Monday Memories - Jump Rope, Hopscotch, Rotten Egg, and the Like

thank you google images

Recently our school district had another shooting threat.  Our town went through its own school shooting in 1996 and every now and then we get warnings.  Sadly, it’s today’s new normal.  On this last call the middle school decided to keep all the kids indoors for the day.   I would think the kids had a better chance at not being hit on a playground running to and fro then in a crowded hall or lunchroom of wall to wall kids, but it’s a tough call.  No matter what an administrator decides it will be second-guessed if someone is hurt. 

School playgrounds and playground rules are definitely not what they used to be and that is a sad reflection on us. 

I have great memories of playground games.  Here are ten of my childhood favorites:

·         tag (in many forms – regular, freeze, TV, etc.)

·         pom-pom-pull-away

·         baseball (work up)

·         jump rope

·         hopscotch

·         rollerskating

·         blister bars

·         merry-go-round

·         Helen Keller

·         Rotten Egg

I imagine every school had versions of Helen Keller and Rotten Egg:

We played Helen Keller in a small foyer.  “Helen Keller” put a coat over her head (if she couldn’t be trusted to keep her eyes closed) and was twirled around while everyone counted to ten.  Then she groped her way around the little room until she caught someone and felt who she was.  If she guessed correctly Helen Keller joined the game and the one that was caught became the new Helen Keller.   (A game like that would never fly today what with political correctness and students touching each other.  The real Helen Keller was a favorite heroine for many of us and we thought we were honoring her to play a game in her name.) 

We played Rotten Egg on the big cement steps.   Eight or ten of us sat quietly thinking of a color.  Whoever was “it” called out a color (any color) and then one by one rapped her knuckles on our heads.  If the color was the color we’d chosen we chirped, “peep, peep, peep.”  “It” and a friend swung us back and forth between their arms.  If we smiled or laughed everyone chimed “Ewwwww, you’re a rotten egg” and we were out.  If you didn’t smile or laugh you went into the good egg pile.  The game continued until there were no more rotten eggs.   The last (or first depending on the day) good egg got to be “it” the next game.

Two of the jump rope rhymes we used were:

Spanish Dancer touch the ground

Spanish Dancer turn around

Spanish Dancer do the high kick

Spanish Dancer do the splits

Spanish Dancer go upstairs

Spanish Dancer say your prayers

Spanish Dancer turn around

Spanish Dancer get out of town

Cinderella dressed in yella

Went upstairs to kiss her fella

Made a mistake and kissed a snake

How many doctors will it take

1…2…3…

We also sang these nonsensical songs:

So-and-so stole a cookie from the cookie jar.

(So-and-so would say) “Who me?”

(Everyone would reply) “Yes you.”

(So-and-so would say) “Couldn’t be.”

(Everyone would respond) Then who?”

(Then so-and-so would call out another name and the rhyme would start again.)

Miss Lucy had a baby

She named him tiny Tim

She put him in the bathtub

To see if he could swim

He drank up all the water

He ate up all the soap

He tried to eat the bathtub          

But it wouldn’t go down his throat

(I hated it when kids taunted with this next song.  It was embarrassing.)

Two little lovers sitting in a tree

K-i-s-s-i-n-g

First comes love

Second comes marriage

Third comes (names two people) pushing a baby carriage

(I guess I shouldn’t have disliked that jingle.  It did teach us the proper order of things:  love, marriage, and then children which is much better than how some play today:  children, marriage, and maybe love thrown in there somewhere.  Maybe it had its purpose afterall.)

How about you?  What did you do on the playground?  What were your jump rope rhymes?  What games do your kids play on the playground now?

Life in Our World - Good Thing We Have Cupcakes

Marie and Me

Early Thursday morning I received an e-mail from Marie saying that she and her husband Dirk were driving through our area later in the day and wondered about meeting.  Of couuuurse!  Marie is a long time blog friend who lives in Canada, I was so glad to finally talk in real time.  She is just as enthusiastic and genuine as she is on her blog.  It was such a privilege to meet her and her husband Dirk.  (Her blog is private or I'd link to it.)

