ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
MONDAY DECEMBER 6TH, 2021
The moments our lives may be bright with possibility, dark with fear or sadness, or even plain everyday gray, but God's glory never fades. May God's glory shine into the exciting lights, upsetting darks, and boring grays of your every day.
Sunrise: 7:40 am
Sunset: 4;58 pm
Life is a special occasion!
Hallmark
Today is St. Nicholas Day which is also called the feast of St. Nicholas. This holiday commemorates the early Christian bishop who became best known at Santa Claus.
People across the world will celebrate with gift giving, stories and a feast. In honor of the occasion gather your family to write letters to Old St. Nick
St. Nicholas was born in Patara, Cycia, modern day Turkey and died on December 6th, in the year of 343 A.D. Centuries after his death he became the saint of children and a generous bringer of gifts.
Traditionally in the weeks before his arrival, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney. They leave the shoe with a carrot or some hay in it and bowl of water nearby for Sinterklaas' horse. The next day they will find some candy or small present in their shoes.
Typlcal gifts include, hot chocolate, mandarin oranges, or some chocolate coins wrapped in foil.
The legend and name of St. Ncholas evolved over hundreds of years from the Dutch St Nikolaas to Sinterklaas to Santa Claus as we know him today.
If you can't see the bright side, polish the dull side
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
Jolly old St. Nicholas,
Lean your ear this way!
Don’t you tell a single soul
What I’m going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon,
Now you dear old man
Whisper what you ‘ll bring to me.
Tell me if you can.
Traditional Christmas Carol
I have many fond memories of the days my children put out their shoes in hopes that St. Nick would leave them a treat. Gifts weren’t the big ones they wanted for Christmas and were mostly gifts of candy.
It helped calm down a little of the anticipation of the gifts to come.
Another tradition we always celebrated this time of year was lighting the Advent candles and I still do that today. They were always set on the table and lighted at dinnertime each night. We said prayers and counted down the weeks until Christmas came and that is what my pictures are of today.
It’s Monday and my day to cook something new and on the menu is:
Satisfying Tomato Soup
Makes 4 servings
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Minced fresh basil, optional
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and celery and cook until tender.Add remaining ingredients except for optional fresh basil. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld together.
Puree soup using an immersion blender. Or cool soup slightly and puree in batches in a blender. Return to pan and heat through. If desired top with fresh minced basil. Serve with croutons or crackers. I like to use Cheddar Gold Fish in mine.
I also like a grilled cheese with my tomato soup so that is what I’ll be having today.
It’s dropped in temperature here and we could have some more snow overnight. It’s a good day to have some hot soup.
I hope you all have a GREAT start to this new week. Happy Monday!
COUNTING MY GIFTS
The giver of every good and perfect gift has called us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.
St. Nicholas of Myra
Counting at least 3 things every day that I'm thankful for. There is truly is always something to be thankful for.
9771.for St. Nick, a tradition in my family
9772 for Advent candles to count down the weeks until Christmas
9773.for hot soup on a cold day
Enter into His courts with thanksgiving — and in His presence is fullness of Joy!
PRAYER REQUEST
Please join me in praying for my daughter. She tested positive for covoid yesterday. She is epreiencing symtoms of fever and congestion. She was vacinated but hadn’t yet got her booster shot. Now she is wishing she had. I’m praying for healing and that her symptoms will stay mild and that it won’t spread to any of her family members.
We pray all this through Christ our Lord, thy will be done.
Amen
Please pray for God's protection of
our troops and HIS wisdom for their
commanders.
Almighty and eternal God,
Protect our military
as they discharge their duties
with the shield of your strength,
may the power of your love
enable them to return home in safety
that with all who love them
they may ever praise you for your loving care.
AND bless our Police Officers, Firefighters
and Paramedics and EMT’s
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
ADVICE FOR TODAY
You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout. I’m telling you why — Santa Clause is coming to town.
Haven Gillespie
A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone dear…
Love,
ma
MY BLOG
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3 comments:
Happy St. Nicholas Day to you all !
I join you in prayer for your daughter....
Did you know I have never made homemade tomato soup in my life?? That needs to change!
I'm praying right now for your daughter!
Never heard of 'St. Nicholas of Myra', but Nicholas is one of my favorite boy names. Your soup sounds good, but next on our list is Chicken DeTox soup. Note to self: I need to get to Winn Dixie for one of their rotesserie birds!
Do you get a lot of use from your immersion blender? I'm hoping to get one of my own, perhaps for Christmas.
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