Looking back and looking ahead

Subscribe to Grand Connection by Email

Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend some time with your family! Our grown kids and grandkids came to our country home this year to celebrate Christmas ... on Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful time! On Friday night the kids decorated gingerbread houses; it's an annual tradition in our family. As our grands made roofs out of pretzels and Sweet Tarts and peppermints, I couldn't help but remember their dads doing the very same thing—a long, long time ago!

And as New Year's Day approaches I'm reminded that it's time for me to choose a Bible verse to focus on for the new year. I've decided on a portion of James 1:19: " ... Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak ... "  I want to really ponder what I will say, before saying it. I hope that I will listen to others' hearts before I jump in with my words. And I plan to share my verse for the new year with the older grandkids and encourage them to choose a verse for 2012 for themselves.

What about you? What were some of your favorite Christmas memories? 

And have you thought about focusing on a particular Bible verse in 2012?  If so, which one did you choose?

Have a wonderful week,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

 Photo © Mary May Larmoyeux

Making a bed for Baby Jesus

Subscribe to Grand Connection by Email

Friday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

When our children were small, one of our favorite Christmas traditions was making a pine straw bed for baby Jesus (instead of pine straw, you could use pieces of hay, balls of cotton, etc.). We’d set up the Nativity with everything except the figure of Jesus. Near the Nativity we filled a small basket with straw.

Whenever family members did secret acts of kindness to honor Christ (such as making someone’s bed, taking out the trash, giving an elderly neighbor cookies, etc.), he/she would secretly place a piece of pine straw on the manger floor. Then, on Christmas Day, the figure of baby Jesus was placed on the bed that had been made as acts of worship.

Doing this helped us all remember the real reason for celebrating Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Tomorrow night Pops and I will get out the Nativity set and decorate the Christmas tree. And, yes, we will have a small basket filled with pine straw. Several of our grandchildren are now old enough to understand secret acts of kindness. So, this year some new little hands will be helping to make baby Jesus’ bed.

(If your grandchildren live out of town, you may want to share this tradition with their parents and send a special basket for the straw.)

He is able,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/
 hoto © Mary May Larmoyeux

Shhhh, please don't tell the grandkids.

Subscribe to Grand Connection by Email

Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

Many years ago I taught school ... and I loved it. One year the PTA purchased some wonderful hardback books for the children; that were blank inside. The kids had a great time designing their covers and writing their stories!

Like these students, one of our granddaughters loves to write "books." She's only seven years old and her "books" are really short stories filled with lots of hand drawn pictures. Her last story had an "author page" where she printed her name and then said that she "rote this book." I loved it!

Well, here's my secret! (And, if you know our grandkids, please don't tell them.) Pops and I are going to give each of our grandchildren a blank hardback book as one of their Christmas presents. I discovered them on the Internet and thought that you might want to check them out for yourself. They are called Bare Books.

Do your grandkids like to write? Do you?

Have a great week,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart


© 2011 by Mary May Larmoyeux.All rights reserved.


© Cienpies Design / Illustrations / Dreamstime.com