Truly.  Marie is exuberant and a joy to be around.  I was so impressed Dirk would humor her and bring her to visit and then sit and listen and even contribute to the conversation.  I shouldn't have been surprised, Dirk helps Marie pull off a lot of her incredibly creative ideas -- he delivered their kids' presents in a very realistic Santa suit Christmas Eve so it could be caught on video while the kids slept, and he dressed up as King Pig without even being asked [green face, green wig, and all] for their son's Angry Birds birthday party.

Someone once asked me if it's awkward meeting blog friends for the first time and I said, "Heavens no!  It's so nice because you know them and can ask all those questions the blog doesn't tell."

Dirk and Marie, thank you for taking the time to stop.

A little later friend Melanie came by and I got to take care of Owen for a couple of hours.  Melanie is one of those people that finds the funny no matter what the situation is.  I wish everyone had a Melanie.  I'm glad I have one.

A little later friend Casey stopped by with 50#'s of popcorn.  Several years ago Mitch, one of my seminary students gave me 50#'s of popcorn -- just because.  I saw him at the movies the other night and thanked him again, especially because I had just used the last of it a month or so ago.  Casey helps Mitch out at the popcorn plant and so he delivered another bag a couple of nights later.

I'm telling you we have the nicest friends.

Good thing we had cupcakes so there was something to share with all those who gave so much to us.  I've been wanting to try this recipe for a long time and it did not disappoint . . . not even a little.  If you like chocolate, and coconut, and cream cheese, and almonds, and truffles I don't think you'll be disappointed either.

Good Thing We Have Cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 box devils food cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding (small box)
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup sour cream
Milk chocolate Lindor truffles by Lindt ~ approximately 30

Coconut Frosting

1/4 cup softened butter

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

1 1/2 cups coconut

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Topping

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1. Unwrap milk chocolate Lindt truffles and place in a bowl for use later.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 30 muffins tins.
3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, oil, and water.
4. Sift in cake mix and pudding and mix well.
5. Stir in sour cream.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
7. Bake at 350 for five minutes. After five minutes, lightly press a Lindt truffle into each partially baked cupcake.
8. Bake the cupcakes an additional 13 minutes (total of 18 minutes).
9. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place hot cupcakes directly into airtight containers so as to seal in the moisture.
10. While cupcakes are baking or sweating, mix frosting.
11. Cream butter, cream cheese, salt, and vanilla in mixing bowl.  
12. Add powdered sugar and mix well.
13. Add chopped almonds and coconut and mix.
14. Frost cupcakes with heavy layer of coconut frosting.
15. Melt 2 cups milk chocolate chips in microwave (don't over cook)
16. Dip tips of coconut frosted cupcakes into first melted chocolate and then chopped almonds.
17. Let the chocolate set up.
18. These cupcakes are even better on day two and three.

Tonight some friends are coming over for supper.  Calvin has perfected a new way of cooking steaks.  

Good thing we still have some cupcakes.  

Thursday Thinking - When You're the Only One That Doesn't Know

Ty and Michelle gave us Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute for Christmas.

The book helps you to see where you're fooling yourself.  It helps you to see where your perceptions are warped and what you're missing.  I started reading the book last Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon I had this experience:     

I was in the foyer after church waiting for Calvin.  I sat down on the couch next to a little boy and asked him and a little girl standing next to him how their Christmases were.  They were both 11 years old.    The little girl said hers was wonderful and, obviously pleased. showed me a brand new iPod with a blue cover.

The little boy said, "Mine was boring," and I thought, Oh, you must be one of those spoiled kids who gets something every time your folks go to the grocery store.  That'll ruin Christmas for you alright.  I just saw a whole new batch of iPhones in kids' hands a minute ago (whose families really struggle financially) and you must have wanted more than just an iPhone.

I said, "Boring?  How can Christmas be boring?"

He said, "I only got one present."

Me, still thinking his present was probably an iPhone (and I guess I find all wonder and amazement in an iPhone because I don't have one), said, "One present?  Well, what was it?"

He:  "A car."

Me:  "Oh.  A car.  A special kind of car?"

He:  "A motor one."

Me:  "A remote control car?"

He wasn't pleased with it and I wondered if it still worked, but he interrupted . . .

He:  "Yes.  But I'm luckier than my sister.  She's 13 and she didn't even get one present.  The new church we found (they must be church shopping as I'd never seen him before) only gives presents to kids and they said she was too old."

