Emanuel, God with us.

All is bright

Christmas night with only seventeen minutes remaining of day. My heart is full. Joy is evident. I'm in Tennessee with my husband and my family, and beyond the window, the night is thick with a cool rain.

Growing up, I hated the end of Christmas. No more glorious music. No more Christmas specials or holiday movies. Soon the lights in neighborhood yards will be taken down and off we go on day-in and day-out.

What is it about Christmas that makes us all stop and... hope. Believe? The lore of Santa Claus is about anticipating the "wow" of life. To believe the impossible.

Knowing and loving a big, amazing God makes the impossible seems possible. Even more, seem plausible. Why not here? Why not now? Why not me? You?

As much as I hate the end of the Christmas season, the New Year is chance for new hope and new joy. To set goals and face challenges. There's just something about a new year that says "reboot." Start over. Begin again.

Like the picture, life can seem very black and white at times. But there is always the color of Love and the dazzle of Promise that reminds us of what this is all about -- Emanuel. God with us!

Merry Christmas from Me to You

Joy to the World! Christmas is such a magical and charming time of  year. It warms our hearts, reminds us of peace and hope. 

The other day as I was playing a Christmas Carol, "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee," on the piano, I started thinking about the great carols we sing. After a bit of research and I found that most of the Christmas Hymns we love were penned in the 1700 and 1800s. 

Handel's Messiah and Beethoven's Ode to Joy are the melodies behind Joy to the World and Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.  

As I meditated on the great composers of the 18th and 19th Century, and the lyrics and melodies of Christmas songs composed at the same time, songs we still sing today, I started to smile. 

The Lord released sounds and songs from heaven to earth that would be sung  and played a hundred and fifty years, a hundred years, fifty years before the break of humanism, communism, Darwinism and Freudism (my term) onto the world's stage. 

A good portion of the earth still sings "Joyful, joyful we adore thee." Or, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth! Hallelujah, hallelujah!" once a year. The brilliance of Handel and Beethoven is indisputable. 

Every December choirs and choral groups, Muzaks play the hymns of the sovereign Lord's return and reign. 

God is always about the business of glorifying His Son. What sounds, songs, melodies and words is He releasing from Heaven in this hour in history that will resonate through time until His return? 

Every Sunday morning as we pray over our worship set, we ask the Lord for sounds from Heaven. We want to partner with Him to accomplish His purpose in us, through us unto the earth. 

I may not be a Handel up there leading worship. I many not be a C.S. Lewis writing novels that will endure the decades, but I am the Lord's willing and available vessel. My words and songs do affect the heavens. Forever. 

I love this passage out of Malachi 3. It's not your typical Christmas verse, but it speaks to what I'm trying to say: 

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 

And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

God listens in on the conversations of those who fear him. He writes them down. He's recording our writings, our stories, and singing!

Make a new melody in your heart to the Lord this Christmas. Believe that it will resound through the ages to come.

I've made up a lot of songs on the piano just me... and myself. But I have a feeling God's going to play them back to me some day with the full force of heaven. Hey, maybe he'll ask Beethoven to pretty up my chords and turn it into his first symphony in the new era.

Who knows? But let's not limit our thinking to earth. Let's be heavenly minded. What is God sending to your hearts this season? Let the Holy Spirit breathe in and through you.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Rachel

Finished writing the book

I've been a rewriter frenzy for the past few week, since we got home from Thanksgiving in Tennessee.

Butt in chair about 10 - 16 hours a day. Yes, I take breaks, eat lunch, walk the dog. I'm the cleanest writer in the world during crunch days. I take a bath when I'm stuck, frustrated, need to think, or feeling the pain of muscle strain.

Works every time. As soon as I sit in the hot water, an idea hits. I scrub up and get out. Back to work. One day I think I took five baths.

There, more than you wanted to know about my writing life.

Hubby and I are enjoying the Christmas season though we've not done much shopping or prepping. Just the tree. He put up house lights today. Monday I'll get into the swing of things.

The photo is of my annual Christmas ornament exchange lunch with former co-workers.

AT&T and iPhone

Tony asked what I wanted for Christmas. "iPhone," I said.

