Did you know that New Year’s is one of the oldest holidays in the world, celebrated by pretty much every culture (though at different times)? And that whole resolution thing? That’s about as old as the holiday. Back in the day, common resolutions in Ancient Babylon were to give back tools that had been borrowed from neighbors, and the Ancient Romans resolved to ask forgiveness for wrongs they had done. That one kinda puts “quit smoking” and “lose weight” (America’s most popular resolutions) to shame, doesn’t it?

January 1 was established as the first day of the new year in 153 B.C. by the Roman emperor. The month got its name from the mythical god Janus, who had two faces and so could look both forward and back, into the past and future. Makes it pretty cool for the first month of the year, eh? Julius Caesar finalized the calendar as we know it in 46 B.C.

For many years, Christian tradition began the year in March, but Pope Gregory XIII reinstated the Julian calendar in the sixteenth century, and we’ve been observing January 1st as our New Year’s Day ever since.

Tomorrow I’ll be doing some reflecting on the past year and looking to the future (though only with one face, ha ha), and on Friday I’m starting my fabulous author interviews with Linore Rose Burkard, many of which will have a giveaway. Be sure and check in for those!

Back before we had kids, we used to debate what we’d tell them about Santa. And as my first child approached an age where beliefs began to form, everyone asked us, “Are you doing the Santa thing?” And we’ve never said things like, “Santa’s watching” or “Santa will be coming next week.” But as a house that allows TV, it’s inescapable. Every single kids’ show is all about Santa this time of year, so my 4-year-old has latched onto it. I don’t mind–I still believe in Santa too;-)

But I did want to make sure she understood what Christmas really is. So last week as we played around the tree on morning I told Xoe the Christmas story, off the cuff. I’ve never tried to tell it before in preschooler terms (though we’ve read plenty of toddler books on it) and putting it in my own words so that she would understand was a lot of fun. Sure, some things had to change. Like Jesus was born in a barn instead of a stable–barn she knows. Stable, not so much. And we certainly didn’t get into the whole virgin thing, lol.

As always, when telling my preschooler anything, I’m never sure what will stick and what will float right out her ear. But I knew she’d gotten the point that night when we drove to my mom’s. Actually, it happened two nights in a row.

As we took the final turn onto their road, Xoe looked out the window and saw one of the first stars to show in the night. “Look, Mommy!” she said with the exuberance only a kid can muster. “It’s the star, just like in your story! It’s for baby Jesus!”

My husband and I just exchanged a look as we agreed. A look that said, “Yep–she took a good thing from the story this time.”

Obviously, she’s still excited about Santa. But we also told her the story of St. Nicholas, who gave gifts on Christmas to point the children back to Christ. And I’ve been really impressed by her Christmas spirit. Sure, she wants to open presents (a lot, lol). But she also wants to have a gift for everyone from her. You oughta see the adorable little car she made Rowyn out of paper and tape. =)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

~*~Don’t forget to visit WordVessel and comment for a chance to win Stray Drop!~*~

I figured it was the season for some holiday factoids. =)

The Christmas season is about much more than a day: it is about celebrating the miracle and life of Christ. Just as we have the Advent Calendar to count up to Christmas Day, so we also have the Twelve Days, which follow Christmas and lead up to the Epiphany.

Surviving mainly in Europe today, the Epiphany is a long-celebrated day that remembers the arrival of the Magi. Literally “Manifestation,” the Epiphany is also the day taken to commemorate the second birth or baptism of Christ and the importance of God being made man through that act.

A couple years ago, I made up what I called Epiphany Boxes for my family, though more accurately they were 12 Days of Christmas boxes. I made gifts for each day, enough for the whole family, appealing to Christmas traditions. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share some of them on Wednesdays. =)

I’ll start today with The Christmas Star, for which I gave a star ornament for the tree.

The Christmas Star is one of the most questioned and most miraculous signs that accompanied the arrival of the Lord. It is this star that led the Magi to Bethlehem, this star that shone with a wondrous light to announce Him to the world. What was it? That is something that scholars and astronomers have been trying to discover for millennia.

Some say it is a miracle akin to the Pillar of Fire that God used to lead Israel out of Egypt. Others hold that it was a cosmic event such as a comet or super-nova. Still others hold it was an actual star and focus on the claim that it came to a halt over Bethlehem, which indicates it must be either the sun or Venus, the two “wandering stars” that halt in their paths.