Me:  Wondering what to say to that.  "Oh . . . well . . . that certainly is a bummer.  I can see why Christmas wasn't very fun for you.  (Pause.)  Did you get to eat tamales?"  As if tamales was a suitable consolation prize for no gifts.

He:  "Yes.  But I had to go to my cousin's cousins and she's mean.  She hits my little brother.  She doesn't like him."

The little girl chimed in at this point and said, "Yeah, but sometimes your brother is bad," and he said, "But she doesn't need to hit him so much."

And that was the end of the conversation.  Others came and interrupted us and the kids got ready to go.  As I walked to the car I thought of Leadership and Self-Deception and how my perception of the boy was established after he said one word.  Boring.  How in the world did I come to think I had a corner on the market of human behavior and could pen him so quickly as I did?

My experience reminded me of this video.  This lady and I be mates.  We thought we saw ourselves so clearly and then walked in front of a virtual mirror and realized we're not nearly as fit and trim as we told ourselves we were.  

I finished Leadership and Self-Deception yesterday and highly recommend it.  It appears to have been very successful in the business world, I think it would make a great family discussion book, and I know it will be a help to me in my personal life.  I both appreciated and enjoyed it.  Thanks Ty and Michelle.

.

Homemaking Tip - Hero Wall

Calvin and I have gone to two movies in the last week.  Not unprecedented, but not normal.  As we watched superhero preview after superhero preview, I thought No wonder kids are confused and feel helpless today . . . our heroes are superheros and if you can't spit webs, conduct electricity, or fly you can't solve the world's problems.

Now I don't know if that really is the case, but I do wish that we put more real life heroes in front of kids than imaginary ones.

My sister Rachel has what her family calls a Hero Wall.  Each person in the family has chosen someone that has qualities they admire and want to emulate.  Rachel's hero is Ulysses S. Grant and she can give you a passionate and heartfelt lesson on him and leave you feeling a kinship to him as well.

As you can see, the Ellsworth hero wall is as varied as its family members.  It is an effective way to teach with the eyes.

I like this simple definition of hero:  "A hero is a kind of person that others want to be like.  He helps them become better people.  They aren't always famous, sometimes they are just regular people, they don't have to brag or boast about themselves they just quietly do the things they should.  They follow Jesus."

Who would you hang on your hero wall?  I'd put Joan of Arc and Calvin's dad and Peter for starters.

Tuesday Tried It - Salsa

We make lots of salsa around here . . .

http://www.mountainmamacooks.com/2012/01/quick-and-easy-blender-salsa/

. . . and this recipe is a keeper.  (However, don't be surprised if you get up in the middle of the night and brush your teeth again.)

While we were eating at Ray and Cali's house someone mentioned I don't like garlic.  I said, "I know.  It's a burden.  People don't look kindly on you when you say you don't like garlic.  People who like garlic really like garlic and they feel strongly about those who don't."

Ray was eating his breakfast two stools down from me and said, "That's okay.  Some people don't like kittens either," and then he looked over at me and quietly said, "Kitten killer."

Any fellow don't-care-for-garlic-fans out there?

52 Blessings - A Good Habit

I have enough bad habits to make me really appreciate when I have a good one. One of my most rewarding habits is the daily reading of the scriptures. I started the habit when I was 12 or 14 years old and heard this story by Spencer W. Kimball:

“Let me tell you of one of the goals that I made when I was still but a lad. When I heard a Church leader from Salt Lake City tell us at conference that we should read the scriptures, and I recognized that I had never read the Bible, that very night at the conclusion of that very sermon I walked to my home a block away and climbed up in my little attic room in the top of the house and lighted a little coal-oil lamp that was on the little table, and I read the first chapters of Genesis. A year later I closed the Bible, having read every chapter in that big and glorious book.

“I found that this Bible that I was reading had in it 66 books, and then I was nearly dissuaded when I found that it had in it 1,189 chapters, and then I also found that it had 1,519 pages. It was formidable, but I knew if others did it that I could do it.

“I found that there were certain parts that were hard for a 14-year-old boy to understand. There were some pages that were not especially interesting to me, but when I had read the 66 books and 1,189 chapters and 1,519 pages, I had a glowing satisfaction that I had made a goal and that I had achieved it.

