A Joyful Christmas

Too many people have come to dread the approach of the holidays, a season that should -- and can -- be the most relaxed, intimate, joyful, and spiritual time of the year. In this book, Bill McKibben offers some suggestions on how to rethink Christmastime, so that our current obsession with present-buying becomes less important than the dozens of other possible traditions and celebrations. Working through their local churches, McKibben and his colleagues found that people were hungry for a more joyful Christmas season. For many, trying to limit the amount of money they spent at Christmas to about a hundred dollars per family, was a real spur to their creativity -- and a real anchor against the relentless onslaught of commercials and catalogs that try to say Christmas is only Christmas if it comes from a store. McKibben shows how the store-bought Christmas developed and how out of tune it is with our current lives, when we're really eager for family fellowship for community involvement, for contact with the natural world, and also for the blessed silence and peace that the season should offer. McKibben shows us how to return to a simpler and more enjoyable holiday. Christmas is too wonderful a celebration to give up on, too precious a time simply to repeat the same empty gestures from year to year. This book will serve as a road map to a Christmas far more joyful than the ones you've known in the past.

An illustrated collection of Christmas poems, stories, and songs.

Exchange the stressful pursuit of happiness for true joy this Christmas. Begin and end your day with one of the 31 morning and evening devotional readings from God Hears Her, A Joyful Christmas. These Advent-focused meditations will help you relax and allow God to fill your heart, mind, and soul throughout the busy month of December. Each devotion is for women and by women, from Our Daily Bread writers including Poh Fang Chia, Xochitl Dixon, Elisa Morgan, Amy Boucher Pye, and Patricia Raybon. With the attractive leatherlike look, four-color interior, and ribbon marker, this timely devotional makes an excellent gift for the Advent season.

A Christmas Collection to Warm the Heart Grab a warm cup of tea and watch as romance is kindled and joy is restored to broken lives during six bygone era Christmas celebrations. A Christmas Castle by Cynthia Hickey Married by proxy in Missouri, Annie Morgan sets off for Tombstone, Arizona, to join her new husband as a cattle rancher. But too soon she finds herself a widow with an unexpected daughter and butting heads with her handsome neighbor. A Star in the Night by Liz Johnson Wounded within Confederate territory, Union officer Jedediah Harrington finds refuge at the tiny cabin of Cora Sinclair and her grandfather. Still haunted by what she saw as a battlefield hospital volunteer, Cora finds that only Jed can understand. But, though she longs to give him her heart, the risks to both of them are too great. An Irish Bride for Christmas by Vickie McDonough When Jackson Lancaster’s brother and wife die, he takes his three-year-old niece home. But a meddling busy-body makes the judge give her custody “because an unmarried man shouldn’t raise a little girl.” Now Jackson has until Christmas to find a bride or lose his niece forever. Larkin Doyle is grateful her employer took in the orphan and believes Jackson abandoned his niece. When her heart says otherwise, will romance blossom? Under His Wings by Liz Tolsma Adie O’Connell, orphaned and left alone in a dangerous Wisconsin logging camp, seeks the stability she once knew when both her parents lived. Despite the compassion and friendship offered by Noah “Preacher Man” Mitchell, she refuses to consider marriage to a man always drifting from one job to another for God. Shelter in the Storm by Carrie Turansky The daughter of a wealthy Tennessee doctor, Rachel Thornton begins nursing James Galloway, a wounded artist-war correspondent. As James recovers, their hearts draw closer together. Having already lost one sweetheart to the war, Rachel is hesitant to reveal her feelings for James, who insists on returning to the front lines. Would she be safer in the arms of another man? Christmas Service by Erica Vetsch Beth Sorensen has been put in charge of the Christmas pageant at the little log church, and this year she wants something different. But she didn’t count on a Minnesota blizzard paralyzing the whole town. Can the blacksmith teach this preacher’s daughter about what it means to serve one another in love through the storm?

The JOYful Table has over 150 family friendly gluten and grain-free Paleo recipes. The author, Susan Joy created the recipes with her family in mind, as she didn't want to cook two different meals while healing her body from Fatty Liver disease. They aren't fussy and time consuming, just full of hearty flavours. This book is much more than a recipe book it is a recipe for good health.

A delightful guide to a holiday season filled with mindfulness, self-care, and joy. At the end of a difficult year, what if this December were soothing instead of stressful? Celebrate a new kind of holiday season this winter—one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight. A calm Christmas is filled meaningful interactions, special gifts, and thoughtful observations of annual traditions. This enchanting guide embraces festive preparations and authentic celebrations, and then ushers in the New Year in a holistic, nurturing way. Author Beth Kempton gently encourages readers to prioritize holiday hopes and take a slower, more mindful approach. Kempton also provides helpful suggestions for making the most of the hush of winter and recommends using this quiet period to retreat, reflect, set goals, and aspire toward a better year ahead. Filled with personal stories, tips, and advice for staying serene, Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year offers a cozy retreat from the pressure of striving for perfection. Instead of starting the New Year exhausted, in debt, and filled with regret, you will rejoice in the memories of the season and feel rested, rejuvenated, and inspired.

Celebrate your favorite people during the holidays with this quirky fill-in-the-blank book, which joins Gibbs Smith’s new series. I Wish You a Merry Christmas is a festive fill-in-the-blank book for you and the wonderful people in your life! Perfect for the holidays, these joyful, silly, and thoughtful prompts bring back the memories that make your relationship such a gift. Reminisce in the cheeriest season of the year with prompts like these: No one enjoys making _________ with me on the holidays more than you; It’s all fun and games until Santa and his elves _________; If I could pick one person to stand under the mistletoe with you, I’d choose _________; and ’Tis the season to drink too much_________, laugh until you _________, eat too much _________, and to be extra _________. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good _________!

These inspirational medleys can be used as preludes, postludes, or as other service music during the Christmas season. Approximate performance times are included to assist planning. Titles: *Angels We Have Heard On High with Come, Christians, Join to Sing *Good Christian Men, Rejoice with Rejoice, the Lord Is King *It Came Upon the Midnight Clear with To God Be the Glory *Joy to the World with Jesus Shall Reign *O Come, All Ye Faithful with Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee *O Come, O Come Emmanuel with Come, Thou Almighty King *O Holy Night with Crown Him with Many Crowns *O Worship the King with Angels from the Realms of Glory *What Child Is This? with Fairest Lord Jesus