When I retired the other evening … I said my prayers then dozed off thinking about the many factors of Christmas in this 21st Century.

Sharing God’s Love; Celebrating the Birth of Christ; the refusal of allowing the Nativity Scene around America (bet that wouldn’t happen in Italy); Schools not singing about the Lord at Christmas Time … Buying, Getting, Giving Gifts, Owing Money (Is it all that necessary?) … Christmas Stockings; Decorating Rooms; Santa (Who is he really?) … Families Coming Together; Christmas Stories on Television; Christmas Carols; Candy or Cards or Good Food; Open Houses … Rain or Snow or Ice on Roads; Christmas Plays emphasizing the scriptural references to Jesus; Christmas Plays that say nothing; People all alone. So many things….

I appreciate the joy Christmas brings to little children when they see the sparkling lights and hear the special music, or get to sit on daddy’s lap to listen to the Christmas story about how Jesus was born. Several states away I have three grandsons, two I have seen only three times, the other not at all. This makes it difficult sometimes being able to fulfill the role of “nanny.” The eldest does not know me as “grandma” because he has another nearby to whom he is accustomed. My husband “Poppa Tom” would love to have the eldest grandson right here with us for a couple of weeks here on our little farm. But it is not yet.

I remember when I was a little girl. The family came together and although we had little, Christmas was so exciting. Although we did not attend church at Christmas that I can recall, I knew that it was all about the birth of Christ. We did not place a lot of emphasis on gifts because of mom and dad’s small income, but we couldn’t wait till Christmas dinner and our stockings. Dad made sure to call my Grandma and Grandpa from Indiana so we could talk to them. They were far away but they were still Grandma and Grandpa Kiger. My other grandparents were with us each year. I made cookies with Grandma Ward.

We raised our children with the same emphasis. We tried to call the grandparents who could not be with us up in Portland, Oregon, and the others were usually there. We always attended church. Christmas Eve was especially important. Our children were often in little musical plays that brought attention to the true meaning of time of year. I think our children loved their huge Christmas patchwork stocking more than anything. (I sewed the stockings the year we lived in a big cabin out in the woods. That was the year we had a walk-in fireplace.) But most of the time we didn’t have a fireplace, so after they were asleep we would place the stuffed socks on the end of their beds. Their eyes would light up in the early morning when they woke up dumping their goodies out all over the bedspread -- opening up their candy -- playing with their miniature cars or whatever -- my daughter playing with her little girl stuff then peeking in to see what the boys got -- all of them eating nuts and bringing their great big fat oranges to the table for breakfast. Every year I searched and searched till I could find new and fun stuff with which to stuff those stockings. And no, I never included a rock.

We never emphasized Santa Claus because of the commercialism. But we didn’t put him down. There were too many families that we knew felt he was important. We just told our three that St Nicholas was a man from Germany who did nice things for the children around the country who had little. But he passed away eventually and went to heaven. One year though, my logical son Philip decided to stand on his chair at kindergarten and tell the class that Santa Claus was dead. It brought tears to many eyes in his classroom and the teacher had a fit and came to the house to lecture us on our faults. We got through it fine and had a giggle after she left. Our little Philip did the same thing when it came to the Easter Bunny. Woops.

Nowadays it must be hard for many at Christmas. Dysfunctional families have become the norm, people do not choose to attend services. People don’t even know what Christmas is really about. And many are quite alone.

I love the CHRIST in Christmas. I love the nativity scenes even though I know Jesus wasn’t born in December. I love it when schools choose to sing about the birth of our Lord regardless of what the agnostics are saying. I can’t say I don’t love buying gifts… it is just much more difficult these days for me now that I don’t drive or work outside the home. My family understands. We know not to place emphasis on these things and it makes our time together much more pleasant. The coming together brings the most joy and love in our home. Decorating is fun around our house and we splurge with a tree. I get excited when the lights go on every evening. I used to love watching Christmas Stories on television but good ones are hard to find these days. It’s so sad. But going to church services and seeing others who want to place Jesus first in their Christmas just melts my heart. Christmas is also a good time to invite someone over who may have no place to go or no one to spend the holiday with. I love to do that as well.

Why do I share all of this? Maybe it is because we need to be reminded of what it is all about now and then. With all the stress that comes along during the month of December and then quickly discovered come January we need to rethink why we celebrate our holidays. Why do we come together? What is it all about anyway? Yes, there are many factors to Christmas in the 21st Century. Which ones will we bring to the forefront in our home in 2003?

As you make plans to spend time with friends and family this year be sure to share God’s love to the fullest and make this Christmas and the new year of 2004 one that you can talk about for ages to come. God’s love never asks for anything in return. As you and I share God’s love one with another the most important thing we can give right now is our heart and soul to Jesus Christ our King of King and Lord of Lords. If you haven’t done so yet won’t you do it now? Write us here at Hearts for Christ info@heartsforchrist.org and share YOUR testimony. MAKE JESUS THE REASON FOR YOUR SEASON.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Look For Me

(The following powerful message & graphics were sent in by a dear friend Roberta Wilcox. You can view Roberta’s website at http://our.homewithgod.com/treeblooming/)

LOOK FOR ME
IF you look for Me at Christmas, you won't need a special star ~
I'm no longer in Bethlehem, I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me amid the celebrations ~
You'll have to look beyond the stores and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment from your list of things to do
And listen to your heart, you'll find I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want to be with, you're the reason that I came,
And you'll find Me in the stillness as I'm whispering your name.