“Now I am not telling you this story to boast; I am merely using this as an example to say that if I could do it by coal-oil light, you can do it by electric light. I have always been glad I read the Bible from cover to cover.” (Ensign, May 1974, 88)

Like President Kimball there have been pages that weren’t always interesting or easy to understand, but “I have always been glad I read the Bible from cover to cover.”  Also like President Kimball, I don't share this to boast, but just to say that I'm really grateful for what the scriptures have provided to me through the years.  They continue to guide, correct, inspire, and comfort me, and provide a standard of truth against which to measure philosophies, teachings, governing’s, and ideas.

Here is a Mormon Message about William Tyndale, the man who translated the Bible into the English language, and the importance reading the scriptures. I especially liked this line in it, “our need for constant recourse to the scriptures is greater than in any previous time.”  I think people concerned about our day will agree with that.

I’m really grateful the Lord has helped me to cultivate this very useful habit which has the power to help me overcome my bad habits.

Life in Our World - Normal

The other day Calvin said, “Whoa, you've got to take Dan jogging again. He’s getting fat.” After we butchered the pigs a few months ago Dan stockpiled lard in lots of hiding places and it’s kept him fleshy all fall. For two years we've worried because he was so skinny, but the last several months I've been exercising in the morning with Calvin rather than jogging with Dan in the afternoons. Who knew my jogging pace could keep a dog so thin. Hardly seems fair. (Truth be told he probably runs four times as far and fast as I do chasing the birds and airplanes in the sky.) All this to say Dan and I have jogged again this week and it’s felt good to both of us to do the old normal routine.

In other normal news:

 

• we've had snow in measurable amounts.  There is a giant snowball in the pasture (like big enough for a snowman's bottom).  I don't know who put it there.  Do steers roll snowballs?  You would think I would know about that before now if they do.

• the calves are growing bigger.  It'll be time to butcher them in a few more months.

• I filled the chicken boxes with fresh wood shavings 

• I ironed and watched three episodes of Andy Griffith while I did it. I wonder if Opie’s real mother watches reruns like old family movies just to remember what a cute little boy he was. 

• I have finally mastered homemade pizza – now that there are no longer kids to eat it and want it. It’s all about making the dough several hours early and heating the stone before baking it. 

• I volunteered to do some learning activities for a group of youth who were spending the day reading the Book of Mormon. 

• We went to wedding receptions this week.

Life is good. I like normal very much.

Thursday Thinking - A Quote to Think On

I spent thirty-five minutes looking for a new quote for our chalkboard this afternoon.   

Yes, yes, I love you Calvin is a very fine quote and could stay indefinitely.

No, no.  Calvin won't replace it if I just leave it.

No, I didn't just write it up there so as to look good before I took the picture.  It's been there a couple of weeks now.  

No, I'm not coyly trying to show off my old door with its wire baskets and chalkboard-made-from-a-cabinet-door.  

No, I'm not trying to blatantly show off that I obviously have a better camera now than before Christmas.

I have my scruples readers.  I have my scruples.  I really have been looking for a new quote for the week, but it seems when I'm looking all the good quotes I promise to remember hide.  

However, Abraham Lincoln rarely disappoints.  He has great one liners.  And since the movie Lincoln finally came to our theater this week and Calvin and I just got home from seeing it, I spent five more minutes this evening and found these to choose from:     

   

1. I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.
2. Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.
3. I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.
4. How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
5. Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
6. My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
7. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
8. No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.
9. Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
10. The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
11. The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.
12. The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.
13. What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.
14. When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.
15. When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run.
16. I will prepare and someday my chance will come.
17. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
18. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
19. You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.

or I suppose I could always use this one:

"I generally don't trust quotes from the internet." — Abraham Lincoln

What would you write on your chalkboard for the week?   Any particular reason why?

Life in Our World - I'm the Grandma Now

We went to Seattle and stayed with Ray and Cali’s family for Christmas. It reminded me of my own grandparents coming to our house for Christmas when I was a little girl. Grandpa and Grandma Hoops only lived 30 miles away so Christmas Eve was the only night of the year they slept in our beds. It seemed like a very big deal. As we slept in the Follett’s bed I thought, “Hey. I’m the grandma now.  I think I'm supposed to come bearing fudge like Grandma Hoops.”

