Rejoice!


Playing catch up on the blog. A few more thoughts about our December mantra and Christmas. 

 My mantra for December was rejoice. We are celebrating Christ's birth and I really want to fully immerse ourselves in the Christmas festivities religious and not to fully celebrate and rejoice in our Saviour's birth. I don't know if we have been doing a good job of it, but trying.

My Ma made a Christmas binder that all of us grandkids have a copy of. It has a scripture, carol, and story that you read each day starting December 1 till Christmas. We have been doing that. I look forward to reading it every night. Cosette asks to read the scripture. She is getting really good at her reading. I love reading these beautiful little stories with my little family about the Christmas season. Some make me laugh, others cry, and the best is that my Ma made it. She passed away about ten years ago and this is something that she made and her stories, traditions are still living. Reading these stories makes me realize how much I love and miss her. It's been a great thing for our family to do this year to help us rejoice in our Savoir.

 I have had the song "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day" running through my head a lot this season. The last two verses especially "And in despair I bowed my head; "There is no peace on earth," I said; "For hate is strong, And mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men!" Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth, good-will to men." I love that carol. Those last two verses really strike me right now because there is so much going on in the world, our lives that might lend us to think that God is not there, but he is. I really love the testimony in the last verse that God is not dead nor doth he sleep. The Wrong shall fail, and the Right prevail. It gives me strength that I need to get through these days. I don't think I am right and others are wrong, but more that good will triumph over evil. That Heavenly Father and Jesus will make everything right in the end. Or more that he is mindful of us. We will prevail through all these plagues that we encounter on this mortal Earth. This time of year is a time for hope because Christ was born. Even non religious activities, entertainment all have themes of togetherness, joy, giving, being with family and friends, celebration. All those things are good things. Christ came to this Earth partly for us to have all those things. It's a beautiful thing to celebrate.

Singapore does Christmas really well, minus the weather. It is hard to feel really Christmassy when it's so hot. Cosette has done a couple of really Christmasy things with me. We went to St. Andrews Cathedral to hear the Corpus Christi College Choir from Cambridge sing some Christmas music. That was so wonderful. She told me that she wanted to go to Cambridge on our way into the Cathedral because Daddy went there. We got to talk to the Corpus Christi Chaplin afterwards and he was so nice. It was a wonderful way to connect with our Cambridge roots and bring some really good Christmas spirit into month. Then she and I went to The Nutcracker together. More beautiful music and good Christmas tradition. 
My sister, Ellen, the week of Christmas to spend the holiday with us. Her arrival has brought an increased purpose for us to go out and experience as much of Singapore's Christmas activities as we can. There is so much going on it is hard to get to everything. We have been keeping up our family traditions. Gingerbread houses, fudge, Christmas movies every night since she has been here. I guess we have really been rejoicing in the Christmas spirit.

 I am incredibly grateful for the knowledge of our Savior's birth, that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail with peace on Earth, good-will to men".

Wishing everyone had the merriest Christmas!

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