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"When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things—not the great occasions—give off the greatest glow of happiness."~Bob Hope
Do you have any Christmas traditions?
Research shows that our olfactory system (sense of smell) has the strongest ties to memory. I can verify that research; the wonderful aroma of walking into my then girlfriend and now wife Clare- her Aunt Pretty and Uncle Russ’ house- Christmas Eve 1993, it’s a holiday I’ll never forget.
Russ was a full blooded Italian immigrant. He and his family made it to the USA with not much more than the shirt on his back and a few Italian family recipes including traditional- made from scratch- spare rib spaghetti sauce and also meatballs.
Christmas Eve for Clare’s family always meant a trip to Pretty’s house for an authentic old country Italian feast. While Pretty and Russ aren’t with us any longer, the tradition lives on. With love, many years ago Pretty carefully wrote down the time tested recipes and Clare and I have been hosting Christmas Eve since then complete with handcrafted meatballs and sauce.
Recently at a CBMC Trusted Advisor Forum meeting, I led the guys through study #11 from the advance.cbmc.com Living Proof video series. The theme of this study is how we can let the Bible speak for itself.
Reading and/or hearing the thoughts and words directly from The Creator of all is life changing.
"Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends."~Margaret Thatcher
As a kid, I had the blessing of having parents that loved Jesus and Christmas and huge family Christmas gatherings at our house. One tradition mom had, gathering everyone in the downstairs family room and reading through the biblical account of the Christmas story followed by packing the folding chairs back upstairs for our Christmas dinner.
Reading from the Bible the Christmas story before dinner is another tradition our family keeps.
Maybe you would consider starting this tradition yourself? Could be at your office Christmas party or with family on Christmas Eve and day.
You can print this account of the Christmas story taken from Isaiah and Luke. Pass the sheet around the table having each person read the verses highlighted in different colors. For some, this might be the first time ever they’ve read and spoken God's own words.
I pray that for those of you that start this as a tradition, you trust that the Spirit of God to work through the Word of God and will accomplish His work in His time.
On behalf of CBMC Northland, our Area Leadership Team and all volunteer leaders, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous 2019 for God's glory and your joy.
Alan Smith
CBMC Northland Area Executive Director
Thank you for partnering with CBMC Northland
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