Hey Alrayna, so good to hear your "Voice" Been missing you dear friend.

Stephanie, you might want to read Romans 14. This chapter deals with people celebrating something and others not celebrating.

I grew up with Santa Claus, the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc,,, and it didn't hurt my faith. I was a child. I don't feel as if my parents lied to me or anything, it was all part of the spirit of things. I believe today, children are forced to grow up way to fast. They need the comfort that the pretend world can bring.

Whatever you decide to do for your family is the right thing to do. There is no wrong or right in this situation except for your conscience.

Take care dear friend.

Hi, This is an excellent question. Three years ago, I had an urge to write a book about Christmas and it was based in Colossians 4:5, that as Christians we are to "make the most of every opportunity." I had finally come to see a grand fertile time, that we'd missed out on, this time of year when Christ is so noticed is a wonderful opportunity to share our faith and what we know about the origin of the Christmas holiday, it was a birthday assigned to Jesus, to rival the pagen celebration of Mithras, the Sun god.

I kept asking God, "Are you sure?" I felt like I needed to remind him of my background in the Church of Christ, and that we'd traditinally not celebrated the birth of Christ in corporate worship times.

But every roadblock I threw up or that just happened through other means were removed. Five women from different religious backgrounds joined me on this project, we landed a literary agent, a publisher and the book debuted this fall.

Already we have been on radio programs, soon TV and other Web casts, our blog with more Christmas tips is getting about 50 visits a day.

All that to give this suggestion: humbly ask God for direction and what you can do this year to spread the gospel during this threshold of interest in Christmas. God can use the world's interest in Christmas to turn their hearts toward the Christ.

Even Muslims and Jews (some)in our country and other parts of the world find this a joy-filled holiday. C. S. Lewis said Christmas is a "way past watchful dragons." We can say things at Christmas that might be rejected at other times through the year.

By the way, in our book, we have sections called Gingerbread Genealogy and we tell the history of Christmas traditions and we do tell about the origin of Christmas and that it is an assigned birthday now celebrated around the world, although the assumed date is more likely to be spring when lambs are born.

I'm more excited about Christmas than ever before because the Lord has opened a path for more attention to Him. And I think that calls for rejoicing and prayers for those God will seek through this time of interest.

We have more info at our blog. Drop by and leave a comment or just catch up on some of our fun postings of our families' traditions.

Many, many blessings...CathyMessecar.com

Hey, Mary W., I'm using yoru sourdough bread starter recipe today. I let my bread starter starve while finishing up a manuscript, but I'm resurrecting the starter with your recipe! Thanks, Mary....

http://scrapbookofchristmasfirsts.blogspot.com/