I like being the grandma and sleeping with the grandpa in the bed while the mom and dad fill the stockings and put the presents under the tree.

This is what the grandma in me saw this Christmas:

We went to the Follett's a day early as Ray was speaking in Church on Sunday. One of the things he said in his talk was, “Christmas is all about family, love, service, and Christ.”

That statement certainly hit the Follett Christmas celebration nail on the head.

Christmas is all about family . . .

Levin wore this hat e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. all. day. long.  It was pretty darn funny.

And just because Levin yells out, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" but still won't call Cali 'mom' doesn't mean it isn't about family.  As he laughed and played and squealed and ran from one person to the next, I wondered if a little boy could feel more loved than he.  

Since none of our children were spending Christmas Eve together this year, it was a mass texting ring throughout the day. It was just as Ma Bell said, “long distance is the next best thing to being there.” It was fun to get several pictures, texts, and videos of what everyone was doing because Christmas really is all about family.  

Afton enjoying the snow in Colorado

Christmas is all about love . . . 

Ray reading to Levin

Ray and Cali put a lot of time and effort  - which certainly spells love - into their Christmas traditions and celebrations to make things good for their family. 

They made this for Levin's Christmas present and he loves it!  They had noticed that Levin is fascinated with how things work (unscrewing nuts from fans, picking at locks, etc.), so they created a gift he would love and explore.  It was pretty hard to get him excited to open another present for a verrrrrrry long while after he found this.  Ray and Cali took an oil spill tray and reinforced it with plywood then attached hooks, gadgets, locks, lights, knobs, wheels, door jam springs, and switches.  Christmas really is all about love.

Christmas is all about service . . . 

Cali made gifts for their neighbors.  

playing Dreidel.  Cali cleaned every one of us out of our macaroni gelt.

Ray and Cali invited the missionaries over for a very fine Christmas Eve dinner of prime rib and shrimp (where we all toasted a favorite Christmas memory) and a special family home evening.  We sang carols, read Luke 2, and shared our thoughts on the Savior.  

Ray also took Levin and Calvin with him as he helped a man (who he didn’t know) haul his rabbit hutches to another residence because he needed help and  . . .  because Christmas really is all about service.

Christmas is all about Christ. 

Without Christ, Christmas could quickly become a gluttonous holiday filled with spending, ribbon, batteries, candy, butter, cheese, sugar, crackers, chocolate, drums, bells, and lights, but with Christ at its center it's a wonderful celebration of hope filled with love, service, and family.  

And that is what the grandma saw and enjoyed at the Follett's home this Christmas. 

Life in Our World - Merry Christmas from the P.A.Y.N.E. family

P - Calvin and Jane still live in Moses Lake and serve in the Spanish Branch.

A - Ty, Michelle, and Afton live in Maryland and graduate this spring.  Afton has been
their best education.  They will move to Mississippi for pilot training in the summer.

Y - Abe and Grace just completed deployment number 2 to Afghanistan.
They will move to Georgia in April where Abe will take the captain's career course.

N - Joe and Ande live in Seattle.  Joe travels far and wide with his work.
They are expecting a baby in April!

E - Ray, Cali, and Levin live in Seattle and are expecting baby two in June.
Ray continues to travel extensively while Cali holds down their home . . .
and Levin.  He's a climber.

Thursday Thinking - This, That, and the Other

Every now and then I see glimpses of myself – love of homemaking and frugality – in the kids’ lives.   Like yesterday:

Abe texted and said, “What are you doing today?”

I plunked back: “cookies, candy, and caroling. how about you?”

“Making cookies, chocolate-dipped pretzels, wrapping gifts, tithing settlement, watching a movie, and just getting ready for Christmas.”

I called Cali and asked her what she was doing. She was making sugar cookies with royal icing. (I gave her my best sugar cookie tip just in case: “If yours don’t turn out as good as you had hoped, go to Safeway and buy theirs. They are $5 for 50 of them. Frost them with homemade frosting and then shake a few sprinkles on them and people will ask you for your recipe. No joke.”)

Ty texted and said he was at the airport making $90 an hour just for sitting. (He jumped on the chance to get a $450 flight voucher for taking a later flight.)

Ande wasn’t near the phone. She was growing a baby.

It's fun to have more than genes in common.

*****

Calvin told me tonight what he got me for Christmas: a gun.