Love, Jesus

[[Author Unknown]]

When We Call He Hears Us
Testimony by Heidi Dietrich

I was raised in a religious house and went to a religious school for eight years. All I had ever wanted was to do what God wanted me to do with my life. But in seventh grade I became suicidal and aimed a knife at my stomach. It was as if God put an angel by my side to tell me that things would get better. I put the knife away and went upstairs. I kept waiting on that promise.

In the interim, I went on to high school, graduated and started working. I began feeling that I had lost my faith somewhere and wanted to start again, so I began teaching religious education. I remember sitting in the church I was raised in and reading about how the apostles went into the surrounding countryside to tell people about Jesus. This is what got me to teach religious education. But something was still lacking [in my life].

The following summer I began crying out to God because I knew something was wrong. One day I was sitting on the front walkway with my grandfather and two women walked by. One of the children who was with them had their ball roll up on my lawn. I handed the ball back and we got to talking [about the Lord]. I started to study the Bible with them and saw what God had done for me [through His Son Jesus Christ] and for my life. I decided then that I was going to give my life to Him.

That was fifteen years ago, and though there have been struggles, I have not regretted a moment of it. God has saved my life and seen me through struggles and has been consistently faithful. I know that His plan for me is the best plan, and that the things I was raised with that were not of God can change because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

This is how I became a Christian. I am thankful to God for hearing me cry out to Him and sending someone to me when he did.

"and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:15-17 NASB

From the Kitchen of...
Lana Kittredge of Maryland

Do you have a RECIPE that you would enjoy sharing? Send it to us here in the Hearts for Christ Ministries Comments Section or e-mail direct: info@heartsforchrist.org. We will be thrilled to pass it along to our readers.

Sharing Hearts One with Another... The following letters are excerpts from the correspondence Hearts for Christ Ministries has been receiving. Dear Hearts For Christ: GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Dear Sister in Christ, Hi, How are you, your family members and every body at HFC is doing today? Its been a while I did not have ISP ( problem with the underdeveloping countries ) and today I got connected and my mail box was full of your emails as well of others. I am so glad to learn that there are so many good changes, new team member are joining. (Please say "Hi" and " Welcome" to each and every new member on my behalf ). It seems all new to me after being cut off for a while. My other mail box was also full of emails of prayer requests and I had couple from (my secret prayer partner) mail as well. I prayed on them then deleted them all. Its feels so good that there are people out there who have been praying and it is all because of you Shirley, " Thank you" and "Keep up the good work." I did gave a reply to (my secret prayer partner) and now here I am trying to talk to you through this letter. Although we are miles and miles away but thanks to this technology that we are united. God has bounded us all in LOVE within His Son our savior Lord Jesus Christ that we are not far from one another. Here's something for you all at HFC from me with love. WHERE IS JESUS? A happiness here and a sorrows there, A laughter here and a cry there, A Christian here and a Christian there, Honey tell me one thing here, Savior Lord Jesus Christ is WHERE? Is He in my heart or in your heart, Is He in his or in her heart, Is He in every mind and every thought Honey tell me one thing here, Savior Lord Jesus Christ is WHERE? W: Where people open the doors of their hearts to His knock. H: His helper Holy Spirit for those who seek Him. E: Everlasting life for those who walk in His foot steps. R: Refuge for those who take shelter under His wings. E: Eternal redemption for those who believe in Him. With lots of prayers, blessings, love and wishes for the holidays to come. Yours in Christ Jamila Dear Jamila, Oh what a joy to hear from you, dear sister. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful poem about Our Wonderful Lord and Savior. Yes, I know full well of what you are speaking of that even when miles seperate us, we are still united in Him. Our Lord is so magnificent!! We do hope you are able to keep up with all of the emails and thank you as well for all of your dedicated prayers. We want you to know that you are always on our mind, even moreso when we haven' t heard from you. May the Lord continue to provide ways for you to keep in touch with us. Let us know how your situation is and any change in your prayer requests when you have a chance. Abundant Blessings to you, sister. May the Lord shower you with His Love, Goodness and Grace. Only Because of Him, Hearts for Christ Ministry Team Dear Hearts for Christ, My mother will undergo her 3rd radiation treatment by pill in November for throat cancer. The 1 st and 2nd treatments removed the cancer from her lungs and windpipe and reduced it in her throat to a small amount. She has only a small amount of radiation that she can receive in her life time and this treatment will leave her with only a small amount left. After that if the cancer isn't gone no other treatment can be performed. Please pray and ask God to remove all traces of cancer and that no cells will grow back and to give her and our family strength to overcome this. I believe in the "POWER OF PRAYER". A very special thank you and God bless each of us. Donna Dear Donna, We are truly blessed and grateful to the Lord that you received so much support. It is wonderful to see how the Lord works, even through email! Will look forward to hearing from you in November, or sooner if need be. = ) Because of Him, Hearts for Christ Ministry Team Dear Hearts for Christ, Thank you so much this has really touched my heart this morning so many have e-mailed me and it shocked me that so many people have responded in prayer. I've never requested anything like this until yesterday when God lead me to your website. I have been reading e-mails all morning and I've had a really good cry and my co-workers have even joined in. I'm truly blessed and I already feel that a weight has been lifted off of me. I have prayed for you today and for (the Lord) allowing you in our lives. Thank you and I will keep you updated with Mom's result in November. God Bless you, the website and the work you do. Love Donna

Are You Ready to Share with Us? What is the Lord doing in your life today? Do you have a question, an experience, or a victory in trial you would enjoy sharing in a future newsletter? Send your comments and inquiries to "Dear Hearts for Christ." Article Submissions and Testimonies should be sent to Shirley@heartsforchrist.org. No names will be included without permission, and the editor reserves the right to edit submissions.