact paper to that side and trimmed around the circle. With a hole punch and a piece of yarn we made it into a hanging stained glass work of art. We are going to give these to my two grandmothers who will LOVE them! To end our time together, I printed off a color by sigh...

It's time to Rediscover Christmas , the true meaning of Christmas, that is! If you missed my previous post about all of my plans for this series, you can review it by going HERE . Next week will be our first week of study. And, moms, you aren't to be left out. I checked out the book, The Christmas Story by G. A. Myers. It's a sweet little devotional that will go hand-in-hand with the children's study we will be doing. Read and meditate on Chapter 1 and all about "The Announcement to Mary". If you don't have the book, then just spend some time reading in your Bible (Luke 1: 26-38), or in another book of your choosing, about Mary and the angel when she received the news that she would be the mother of the Messiah. I will be posting my reflections, and you can comment and share your heart, as well. Now on to the kids ... In The First Christmas by Francine M. O'Connor, we will be reading the first two stories, "Listen to Isaiah...