3. I bought TWO packets from the Moffatt Girls. Because they are awesome. These packets are quick & easy to print and go--and they cover a crazy amount of skills in the cutest way possible. Win. Win. Win.
I recently came across a large group board full of Christian mommy bloggers. Each blogger knew each other, some only online and many offline. That inspired me to create the Christian Teen/YA Blogger Network board on Pinterest. I would like the board to grow and become a place of encouragement for female Christian teens and young adults to get together and share their lives, passions and faith. This link-up is designed for the members of CTBN to get to know each other better through something we have in common - the love of Christmas!
**If you would like to join the CTBN board, leave a comment with your Pinterest username, follow the CTBN and another one of my boards (Pinterest rules) and I will send you an invite shortly.
Buttons are 305x305. Feel free to add your name and then add them to your sidebar/post! :)
Ready...set...link-up and have fun! I will read and comment on all linked-up links. Comment below if you have any questions. :)
There are some songs where I think all of the versions are good, but none are really REALLY good. (O Come All Ye Faithful, for instance) Here is a list of my TOP Christmas songs - the ones I love listening to year round.
Casting Crowns' literally recreated this classic Christmas song. With a beautiful piano harmony and a children's choir, this is the best version of this song BY FAR.
The regular "12 Days of Christmas" gets really boring after about the fifth verse. Relient K puts a hilarious twist to this boring sound. With a few added lines ("What's a partridge? What's a pear tree? Well I don't know so please don't ask me. But I can bet those are terrible gifts to get!") and a rocky beat, this song is definitely worth listening until the end.
Like "12 Days of Christmas," Relient K's ending to this hilarious song is priceless. The song is told by a little boy who did a lot of bad things throughout the year and therefore is getting nothing for Christmas "cause I ain't been nothing but bad!"
O Holy Night by Alex G. Alex G is a musical internet sensation. Out of the hundreds of versions of "O Holy Night" she definitely sings it best. Her voice is just incredible.
The true meaning of Christmas in our society is engulfed by fancy decor and stuff. This song takes away all of the fancy Christmas trees and presents and digs into the true meaning of Christmas - Christ.
Although it definitely has a Christmas slant, this beautiful song could be used "year round." This is probably one of my favorite songs. How many fathers gave up their sons for me? Only one did that for me.
This is my family's favorite Christmas song and perfectly describes how we feel about the "happy holidays" hype. This is for every Christian who is sick of "happy holidays" and wants "Merry Christmas" back!
Christmas meets Hachi in this really sad Christmas song that inspired the movie by the same name. In the song/movie, a little boy's mom is dying and the little boy is buying his mother shoes so "she will look beautiful when she sees Jesus tonight."
What are YOUR favorite Christmas songs? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
My ring finger has a nice little gash from these new rotary cutters and my left elbow HURTS (where I accidentally burned myself)
I am taking an entrepreneur class and it's going great. Be prepared for a giveaway in about six months once I truly get it up and running. My business is going to be these reusable cloth towels instead of paper towels. It's actually going pretty great except the cut and the little burn. :P Thanksgiving went great! We went over to our grandparents and although I accidentally took a two hour nap, we had lots of fun! Instead of turkey, we eat duck. Duck is pretty healthy, it isn't dry, and it is so yummy.
I put contact lenses in successfully for the first time today! OK, partial truth - I only got the left one in.
I HATE the term "happy holidays." I HATE it. No, I'm not some overly-obsessed Christian and I do LOVE Hanukkah. I truly believe in tolerance and I believe the lack of it brings horrific outcomes.
Isn't it funny how nobody says "happy holidays" during the rest of the year?
We call every other holiday by its name. Why not Christmas? Some atheists have a problem with the Christian aspect of Christmas because of Christianity's lack of "tolerance," but why do those exact same people get mad at "Merry Christmas" and demand the manger scene in front of a church be taken down? Isn't that intolerant? Just because I don't celebrate Hanukkah, doesn't mean I'm going to be outraged when I see a menorah or dreidel. Just because I don't believe in the necessity of baptism, doesn't mean I'm going to start a protest about it.
