Tag: Holidays
Want Chocolate!
I heard from a local radio station that today was National Chocolate Day? First of all I’m really disappointed as a chocoholic that I didn’t get the memo sooner about such day even existed. I had been using Valentine’s Day, Easter, my birthday, Sunday and any other day to make it Chocolate day.
Now, I don’t know if the people from the radio station have accurate information or my Google search does, but from what I found there are three National Chocolate days, which makes my outrage grow that I didn’t know such things…LOL! According to my sources there’s a Chocolate Day celebrated on July 7th. I wonder if that’s why my mother chose that day as her wedding date.
Then there’s the US National Chocolate Day, which is celebrated October 28th. I can see that given that the colors of the fall are brown, beige and terracotta tones. Also the weather starts to cool off so hot chocolate is in order. Chocolate fits right in.
Finally is the World Chocolate Day, which is celebrated on September 4th. Pretty close to Labor Day, nothing better than some chocolate after a hard day of work.
So mark your calendar my friends! If the radio station was wrong, it doesn’t matter, we’re celebrating Chocolate Day today too, for those of us who have discovered the passion for chocolate. If you were to ask my opinion on chocolate, if I have not made it obvious yet, let me just say… Any kind of nut covered with chocolate or anything that has raspberry and chocolate as an ingredient was personally made by the hand of God. : P
Now remember not to over indulge.
Enjoy!
My Christmas gift to you
As promised I hereby give you a short story/meditation about how we’re celebrating Christmas, forgetting the real meaning of the season. Hopefully it will be enjoyable reading and a tool of meditation. It’s an easy, quick read! Feedback is always welcome.
Merry Christmas to all!!
Naty
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Eggs and Bunnies by the Cross
As a Christian I want to celebrate things that are related to Christ and I’ve been on the search for the truth regarding our most common holidays. Easter is around the corner and all I’ve seen is colored eggs and rabbits. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but my sixth grade teacher taught me in biology that rabbits had bunnies and hens laid eggs, so that combination alone makes no sense to me.
On the other hand, from my years in church and annual “Good Friday” movies, I never saw rabbits, bunnies, hens or eggs related to the cross of Jesus Christ. Where did this come from? I’ve asked around and nobody seems to have an answer. After much searching, my good friend Google finally led me to my answer, several articles and web pages about the traditions of Easter.
In reality we are supposed to be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the thing that distinguishes Christians from other religions and sects, it’s the fact that our Lord is alive, and not only alive, but conquered death on our behalf. Somehow in the early days of Christianity, the celebration of the Resurrection coincided with a Pagan holiday dedicated to the goddess of offspring and springtime named Eastre. The story says that earlier Christians wanted to celebrate their festivities, but it would have been dangerous and Christianity was sometimes seem as criminal, therefore they decided to modify their celebration for their own safety and to attract non believers.
Why eggs and bunnies?
Both have been perceived as symbols of new life and fertility. This is also associated with the 
blooming of flowers in the spring time. There was an abundance of eggs during this time as eggs were not part of their diets during the Lenten season. The eggs were boiled for preservation purposes.
Colored Eggs
This tradition was created as another way to celebrate. Early Christians would exchange colored eggs, kind of like Christmas and the gifts exchange. Eggs were boiled in flowers to obtain their color, that’s why when people paint eggs in modern society, they tend to use pastels.
Now, here’s the thing; at least in the United States of America it is no longer particularly dangerous to practice our Christian beliefs and to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, so I’m thinking, ‘Let’s drop the bunnies and eggs.”. I know that all big business will take offense to this particular mindset because of what holidays mean to the economy, but it’s the truth. Some people may think, “But it’s for the children”. How about if we teach the children that we have a bigger gift than the chocolate eggs and the Eater baskets? We have eternal life!
We want the future generations to live in the truth and the light. I think its time to live in that truth by knowing what our traditions really mean. Now trust me, I’m not against chocolate. I give you permission to eat all the peeps and chocolate eggs you want, but let’s make sure we are clear in our hearts about what our true celebration is this coming Sunday; the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Resources utilized
http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm
Traditions
Traditions are those beliefs and/or customs that have been passed down from generation to 
generation. One of the best examples is our celebration of Christmas. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th, as the day that Jesus was born, but historically it has been agreed that he was born closer to the month of April. You can hear people say that you can’t celebrate Christmas without a tree or decorations; the truth is those are merely distractions, there were no trees or decorations at the manger when Jesus was born.