Perfect! I planned on getting him a camera.

*****

One of the great benefits of my job is to celebrate life achievements with my students. It’s been an unexpected bonus and I appreciate it. Several stop by the building (or call) to tell me about their mission calls or new jobs, and there are always wedding invitations and baby announcements in the kitchen drawer. Last Saturday I attended the wedding of two students and was greeted by several others – one excitedly said he’d just joined the army and another had a scholarship for next fall.

One afternoon this week I’d been gone all day and had just come home, taken off my dress, nylons, and shoes and thought, “Shoot, it’s close enough to bedtime I think I’ll just put on my nightgown.” It was 4 o’clock after all. I changed and then remembered I hadn’t fed the chickens so I put holey sweat pants on underneath my blue floral nightgown and put on a pair of thick black socks and my fuzzy red coat. I got the chicken bucket out from under the sink and slipped on my brown Mary Jane Doc Martins in the garage and headed for the coop. In pulled a student (he wasn’t one of my official ones). It was so great to see him. He walked with me to the chicken coop and offered to slop through the mud to help gather the eggs, then he came back to the house and waited while I changed into respectable clothes. We sat and visited about books and life and then later he sent me one of his short stories. It was great to catch up with him and read his words.

The next morning a former student came in to join the last few minutes of class. Every year she brought me a little nativity and just a few days earlier I had thought, “Oh darn, I won’t get a nativity this year A. is gone.” But she didn’t forget. She had a little nativity in her hand and stayed after class and visited. She told me how her first few semesters of college had gone and what her hopes and goals were for the future. She looked terrific and it was so fun to catch up with her.

Today another former student brought me a big plate of several different kinds of cookies. She gave me a big hug and quickly told me what her plans are for the next few months. It was fun to hear her enthusiasm and see current students excited to see her again.

This afternoon I’ve been grading essays and daily scripture journals of several students in my night class.  A time or two I've felt like I should take off my shoes.  I have been on sacred ground as I read the things they know and feel concerning their challenges and opportunities, answers to prayers, doubts and concerns, questions and desires to know truth for themselves, and of their successes and lessons learned.

Some jobs you have to wait until you retire to get shares, but not this one.

*****

Today I was thinking about the beautiful symbolism in the lighting of the menorah – one light lighting others one by one.  There is no darkness if there is even one little light. I can be one little light and one by one help others.  I can do that.  And while I'm mixing two religions here, it made me think about Jesus Christ being the Light of the world - the source of all light.

They Knew It

Recently I bought a book that I had heard three people say was a good, happy, enjoyable read.  I don't usually buy books, I wait for them to come in at the library or borrow them, but the words of the three convinced me it was worth buying.  They were right.

So it is with anything.  When three trusted people say the same thing it is much easier to believe that what they say is true.  A few years ago I sat on a jury.  It was a he-said-she-said case . . . until the witnesses began their testimonies.  Soon it was clear that he did do what he said he did and she didn't do what she said she did.  The law of witnesses exposed the truth.

The scriptures are full of witnesses who testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  Some were eyewitnesses and some were not.  Many of those who saw Him knew it from the beginning and continued to testify of Him until their death.  In the scriptural references below are the testimonies of those who were here at the time of the Savior.  Excepting Joseph and the wise men, their recorded words declare the Savior's divinity.  In the case of Joseph and the wise men, their actions speak for them.  They also knew that Jesus was the Son of God and Redeemer of the World.

Here are the King James Version references to those recorded testimonies:
(There are also Bible videos that depict several of these scriptures.  For personal study [and even teaching these to others] I especially appreciated reading the recorded testimony and then watching the corresponding video.  For the videos, go HERE and scroll through them [clicking show more again and again] until you find the ones you're looking for. )

Luke

1:42-45     Elizabeth
1:46-55     Mary
1:67-79     Zachariah
2:10-14     Angel
2:20          Shepherds
2:28-35     Simeon
2:37-38     Anna
3:4-6         John, the Baptist
3:22          Heavenly Father

Matthew

1:19-25,
2:13-23     Joseph
2:1-12       Wise men

I especially love what these witnesses did with their testimonies.  It wasn't enough to know, they shared them so that others could know as well.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer.  I know it.  May I always live so that others may know it as well. 

