The Empty Stocking

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I would like to share a bit of our Christmas tradition with you in the form of a stocking.  I have been married for almost 29 years to a wonderful man.  He is a great father and husband and has always done his best to provide for us.  Throughout our marriage we have had some tough times and though the peaks and valleys came about we would always, somehow, find a way to ensure that our children had a decent Christmas morning that I can remember.

One of the things that I have tried to instill into my children is that "little things mean a lot" so each year when Christmas morning comes around, we always have Christmas music playing on the stereo, the Christmas lights are lit on the tree and the smell of sausage balls and hot wassail fill the air.  Imagine all this and then you are handed your stocking.  One thing that we always ensure is that there is some sort of fruit in the toe of the stocking-it encourages the owner to remember to have their breakfast of the sausage balls, wassail and also their piece of fruit.  (I never make breakfast, just prep the sausage balls the night before and pop into the oven first thing in the morning).  We also try to include little things (sometimes a little on the expensive side) are tucked away in the stocking along with body wash, a pouf, some candy, and yes, sometimes even a lump of coal-albeit, the coal is usually the candy kind.  lol  But always, stockings come first, they always
have in this household at Christmas time-and always will.

Stockings are special.  Little things do mean a lot and to that end I also would like to share another tradition with you.  We always keep our Christmas movies separate and only watch them during the Christmas season.  This excerpt was taken from the original "The Bishop's Wife" with David Niven, Loretta Young and Cary Grant.  It speaks of a stocking that was owned by Christ and how we have been so caught up in our daily living that we have actually forgotten to fill the most important stocking.  We are supposed to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, Our Lord.  That is the one and ONLY reason that Christmas exists.  There are other traditions, other circumstances, other religions that celebrate

around Christmas time, but ideally, this is the one holiday that we should celebrate, because without Christ being born of Virgin Mary thousands of years ago, we would not have Easter which is the death and resurrection of Christ.

I truly hope that you celebrate the "reason for the season" this year and remember to fill His stocking during the celebrating with your family and or friends this year and for years to come.

If you would like to know any more about Christ's resurrection, please email me at admin@nostalgicdreams.com and I will be more than happy to share the meaning of Christmas with you.

*hugz n blessings*

Elizabeth

"Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.


Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child's cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.


But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we're celebrating. Don't let us ever forget that.


Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth."