As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we’re excited to invite your family to share what makes Christmas and His birth special to you. In the coming weeks, reflect on what you cherish most about the true meaning of Christmas and consider sharing your tradition with our church family. Whether it’s a special family event, a story, poem, letter, song, photo, beloved recipe, or your own personal heartfelt wish, we are asking you to share your Christmas Reflection with us - it will be a blessing to many. In the days leading up to Christmas, we will share these submissions with our church, right here, as a way help us all grow in faith and connection together.
God bless you this Christmas season!
To make a submission email your image, idea, etc. to our office at: renewcarroll@gmail.com
12/24/24
From Michelle Kennedy
“I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately. [My daughter] Tasha was born so close to Christmas - December 22nd. Life was hard. My (ex) husband was once again unemployed and our car barely ran. We lived in Forestview trailer courts in our old 10’ x 50’ trailer home in Iowa City where I hoped to return to college some day. As I held my beautiful redhead baby girl, I prayed that I would be a good Mom. I prayed I could provide her a life filled with love and hope. On Christmas Day, carolers could be heard singing in the hospital hallways. I cried and cried. Joy to the World! The Lord has come! I remembered that anything is possible with Jesus.“
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1:14 MSG)
12/22/24
FROM RACHEL WINKELMAN:
“One of the beautiful parts of holiday tradition is that it provides a predictable reminder for us to look closer at different aspects of our lives, and one of the most beautiful parts of God is that when we lean in and ask Him to bring new depth to our faith, He does. When handed down traditions have new depth breathed into them, we get a faith that we can say is truly our own. With that I give to you, A God of Details a post by Hannah Brencher.” (Found on her Instagram page @hannahbrencher)
“The prophet Micah wrote, 500 years before the coming of Jesus, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Micah is saying that Bethlehem may be small and seemingly insignificant but, from it, a new ruler would come. That ruler would be Jesus.
Bethlehem wasn't some random city on a map. God wrote Bethlehem into the story from the beginning. The word "Beth-el" means "House of God," and the word "Le-hem" means bread. Right from the beginning, just in its name, Bethlehem is depicted as "The House of Bread." Could there be a more fitting place for Jesus, who is considered the bread of life, to be born?
As I researched this charming little town of Bethlehem, I found another detail that struck me. To understand the fullness of it, let's go back to the Old Testament. Before Jesus, God required the people to make sacrifices as a way of repenting for their sins. It was a bloody, messy process, but it needed to happen repeatedly to remain in right-standing with God. At the Passover, God spoke to the people through instruction: "Take the lamb's blood and put it on the doorposts and lentil of the house. My angel of judgment is coming through the land of Egypt, but when I see the blood, I will pass over you." He was clear: The blood of the lamb. He did not instruct them to leave a baby lamb, fully alive, on the doorstep. It had to be the blood of the lamb. But catch this: For centuries before Jesus arrives on the scene, Passover lambs were born and raised in a VERY SPECIFIC place. That. place. was. Bethlehem.
At the end of their lives, the sacrificial lambs were led from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to be sacrificed, just as Jesus came from Bethlehem and was led to Jerusalem to fulfill the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. BUT. IT. GETS. CRAZIER... According to the Mishnah, keeping flocks of sheep throughout Israel was strictly forbidden UNLESS you were tending to sheep for temple purposes. For sacrifices. So that means the shepherd tending to the flock on the night the angel appeared weren't ordinary shepherds--they were shepherds tending to sacrificial lambs. When a sacrificial lamb was born, the shepherds would inspect the lamb and if it was without blemish they would wrap the newborn lamb in SWADDLING CLOTHS and lay it in a MANGER. When the angel told the shepherds to look for a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger, that this would be a sign to them, it had extra special significance and meaning. Scholars theorize these shepherds would have known EXACTLY what to look for when they went searching the Savior that night because it was their daily job to certity Passover lambs upon birth through inspecting them for blemishes and then swaddling them to set them apart. John the Baptist would later called Jesus the LAMB of God. 1 Corinthians 5:7 proclaims: "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
I'm so thankful for a God who is in all the details. A God who sees this little town of Bethlehem, most known for its Passover lambs, and decides, "This is the place where my son will be born. And one day, he will die on a cross as the ultimate sacrificial lamb and cross out the blots and sins of my people for good." God did not close his eyes, pull out a map, and let his finger land on Bethlehem as a cool choice for the savior of the world. He picked the House of the Bread as the birthing grounds for the bread of life-- broken in body for you and me. He picked Shepherds who would know what to look for, and know the significance of an unblemished lamb, to be the first to witness him and start spreading the word far and wide. He picked the breeding grounds tor Passover lambs to be the birthing grounds for the lamb of God-- blood poured out for all of us.”
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:6-7 NIV)
12/20/24
From The Casebeer Family:
“Matching pajamas is a tradition we enjoy every year. We open them up on Christmas Eve. It’s a way to relax together and then we usually play board games, and just hang out. We are excited to add Drake to the mix this year too!"
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:6-7 NIV)
12/18/24
From Missy Promes:
“Christmas was always a magical time. On Christmas Eve we could pick one gift to open before we went to church. Amazingly enough, it was always an outfit to wear to church. Singing Silent Night was and has always been the highlight on Christmas Eve. I can still see my moms face looking at that lit candle. After church we would set out cookies and milk on the table by the patio door. We didn't have a chimney so Santa always came in the patio door. We set a piece of tinfoil in front of the door hoping he would step on it when he came in. On Christmas morning I remember racing over to that cookie plate to make sure Santa ate his cookies, drank his milk and stepped on the tinfoil and sure enough he always did. Seeing the unwrapped Santa gifts and wrapped gifts from mom and dad was so exciting. Santa would set the biggest gift right in front of the tree. Such great memories. I carried many of these traditions on with our kids because I wanted them to feel the magic that I did as a child. We always kept baby Jesus out of the nativity scene until Christmas morning so the first thing when they woke up was put Jesus with Mary and Joseph. We wanted them to understand first and foremost the reason for the season.”
“…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:20-21 NIV)
12/16/24
FROM TAYLOR HIRCOCK:
“Every Christmas/New Year's season I look forward to listening to this song [from the band, King’s Kaleidoscope]. It takes a familiar, traditional song meant to remember friends and loved ones "for old time's sake" and elevates it by using the same sentiment to declare the truths of Christ. Each refrain of "All glory be to Christ" is echoing something profound and beautiful to reflect upon.”
“…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16 NIV)
12/9/24
FROM MERI JO SOE:
“In 2020, I started a new tradition of reading the devotional “The Greatest Gift” by Ann Voskamp. I put together the picture ornaments that are available to print from her website. I included several friends in this tradition and gave them a twig as a tree and the ornaments. Now we all text each other on the 1st of December and get excited to read this book each year.”
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2 NIV)
12/6/24
FROM MELISSA SANDERS:
“Each Christmas season our family likes to hand deliver Christmas cards to those who are local to us. The Twist: The girls have to get the Christmas card in the mailbox without getting caught! While trying to deliver to the Collison’s house, Andi thought Annabelle had the card while Annabelle thought Andi was carrying the card. It's safe to say that this tradition always brings out some laughter.”
“…the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 NIV)
12/3/24
From Michelle Kennedy:
"Dad was stationed at Shepard Air Force Base in Texas in the late 1960’s. For one of those years, he served temporary duty in Thailand, and we stayed stateside. Dad left behind my 7 year old sister and my pregnant Mom, and 8 year old me. All of our extended family lived in Iowa so Mom must have felt isolated. Military life though - We were lucky with this whole other “family!” Airmen and their families insured our needs were met and clearly understood the stress for Mom. I remember our church family’s role of helping Mom with meals and babysitting so she could have a break. What a blessing! We loved writing to Dad and couldn’t wait to hear back. Christmas traditions continued without Dad, and that included reading of Jesus birth and singing Away in the Manager on Christmas Eve. It seemed extra special that year. On another note: On April 20th, Mom sent a Red Cross message to Dad “Baby girl #3. Rosalie.”
“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 NIV)
Thanks for reading. Lord bless you, friend.
Want to receive new entries by text? Sign up to stay in the loop here.