Interestingly, that’s actually one of the reasons we celebrate Christmas on 25 December. The sun does “halt” on its north-south progression for three days, twice a year, on the solstices. During the time of Christ’s birth, the winter solstice was 25 December.

Today, we tend to look on the arrival of a star to herald Christ as either miraculous or just plain crazy. But it’s interesting to note that at the time of Christ, every great man was thought to be accompanied by a star when he was born. Similar cosmic events have been recorded for Alexander the Great, Abraham, and Saint Augustine. So for His followers, it wasn’t odd that a star appeared for him—it would have been odd had one not.

(If anyone wanted a doc with the script I used for the gifts and full descriptions of the presents to use as ideas for your own boxes, I’d be happy to email it to you!)

First off, a reminder to one and all that you can enter for a chance to win a signed copy of A Stray Drop of Blood by commenting on Patty Wysong’s blog between now and December 6. Today she has an interview up, which was tons of fun. Hop over and read it!

I thought for today’s Remember When I’d dive into the political of our Biblical days. When rereading Stray Drop, I noted a few places where I mentioned Israel’s lack of a king at that time. Since I was in “question everything” mode, I figured I’d better look that up–there was, after all, that Herod dude.

I found that technically speaking, I was right. Though Herod the Great (who ruled when Christ was born) had been given the title of King over all of Israel by Caesar, things changed with his death. And it was his own fault, too! He couldn’t decide which of his sons he wanted to take his place, so he divided the kingdom into three parts, called the eldest king, and gave the others lesser titles. This all had to be approved by Caesar, though, and he said, “Er, no. You can divide the kingdom, but no on gets to be king.” So they all got “arch” designations–tetrarch was Herod Antipas’s title. By the time Jesus is tried and crucified, Israel was down to two of Herod the Great’s sons, the other having been declared mentally unstable.

So the Herod we hear about during Jesus’ trial was the ruler of Galilee, the province Jesus was from, though not the one he had been in when he committed the “crimes” he was tried for. For that, he was in the realm of Pilate, who had been appointed as prefect of Judea when the third son went cuckoo-bananas. In Stray Drop I refer to Pilate as the governor, as the Gospels do, mainly to avoid confusion–one of my main characters is a military prefect over the Tenth Legion, and I didn’t want to use “prefect” for two very different characters and positions.

I enjoyed pointing out the irony of the sign Pilate hangs above Jesus: This is Jesus, King of the Jews. It had been a long time since Israel had had a king from their own ranks, one appointed by the prophet of God instead of Rome. Romans would have seen the claim as a joke, something mocking. Israelites would have seen it as a slap in the face.

We have the advantage of recognizing the truth in the mockery. That was Jesus–King of Us All.

I have either forgotten a lot I learned about Thanksgiving as a kid, or my schools focused more on the first Thanksgiving than the history of it. Because I’ve learned so much with my 4-year-old this year . . .

The sermon this past weekend touched on the Biblical perspective, and how there were Old Testament commands for giving thanks to God, as well as New Testament guidelines. I really love that our country has a history of setting aside a day for this–that some of the first settlers were here to seek free worship of God, and that they honored him for his faithfulness, in spite of the hardships.

I find it even more inspiring that there were people like Sarah Hale who cared enough about this tradition to fight for it. She first succeeded in getting each state to recognize the day, then, eventually, convinced President Lincoln to have the nation honor it as one. At a time when the country was torn by war, this was a monumental moment, one that helped us heal.

In some ways, it’s really easy to imagine that day when it was only a state-recognized affair, and one that they often neglected. In some ways, Thanksgiving is almost a “second-rate” holiday to modern people–it doesn’t require presents, and in fact is often lost in the anticipation for Black Friday. It only rates as a chance to host an elaborate meal.

But I remember my own childhood, when I sat back in my room one Thanksgiving smelling that wonderful turkey, knowing that soon my family would be coming. I remember spending some time writing a story about a girl named Felicia, which I knew meant something like “happy.” I remember cutting out some construction paper turkeys for all my family members. And I remember thinking, “This is one of the happiest days in the year. Where everyone just comes over to be together.”

I still love the holiday for that very reason. It’s a chance to come together with those I love and just be. Be there. Be together. Be thankful for all the Lord has given me.

Thank you, Father, for putting me in a country with such a history of recognizing You.