Traditions have colored the way we do things and have distracted us from the real meaning. In terms of holidays, I boycotted traditional Christmas last year and don’t get me started on Easter. All my readers have five minutes to explain to me the relationship between eggs, bunnies and the resurrection… Go ahead, I can wait!
There are people who have chosen careers because it’s a tradition in their family for everyone to be a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, or a policeman. Some people go to a certain college because that’s where their family members went, not because it has the best program for their interests.
God made us unique. He took his time to form each and every one of us, and every one of us has 
a different purpose in the body of Christ. Following traditions, in my humble opinion, are not either good or bad, unless of course the tradition harms the person or others; but it’s not necessary in the implementation of God’s plan for us. We need to ask ourselves what opportunities we have wasted because that’s not what we usually do, the way we usually do it, or the way the people around us did it?
How about when our blessing comes in a different package than what we are used to or expecting, and because we’re not familiar with it we pass it right by? Can you believe that the greatest lesson of marital love I learned from a homeless man? I was part of a ministry that was feeding the homeless. This man came to our line and grabbed his portion of food; something in him caught my attention. All the others sat in front of where we were and ate, he ran with his food to hide. Another person from the ministry and I followed him at a distance, his wife was under some boxes sleeping, probably after heavy drug use. She was very weak, he told her that he had brought her something and lifts her head up with his arms and started feeding her his food. We told them that we had enough for him to eat too. He thanked us but told us that he had come to the line just to make sure that she would get something to eat. When I think about how a husband should love his wife, I think of them. It was not wrapped up in the prettiest package, but it blessed me. How many lessons or blessings have we missed because of our pre-conceived notions and traditions?
Inventory
This is the time of the year where we usually see where we are, what we have done and where we are headed. Things like losing weight, getting rid of a bad habit, reorganizing finances are at the tip of everyone’s tongue.
I think those are good as long as you have a feasible, realistic plan to get them done. It’s also important to make sure that you have all the resources that you need to make them happen, including support and accountability. Yes, accountability, big, huge word. Do you trust yourself to do it on your own? I don’t. I promise myself I am going to do things all the time and they rarely get done. We all do better when someone is watching, that’s why accountability is so important.
In addition to that, are your goals in accordance with your purpose? We all have a purpose that has been set up by the Creator. Are your current goals in alignment with that or are they all about you?
This is the week when we usually take inventory of our lives. That is usually a good thing anyway. Make a difference this year. Make this year different than all the others. Here are some suggestions:
- Make sure that you include forgiveness in the list. No better way to lose some weight than to let those heavy burdens go.
- Include yourself in the forgiveness list. Sometimes, we have already apologized and even prayed for forgiveness, but we’re still carrying the guilt and the shame. It’s time to let it go!
- Include others in your plans. Like I said before accountability, guidance and support are going to help you achieve your goals.
- Try to include something service related. It will keep you balanced.
- Make sure that your goals are balanced in time and effort.
- Have a blessed 2010!!!
Naty
*the image was found online if anyone needs credit for it, please page me*
The Reason for the Season
This year my husband and I decided to celebrate Christmas a little bit different. We decided to not bring out any decorations, to not buy a tree or any presents. Yes, the reality is that finances had something to do with that decision, but honestly there was more behind that train of thought. As I grow in my walk with Christ, I have become disappointed with the world view of Christmas, so I guess this was my way to rebel against it. Money or not I could still have 
decorated; I have in my house enough decorations to light up the neighborhood. It was just not in my heart to do it this year, and since I don’t have children that would miss it, my four-legged child might actually appreciate not being poked by the tree’s needles in her attempt to steal the water from the bottom, and my husband was in agreement so I was able to get away with it.
The other day at the grocery store, the cashier asked me if it was ok for her to wish me a Merry Christmas. Since I’m already on my soapbox about it, I told her that she absolutely could and proceeded to tell her that nothing more was appropriate to be wished during this time, why? , Because without Christ there is no Christmas. Happy Holidays doesn’t do it for me. Happy Holidays? What holiday is that? I could very well say Happy Holidays in the middle of July where we are celebrating Independence Day. Is not just a holiday, its Christmas and I understand that we live in a world where not everyone believes in Christ, but respect for believes comes both ways and I should not be restrained from my celebration. I’m not forcing others to share my beliefs, but if you ask me what I’m celebrating… I’m celebrating Christmas!
