Nine Things To Do Before Christmas

This is for the November Christian Writers Blog Chain.

1.  Think about presents.  Christmas is almost 25 sleeps away and time is speeding,

the decision I have to make is do I go 

expensive 

or

something a little cheaper

2.  Make sure that there is plenty of ribbon and paper to wrap the presents, having one more present to wrap and not enough paper can fray ones nerves.

3.  Wrap the presents and hide the presents, because curious children who do not have enough to do, will go in search of the presents. If children, big and small find a wrapped present the hope is that they can resist the temptation to unwrap the presents on finding them. The waiting is important, we should remember the generations from Adam to Joseph, their hope was waiting for a promise to be fulfilled.

4.  Decorate a Christmas Tree, if you are Lutheran you can claim that Martin Luther was the first to decorate a fir tree, Luther used what was available, but now we can choose between real or artificial, 

small

or       large.

5.   The Menu. Once there was only one choice.  The custom for Australian families was

turkey,

 with vegetables.

but if you decide to pardon the turkey, or you just don't like turkey what else can you have?

Seafood,

this is so much better on a hot day and easier to cook on the barbecue eaten with

salad, is delicious.

6. Drinks, there is not much celebrating without drink, what to get, water .... soft drinks... or.... yes we have to get something nice, a good wine perhaps

 7.  Remember, I remember the years when I took two young children to visit a man in a red suit

for a photo, one was enthusiastic the other not so, at the age of four he could not see the point of having to sit on the knee of a man in funny clothes.  At age five he said no, that was that. But is that all there is to this season of festivity?   

8.  I need to take a break to recover from the list of things to do. Have a coffee and sit down for a while, admire the view and think about the question I asked in point seven.

 Yes, that reminds me of what all this preparation is about; that God's promise was fulfilled, not in elaborately decorated buildings but in a stable. The first to see the promise given were the animals in the stable, then the shepherds came; responding to an amazing message given to them by angels.

9. Light a candle,

Advent has begun, we prepare and look forward, remembering the promise that God's gift to man is with us.