HAPPY HOLIDAYS

bells HAPPY HOLIDAYS bells

OPEN YOUR HEART FIRST

Before the voices of the Earth's choirs were raised in praise

there was a silent night

Before the strings of light were wrapped around the world and tinsel strung

there was a single star

Before the merry greetings and all the hopeful wishes

there was a voice in the desert saying:

"Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men"

Before the wide eyed wonder of a child on Christmas morn, before the gifts

there was a Child born in Bethlehem

who showed the world

that the greatest gift of all is

LOVE

This Christmas, open your heart first

This little poem has a very powerful message. I know that many of us are often busy during the holiday season. Between shopping for the perfect gift, baking Christmas goodies, making sure everyone on our list gets their Christmas card this year ( I don't know about you, but I have a huge family, most of which I don't get to see during the holidays, so you can imagine my card list is a big one) and let's not forget that most of us work also, How do we ever find the time to do all this stuff!? Yet we still sometimes forget the most important part of the Holidays! The real Reason for the Season! This holiday season I would like to encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on what the Holidays are really all about. Perhaps as you are sitting down filling out your Christmas cards to send to friends and family or while you are baking your Christmas goodies or even while you are wrapping the presents for your loved ones-think about the message in the poem above, remember that Christmas is not about the presents, the goodies and the cards-it is not about finding the perfect Christmas tree or making sure all the lights are perfectly placed about your house. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the one who was born into this world and sent out of this world, for us. We also use it as a time to be with loved ones, to enjoy each other's company.

So when all the stresses of the holidays start getting you down, stop for a few moments and remember what the holidays are really for!

Sincerely,

Maria

P.S. I found the poem above at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/smako/angelxmas.htm

If you want to hear the story behind this poem, you can go there and don't forget to browse around while you are there. It is a wonderful site!

Here are some more links for some Christmas pages for you to go to:

www.michaels.com This one is a web site for Michaels Craft Store, they have some fun holiday stuff there.

www.foodtv.com Holiday recipes

www.epicurious.com/e_eating/e04_xmas/euro.html

www.vegsoc.org/info/xmas.html Vegetarian recipes

www.etonvintners.co.uk/food.html

www.ozkids.gil.com.au/christmas/ Stories and recipes from Australia