Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

35 Years of Christmas Caroling with the Elkins’!

5 Replies

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! One of those “wonderful times” is the memories you make with family and friends.

Our family has been making Christmas rounds to the shut-ins and the elderly for over 35 years now. It is one of the highlights of the season for all of us.

We always start at “Mamaw Tava’s” house, where we load up on sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks. We pile on our coats, gloves, hats and scarves…unless it is a crazy Indiana weather Christmas where we might not even need a sweater! You just never know…

Our entire family goes, from the toddlers to my 87 year old mother-in-law! There are 20+ of us and growing, depending on who is here from out of state or who has to be somewhere else for Christmas. We are an imposing presence to say the least.

Every year we go over our list and are saddened to realize we have lost a loved one, a dear friend, co-worker or church family member. The picture below is of my MIL singing to her long-time friend and sister-in-law, Thelma, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago. We will miss her dearly next week when we go to sing.

Then we are handed THE LIST!

My SIL Sue, who wrote a beautiful post for us here on the blog a few weeks ago, Still I Will Trust You, helps organize the list and gets us to where we are going. She makes sure that we aren’t running from the east side of town to the west and back again. We have a plan of attack!

It is mapped out according to the area; we have to save the youngest until the last, if possible, because the elderly might not be awake when we finally get finished! Some years it would take us four or five hours to finish, we would have as many as 20 names on the list!

We have watched our children grow up caroling with us. Our older ones wouldn’t miss it for the world, and the newest little ones coming along are catching the fever as well. They wear their reindeer antlers and make sure their noses are Rudolph red for the occasion.

We have some hilarious memories and some teary-eyed ones as well.

We visit nursing homes and hospitals if necessary; we go wherever our friends and family members happen to be at that special time of the year. One thing we do not want them to be is lonely.

One year, my dear brother-in-law, Danny, who is one of the kindest and most gentle souls you would ever meet, leaned over to greet a dear lady we were visiting in a nursing home. Instead of Christmas cheer, he received a sharp slap across the face!

Then there was the bitter cold winter many years ago that a couple of us “ladies” went sledding down a snowy embankment on our backside. I remember falling down the hill and hearing my SIL, Dixie, holler and both of us ending up in the cold, wet snow. Poor Dixie also nearly slid completely under her van during one caroling escapade in a Wendy’s Hamburger parking lot that was covered in ice. Her son, Nik, was working there probably 20 years ago and couldn’t go with us, so we decided to stop and sing to him at Wendy’s, it nearly cost her a few broken bones…

We have gotten lost, separated, frustrated, frozen, been told to be quiet, sing louder, sing longer, come inside, please stay outside, knocked on the wrong doors more than once, been fed homemade candy, cookies, tons of peanut butter fudge, (some of it was even delicious), been asked to make a CD, been asked NOT to make a CD, laughed, cried, and laughed some more.

Caroling has been around for centuries and even though it may not have started out as a Christian custom, I sure am glad that it has turned into a wonderful Christmas tradition that blesses so many!

We have literally created a LIFETIME of memories from this tradition. I am very grateful we have kept it going and pray that when our generation is gone that our “kids” will continue to make memories with their upcoming generation, celebrating Jesus and bringing joy to those who cannot get out or go be in the house of God at Christmas.

I’ve included a couple of our caroling videos from Christmases past for your entertainment enjoyment! (insert smile here). Unfortunately you must endure the antics of My Three Sons as well. I could not copy the better videos from my facebook page for some reason (insert frown).

What are some of your family Christmas traditions? I would love to hear them!

Essential Fridays, Faithful Friday, Family Fun Friday, Womanhood with Purpose, Spiritual Sundays, Friendship Friday

The Door is Still Open…

O Holy Night has been crowned with the title “Most Beautiful of all Christmas Carols” because of its superb melody and lyrics. Few would argue this fact, and we have sang it in churches, schools, nursing homes, hospitals and any Christmas gathering that called for it.

Where did it originate? The story is amazing. Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), wrote the lyrics in Roquemaure, France on December 3, 1847. His priest had asked him to write a poem and Cappeau, on his way to Paris on a business trip, received the inspiration for the lyrics to “Cantique de Noel” about halfway through the trip.

