Welcome to day 3 of the 12 Pearls of Christmas. Our guest today shares what it’s like to suffer the loss of a loved one during the holidays and how important it is for all of us to reach out to those who may be hurting during this season.

The First Christmas
by Pat Ennis

It was October of my eighteenth year of life when my Dad stepped into eternity. As a college freshman, I not only had to deal with my own grief, I also was faced with the responsibility of helping my mother adjust to a new lifestyle. You see, when Dad died, she not only lost her husband of thirty years, she also lost her circle of friends. Suddenly the married couples (my Dad was the first of their group to die) didn’t know what to do about Mother—so they did nothing. Her grieving process was actually extended because of the withdrawal of her friends, many with whom she and Dad had enjoyed fellowship for years. 

Our plight was magnified by the reality that we did not have extended family and I was an only child. Quite frankly, the outlook for the holiday season appeared pretty dismal!

As the holidays approached, our neighbors, who embraced a different faith than we, graciously invited us to share their Christmas celebration with them. The sincere invitation, their effort to fold us into their family, inclusion in the gift exchange, and intentional conversation that focused on recounting the blessings of the year as well as looking forward to the next turned what could have been a miserable day into one of joy. Of course we missed our husband and Dad but the focus on the Lord’s provision for us through the hospitality of our neighbors (Philippians 4:8-9, 19) soothed our grieving spirits.

I have a happy ending to my Mother’s loss of her circle of friends that I described at the beginning of this story! Ever the gracious southern hostess, she did not cease to extend hospitality because of the change in her marital status—in the five years that she lived beyond Dad’s death, we entertained frequently, and eventually our guest list included widows from the group that had earlier excluded my Mother. Though her arthritic condition precluded her engaging in as much of the food preparation as she was accustomed to doing, she continued to help me hone the skills that were second nature to her. 

The loving hospitality extended to us on that first lonely Christmas served as a catalyst for Mom and me to open our home throughout the year—especially during the holiday season! Will you consider displaying biblical compassion by including some of the “others”—singles, widows, and the grieving in your holiday celebrations? Who, knows, you might be entertaining an angel incognito (Hebrews 13:2)!

About Pat: Dr. Patricia Ennis is author of Precious in His Sight: The Fine Art of Becoming a Godly Woman, co-author of Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others,  and contributor to Pearl Girls, Experiencing Grit, Experiencing Grace. She’s also professor and establishing chairperson of the Department of Home Economics at The Master’s College. Visit Pat’s blog, Unfading Beauty for more information.

Enter to win a three strand pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings. All you need to do to is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls blog on New Years Day.

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info

Welcome to another day of the 12 Pearls of Christmas. I hope you enjoy reading today how author Rachel Hauck is celebrating with joy as she turns 50 during this Christmas season.

Wear Joy
by Rachel Hauck

Thanksgiving day in central Florida broke warm and sunny under a blue sky. The thin fall breeze beckoned me. Taking my bike out, I rode the neighborhood feeling so grateful for all my blessings.

Joy bubbled up in my spirit. I’d been feeling it for a day, these waves of joy, but as I rode my bike and talked to God, the waves strengthened and splashed my heart the entire ride.

I’d laugh. Then tear up. And laugh again. As one who’s battled and won the war on anxiety and fear attacks, the onslaught of joy was welcomed, and actually sparked a new prayer in my heart. I’ve endured attacks of panic; time for attacks of joy.

The journey of joy began earlier in the year while writing a book coincidentally named, “Dining with Joy.”

Sitting at my table one day, revelation hit me. “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” Nehemiah 8:10. The more I meditated on it, the more I wanted His joy. I don’t want my strength. I want His.

Not long after, I went to Nashville for a girl’s weekend. One of my friends handed me a coffee cup inscribed with “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Ever just know? God is calling.

During the holiday season, I turn 50. Yep, the big 5-0. Can’t stop it, I might as well embrace it.

Fifty is often associated with jubilee, a time of restoration, and healing, even release from debt and slavery. It’s a time of returning to property, and inheritance.

A time of rest.

A time of JOY!

This past week, a friend gifted me with a beautiful Christmas ornament. Inscribed on it? You guessed it.

JOY!

To me, the world doesn’t look very joyful. There are social and economic woes. But God is speaking and offering joy.

As you go into this holiday season, ask God for a pearl of joy. Like pearls, crafted through abrasion, God’s true joy is often formed in us during difficult seasons.

