A Shutterfly Merry Christmas

Hi Friends,

Have you ever used Shutterfly for picture printing? Well, this summer when we had the fabulous Amber Dawkins photograph our family we decided to purchase the rights to all of the pictures so that we could print as many as we wanted. When she handed us the CD of images, she recommended Shutterfly for their quality and affordability. I've uploaded all of our images and still need to decide on some enlargements for our walls.

Fast forward a few months to last weekend. My friend Valerie told me about the fabulous holiday collection of cards that Shutterfly has created for 2010. When I went browsing, I found so many different enticing options for our little family's Christmas card. I've picked my favorite image from our summer photo shoot and now I just need to pick out a fabulous backdrop for it from Shutterfly's amazing selection! I really like bright and cheery colors to go along with our bright and cheery little family.

How about this photo card with the bold black and colorful type? Wouldn't our family of three look SO cute above those fun filled words???

Here is another colorful beauty. This one has rainbow snowflakes!!! Now how could you go wrong with those?

But what if I can't make up my mind about which picture to actually use for sending holiday cheer to all of my loved ones? Well, here is a colorful option with space to show off up to seven photos of my choice. Take a peek at this photo card!

Now if you know me well, you know that all of those decisions aren't necessarily a good thing. It could take me days to figure out the finalized card!?!?! But, I think I've got it narrowed down to those three for this year! And the beautiful thing about all of this? Shutterfly is offering bloggers 50 FREE Photo Cards of their choice! Wow! How wonderful is that?!? Merry Christmas to me from Shutterfly!

Max Lucado Daily Reading 3

"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home to be his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." - Matthew 1:24-25

The big question asked by Max today is , "Why Joseph?" He questions the choice of this man as opposed to some lofty priest or scholar. What intrigued me is that the reason for God's choice of this man was probably because of the way he sacrificed his own reputation in order to be Mary's husband and the dad to Jesus.
Here on earth, we always seem to want the approval of others. Joseph knew that according to others, he should shun her publicly and then get out of the situation entirely.
It amazes me how similar this is to the story of Jesus talking with the woman caught in adultery. Men led her out to be stoned, telling Jesus of her sin and what should b e done. Instead of shunning her publicly like the other men did, he turned the situation around on them - "The one without sin should cast the first stone." Obviously the stones dropped and everyone went away. I wonder if when this happened later in his life, Jesus had any idea that his earthly father, Joseph had made a similar decision. His dad made a decision to let go his "unblemished reputation" because he believed. He put God's plan ahead of his own.
Today, I am praying that God will help me to put his plan ahead of my own and that you can do the same.

Max Lucado Daily Reading 2

Mary Cradles God
"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no roomfor them in the inn." - Luke 2:7

Today, Max talked about the surroundings of the stable where Christ was born: cobwebs, minimal hay, hard earth, and parents weary of a long trip on foot. Then he speaks of mary contemplating what has just taken place. She remembers what the angels had said, "His kingdom will have no end," and she knows that in her arms is God in baby form.

The funniest part to me was Max's comment that, "He looks like anything but a king. his face is prunish and red. he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being." I am amazed when I think about how God limited himself in the form of a baby, putting his powerful self in the arms of a woman who would change his diapers and nourish him. I wonder what Mary thought as she held him for the first time?

Max Lucado Daily Reading 1

On Monday, a friend loaned me a book to read called 3:16 by Max Lucado. The amazing thing is that she read the ENTIRE thing over the course of Saturday morning. It was actually given to her the night before by another friend, who thought she would really like it. Well, she did. It answered a lot of questions that she was having. And so, on Sunday when I talked to her, we decided to use the 40-day devotional section at the back for discussion.
I think it would be a great way for discussion out there in the blogging world as well, so I am going to post here the scripture for the day and give a bit of summary as well as reflection about max's thoughts. I hope you'll consider reading the scriptures and commenting and questioning along with us!

"Suddenly a great company of 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.'" -Luke 2:13-14

I love this part of Luke's story when the angels announce the arrival of Jesus to the shepards. One of my favorite Christmas movie moments is when Linus tells Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. He recites this passage in Luke under the stage lights to a bunch of ordinary animated characters like Lucy, Pigpen, and old Charlie Brown. I think it is amazing how God announced the most important earthly arrival to normal, everyday beings. Even stinky, smelly shepards. They carried everything that they owned with them. He knew that they would be able to believe without needing to consult books or needing to clean themselves up first. They went straightaway to meet their Savior. What faith!