Once in Paris, he took the poem to Adolphe Adam, who wrote the music, and the song was performed a few weeks later on Christmas Eve.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, 1906, where Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, makes history when he broadcasts the very first AM radio program. Not only do WWI soldiers get to hear a radio program from home for the very first time, but they also get to hear Fessenden playing “O Holy Night” on his violin and then sing the final verse! The beloved carol was one of the first pieces of music to be broadcast on radio.

O Holy Night
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Who among us has not felt the joy of Christmas and hope of the ages welling up inside of us when we reach that famous line in the song, “Fall on your knees! Oh, hear, the angel voices! Oh, night, divine! Oh, night when Christ was born!”

Dare we say there are few songs more glorious! The thrill of the birth of the Savior surely makes us want to fall on our knees in adoration and praise! The Messiah has come, the Savior of the World!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6.

Let this song bring peace and joy to your heart and mind today as you are reminded of that Holy Night so long ago. Our Lord came for you, for me, and for all who would receive Him. He still opens His arms today and says, “Come…”. The door is still open for a little while before He comes again in all His glory and takes His Church, His people, those that are called by His Name, out of this world and that door of Grace closes forever.

Make sure it is a glorious day!

Meghan Smith, Kyle Elkins and Experience Music cover this beautiful song.

Sleeping in Bethlehem…

4 Replies

Phillip Brooks was a preacher and a Sunday School teacher who stood six feet, six inches tall and weighed over 300 pounds! He made quite an impression wherever he went but he was beloved by his students and those who knew him well. So much so that when he died one of his little ones said, “Oh, how happy the angels will be!”

He had occasion to travel to the Holy Land in 1865 and on Christmas Eve he mounted on horseback and rode from Jerusalem to the “City of David”. He was to assist in the midnight service at the Church of the Nativity, just a short distance from where the shepherds first saw the star that led them to the baby in the manger.

Three years later, at Christmastime, remembering that experience, Brooks penned the words to this beautiful song for the children’s choir of his church. The organist of the church put music to the lyrics and on Christmas Eve, 1868, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was sung for the first time.

We don’t know too much about Brooks, although he was a published author and his church did erect a statue of him standing near a cross in his honor. He may have been quiet and unassuming, we aren’t sure. But from the words of the song we know he was impacted by his experience in Bethlehem…

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. O morning stars, together

Proclaim the holy birth!

And praises sing to God the King, And peace to men on earth.

For Christ is born of Mary, And gathered all above.

While mortals sleep, the angels keep, Their watch of wondering love.

How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts, The blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear His coming, But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him, still, The dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy, Pray to the blessed Child,

Where misery cries out to thee, Son of the mother mild;

Where charity stands watching, And faith holds wide the door,

The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,

And Christmas comes once more.

O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels, The great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel!

Bethelehem was about six miles outside of Jerusalem, the birthplace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Meaning “house of bread”, it was also the “City of David”. This is where Samuel, the prophet, anointed David to be king over Israel. Then in the book of Micah, the prophet tells that the Messiah would come from this small “unimportant” town of Bethlehem!

By the time Jesus was born, Bethlehem was just a tiny village.

But it didn’t matter the place. It didn’t matter the surroundings, or that those who attended the birth were most likely barn animals. This was God’s plan. He didn’t choose to come with fanfare and crowds broadcasting the news. He chose to come humbly with the host of heaven proclaiming His birth!

You see, it doesn’t matter how little or insignificant we may be, we have the potential to be used for something great in the Kingdom of God!

Just like the little town of Bethlehem, if God chooses us, He will make a way for us to be used and to be used in a big way! Don’t sell Him short!

The city of Bethlehem today? Approximately 60,000 people live in and around the area. It is home to one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world, the Church of the Nativity, circa 330 A.D. It still stands over a cave believed to be the very spot where Jesus was born. Of course this tourist site of one of the oldest surviving Christitan churches in existence today, makes Bethlehem a thriving tourism destination.

True, tourism is not Bethlehem’s “destiny”. But centuries ago, the God of the universe picked this “Little Town” for the birth place of the Messiah. And that Child of Bethlehem can come and abide in you and I today. That Hope of the World still reaches for the masses and offers life at this most wonderful time of the year!

Do you know Him?

, Sleeping in Bethlehem

Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette