One of the most important gifts we give our children for Christmas is the gift of happy, meaningful memories...  

• Sharing our feelings about the real meaning of Christmas
  
• Savoring candle-lit dinners with loved ones
  
• Preparing Christmas cards together
  
• Enjoying the fragrance of pine boughs, spicy cider, or hot chocolate
  
• Singing our favorite carols
  
• Baking extra-special recipes for friends and neighbors... 
  

Almost any loving, meaningful tradition can be the source of sweet memories that will last a lifetime.

They say that "a mother's job is framing memories."  Now is the time for us to carefully consider the memories we want to frame this year.  Our list can be specific and purposeful, for our family as a whole, and for each member of our family.  

My husband and I want our children to remember our love for Jesus Christ, and for them to have quiet sacred time to reflect on their love for Him.  We want them to have happy memories of serving people who can't do anything in return.  We want them to experience the joy of making beautiful music together.  We want them to remember their favorite smells coming from the kitchen, and family gatherings in the glow of Christmas tree lights, and much, much more.

We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas filled with happy memories!  

Here are some beautiful Christmas songs for you to enjoy...

Do You Have Room?
One of the most important things we can do as moms is to put first things first, to make room in our lives for the things that matter most. This incredible song invites us to make room for the Savior.

I Heard the Bells
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this song on Christmas morning in 1863. Out of his loss, he wrote a message that has touched hearts for over a century.

Manger of Bethlehem
"The Manger of Bethlehem" combines a beautiful Christmas message of faith, hope, and joy with amazing music.  

My Favorite Time of Year
Here's some beautiful music to brighten your day.   Hope you can take a minute to kick back, savor some hot chocolate or egg nog, and enjoy this lovely song. 

Silent Night, Holy Night
Love this powerful and beautiful portrayal of the life of Jesus.  Hope you do too. 

Where Are You Christmas?
This is a stirring rendition by Jon Schmidt and his daughter, Sarah.

All I Want for Christmas Is You
A family tradition we've enjoyed over the years is to have "play along" Christmas songs.   Looks like Mariah and Jimmy have the same idea.

Have you ever intentionally given an extra special gift that you knew would last for years to come?  

Have you had the joy of using your best talents and energy to create or preserve a lasting legacy?


Arnold Friberg has.  His masterful painting, “The Prayer at Valley Forge” was created as a tribute to George Washington, and as a gift for us to better understand the incredible suffering the early patriots were willing to endure as they were famished and exhausted in the bitter cold of winter.  

In the movie below, Friberg explains how the light had almost gone out for the American army.  Everyone had failed them.  There was no where to turn.  Only by their steadfast reliance on God, that “all wise and powerful being on whom alone our success depends,” were they able to overcome the insurmountable challenges they faced.

Arnold Friberg tells the moving story of the winter at Valley Forge, and his own personal journey as he paid the price to create this wonderful masterpiece.  What a treat to hear him describe the symbolism and significance of key details of the painting.

This is a great movie to watch with your kids.  You might talk about:

• What gifts, talents, and opportunities has God given us?
  
• How can we use our gifts and opportunities to make a difference for America?
  
• What new talents could we develop for the benefit of America?
• The early patriots pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for the cause of liberty.  What sacrifices can we make to further the cause of liberty? 
  

Often we hear the stories of the Revolutionary War in July when we are celebrating Independence Day.  Valley Forge doesn’t sound too bad when you’re in the middle of a heat wave.  But the early patriots passed through the coldest of winters without adequate food, shelter, clothing, or shoes.  

You might want to spend a little time outdoors (maybe around a campfire) as you talk about what it must have been like at Valley Forge.  Be sure to express your feelings about the great gift of liberty and our responsibility to preserve it and pass it on.  Take some pictures, then come in for some nice hot chocolate or warm spiced cider as a fun finish to a memorable evening!  

"I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commanding the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those Who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping."   ~George Washington

...“Pay more for less” isn’t a winning slogan, but it’s the truth. The collusion of government and insurance companies to limit competition and consumer choice has impaired Americans’ freedom to be value-oriented shoppers and imperiled our property and privacy rights.

Americans want patient-centered and patient-owned health care and an array of competitive choices to assure price stability, service quality and access to all. But rather than consider targeted and less disruptive changes like insurance portability, tort reform, tax credits and high-risk pools, Obamacare proponents further straitjacketed the health care system with one-size-fits-all mandates, taxes and micromanagement by an inept bureaucracy.

Yet lawmakers won’t wear the straitjacket they designed for Americans. Sen. Harry Reid’s staff is exempted from Obamacare, and according to the Los Angeles Times, Congress and staffers enjoy “more generous benefits packages, VIP customer service from insurers and the same government-subsidized premiums they’ve always enjoyed.”

This is government over the people — not our founders’ vision of government of, by and for the people. They wanted America to be the exception to human history’s rule, where tyranny, bondage and stifled human potential defined life for the vast majority. While French revolutionaries were sticking dissenters’ heads on bayonets, America’s revolutionaries established self-government and enshrined popular consent and human equality — the idea that no one by nature can be the ruler of anyone else — in our founding documents.

To preserve individual freedom, they designed a government system that separated political powers and dispersed authority, pitting “ambition against ambition” to check political impulsiveness. To force consensual deliberations and thwart large mistakes like Obamacare, the Senate was to be the “necessary fence” against the “fickleness and passion” of the House, where transient majorities rule.

But lawmakers more interested in advancing partisan agendas than assuring government’s legitimacy and durability have chipped away at the system that enabled American society to become the freest, most productive and most decent in human history.

They’ve passed massive, lobbyist-written and unread laws on party-line votes; concentrated power in the executive branch and the unaccountable administrative state; and, most recently, activated the “nuclear option” in the Senate to eliminate the filibuster (a 60-vote threshold requiring consultation with the minority) on presidential nominees — a 2-century-old tradition.

Ironically, Americans aren’t so polarized. Though politicians exploit wedge issues to foment divisions, we’re united in wanting to limit the size, power and cost of government. We know that to overcome our challenges, individual citizens must wrest decision-making authority away from Washington.

Fifty years ago, instead of attending the 100th anniversary of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, President Kennedy went to Dallas, where he was assassinated. In commemorating these anniversaries, Americans recall why these leaders are revered — because they united us around shared values, summoning us to assure liberty’s survival for subsequent generations.

Kennedy declared, “The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it,” imploring us to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for our country.” Lincoln roused a fractured citizenry to finish the soldiers’ work so that “these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Exhausted by democracy’s follies, we should recall these words and heed their advice.

Think Again: Rather than allow politicians to divide us, remember we’re all freedom-loving Americans eager to realize our full potential in the race of life.

Melanie Sturm lives in Aspen. She reminds readers to Think Again. You might change your mind. She welcomes comments at melanie@thinkagainusa.com.

Emilie Parker's mom, Alissa, shares some of the incredible struggles their family has faced in the year since they lost their Emilie in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.  

But their message is one of faith, hope, and love.  God's love is powerful.  In the end, goodness wins. This is a beautiful!