Despite the big hype every "happy holidays" person makes, Hanukkah isn't even an important holiday in Judaism! Hanukkah is probably the least-important holiday in Judaism, even though it's the most well-known. So, why does every "tolerant" non-Jew make a HUGE deal about it? I'll tell you why. They simply don't want to say "Merry Christmas." Fortunately for them, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are near Christmas. Also, isn't it weird how the exact same people who push Santa say "happy holidays" to be tolerant, even though Santa is clearly Christmas-related?
At the same time, I don't think Christians should be obnoxious about it, and they too should be respectful.
True tolerance
One of my family's favorite Christmas songs is "Christmas with a Capital C" by Go Fish. It is just so true.
Jewish actor and lawyer Ben Stein says it best, from a Jewish perspective:
"I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against.. That's what they are, Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period."
I'm sure you'll agree that we have a great design team and will be fully inspired and ready to join in. Here are the rules:
1. Your card must be for a man or a boy. 2. Your card must be new for this challenge and follow the theme set. 3. Your post must mention Cards for Men and contain a link back to this challenge. 4. You may combine our challenge with others up to a maximum of 10.
The challenge will run from now until midnight GMT (Grenwich Mean Time) on 8 December 2013. Leave a link to your card (not just your blog) in the link list below. If it's not there for some reason, leave a comment and I'll enter you in before the draw. Good luck
I LOVE Hanukkah!! Unfortunately, I won't be celebrating it "officially" but I can still listen to a bunch of Hanukkah music and eat latkes. There are so many Christmas songs, so I would like to shine a light to a few of the great Hanukkah songs out there!
I LOVE Matisyahu's "Miracle" and this one is a great sequel. It has the same reggae-beat as Matisyahu's other songs.
6. Eight Days by Edon At just 13, Edon Ariel Pinchot placed in the top 24 on America's Got Talent. On November 11 of this year he proudly released his first original single - a Hanukkah-theamed song about hope and resilience! "It's the holiday season, all you hear is Christmas music," he says. "There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, but I thought it would be cool to be the first to create this crossover." "On one hand, ['8 Days'] is clearly a Hanukkah song, but at the same time it's radio-playable and something that anyone could be listening to," he continues. "I tried to focus on these overall views of hope, freedom, resilience, persistence, standing up for what you believe in. I tried to make it this sort of universal feel that anyone could relate to, while still making it a song that is Hanukkah-themed."
5. Al Hanissim by Six13 I LOVE this song, especially when the sing it with the Maccabeats. (see link) I'm usually not a big fan of Six13, but this song is very fun and catchy. (And besides, I haven't heard another version of this song I really like. I found the YBC version is a bit "obnoxious" but thats just me.)
This song started my lifetime-love of the Yeshiva Boys Choir! The melody is beautifully haunting and the song is really sad...the first time I listened to it I bawled my eyeballs out. The song is a plea from a young boy to his father in the IDF - "daddy come home!" The second verse, in which I was sure his father died, had tears bubbling in my eyes at the dedication at the end.
2. Eight Nights by StandFour The Maccabeats spin-off group, StandFour, released this song last Hanukkah. This parody of three pop songs is AWESOME! Each singer (David Block, Noey Jacobson, Immanuel Shalev and Nachum Joel.) has his own solo, so you get a really great combo.
1. Candlelight by the Maccabeats Hanukkah's national anthem! :) Of course this was going to be #1. Anyone who is reading this probably has already heard it. If not, click the link and sit back and enjoy. There are very few things better than an uplifting Jewish song.
Other great Hanukkah songs are "Burn" by the Maccabeats and their original single "Shine." The Fountainheads "Light Up The Night" is also a great song!
