Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Welcome to the Jesus is the Reason Blog Hop!!!
We are delighted to have you with us as we celebrate the Good News of our Savior's birth! We are a small band of blogging crafters who love God, and in the midst of all the seasonal festivies, we wanted to take some time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ.


image by Fresh Brewed Designs

Christmas trees, bows, SANTA, snow, reindeer, cocoa, shopping, woes, laughter, family, memories that grow, children, elves, parties, candles all a glow.
I know we can all name the reindeer that pull Santa's sleigh, know what treats make his day. We can look for elves to sneak on our shelves and watch us as we play. Naughty or nice? Elephants for Christmas. Mistletoe hanging for you to sneak a kiss from your sweetheart. The smells of moms special pie baking in the oven. Cinnamon and pine trees. Ornaments hanging on the tree that capture and reflect the light and twinkle enough to make you escape away into the fantasy of all the wonderful things Christmas brings.

All of these things are a part of my Christmas. We love to laugh, share, spend time together, buy presents for one another.. and every year it seems the world gets busier and busier and busier and Christmas becomes less and less important. We do not take the time to spend with our family, we do not take the time to think of those less fortunate than we are. We do not take the time to sit on the couch and read books and share stories with our children. Why? Oh it is a very simple answer. We have taken our focus away from the REASON. The reason of Christmas is Jesus Christ. ALL of the things I listed are wonderful things. I am not trying to take the FUN out of Christmas. These things I listed are things MY FAMILY does. But the key, the key to it all, is that we focus FIRST on this: One day a mother, Mary, gave birth to a very special baby boy. That boy, God's son, Jesus, was given to us as the most perfect gift. I know as Mary held her little baby boy, she did not think of all he would have to do, endure, or face. She just loved him. And continued to love him and know that God had a plan for him. A mighty and great plan that is above all I can imagine. He loves us so much.

image by Fresh Brewed Designs(card in dark with a tea light candle behind it)

I want to add a special thank you to a few ladies. First to the lovely Catherine for setting this up and letting me be involved. She is such an inspiration and a wonderful friend.

Next I want to thank a few of our wonderful sponsors for their generosity.

Simply Betty Stamps
The Stamping Boutique

I am also honored to be able to sponsor this hop with my shop:
Fresh Brewed Designs

There will be a few secret hop stops (and we are not telling who they are) that will be hosting these lovely prizes being offered.

Also, Catherine is hosting a challenge on her blog. The challenge is for those of you who want to join in on spreading the love of Christ through the blog world with us. All you have to do is create a Jesus is the Reason themed card, post it to your blog and link it to Catherine's page during the duration of the blog hop. Those that participate will have the chance to win a little bit of blog candy!!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will be blessed during this hop and will feel the love of Christ through every post you hop to. Let us not forget this season that Jesus is the reason for it all!

Here is the hop order in case you need it along the way. Your next stop is
KADIE

Heather http://joemamainks.blogspot.com/ (me)

Kadie http://mymindseyecreations.blogspot.com/

Karen http://krbskorner.blogspot.com/

Kelly http://sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/

Lori http://mycomfortcottage.blogspot.com/

Lorie http://thethinkinspot.blogspot.com/

Maria http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/

Paola http://paola-sama.blogspot.com/

Sammi http://stuffbysammi.blogspot.com/

Stacy http://impressionsofaribbonaddict.blogspot.com/

Susan http://pinkflannelpajamas.blogspot.com/

Catherine http://paperaddictcatherine.blogspot.com