So, I took a break from my edits to run down to the AT&T store. We have a contract with them already and like the service, um, er, the phone service.

The customer service stinks.

I couldn't get an iPhone. Wouldn't even sell me one at regular price. An existing customer. The sales rep told me they have to pay $700 for every iPhone and unless I sign a new contract, which I can't because I'm not eligible yet, he losses a bunch of money.

Really?

AT&T has an exclusive deal with Mac's iPhone that cost them $700 per phone? I almost laughed out loud. But I was trying not to cry. I really wanted an iPhone.

So, we left. I just don't get it. How can existing customers get no care or regard. Why are we treated like we are not wanted?

By the way, this store had three sales reps and no other customers but Tony and me.

Sigh, can we go back to the customer is always right?

Okay, last minute 2008 complaining before I'm not going to allow myself to do this in the New Year. Rats, not complaining is HARD.

The 12 Authors of Christmas - Kathryn Mackel

Please welcome author and friend, Kathryn Mackel. She's written us a very honest and heart felt interview with a desire to comfort and touch those who may have grown up without the ideal Christmas.

Thank you, Kathy!

When Rachel offered the opportunity to revisit our Christmas memories, I jumped at the chance. Who doesn't love Christmas? I put my tree up early, consider November 1 the kick-off for Christmas music, can't wait for the snow to blanket the woods.

But in answering Rachel's questions, I have to admit that there is a deliberate gap in my memories, a stone I have placed across a tomb of emotion. I grew up in an alcoholic home. About the time I realized that Santa didn't come down my chimney, I also understood my father had a drinking problem. This problem caused Christmas and other occasions to be a time of anxiety and dread, rather than joy. I don't need to go into details because if you have also experienced this, you know the drill.

I hesitated to share this - not because that tomb is filled with decay - but because I did not want to dishonor my father. Rachel and I emailed and prayed and it seems fitting to share this because so many others share this pain.

And what is so important is this. Despite the drinking and the horrific holidays, my father loved me and my sisters deeply. When I was in my mid-twenties, he stopped drinking. I don’t know why - I still consider it something of a miracle. And so the memories pick up from there, with my own children to love. With all the wounded Christmases, my sisters have been marvelous in offering new memories. Golden, blessed memories of family and warmth and love.

This is God's redemption, not just for my life but also for my parents.

This is the true gift of Christmas, the gift of God: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ez. 36:26)

(rh: Said so well, Kathy.)


Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

We had an awesome advent tradition. On the first day of December, my parents put 24 pennies on the window sill. Every night we'd remove one. I remember being barely tall enough to see over the sill, and watching those pennies disappear. When we got to the very last penny, I was nearly out of my mind with excitement.

(rh: What a great tradition!)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

The best presents under our tree were from Uncle Henry. He was generous and also very artistic so they would be amazingly wrapped. When we got home from church on Christmas Eve, my parents allowed my sisters and I to open one of Uncle Henry's presents.

My husband's birthday is Christmas Eve so it's always a challenge to celebrate with him and still make it out of the house in time to do church. We have a birthday lunch and then enjoy friends stopping by.

Around 4, we'll open all our presents. This allows my adult kids to sleep in the next day while Steve and I visit a couple of our friends and see what Santa has brought them!

I'm trying to initiate a new tradition with my grandson (almost 4). I bought him a Nativity set and we play with it, going through the Christmas story. He loves saying the line "do not be afraid!"

(rh: A great line to love. )

I help direct youth choir so I have to be at our early Christmas Eve service. It is quite raucous and wonderful. My grandson comes with me and sits in the front pew, pretending to sing as I direct the choir. I hope someday he will actually sing in his own choir.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

We always had real trees and would put them up a couple weekends before Christmas. A few years ago, I put up the tree and had a three-day migraine until I dragged it out to the front porch. Since then, we've had an artificial tree which allows me to put the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This year, my grandson (visiting from Ohio) put it up with me. It takes a long, long time - maybe 8 hours - but he hung in with the process.

