"All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen." Jude 1:25 NLT
Do you see it? Down front? Among the wrapped boxes and bags, there is the BEST present so far this Christmas.
Yesterday, my grandson Jax was here. We baked cookies together. What a joy! He turned 3 on December 15th, and this Christmas season has been so much fun with him!
When he asked, "What's a recipe?", I explained that it tells me how hot to heat the oven and how much flour and butter and sugar to use. After I measured the ingredients, and he poured each one into the bowl. He DID sneak a few chocolate chips out of the measuring cup! (That's my boy!)
Then while the cookies were baking, we made Lego towers. When the timer went off, I asked him to make a Lego surprise for me while I took the cookies out of the oven. Here he is, in his room at Gigi's house, with his surprise. He said, "It's a present for you!"
Be still, my heart! This boy is such a JOY and DELIGHT.
(Irrelevant Disclaimer for anyone amazed at his building skills: we built this tower together before I left the room.)
Friends with new babies and grandbabies, you are in for such a treat! AND this boy's mama is pregnant with his little sister. Oh the joy that fills my heart! Ellie Mae is due in May 2024.
Grandparenting is truly special when life is more settled and you're not struggling to build a career, and mortgage a home, and raise a family, and all the concerns of being a young parent. While grandparents do have less energy, we've gained more patience and grace and wisdom and a slower pace of life that's just wonderful. So blessed!
(As gray hairs sneak in and my knees aren't what they used to be...)
But the truly BEST present is this boy's presence. Just being around Jax is such a joy-filled time. He runs from room to room leaving a tornado of toys in his wake, but he's learning to listen and help clean up. He's learning to understand complex concepts like taking only ONE candy per day from the advent calendar. (Amazing, considering this child's very-much-inherited love for chocolate!)
He enjoys doing things together and helped decorate gift bags and package treats for the doggies in our family.
And he's learning to bake cookies. :) (Sorry, no photo. We were all in the moment and didn't even think about a picture or video.) But here are Jax's Almond JOY Cookies with a cup of Christmas Tea -- Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice herbal tea with honey and a splash of eggnog. Yum!
Recipe:
These are wonderful blessings, but our celebration at Christmas is really all about the ONE BEST PRESENT that was given to us over 2000 years ago when Christ our Lord came to earth as a babe in a manger. Our great and holy God lowered himself to become human, to live among us, to sacrifice more than we ever could, and to die in our place.
Hallelujah! Praise God for His magnificent and indescribable gift!
And like a precious child or loved one, Our Savior's PRESENCE in our lives is THE BEST PRESENT of all. Joy fills our hearts when we love and appreciate the GIVER of life even more than the GIFT of salvation.
May you and your loved ones enjoy the true blessing of Christ's presence.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Dianne
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give."
Jesus -- John 14:27
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