The Twelve Days of Christmas

Sound a little bit familiar? 

It's a family tradition to sing this song as a big group on Christmas Eve.  Everyone, young and old, joins in.  Each one has perfected their gift and delivers it with a festive zest that will be hard to ever forget.

We usually sing about the nine ladies dancing as we twirl around the room...

Uncle Dwight and Grandpa Stan always sing VERY LOUDLY about the five golden rings

and cousin Lance leaps in the air and with a deep English accent belts out "ten lords a-leaping".

A dear old family friend, George, has taken us over the top when he delivers "seven swans a-swimming" in opera-like fashion with one arm raised over his head, his nose in the air, spinning slowly around while his feet are a-shuffling.

And the whole group chimes in when we finish up strong with "a partridge in a pear tree".

While this is lots of fun to sing, and we love to read the book, we wanted to share with you what we discovered about the deeper meaning of the words we read and sing.

While there are various explanations of  meanings of the twelve days of Christmas, some believe it was used to teach about Christian principles even dating back to the 16th century.  The "true love" (the giver of the gifts) is God himself.

We discovered that it is actually not about the 12 days before Christmas as most people think; rather, it is about the 12 days after Christmas, or a period of time known by the Church as the Epiphany.

Epiphany means "manifestation or appearance." Appropriately naming the event of Jesus' birth.  He appeared on earth as a little baby in the manger in Bethlehem with his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.  They called his name Emmanuel (God with us); sent from God the Father to make a way for all of us, sinners, to be united with God for eternity.  The Old Testament prophecy was manifested in the flesh in the form of the little baby Jesus.

Partridge in a Pear Tree = Jesus (Luke 13:34)

Two Turtle Doves = Old and New Testament

Three French Hens = Faith, Hope and Love (I Corinthians 13:13)

Four Calling Birds = Four Gospels
Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Five Golden Rings = First 5 Books of the Old Testament
 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy

Six Geese A-laying = Six days of creation
(Genesis 1)

Seven Swans A-swimming = Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

 1) prophecy 2) ministry 3) teaching

4) exhortation 5) giving 6) leading 7) compassion

(Romans 12:6-8 & I Corinthians 12:8-11)

Eight Maids A-milking = Eight Beatitudes

1) Blessed are the poor in spirit

2) those who mourn

3) the meek

4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

 5) the merciful

6) the pure in heart

7) the peacemakers

8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake

(Matthew 5:3-10)

Nine Ladies Dancing = The Nine fruit of the Holy Spirit

1) love

2) joy

3) peace

4) patience

5) gentleness

6) goodness

7) faith

8) meekness

9) self-control

(Galatians 5:22)

Ten Lords A-Leaping = The Ten Commandments

1) You shall have no other Gods before me

2) Do not make or worship an idol

3) Do not take God's name in vain

4) Remember the Sabbath Day

5) Honor your Mother and Father

6) Do not murder

7) Do not commit adultery

8) Do not steal

9) Do not bear false witness

10) Do not covet

(Exodus 20:1-17)

Eleven Pipers Piping = The eleven faithful Disciples

1) Simon Peter 2) Andrew his brother 3) James 4) John 5) Philip 6) Bartholomew

7) Matthew 8) Thomas 9) James the son of Alphaeus

10) Simon the Zealot 11) Judas the brother of James 

They did not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot because he betrayed Christ

(Luke 6:14-16)

Twelve Drummers Drumming = The Apostles Creed (according to liturgical doctrine)

1) I believe in God the Father, the Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth

2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord

3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary

4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
 He descended into the grave.

5) He rose again on the third day and was ascended into heaven
 where he is seated at the right hand of the Father

6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead

7) I believe in the Holy Spirit

8) the holy Church

9) the communion of the Saints

10) the forgiveness of sins

11) the resurrection of the body

12) life everlasting

Pictures of the 12 days of gifts were captured in the pages of the book "12 Days of Christmas" A Pop-Up Celebration by Robert Sabuda.

Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th.

...how often would I have gathered thy children together,
as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.....
Luke 13:34

What Kind of House Will You Build?

"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,

what kind of house will you build for me?" says the Lord......

Acts 7:49

We were inspired by our Grandma's Moms In Touch group of friends to make gingerbread houses for Christmas.   Grandma learned from trial and error that it is easiest to buy a kit that is already preassembled.  So Mom bought Wilton Gingerbread House Kits.  One for each of us.

Our friend, Mrs. Carol, gave us lots of leftover candies and other decorating materials to add to the kits.  Thank you Mrs. Carol!



We started with the frosting and Mommy's loving help....

And we each began to build our house according to our heart.

Olivia's house welcomes you with the greetings of the season and a frosty snowman too.

There's even a warm wood fire out front

 and a reindeer waiting out back.  Can you guess who?

Bailey's house was made with lots of love

 and candy canes galore!

There's even a chimney on the roof (in hopes of something more?)

Donna designed a pretty rooftop and covered it with coconut snow.

A  heart-shaped window overlooks the dormant garden where spring blossoms will one day grow.

And berries adorn the bushes hinting that Christmastime is near.

Grandma made a forest out of ice cream cones

that includes a walking trail.

So we can be reminded when we walk down memory lane, to build our house the Lord's way, lest we build in vain.

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it....

Psalms 127:1

Mug Shots!

$1.00 can buy hours of fun! 

We recently checked out the dollar bin at Michaels and found some Christmas fun! 

A box of colored pencils, a little time and we made our own Christmas mugs.

And we can change them with the changing seasons...

Or personalize them with our names

Or a drawing of or own.

They would make great gifts for someone special

Like a Grandma or Grandpa

Mom or Dad

Brother or Sister

Neighbor or Friend

Check out the dollar bin at Michaels and send us your mug shots!  Can't wait to see your creations!

This is the day the Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalms 118:24

Hey You Woodchucks! Start Stacking My Wood!

Over Thanksgiving break, we went with Grandma and Grandpa to the country.  Grandpa had chores to do, like cutting up a felled tree for firewood.   He used a chainsaw to cut the tree into smaller logs that he could carry out of the woods.

He filled up the pickup truck bed with all the logs and drove back down to the cabin.  He used a splitting maul/axe and split the logs into smaller pieces.

We would stand back and watch as he split the logs.

 After each log was split, he would take a break....

while we stacked the wood.

We had to stack it just right...

 so it would not fall over.

Looks like we will be enjoying lots of fires in the fireplace this winter to keep us warm!

Two are better than one: because they have a good reward for their labour.

Ecclesiastes 4:9