His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful...

For Unto Us a Child is Born ~ Simon Dewey

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His Name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
~ Adolphe Adam, 1847

A Worth of a Soul ~ Liz Lemon Swindle

To Be with God ~ Simon Dewey

Forgiven ~ Greg Olsen

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold;

“Peace on the earth, good will to men, From Heaven’s all gracious King.”

The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats O’er all the weary world;

Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing,

And ever over its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on, By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing.
~ Edmund Sears, 1849

He is Risen ~ Walter Rane

I had a wonderful Christmas Eve surrounded by family and laughter. We attended a beautiful candlelight service and as we sang O Holy Night!, I was overcome with love and admiration for the Lord. It was beautiful and I wanted to share those lyrics with you. So many times on the radio I hear an edited version of this song which drives me crazy because it is so powerful. Also, I wanted to share some of my favorite paintings of LDS Artists that have captured something special that has left an impact on my heart. The second song, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, brings me back to mission days with the lovely Mota Nygren and the times we spent twirling around our appartment listening to this song. The lyrics are also moving and inspired.

So much has happened this year, which is another story, but I am so thankful for the faith that I have that has kept me inching along this winding road. I have had a very humbling year and when I look back at all those times that I truly felt alone, abandoned, forgotten, or misunderstood, I think of when the Saviour was on the earth and how everyone turned his back on Him. I know that He has experienced all that I have and I need to remind myself of that when these emotions become too much for me to stand up to. I know that the Lord has already conquered them and is standing next to them with His hand stretched out. It is my Christmas prayer that I have enough strength to remember this and actually act upon it!

Here I am celebrating the Saviour's birth and am so thankful for Him and His life, His atonement, His resurrection, His gift. It's so fun and wonderful to celebrate it, truly the best time of the year. It is just so human of me to forget the excitiment of His coming when I am down or struggling, as if my actions would say all other 364 days of the year "I do not believe in Christmas". I hope that I can be slightly more consistent with celebrating Christ all year long.

I pray that anyone who is reading this will be blessed, will feel the Lord's arms around you and that you will have the Peace that you are longing for in your life. Most of all, I pray that you feel loved and that you never feel alone, for the Lord is with you! Merry Christmas! Gezuar Krishtlindjet te gjitheve!

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

Once upon a time there were two girls that shared a room in a little cottage on a magical cove called Stillwater. Known locally as Tastebuds and Noodles, these girls would play in the cold pacific water and it felt like they had the whole ocean to themselves. Tide permitting, they would walk all over the smooth rocks looking at all the treasures the ocean would bring to them. These two girls even found a "hot tub" where they would sit and enjoy their private surroundings. It was in this magical cove on Pebble Beach that they embarked on kayaking adventures, would swim with the seals, play on the rocks and have lots of memorable photo shoots. It was around this time that Noodles finally opened her eyes to her prince charming while out on a "practice date". Tastebuds was very lucky to witness their relationship develop over time.... Prince charming was always doing things for Noodles and surprising her in fun ways. Like when she had told him that she wanted a garden of flowers and he snuck out in the middle of the night (off post) and planted an entire bed of flowers outside the front windows! It was a treat for all of us in this little cottage.

Tastebuds had her surprises as well, one morning she woke up to all these alarms going off. She looked over her bed and saw footprints leading to the door that lead to the ocean. She followed them and found her roommates gathered on the cliff watching the sunrise and having a birthday breakfast in her honor. It was a wonderful surprise. She felt very loved. She was deeply loved.

Noodles and her prince charming were engaged to be married and Tastebuds went out to see her be married in the castle (Salt Lake Temple). The ceremony was so elegant, just like a fairytale. One year later... little Penelope Joy joined the family. It was around this time that Tastebuds was crowned by Captian Double-A-ron to be Penelope's Fairygod Mother. Tastebuds did what she could to make her little fairygod daughter feel special and beautiful. Sending her pretty flowers and jewelry so she can play dress up. 2 years later, Harrison was born and Tastebuds was so excited to meet him too.

A wonderful relationship developed over the years and Tastebuds has grown to love her fairygod children dearly. She has visited them on many occasions and they share fun stories of building forts, sleeping in tents, having tea parties and playing pirates. One of Tastebuds favorite memories is when she was coming to visit after living overseas and when she arrived at the airport she came down the escalator and saw little Penelope holding a sign just for her. She was ecstatic! Recently, Tastebuds and Noodles were living together again and had such a wonderful time reminiscing their past, painting and decorating Noodles new house. Penelope would ask Tastebuds, "Can you stay forever like 5 times?" Harrison would shout, "Don't leave! Come back!" Tastebuds felt loved. She is loved.

It was during this last trip that it was decided that a photo shoot was needed to capture the Fairygod Mother moments. Noodles was naturally an amazing photographer and had great ideas for some fun photos. Penelope helped dress her Fairygod Mother and even let her borrow some of her favorite dress up clothes. They headed down to the water and let the magic begin. Take a look at that great day and an inside their beautiful story.