We have many beautiful blue spruces around our property but I haven't yet talked my husband into outside lights.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

My favorite Christmas song is "Welcome to Our World" by Michael W. Smith. I love the line "Word now breaking heaven's silence." Even typing it gives me chills.

Growing up, I loved Bing Crosby's White Christmas album.

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

I waited until I smelled coffee brewing. Then I knew I could get up. The problem was getting my sisters up, they're 4 and 7 years older, so they were past Santa around the time I was really digging him.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Living next to the New Hampshire woods, we're Currier and Ives. We can look out at our ancient stone wall that borders the white woods, and just breathe in beauty. No matter how deep the snow, I hike those woods every day.

(rh: If I was there, I'd hike with you, Kathy! Sounds beautiful.)

It's Christmas Eve, describe your day and evening.

See my Christmas tradition for the day, but evening-wise, I do early family service because I help with youth choir. Steve and I sing in the sanctuary choir so we do the late service together.

I know my kids are getting old (28 and 30) because they now come to the early service so they can get to bed. Then again, rumor is that a couple years ago, they went home and watched the Simpsons all night.

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I hate shopping. (I do love spending money, however.) It's all online. We're big into watching television shows on DVD so this year we should be getting Lost, Season 3, and Heroes, Season 1.

(rh: Online does make shopping easy, doesn't it?)

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

We are so blessed to miss the hustle and bustle. We have the online shopping, the woods, the music.

In the quiet of my heart, apart from all the family activities, Christmas comes down to this - and I'll quote Michael W. Smith's song again.

Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born.

Both my son and grandson were born right before Christmas. When I held them in my arms and understood their utter helplessness and innocence, I got the smallest glimpse of what God had done to allow His son to be born as man. I love this season but I remind myself what His coming cost both Father and Son, and why.

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

I'm part Slovak so our traditional Christmas meal is stuffed cabbage. My kids won't eat it but my husband and I love it. And it's so healthy! I don't make cookies because I'll eat them but I do put out the foil-wrapped peanut butter cups and Hershey kisses. (And eat them instead.)

(rh: Okay, Kathy, I'm all for traditions, but stuffed cabbage? I'm with your kids. LOL.)

I also make Christmas breads, in the form of a wreath, tree, or sometimes snow man!

(rh: That sounds fun!)

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Probably my son's first Christmas. He was a couple weeks old, a big baby already in size 6 month clothes so he filled out his red outfit. He made his debut with Steve’s family on Christmas and a week later with my family.

Not to leave my daughter out, she played John the Baptist when she was 3 months old. Kind of pretty to be a locust-eating prophet but she filled the role beautifully.

What are you plans for this season?

Very, very quiet because both our kids and their families will probably be out of state. We'll do the two church services, visit our friends, relax. Go to a movie, visit Steve's family.

We see my family in Connecticut at the end of January. It's a wonderful way to celebrate because the hustle and bustle is long over, everything's on sale, and the kids love having a second Christmas.

(rh: I love celebrating after Christmas either with family or shopping!)

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

It's the little things that count. Playing with the Nativity set. Making cookies together. Watching the Simpsons with your adult kids and enjoying them double over with laughter will last long beyond any gift under the tree.

(rh: You are so right, Kathy. I love to laugh, especially with family and friends.)


The official word on Kathryn Mackel:

Kathryn Mackel is an accomplished screenwriter and novelist who has worked extensively in both mainstream and Christian-themed entertainment.

Kathryn has written for Disney, Fox, and Showtime. She was the credited screenwriter on her own novel, Can of Worms, and for Frank Peretti's Hangman's Curse (with Stan Foster).

Her novels include the Christy-finalist The Hidden, as well as the fantasy series The Birthright Project. Writing as Kathy Mackel, she is the acclaimed author of Can of Worms and other novels for middle readers published by Putnam, Avon, HarperCollins, and Dial Books. Her latest release is the thriller Vanished, from Realms.

FREE BOOK ALERT!

Leave a comment to enter to win a free book! Kathy is giving away three copies of her latest release, "Vanished." Woo hoo.

Visit Kathryn's web site and blog at www.kathrynmackel.com
www.godanddogwalking.blogspot.com

The 12 Authors of Christmas Tour!

