Christmas Day Highlights

This year Baby Jesus was found in the Clue game. After ten clues, some of which were a little harder than previous years. Christmas morning starts the same every year at the Sloan house. Dad gets up to make the omelettes that he very meticulously prepared for on Christmas Eve. As we finish breakfast we open the last Jesus Tree gift and after reading the verses, we hang the "presents" on the tree.

"Envelope! It is an envelope! Where does Mom
keep the envelopes?"

By then, every kid of course has peeked under the tree at the nativity to see if Jesus is there. He isn't on Christmas morning and from the first clue, they are lead all over the house answering riddles, looking up Bible verses or just trying to figure out where Mom may be sending them.

This year, the big kids sat around on their rear ends and sent their little brothers around the house. David is always saying I am too easy so he helped and together I think we got a good mix of easy/hard. This year Jesus was in the game of Clue. As I was writing the last clue to send them to Baby Jesus in the game, David said "Roman soldiers / At the Cross / with the nails" in "Clue" fashion. It really was all for us that He came, He walked this earth and he died. We have so much to be thankful for.

I have a few Christmas Day memories of 2017 that I would just LOVE to share!

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Us old people in our jammies too!

Zach's turn

Tool guy!

Only a sister knows how much you love
Nutella!

Merry Christmas...how about a head lock?

A thankful girl...for every book in the box...and such an interesting combination of
books in Dawn's box this year!

Matchy matchy!

Three boys...more head locks! 

"As Seen On TV" comes through with an awesome gift
that Matthew really loves! Who knew!

It is another year to put in the memory book as we paused today to enjoy each other and the traditions that we love as a family. God has blessed this couple when 20 years ago we celebrated our first Christmas together. We had not celebrated Christmas as children and have funny memories of that first year when we bought white corded lights for our Christmas tree! Every year after that we remembered that the lights with white cords go outside or inside to decorate and we want to get the lights with a green cord to string on the tree.

SO much has been celebrated and experienced in those 20 years. A lot of worshiping of the God of the universe who came to this earth to be with us. I was listening to a sermon by Warren Wiersbe the other day as I was getting ready for Christmas. He was preaching from Romans 8. He had five points from the text. 

• v.31 God is for us
• v. 32 Jesus Christ died for us
• v. 33 God has justified us
• v.34 Jesus makes intercession for us
• v. 35-39 God loves us and nothing can separate us from His love

I have learned a lot over these years about these very things. How God does this and what that all means for us. I have come from a place that Warren Wiersbe explained this way "If you are 'keeping' yourself saved, you might not be saved at all." I believed for awhile in my life that I had to keep myself saved. It is done, it is the finished work that Jesus came to this earth to accomplish.

He ended by saying "Do you have the witness of the Spirit of God in your heart?" I have tasted and seen the truth of this baby arriving in Bethlehem and what His footsteps on this earth mean to every single person who believes that all of the things the prophets foretold has come true in Him. It is finished because He came.

It is a story for the ages. John MacArthur, in one of his sermons leading up to Christmas this year was reading the story of Jesus' birth "'There has been born for you a Savior' and isn't that what we still should be telling people?"

Merry Christmas!