Here’s the thing, His strength isn’t doled out based on our goodness, our success or failure, or the fact the holiday season is hard or sad for you. He is ready, willing and able to overcome all your weaknesses, fears and anxiety, sadness with the power of His very own joy.

His joy. Your strength.

I’ve been walking into rooms, houses, outdoors, raising my arms and shouting, “Joy!” People look at me funny, but I want to spread the joy of the Lord. To spread the very essence of His strength.

How about you? Can you find the pearl of joy in your life, in the essence of God’s heart toward you?

Wear joy this season.

About Rachel: RITA-finalist Rachel Hauck lives in Florida with her husband, Tony. She is the author of Dining with Joy; Sweet Caroline; Love Starts with Elle; and The Sweet By and By, co-authored with Sara Evans. For more information please visit www.rachelhauck.com.

Oh, and be sure to enter Rachel’s Dining With Joy NOOK eReader giveaway!

A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year’s Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls blog on New Years Day.

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info

I hope you’re all staying warm this week. It’s freezing here in Georgia, with temperatures in the low 20s. We have a few snow flurries, but not enough to cancel school. Here’s the first installment in the 12 Pearls of Christmas series. I hope you enjoy!

If you’d like to enter to win a pearl necklace, bracelet, and earrings, click on the form at the end of the post. The winner will be announced on New Year’s Day.

Pearls of Patience

by Margaret Mcsweeney

As I write by the light of my Christmas tree on a late winter’s night, I reflect upon the poignancy and purpose of this season.  The tiny white lights look like strands of pearls draped gracefully (perhaps haphazardly is a more honest description) across the evergreen boughs.  Tomorrow I will hang the ornaments and at last place the angel atop the tree

Angels carry a special meaning this Christmas.  My brother, Randy passed away on December 2nd from a heart attack at age 53.  He was feeding a stray cat on his side porch.  Randy was always like St. Francis of Asissi – animals would find him, sensing a kind soul.  And my brother was a gentle and patient soul.  He loved to fish.  He tried to teach me, but I immediately lost interest when I realized worms were involved. And I could never sit still on the banks of a river and just wait.  However, Randy could do that.  He could wait, and waiting is a true gift.  He put into practice the Scriptures.  â€œWait upon the Lord.”  â€œBe still and know that He is God.”  Patience doesn’t have to be passive.  Wait is still an action verb.  Part of the waiting process for fishing is seeking.  Elaine (Randy’s wife of 31 years) told me that Randy said he could see the fish deep beneath the waters.  He actively waited for the right time to catch them.

During Randy’s last fishing trip on earth – just a week before his death, he felt an urgency to take a picture of the clouds with his cell phone.  When he returned home, he showed the picture to Elaine.  They realized that a face of an angel was looking at Randy from the sky – perhaps waiting for God’s timing to bring Randy home to heaven.  In my heart I like to think that this “angel in the sky” was part of the heavenly host that appeared to the shepherds over two thousand years ago.  A Christmas Angel.

The Christmas Angels brought tidings of great joy that Jesus, our Lord and Savior was born.  And because of that incredible gift from God that these angels announced, we all have the promise of eternity. Let us actively wait for His return by sharing our faith, offering hope and acting with love in everything we do.

May each of you be blessed this Christmas as you celebrate the purposeful promises of the Season: Faith, hope and love.   And may the 12 Pearls of Christmas be a blessing to you, too.

About Margaret: Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. After earning a master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina, Margaret moved to New York City to work at a large bank where she met David. Charity and community involvement are very important to Margaret. She is the founder and director of Pearl Girls. For more information please visit www.pearlgirls.info. Margaret is fast at work on several fiction manuscripts and her book Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace was written to help fund the Pearl Girl Charities. Connect with Margaret on Facebook or Twitter.

A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year’s Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog on New Years Day.

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®.

And if I can get myself to the movie theater, I’m also hoping to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which opened yesterday. If I see it, I’ll let you know what I think!

Did She Know?
by Anna Joujan

I am in the middle of a revival of my used-to-be-annual project of a Christmas card sketch.  For several years, with a few years missed, I have done a sketch of some image of Mary the Mother of Jesus, something that came to my mind without complete awareness of why that particular picture was needing to be put to paper.  It was originally a simple pencil sketch that, once completed, I would have printed out into a set of cards that would go out to all my friends and family.  Along with the sketch, however, I have always had a verse that came to mind to signify the meaning of the drawing in my mind.  And so I have had images such as “Be it unto me according to your word,” as well as a more enigmatic one that went with “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me . . .”  But each one was important for that year of my life.  And so I would spend the necessary costs in order to produce and mail in relatively large scales, for my general penny-pinching tendencies.