I also think that commercialization of Christmas has changed the meaning of it all. Yes, it’s nice to take the season to exchange expressions of affection through presents, but even if you look at 
the story behind Santa Claus, this is not what he had in mind. The legend behind Santa Claus or St. Nicholas is about a monk who gave all he had inherited to the poor and sick He gave from what he had to the poor and the needy. He really didn’t borrow money from credit cards to please his family and friends. He gave to children in need, not spoiled them with a list of what new gadgets some marketing company wanted to sell from us. In fact, he did what Jesus said was needed to entered into heaven in Matthew 19:21(NIV) “ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” This doesn’t mean that I will never buy gifts for Christmas ever again or that there is anything wrong with that. I think the motives and the mentality behind what we’re doing as a society leaves a lot to desire, especially for us believers of Christ.
It has also made me think about how we live, in the race for obtaining better and more. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords had absolutely nothing when he came to this earth and left in his glory without any material possessions. As a follower of Christ, it makes me think that if this is who I’m trying to look up to, there’s something wrong in my picture. I’m not advocating for riding to work on a camel or a donkey. I’m also not saying that the television and the cell phones are the root of all evil. But when I look at my house, where there are more television sets than humans living in it, actually even if I count the dog, there are more TV’s than habitants, I ask myself, do you need a whatever thousands of dollar plasma television to be able to see the details on a rose just because is Christmas season? If you want to see the details on a rose, go to your local supermarket, I promise you the experience doesn’t get more real than that and it’s free unless you decide to buy the rose. Some sports fans may say that the experience of the game is incredible and makes them feel like they are in the stadium. It might be true. If you can afford the plasma without having to charge it or pay it in installments, more power to you. The reality is the results of the game will be the same…gasp… even if you’re not watching it! At least make sure that your forty something inches one year old TV goes to a family that doesn’t have one, or just has a fifteen inches television set where the whole family gathers to see the news.
What is wrong with your cell phone? I mean, if you’re clumsy like we are, I totally understand buying several phones during the year. I have dumped a cell phone in a cup of coffee and my husband has washed and dried several, if that’s the case and you can afford the new one, beautiful, enjoy! You just bought the one you’re carrying last month, and just because the company came with the same phone with another name and has one more feature you are ready to spend five hundred dollars on it. Have you ever walked through downtown? It doesn’t matter the city, it’s all the same. Do you know how many people could be fed with five hundred dollars? Don’t go that far. Do you know that your neighbor who lost his job during the economy could save his house or his car with five hundred dollars?
You may say, you don’t have children, you don’t understand. That may also be true, but I think this year my children would go without presents as well. As a parent I would like for them to understand the real purpose of Christmas. This is a spiritual celebration. It’s not just the end of the year; it’s the celebration of the entrance of Jesus. It was God’s entrance into the world in the form of a man to save you and me. Yes it is a joyous time, it’s definitely a time of celebration and of family celebration, but how can you waste when your brother is hurting, how can you celebrate God when you’re entering in debt and not being a good steward of the resources he trusted to you? One of my favorite scriptures during the Christmas season is the nativity scene in the book of Luke, because of the details in it. “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 room for them in the inn. 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. 1But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ 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, and on earth peace to men 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 2:4-19 NIV)
He was born in a manger, now for those who don’t even like camping; do you imagine giving
birth in the middle of animals and hay? I don’t know about you, but I’m grateful for being born in this day and age. I’m really fond of my bed and pillows. At the same time, it’s humbling to think that as we think only about our commodities and our self indulgences, my Lord, who came to give me eternal life is trying to teach me with his life the total opposite. If I was a parent, I wanted my children to understand the same. So there goes my boycott on Christmas this year, at least the worldly view of it. I will be spending the day with family and friends. I encourage you to do the same, but during your celebration take a minute to remember what the day is about. Remember that baby in the manger that came to give you freedom, hope, joy, strength, deliverance, provision and eternal life.
May God fill you with blessings.
Merry Christmas!
Naty Matos 