Google+
Holiday Crafts & Recipes! Embroidery Tutorials Recipes for Desserts & Sweet Treats Dinners & Sides Tea and Coffeetime recipes! Like Joyous Notions on Facebook! Connect with Us! Contact Us! Home Join Our Blog Hops!
Shop Joyous Home!
The Homemakers's Resource Guide on Joyous Notions

Monday, December 2, 2013

The Five Days of Christmas | Day Two | Melanie Young, Preserving an Ancient Christian Tradition

Welcome to The Five Days of Christmas! | Day Two

This week will consist of several things: fun, simple projects, recipes and wonderful giveaways! And... an opportunity to share your Christmas blog posts with us! 

Today through Friday we are going to have a Christmas Blog Hop going, and we would love for you to share your blog! Make sure to follow the guidelines for the hop. Make sure to thank the link participants when you visit their blog! And always read to the very bottom - you never know what you might find!


This part is really going to be fun... 

Old Time Radio Theater!

Every day we will include:
A story a day, all from 1939-1947! 30 minutes to an hour long and perfect for the little ones to have a break from modern media.

MP3 format. Right-click the link - choose SAVE LINK AS and download to your computer. Enjoy as you would any other MP3! 

Today's audio story:

Pinocchio - 1 hour long

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday's Giveaway winner was Victoria R.!

Today's Giveaway...


Melanie Young is our guest blogger today, and she has generously given us some wonderful prizes for today's giveaway!

Today, you have a chance to win...

A signed copy of Hal & Melanie Young's new book, 

a FREE registration to our LIVE 
Marriage Retreat Online - the only marriage retreat you don't need a sitter for!



AND a free download of our new audiobook, Pollyanna, which is a fantastic listen aloud for the whole family. This hilarious book teaches the power of gratefulness, forgiveness and love in a delightfully entertaining way. 


That's a total of a $68 value!



We are also adding a magazine subscription to today's giveaway, which makes today's giveaway value $82.95!

One 2013 subscription to Seasons at Home Magazine



Enter below in the Punchtab box to win today's giveaway! Go through the Punchtab steps at the bottom of the post, and the more steps you complete, the more entries you get!

Please share this event with your friends!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Preserving an Ancient Christian Tradition

Is there any time other than Christmas when it is socially acceptable to knock on a stranger’s door and bellow the gospel at him? In fact, he’s likely to ask you to wait until he can bring Grandma out and beg you to sing another. Seriously, caroling is such a wonderful tradition that it would be a shame if we let it die out.

Every year we host a caroling party at our house. We invite our friends and church family to join us after supper. We meet in the front yard so we don’t have to remove our wraps and put them back on. We try to have hymnals or song sheets printed out, because it’s the middle verses that people forget that are the richest in truth. Take a look at these verses from We Three Kings:

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

Wow. That’s worth sharing with your neighbors, isn’t it? We just walk around our neighborhood and knock whenever we see lights. When the door is opened (or we can sense people peeking out!) we start singing. We usually just sing one or two carols at each house, since we sing several verses, finish up with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” shout “Merry Christmas!” and leave.

What a blessing to be able to share the words of life so easily! When our voices give out, we return to our house for refreshments. We ask people to bring a finger food on their prettiest plate and we put out all the Christmas baking we’ve been doing, too. We decorate the table, indeed the whole house, with branches of evergreen, fruit and ribbon. It looks gorgeous and feels just right.

We finish off the evening with good food and sweet fellowship. One of our favorite recipes was given to us by Hal’s mother. Ham Delights are a wonderful addition to any holiday table – and great for picnics and tailgating, too.

We’d love to hear that you had a caroling party this year, too. Let’s pass this tradition on to the next generation, so that every year the streets will ring with praise for the birth of our Savior and King!

Merry Christmas!
Hal and Melanie Young

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Hal & Melanie Young are the parents of six boys and two girls and the authors of Raising Real Men, 2011 Christian Small Publishers Book of the Year and My Beloved and My Friend: How to be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses.

For more information on celebrating in a way that glorifies God (and other great recipes!), download our book, Christ-Centered Christmas.

For great gifts that you can feel good about giving, check out our Christmas Shop!


Now, a recipe for you from Melanie... 


Ham Delights
Norma Young
Never met anyone who didn’t love these delightful treats!


You Will Need:
2 trays Pepperidge Farms Party Rolls (or any tiny rolls - the kind that come in a foil tray in a sheet and each roll is about 1 by 2 inches)
1/2 - 1 pound boiled ham, shredded (dice with knife, or blend for second in processor)
1/3 pound Swiss cheese, sliced or grated

Spread:
1/2 pound butter
3 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 Tablespoons mustard
1 small to medium onion, chopped


Blend together spread. Split rolls in one piece horizontally, so that you have a sheet of roll tops and a sheet of roll bottoms. Spread on both sides.


Place bottom in tray, add meat, then cheese, then the tops of the rolls. Wrap in foil. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until hot through. Slice rolls apart. They freeze well and reheat well. Can be served hot or cold, on silver dish at a reception or in the foil tray while on a picnic or tailgating. Wonderful for traveling or as hors d’oeuvres.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Melanie for sharing with us today!!

Now for the giveaway and blog hop!

Follow the steps in the Punchtab box below. You need to be a newsletter subscriber in order to qualify to win. The winner will be notified by email.




2 comments:

Gin said...

We love singing carols, too! It is a lovely tradition that we hope to carry on this year. The giveaway is fantastic, and we are listening to the old time radio story now. Thank you!

Lilyofthevalley - Tanya said...

Hello!

It's been a while since I commented here! I hope to be back a little more often and blessings to you!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...