This year I did not expect to produce a card.  The fact of my life lately as a boarding school librarian/teacher in Zambia, Africa, has made such projects feel rather far-removed from the realm of possibility.
And yet, I have had an image in my head for several months now.  I started to put it to paper, and I abandoned it for a bit, figuring it was a bit frivolous with all the practical work I had to do.  But then I picked it up again, and it is now nearing the stage of completion, hopefully to be completed with printing and mailing once I arrive in the U.S. for a holiday visit with family.

What I realized is that, frivolous though it may seem, it is actually quite important.  For women [especially Western women of faith], the holidays carry with them great amounts of expectation and stresses.  So much so that we often get swallowed up with the hectic pace and forget to soak in the meaning.  What is important for each of us, I believe, is to “pick and choose.”  We must resist the pressure to do what doesn’t not bring meaning for us.  And we must cling to those traditions and activities that promote an aura of true, Christ-centered celebration for ourselves and for our loved ones.

So this year, Lord willing, I will be sending out my cards—and enjoying every bit of it; and in case you wondered, Mary did you know . . .?  will be the theme

About Anna:  Anna G. Joujan was born in South Dakota, as a Canadian citizen, and was raised in Zambia, the child of missionary teachers.  Since her family’s move to the U.S., Anna spent her childhood and early adulthood traveling throughout the world thanks to various educational and work opportunities . . . France, China, Peru, and Jamaica being some of the stops in her journeys. Her undergraduate degree in French Literature led to a Masters in Information Sciences, and to work as a college and high school librarian, and a cross country coach. She has also returned to Zambia multiple times to teach for individual families and for local schools. All the while continuing pursuing her passions of writing, artwork, photography . . . and card-production.  You can find her online at http://annajouj.wordpress.com

A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year’s Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. One entry per person, per day. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com) on New Years Day!

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info

[Update: Congratulations to Lynda! You’ve won the 2011 Daily Guideposts devotional book. May you be blessed with a year filled with joy!]

I have a beautiful 35th anniversary edition of the 2011 Daily Guideposts to give one of you. It would make a wonderful gift for anyone on your Christmas list — Sunday school teachers, friends, school teachers, colleagues, grandparents, anyone — even for YOURSELF. These inspiring devotionals will lift you up every day of the coming year.

More than 50 writers have contributed their true, first-person stories to this lovely hardback copy, each including a scripture reading and prayer. They share how God has interceded in their lives to transform personal relationships, jobs, families, and faith.

Two of my favorite Georgia authors, Marion Bond West, and her daughter, Julie West Garmon, have both contributed several stories to this edition. You can get to know them here at their Guideposts Woman to Woman blog. I always look forward to what they have to say, as they’re both a few steps ahead of me in years and wisdom.

Julie shares that her husband Rick turned 50 this year and their youngest son is finishing up high school. She writes, “Rick and I now have parties for two every morning before the sun comes up. We sit on our front porch in rocking chairs, drink coffee and celebrate each morning … As our children have grown, so has our love for each other. And we’re beginning to discover what matters most. Some truths only come with time.”

I would love to send one of you a copy! Please leave a comment here or email me by this Sunday evening, December 5th. I’ll draw a name on Monday morning!

Have you seen this video yet of the surprised shoppers in a Philadelphia Macy’s when several hundred people, dressed normally, suddenly broke out singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, accompanied by the world’s largest pipe organ? Wow. I wish I had been there.

This took place on October 30, and over three million people have already watched the video, so sorry to be passing along old news. I just can’t resist highlighting something so joyful!

The Knight Foundation graciously provided funding for this event, using singers from the Opera Company of Philadelphia and other choral groups.

The “Random Acts of Culture” program is committed to bringing artists out of the performance halls and into the streets as a reminder of how the classical arts enrich lives.

I don’t see how anyone can hear music like this and not believe in God. I hope you enjoy it!

I’ll be on the lookout for more Random Acts of Culture, and who knows — maybe I’ll invent something of my own!

My children have been praying every day for the 33 miners who’ve been trapped inside a gold and copper mine in Chile since August 5. I can’t get this story out of my mind. We pray for them together every afternoon and every night, and their classmates are all praying for them every morning at school.

