Merry Christmas

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

A stable isn't the most sanitary place to have a baby.

A feeding bin--cold and covered with animal slobber--doesn't make the best crib.

Shepherds were the only ones who came to welcome Christ. Not the cute little children with the clean lambs and smiling, adorable faces. These shepherds were like today's garbage men--rough and dirty.

All around, life milled in the crowded city. Pickpockets wove in and out of the crowd. Blindly, everyone went on, not knowing that if they could have only stopped to peek into a dirty stable, they would have seen a miracle that the world had never seen before.

But that's who Christ came to save. The blind, the selfish, the doomed for death.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.--Isaiah 9:2

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.--Isaiah 9:6

Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Izori

Mmmmm...food

Guess what. My biggest inspiration in writing is food. I don't know why, but it is. I guess it tastes good. =)

Here are some of my favorite, most inspiring foods!

Tomato slices with sugar. =) Hey, it's tomato! Of course it's healthy! I like eating it at breakfast, because it's light tasting, sweet, and reminds me of summer. It's so easy to make, too.

Coffee with Chocolate Ovaltine (sp?). Yeah, not so healthy. Too bad. =) It tastes really good, and if you put as much milk in your coffee as I do, it almost tastes like ice cream!

Hush-puppies. Ahhhhhhh. Fried. =) Everything tastes better fried! Ever tried fried pickles? No? I haven't either, but I bet it'd be GREAT! Hey. I live in the South, people.

Cherry tomatoes. It's one of the few things our family can grow well in our tiny garden, and boy, do they taste good! You pop 'em in your mouth, and they burst.

Wild sweet clover. 'Nuff said.

Wild onion soup. I made it when I was maybe eight or so, and I didn't chop off the tops. It tasted terrible, but I think now I could make a pretty mean retake of it!

Freshly baked cookies. There is NOTHING so inspiring as freshly baked cookies! NOTHING!

Those are only a few! And then there's stuffing, apple pie, cranberry sauce, ice cream, sauerkraut, rice pudding, and my mom's bread. =)

Hugs & Blessings,

Izori