Hey y'all!

Starting tomorrow, December 1st, I'm hosting " The 12 Authors of Christmas." Stop by each day to read Christmas memories and traditions of your favorite authors, and perhaps a few new-to-you authors.

I'll be hosting the first half of December with the lovely and gracious Tricia Goyer hosting the last half of the month and the sweet and smiling Camy Tang running overlap mid month on her site.

We even have a few bonus authors* on the tour.

Look forward to celebrating cyber Christmas with you all.

Here's the line up

Dec 1 - Colleen Coble
Dec 2 - Kathryn Mackle
Dec 3 - Janelle Scheinder
Dec 4 - Deb Raney
Dec 5 - Gayle Roper
Dec 6 - Kristen Heitzmann
Dec 7 - Terri Blackstock
Dec 8 - DiAnn Mills
Dec 9 - Jill Nelson
Dec 10 - Donita Paul
Dec 11 - Marlo Schalesky
Dec 12 - Linda Hall
Dec 13 - Gail Martin*
Dec 14 - Tricia Goyer!*

On the 13th, hop over to Tricia's site for the next round. Here's the line up.

December 13 -- Linda Ford

December 14 -- Rachel Hauck

December 15 -- Camy Tang

December 16 -- Bonnie Leon

December 17 -- Tamara Leigh

December 18 -- Kim Sawyer

December 19 -- Roxanne Henke

December 20 -- Rene Gutteridge

December 21 -- Nancy Moser

December 22 -- Susan Meissner

December 23 -- Karen Ball

December 24 -- Neta Jackson

December 25 -- Maureen Lang
*Bonus* Mindy Clark

Hearts Evergreen by Robin Lee Hatcher

Hi everyone, please welcome my friend and author, Robin Lee Hatcher, out with another fabulous Christmas romance.

What goes better with Christmas lights and hot chocolate than a good romance?

In A Cloud Mountain Christmas (Robin's story in Hearts Evergreen, a collection of two novellas from Steeple Hill), Maddie Scott, reeling from the news that her ex-husband has remarried and is expecting a child, heads to Idaho's Cloud Mountain Lodge to negotiate the sale of a valuable manuscript discovered there.

But could the lodge's proprietor, Tony Anderson, a man she knew years before in college, be just what Maddie needs to have a merry Christmas after all?

About Hearts Evergreen, the Library Journal says: "Two holiday novellas by a Christy Award winner (Hatcher) and a rising author in the inspirational romance genre (Springer) offer romantic fare perfect for curling up in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate."

To read an excerpt from A Cloud Mountain Christmas, visit Robin's web site:

About Robin Lee Hatcher...

The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, two RITA Awards for Best Inspirational Romance, two RT Career Achievement Awards, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

She enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies.

She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon.

Rene Gutteridge and Boo, Humbug! WIN FREE BOOK

LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE A PART OF FREE BOOK DRAWING.

Please welcome author and friend, Rene Gutteridge. I met Rene online, then at a writer's retreat last summer. She's as charming and wonderful as you would imagine. Humble, sweet, loves her God and her family.

She's revising her popular Boo series with a Christmas installation Boo, Humbug! stirring up a large amount of holiday havoc.

It's Christmastime in Skary, and the town is planning an original production of A Christmas Carol with a horror spin.

As showtime approaches, things go very awry for director Lois Stepaphanopolis. She panics when she discovers that her marketing director loathes Christmas and that the audience has been promised not Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but the real Christmas story. Can the actors pull off the improv of all improvs and convince their community to embrace the true meaning of the Christmas season?

Boo, Humbug! offers readers a delightful glimpse into small town, community life with heartwarming humor and winsome characters. And in the end, the true meaning of Christmas shines out bright and clear, in a decidedly un-Skary way.

Rene Gutteridge is the author of 10 novels, including the Boo series, the Storm series, The Occupational Hazards series and My Life as a Doormat, a Women of Faith selection for 2006. She has been published over 30 times as a playwright, and holds a degree in screenwriting, graduating magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University . Rene is married to Sean, a musician, and they have two young children. They make their home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.