Love

Without love, there would be no Christmas. Every person in the Christmas story acted out of love:Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and especially our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Because of Their love for us, God's own Son "descended below all things". First as a baby in Bethlehem and throughout His mortal life, He was the embodiment of love. Christmas is a time for rekindling love, for expressing love, and certainly for feeling an abundance of love.

Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. John 4:7-8

The Little Blue Dishes

Once upon a time there was a poor woodcutter who lived with his wife and three children in a forest in Germany. There was a big boy called Hans and a little boy named Peter and a little sister named Gretchen, just five years old. When Christmas was getting near, the children went to the toy shop to look at all of the toys.

"Gretchen," said Peter, "what do you like best?" "Oh! That little box of blue dishes," said Gretchen. "That is the very best of all."

On Christmas Eve the children hung up their stockings, although their mother had said
that they were so poor they could not have much this Christmas. Hans ran out after supper to play with the big boys. Gretchen and Peter sat talking before the fire about the Christmas toys and especially about the box of blue dishes.

By and by Gretchen ran off to bed and was soon asleep. Peter ran to look in his bank. There was only one penny but he took it and ran quickly to the toy shop.

"What have you for a penny?" he said to the toy man."Only a small candy heart," said the man."But I want that set of blue dishes," said Peter."Oh, they cost ten cents," said the man. So Peter bought the candy heart and put it in Gretchen's stocking, and then he ran off to bed.
Pretty soon Hans came home. He was cold and hungry. When he saw Gretchen's stocking, he peeked in, then put his hand in and drew out the candy heart. "Oh," said Hans, "how good this smells," and before you could say a word he had eaten the candy heart."Oh, dear," he said, "that was for Gretchen for Christmas. I'll run and buy something else for her." So he ran to his bank and he had ten pennies. Quickly he ran to the toy store.

"What have you got for ten pennies?" he asked the storekeeper. "Well, "I'm almost sold out," said the toy man, "but here in this little box is a set of blue dishes." "I will take them," said Hans, and home he ran and dropped the dishes into Gretchen's stocking. Then he went to bed.

Early in the morning the children came running downstairs. "Oh!" said Gretchen. "Look at my stocking!" And when she saw the blue dishes, she was as happy as could be.

But Peter could never understand how his candy heart had changed into a box of blue dishes!