Merry Christmas!...

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

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope you are surrounded by

loved ones today and are at a warm and dry and cozy place.

I have some Christmas-themed sites for you all today. I have been

collecting these for a couple of weeks. I hope you have fun with

these and are inspired as well!

God bless you on this day and I hope you have time to reflect

tonight and tomorrow on what priceless gift God gave us and why

we celebrate Christmas. Sending you Christmas joy... Val =)

Two websites with loads of Christmas fun and links:

Xmas Fun!
Christmas World

Decorate a Xmas Tree at Donna's:

Decorate a Xmas Tree

Your kids will giggle with this and so will you:

Carol of the Chins

Just like regular Tic Tac Toe:

Tic Tac Santa

My favorite Christmas song:

O Holy Night!

Read how Christmas is celebrated in other countries:

St. Nicholas Around the World

The Birth of Jesus

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census
should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census
that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone
went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and
line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to
be married to him and was expecting a child. 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.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news
that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David
a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will
be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in
a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with
the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

And on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was
lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard
it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured
up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.
- Luke 2:1-20

Joy Quotes and a Verse...

Joy Quotes and a Verse

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"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice!"
- Philippians 4:4, NLT

1
"There is one and only one possible road to joy: selfless love."
- Peter Kreeft

1
"Joy is the feeling of grinning inside."
- Melba Colgrove

1
"Joyfulness keeps the heart and face young. A good laugh makes
us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us."
- Orison Swett Marden

1
“A sense of humor... is needed armor.
Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign
that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
- Hugh Sidey

1
"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
- Mother Teresa

1
"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

1
"Joy is not in things; it is in us."
- Richard Wagner

1
"Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering,
not in the victory itself."
- Mahatma Gandhi

1
"He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy."
- Kahlil Gibran

1
"There are those that give with joy, and that joy is their reward."
- Kahlil Gibran

1
"Joy is increased by spreading it to others."
- Robert Murray McCheyne

1
"Joy delights in joy."
- William Shakespeare

Choosing Happiness...

Sticking to the theme of happiness, I received this in an email from my friend Sher.
Thanks, Sher =)! It's by Ralph Marston. I think it's wise. Enjoy and have a
blessed day! Val =)


Choosing Happiness

If you are not happy with what you already have, how can you expect to become happy
by getting more? Instead of expecting that happiness will come to you from the outside,
choose to send it out from the inside.

If you've been waiting for some thing or event or condition before choosing to be happy,
there is no need to wait any longer. Go ahead, choose to be happy, and then you'll move
more effectively toward whatever you desire.

Having the good and valuable things you desire is not a cause of happiness.
It is an expression of happiness.

Happiness is not yours when you chase it or put conditions on it.
Happiness is yours when you allow it.

Choose right now to allow it. Choose to be happy and genuinely thankful about
who you are, what you're doing, what you have and where you're going.

And right away, that positive attitude on the inside will begin to build and improve
the factors on the outside. Allow happiness, and allow your life to run in a positive,
fulfilling direction.

- Ralph Marston

Joy Quotes and a Verse...

Joy Quotes and a Verse

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken
away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy... "
- Psalm 30:11
~
"The more we enjoy of God, the more we are ravished with delight."
- Thomas Watson
~
"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift."
- Albert Einstein
~
"Did you know... that when you walk past a flower,
whether it be in somebody's garden or on a vacant hillside,
the flower will always smile at you. The most polite way to respond,
I've been told, is to cheerfully return the smile."
- Ron Atchison
~
"We shall find peace. We shall hear angels.
We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds."
- Anton Pavlovich Chekov
~
"I define joy as a sustained sense of well being and internal peace -
a connection to what matters."
- Oprah Winfrey
~
"To get a full value of a joy you must have somebody to share it with."
- Mark Twain
~
"The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as
when you go looking for your joy."
- Eudora Welty
~
"Celebrate what you want to see more of."
- Thomas J. Peters
~
"He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy."
- Kahlil Gibran
~
"There are those that give with joy, and that joy is their reward."
- Kahlil Gibran
~
"One joy shatters a hundred griefs."
- A Chinese Proverb
~
"There is joy in all."
- Anne Sexton

Joy Quotes...

Joy Quotes

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
~
"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
- Mother Teresa
~
"Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose
warm and our intelligence aglow."
- Helen Keller
~
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
- John Keats
~
"Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside."
- Dr. Melba Colgrove
~
"O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!"
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
~
"It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory,
and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys."
- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
~
"Joy is the best makeup."
- Anne Lamott
~
"Joy comes from using your potential."
- Will Schultz
~
"Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands
and take it when it runs by."
- Carl Sandburg
~
"Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods."
- A Japanese Proverb
~
And Joy is Everywhere;
It is in the Earth's green covering of grass;
In the blue serenity of the Sky;
In the reckless exuberance of Spring;
In the severe abstinence of gray Winter;
In the Living flesh that animates our bodily frame;
In the perfect poise of the Human figure, noble and upright;
In Living;
In the exercise of all our powers;
In the acquisition of Knowledge;
in fighting evils...
Joy is there Everywhere.
- "Joy" by Rabindranath Tagore

Quotes on Passion and Enthusiasm...

