MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Every December we celebrate a birth that happened more than 2,000 years ago because it was the beginning of a life and mission that hold critical and eternal significance for all of us.  It was the birth of Jesus Christ which manifested the supreme love of God for all His children.

                                 

In a recent Devotional Meeting at Brigham Young University, newly called counselor to President Dallin H. Oaks in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President D. Todd Christofferson, spoke about the Savior’s condescension to leave His divine throne above and live like every other mortal on the very earth which He helped God the Father create.

“It is almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of the Savior’s condescension”, President Christofferson said in his remarks.

“He came as a helpless babe, born in a humble stable, with a manger used for feeding animals as His cradle. He experienced what all of us experience: growing over time in knowledge and ability, developing from infancy to childhood to youth to adulthood.  While on the earth as a mortal man, Jesus experienced hunger and deprivation, pain and fatigue, persecution and rejection. In the end, He was crucified and put to death.

 “We are fully justified in joyously celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is this tender beginning that eventually led to His Atonement, which, in turn, leads to the new beginnings in our lives and faithfulness to the end of our lives.”

No wonder we sing “Joy to the World"!

"Joy to the World" was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts.  The hymn is usually sung to an 1848 arrangement by the American composer Lowell Mason of a tune attributed to George Frideric Handel. The hymn's lyrics are a Christian interpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3.

Since the 20th century, "Joy to the World" has been the most-published Christmas carol in North America, even though it originally was unassociated with Christmas.  It was initially written about the Second Coming, not Christ’s first coming as a baby.

But I love how W. W. Phelps, a poet and early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, changed the words in the chorus from “Let heaven and Nature Sing” to “Let Saints and Angels Sing”. We sing this version at Church.

I believe we were all in that numberless throng of angels proclaiming joy at the birth of Jesus Christ and His mission on that “ONE WONDERFUL NIGHT”!

This December let us include in our celebration of Christmas, not just Christ’s birth, but also a re-consideration of Christ’s remarkable atoning mission as a new beginning in our own lives with a fervent personal commitment of faithfulness to Jesus Christ forever.

                                     Merry Christmas!

SHOPPING NEWS!

 

We got a "new" Walmart!

After months of renovation and lots of rearranging, our "new" Walmart is finally finished!  Complete with a shiny new Walmart logo on the front of the store.  There is also a new expanded Pick-up area, a refurbished parking lot, and wider aisles.  In all, it is a nicer shopping place.  So far, the prices seem to have remained steady to what they were before the do-over.

This is the Walmart we most often went to--until the shelves seemed to be empty of what it was I needed and I didn't want to be around hammering inside and lots of activity outside which was the center of the remodeling operation.  Or sometimes it was the frustration of "store open during remodel" but whole departments seemed to have disappeared, and the store didn't feel like it was easy to navigate like it had been before.  I couldn't find anything.  All the paper goods disappeared!  Then I found out they were on the back wall where the infant department had been.  No wonder I hadn't been able to find a cute little play toy to put on the package of a baby gift I was preparing to take to a friend.

But all that is over now.  Surprisingly, for all the work that was accomplished and the amount of time it took to complete, it really wasn't very long at all.  From summertime to the first part of November.

Though I still am trying to navigate better as I look for the items I usually purchase, I like the addition of pods that have "showroom setups" complete with mannequins and furniture to make the products attractive and inviting to try.  And the shelves are filled to the brim with inventory now like they used to be.

Though it is still kind of a shock to go inside the store and see a completely different look, I like it.  Several of the other Walmart stores in our area got remodeled first, so it was nice to be part of the plan, too.

Progress... move forward or lose your place!  Guess we have a place in the community once again.  Just nicer.