Saved by a Newborn Infant

Several years ago I read a true story called, “Saved by a Newborn Infant.” It told of a Christian missionary couple and their five small children who were serving in the mountains and jungles of Africa. They lived in a beautiful, yet primitive area and were crowded into a tiny shack. Not long after they had been there, the mother discovered she was going to have another baby. Having children in Africa was hard with the poor food, threat of sickness and infection, contaminated water and lack of educational opportunities. The mother was resentful and said it did not seem fair that God was sending them another child when they already had so many small children and were trying to help the natives. She blamed God and wished He would take the baby from her.

But He didn’t and the time for the birth of the baby arrived and the mother, being weak and in poor health, knew she needed a doctor’s care. But there were none nearby and the couple had no one to leave their other five children with, so the father loaded the family into a car and drove them into a town where there was a good mission hospital. The family stayed there until after the baby was born.

The mother said, “When we returned to our house with the new baby we learned that in the short days we had been gone the dreaded Mau Mau had come. They had murdered every white person in the entire area. Had we been home we would have all been killed. This little darling was sent by God to save all our lives. Never again shall I rebel against His ways for our lives.”

“This little darling was sent by God to save all our lives” could easily have been thought by the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, the wise men from the East, Anna -- whoever saw the infant Jesus and recognized Him. As we look on our nativities, hear the songs of the season, read the account of the Savior’s birth in Luke, and begin our countdown ‘till Christmas we humbly remember that we too were “Saved by a Newborn Infant.”

Here’s a short nativity program to use with your family, friends, or Sunday school class.  Our family has used it many times and though only a few in our family are blessed with rich voices, we all enjoy singing the familiar songs and it doesn’t affect the quality one bit.

Sing the first two verses of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”

·         Read Matthew 1: 18-23

·         Sing the third verse of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”

·         Read Luke 2:1-7

·         Sing one verse of “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

·         Read Luke 2:8-14

·         Sing the first two verses of “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains”* or “The First Noel”

·         Read Luke 2:15-20

·         Sing both verses of “Hark! The Herald Angels sing”

·         Read:  The Wise Men did not come the night Jesus was born as the shepherds did.  They saw the star in the East and traveled far to see him.  They arrived in Palestine from the East sometime later, perhaps even months later.  There is no account that tells us just how many Wise Men came to worship the Savior.  There may have been three; there may have been seven; there may have been ten.  But how many came is not so important.  What is important is that they were wise men who came to present their gifts and worship the Savior.  They taught us that wise men still seek Him.

·         Sing the first two verses of “With Wondering Awe”* or “We Three Kings”

·         Read Matthew 2:1-11

·         Sing the first two verses of “Joy to the World”

·         Ask the family to each share three reasons they are grateful for the Savior.

·         Sing all the verses of “Silent Night”

Twelve, or Thirteen, or Fourteen on Twelve on Twelve

Ande - Today has been crafts, citrus, controller, and Christmas.

Cali

Levin

Ray

Ty -  Sorry the picture is so bad.  I was on my way to meet Joe.  Unfortunately
my phone died before I met Joe so no picture with him.

Michelle - At the diner where I worked before Ty and I got married.
Afton and I are with Melissa (my old manager) and Connie who I met for brunch.
We laughed about how we are like oil and water, but we stuck together because our coworkers were crazy. 

Michelle - activity in which I spent a lot of time today.  School.  Almost done with the semester!

Afton - Crawling with the Little People.

Afton - Grandpa Brian entertaining me.

Calvin - Young Men's and Young Women's
See the woman standing next to Calvin?  Her name is Nesha.
We discovered when we moved here that she and Calvin are fairly close cousins.
She also co-owns a candy business.  Last night she taught the young women
how to make fudge the old fashioned way without powdered sugar OR marshmallows.
That long brown thing in L.'s arm on the front row is a log of fudge.
Calvin made fire beans for the young men and they ate those down in their man cave and played games.  
(I do love churches and gymnasiums but for the life of me can't get a decent picture in either.)

Jane - I've got two dozen decorated Christmas trees in the orchard with red and yellow dangling bulbs.
Easiest tree trimming I've ever done and it looks so natural.

Grace - Out for a walk in her new coat

Abe - On a walk with Grace and enjoying being back in Colorado

Joe's picture will go here.