Romans 12:12 tells us to “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” How in the world can these 33 men hold on to hope when they’ve been stuck in a dark hole a half-mile beneath the earth’s surface for nearly three weeks?

I love this photo, showing the president of Chile holding a note that was scribbled by one of the miners, and sent up by a drill. It says
Estamos bien en el refugio los 33 which translates to “All 33 of us are fine in the shelter.” Oh wow. The note was sent up after they’d been missing for 17 days.

This story will continue, and we’ll continue to pray for their safe rescue. I don’t know how to answer all the questions my 7-year-old asks, but he’s completely in awe of these men’s struggle to survive. I think God speaks to the tender hearts of children to remind us busy adults what’s really important in life.

Engineers are estimating it may take four months to bring each man back to the surface safely. Until that moment, we’ll keep praying together.

*photo source: Hector Retamal, Associated Press

It’s taken me a while to write this post, as I’ve tried to process everything I learned and experienced at Hutchmoot a couple of weeks ago in Nashville. If you’re not familiar with The Rabbit Room, you’re probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about.

The Rabbit Room is a group blog founded by musician/writer Andrew Peterson, composed of like-minded souls who share a common interest in art, film, books, and music as expressions of the Christian faith. After three years of online fellowship, the group decided to congregate in the flesh in Nashville; hence the “hutch” of rabbit roomers holding a “moot” or meeting.

My husband and I decided to attend together, since his brother and a couple of old friends would also be there. And since the date coincided with our 16th wedding anniversary, we thought we’d spend a day at the conference, then a day hiking outdoors, celebrating our marriage.

I signed up quickly (with a little encouragement from Lanier), checking it off my to-do list back in early May, but then I began to feel guilty once I read the news that “the hutch was full” after only a few days. The conference organizers decided to limit the attendees to around 100 people, due to space limitations and to foster a more intimate fellowship. There were people from around the world writing in dismay that they’d wanted to come, but now couldn’t.

Why me? I wanted to know. Why did God open the door for me to go when others couldn’t?

As the date neared, I had major second thoughts. It was the weekend right after my son started a new high school — how could we just skip out of town during his major life transition? My other kids were in the midst of needing me to shop for new fall shoes and other last-minute supplies. Plus, we’d be missing their school orientation as well.

“Maybe we should stay home,” I told my husband at least 20 times.

“No, let’s go,” he said. “You need a break. The kids will be fine.” We’re surrounded by doting grandparents, so childcare wasn’t a problem.

So we went, with me agonizing the whole way there that I’d snagged someone else more worthy’s spot. A serious Rabbit Room contributor, instead of me, who skims posts while taking a break from washing dishes and folding clothes.

I thought maybe I could hide in the back shadows, scribbling a few notes, hoping no one would ask me any questions. There was a reading list, and I never got around to any of the books, save the few I’d read years ago. What if there’s a discussion session? I worried. I’m not in the same league with these people. I wore a black sweater and black skirt, all the better for disappearing into quiet corners.

But here came the surprise.

The Hutch was full of incredibly NICE people.

Everyone I talked to was so interesting, and some were like me, mostly lovers of great literature without any significant works of our own. I met a lady from Texas, who confessed she “blogged a little” now and then, while raising and schooling her children. I got to tell Father Thomas McKenzie how much I enjoy his One-Minute movie reviews, and how I took our kids to see three movies this summer based on his reviews.

I met both Peterson brothers: Andrew and Pete, who put this event together. Andrew kindly signed his two Wingfeather Saga books for my son, including North! Or Be Eaten, which won the Christy award back in June. That assuaged my mother-guilt, since I’d be bringing something home.

We attended sessions discussing the works of C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Flannery O’Conner, and Annie Dillard. We listened to Walt Wangerin, Jr, author of The Book of the Dun Cow, give an awe-inspiring Saturday evening keynote address. The Church of the Redeemer, where the conference met, was a gorgeous building, with a sanctuary full of light streaming in through stained glass windows. Every wall displayed unique pieces of artwork. The quiet, candlelit rooms helped me feel less anxious.

I found myself having a great time! I shopped in the Rabbit Room store and picked up two handmade coffee mugs and a stack of beloved new and used books. And the food … the food was out of this world, catered by artist/chef Evie Coates, who made every dish both beautiful and tasty.

We missed a couple of the concerts, and instead of returning for more great teaching and fellowship on Sunday, we headed for the hills of Tennessee, hiking along the waterfalls of Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park. The sound of rushing water felt like God speaking to me, reminding me how awesome is His love for each of us. Even if we don’t consider ourselves worthy.

