Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Legend of the Candy Cane


Long ago there were two villages in a far-off land. One was in a valley, and one was on a mountain top. The people in the mountain village wanted to give each person in the valley a Christmas gift. So the mountain townspeople formed a committee to think of something special. Money was limited, and each gift had to be of equal value to each person. After much time and discussion a decision was finally reached. The town's candy maker, and elderly gentleman who had loved Jesus for many years, came up with an idea--the candy cane.
Now, you may be thinking, what is so special about a candy cane--and how can it ever be tied in with the real meaning of Christmas? Well, here is how... and why... 

1. The candy cane is in the shape of a shepherd's staff. Jesus is our Shepherd, and we are His flock. A sheep follows his own shepherd, knows his voice, trusts him and knows that he is totally safe with him. The sheep will follow no other shepherd than their own. In the same way, if we belong to Jesus, we are to follow only Him. (John 10:11, Psalm 23:1; Isaiah 40:11)

2. Turned over, the candy cane is a "J," the first letter of Jesus' name. (Luke 1:31) It is made of hard candy to remind us that Christ is the "rock" of our salvation.

3. The wide red stripes on the candy cane represent the blood Jesus shed on the cross for each one of us so that we can have eternal life through Him. He restores us and cleans us with His shed blood--the only thing that can wash away our sin. (Luke 22:20)

4. The white stripes on the candy cane represent Jesus' virgin birth and His pure, sinless life. He is the only human being ever who never committed a single sin, even though He was tempted just as we are. (1 Peter 2:22)

5. The narrow red stripes on candy canes symbolize Jesus' stripes, or scars, which He got when He was arrested and whipped. the Bible says we are healed (of sin) because he took those wounds. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24)

6. The flavoring in the candy can is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is of the mint family and was used in Old Testament times for purification and sacrifice. (John 19:29; Psalm 51:7)

7. When we break our candy cane, it reminds us that Jesus' body was broken for us. When we have communion, it is a reminder of what He did for us. (1 Corinthians 11:24)

8. AND, if we share our candy cane and give some to someone else because we love that person, we are sharing the love of Jesus. (1 John 4:7,8) 

Some people believe this story of the candy cane is only a legend. Others believe it really happened this way. We do not know for sure exactly how the candy cane was invented, but one thing is certain... it is an excellent picture of Christ and His love for you. (ats tracts)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Julie's baby shower pictures
















I hosted a baby shower for Julie Mckinnon back in October. She wasn't able to come though, because she had her baby boy early and he was in the NICU. My friend Melissa took the pictures at the shower. It was fun to cook the food and decorate,especially since I had so much help from Kim Rackley! I couldn't have done it without her. We made the 'theme' really fallish and served apple cider, pumpkin muffins and gave caramel apples away as favors.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Some Thanksgiving pictures









We had a wonderful time at my Grandma's house in Illinois for Thanksgiving. We stopped in Indianapolis to pick up my parents and then we all traveled together to my Mom's parents house. I hadn't spent a Thanksgiving with my parents in 7 years! So, it was so nice to be all together this time. We had a wonderful meal and then shared ways God has blessed us. I'm also posting some pictures of my cousin Liz's house. She recently got married to a farmer and so we had to go see her home! =)