Quotes on Passion and Enthusiasm

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your
spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
- Romans 12:11
~
"The most powerful weapon on earth
is the human soul on fire."
- Ferdinand Foch
~
"One person with passion is better than
forty people merely interested."
- E. M. Forster
~
"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines
of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might.
Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality.
Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your
object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
~
"Men live by intervals of reason under the
sovereignty of humor and passion."
- Thomas Browne
~
"When you set yourself on fire, people
love to come and see you burn."
- John Wesley
~
"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."
- Benjamin Franklin
~
"Nobody can be successful unless he loves his work."
- David Sarnoff
~
"Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you
discover your purpose, you will normally find it's
something you're tremendously passionate about."
- Steve Pavlina
~
"Passion is the genesis of genius."
- Anthony Robbins
~
"Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting...
and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir...
open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us...
passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice
do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments.
The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of
grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could
live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace...
but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank.
Without passion we'd be truly dead."
- Josh Whedon

Generosity Quotes

Generosity Quotes

"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers,
it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island
cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them."
- Francis Bacon

"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our
own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained
worlds occupied by the needs of others."
- Barbara Bush

"The fragrance always stays in the
hand that gives the rose."
- Hada Bejar

"The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able
to give a large part of one's self to others."
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

"We make a living by what we get,
but we make a life by what we give."
- Winston Churchill

"There is no beautifier of complexion,
or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and
not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal,
or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good
meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion.
We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture,
which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do,
but it is giving me that which you need more than I do."
- Kahlil Gibran

"Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege."
- John D. Rockefeller Jr.

"There is a wonderful mythical law of
nature that the three things we crave most in life -
happiness, freedom, and peace of mind - are always
attained by giving them to someone else."
- Peyton Conway March

"The joy that isn't shared dies young."
- Anne Sexton

Fun and Funny Quotes

Fun and Funny Quotes

"From there to here, and here to there,
funny things are everywhere."
- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

"I wish I was a glow worm,
A glow worm's never glum.
'Cus how can you be grumpy,
When the sun shines out your bum!"
- Author Unknown

"Nobody can be uncheered
with a balloon."
- Winnie the Pooh

"Sometimes sanity takes
vacation time on me"
- Savage Garden

"Take time every day to do
something ridiculous."
- Philipa Walker

"When life gets muddy, LAUGH,
because what's more fun than
playing in the mud?!?"
- Author Unknown

"When you're curious, you find lots
of interesting things to do."
- Walt Disney

"You can't deny laughter; when it
comes, it plops down in your favorite
chair and stays as long as it wants."
- Stephen King

"Today was good, today was fun,
tomorrow is another one."
- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

Lasting Joy...

I do not know the author of this or I would give credit. I love the message.
Enjoy...

Lasting Joy!

The best moments you have ever known are still with you.
All the happiness and joy you have ever experienced is a part of you.
Indeed, it lives in you. Circumstances most certainly change,
from moment to moment, but the good things which you've known
never go away. Deep down inside, you are still the same person you
were on the happiest day you've ever experienced.
And deep down inside is where things truly matter.

Joy is cumulative and persistent. Think of a happy
time and you are happy. The world will often
attempt to drag you down and when it does,
summon the power of your happiness. Think of the
best moments you have ever known. They are
still with you. And there are many more to come.

Joy is more than the pleasure of the moment.
It is an affirmation that life is very much worth living.
It may sometimes get covered up, but it never has
to go away. Keep it with you and add to it all that
you can.

a poem - Joy In The Rain

Joy In The Rain

The birds in flight, God in the sunset,
and I in angels arms,
understand why it was to be.
What seemed cruel turned out
to be my saving grace.
With each hurt, pain, and blunder,
I turned to the rain,
and to the joy which was in the rain,
until the rain turned into the sun,
and I found the reasons why,
it all occurred.
Now I am enthralled.

-VF

To Give!..

I am not sure who the author of this is or I would give credit. I received it in my email box from a special friend. I really liked its message so I am posting it here. I hope it has a special meaning to you as well...

To give!

To give joy and love and abundance to others
you must first have these yourself.
Furthering yourself is not selfish,
it is a necessary step in your ability to help others.
Be good to yourself.
Find true joy and happiness in your own life,
and you'll be a source of happiness for many others.
The more fulfilled you are, the more you have to give.

Give of yourself, by being the best you can be.
Fulfill your potential.
Live every moment to the fullest.
Make the world a better place by making
the most of your life.

The greatest thing you have to give is yourself.

- author unknown

On joy...

A friend sent this to me in an email. I do not know who the author is. I wish I did. I loved it and wanted to share it. Thanks, my friend, for bringing joy daily to my life!!! Enjoy!...

Allow joy!

Joy is your true nature. That's why it feels so
right. Simple yet profound, joy asks only to be.
Joy fills your life to the extent that you allow it.

Let go of the frustration, the anger, envy and
worry. And joy comes quickly to fill the void.

The smallest things can inspire joy. And the
biggest moments in life benefit when they are
lived in joy.

Joy costs nothing and yet it gives so much. Joy
is completely unreasonable and that is
its most powerfully compelling reason.

Joy is always here and now. Allow joy to fill
your heart, and its great value will fill your
world.
- author unknown

Humorous Quotes by Famous People...

Humorous Quotes by Famous People

"Some cause happiness wherever they go;
others, whenever they go."
- Oscar Wilde

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening.
But this wasn't it."
- Groucho Marx

"His mother should have thrown
him away and kept the stork."
- Mae West

"Why do you sit there looking like an
envelope without any address on it?"
- Mark Twain

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
- Forrest Tucker

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
she said:
"If you were my husband
I'd give you poison."
he said:
"If you were my wife,
I'd drink it."

Thanks to Susan from Notable Quotables for the use of these quotes! Thanks, Susan!!

Quotes on Faith...

Quotes on Faith

"Every tomorrow has two handles.
We can take hold of it by the handle of
anxiety, or by the handle of faith."
- author unknown

"Be like the bird that, passing on her flight
awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her,
and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings."
- Victor Hugo

"Faith makes things possible, not easy."
- author unknown

"As your faith is strengthened you will find
that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control,
that things will flow as they will, and that you will
flow with them, to your great delight and benefit."
- Emmanuel

"Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death."
- author unknown