More than anything, Hutchmoot helped me have a greater definition of what it means to be a Christian Artist. Pastor Russ Ramsey shared with us a quote from Annie Dillard, who says in The Writing Life: “There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by.”

I am living the Good Life now. My art may be nothing more than arranging blueberries on top of steaming oatmeal eaten by children who are dashing off to school … but for me, that’s a display of my love, and it’s what I’ve created. I can collect great works of literature and hand them to young growing minds who will outlive me, and will carry the words of these masters into the next century.

That’s what I brought home from the Hutchmoot fellowship.

If you’d like to read what others who were there have to say about it, check out the Hutchmoot Hub.

I found this post that I wrote nearly five years ago, and I felt like the “Prayer for One’s Calling” still applies today. May God bless you with a wonderful weekend.

Prayer for One’s Calling

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
Who declares Your glory and shows forth Your handiwork
in the heavens and in the earth;
Deliver us, we beseech You, in our several callings,
from the service of mammon*
That we may do the work which You give us to do,
in truth, in beauty, and in righteousness,
with singleness of heart as thy servants,
and to the benefit of our fellow men;
For the sake of Him who came among us as One that serves,
Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

–from The Book of Common Prayer

* I looked up mammon — it means “material wealth or possesions.”

Well, today is the last day of summer for me … and the end of an era.

After 14 years of being a stay-home mom and having babies, toddlers, and preschoolers all around, this chapter of my life is closing. My youngest daughter starts kindergarten tomorrow, which is a full-day program in our state.

Last year, she attended preschool three mornings a week, and between drop-offs and pick-ups, I only had about two hours to run errands, straighten the house, attend Bible study, and dash through an occasional aerobics. And in the spring, it seemed like every day she had a field trip, party, pet day, or something in which my presence was needed.

I loved it … I really did.

But now she’s joining her siblings in “big school.” And I’m happy for her. It’s time.

So then there’s me. I’ve been praying for God to show me what’s next. As a woman in my 40s, I’ve become a little wiser and more careful with how I spend my time. This seems to be a trend among friends my age. Several of them are starting to pursue dreams that have long been dormant during the busy childbearing and preschool years.

Of course, I also have many homeschooling friends whose children of all ages are still at home. But most of them are trying new things as well: teaching classes for other homeschoolers, adopting children from around the world, foster parenting, taking on leadership roles in church and community. Some are even going on mission trips as far away as Africa.

What about me, Lord? I ask, several times a day.

I do plan to volunteer at both of my children’s schools. I love being around these wonderful kids. My son’s high school requires all new parent volunteers to go through official substitute teacher training before helping out in the classroom, so I plan to do this. I love chaperoning field trips, which keeps me plenty busy seeing plays, concerts, puppet shows, and farm animals.

Hmmmm … but is there something more?

As I’ve spent the summer in prayer, I’ve asked God to lead me and make it clear to me what He wants me to do. A few days ago, author Keri Wyatt Kent’s monthly newsletter arrived in my in-box at the perfect time. In her column on the topic of “Following God’s Call,” she wrote:

What is God calling you to do? Are you scared to even ask, because then you might have to follow where he leads? I, for one, sometimes hesitate to give God all out devotion, for fear he’d send me to Africa or the inner city. That he’ll upset my apple cart, which is teetering as it is.

But sometimes, God just chips away at your heart until you surrender, and just keeps showing himself trustworthy and kind until you give in and say, Okay, what do you want me to do?

And when he tells you, what do you say? How do you respond? Because he never reveals the whole plan—in fact, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering if you heard his call correctly … What if it is not what you expected or what others would even consider a sacrifice or “a calling”? What if Jesus just shines a bit of light on the next step, and tells you—step here. Walk this way. Never mind where we will end up. Just know that I’m walking with you.

I read those paragraphs three or four times, then I had to close my laptop and go walk around for a while, feeling hot tears forming in my eyes, realizing God was trying to speak to me. Keri also wrote:

God’s calling me, so far as I can discern, to make some changes in my life, my career. Pulling me, step by step, out of my comfort zone. It’s still new and uncertain, so I can’t explain all the details yet.

Me too. After reading this, I discovered Keri is giving a keynote address not too far from my house in November, and I’m hoping to go hear her speak. I think God wants me to hear something she has to say. She’s wise. Her books are wise. I want to learn.

That’s all I know for now.

And maybe that’s enough.