Christmas Traditions and Lottie Moon

It seems no matter how hard I try to keep things simple at Christmas we always seem to be running from one event to another. Again life has gotten in the way of just sitting with my kids and talking about Christmas and in the way of posting. Well, today is a new day and a new week so I will try to maximize the opportunities that I am given.

In the events that led up to Christmas there are certain ones that I just love and that I have become a tradition. The first is The Sanctuary Milton ladies cookie and ornament exchange. This is an evening for the ladies to get together for a couple of hours and share in food, laughter and fun! This year my sweet friend Bev had everyone share a favorite memory, a story about Christmas or a way that they keep Christ in Christmas. This year many of the stories made me laugh, some of them made me cry but one in particular touched my heart.

One of the ladies, Leah said that Christmas is her favourite day of the year. She is from a different country and Christmas is the one day out of the year that she knows that her parents who are not Christians are in church back in their home country. She looks at Christmas as a new opportunity for her parents to come to know Jesus and as she prays that one day or one Christmas that will happen. This Christmas I too will be praying that somewhere halfway across the world two people that are dear to my friend will open their hearts to Jesus.

One of the traditions that we began a few years ago was to give an offering for our church's Lottie Moon Christmas offering. Who is Lottie Moon you ask? Charlotte “Lottie” Diggs Moon was born Dec. 12, 1840, in Albemarle County, Va. She rebelled against Christianity until she was in college. In December 1858, she dedicated her life to Christ and was baptized. In 1861, she was one of the first women in the South to receive a master’s degree. Edmonia Moon, Lottie’s sister, was appointed to Tengchow, China, in 1872. The following year, Lottie was appointed and joined her sister there.

Lottie served 39 years as a missionary, mostly in China’s Shantung province. She taught in a girls’ school and often made trips into China’s interior to share the good news with women and girls. Lottie frequently wrote letters to the United States, detailing Chinese culture, missionary life and the great physical and spiritual needs of the Chinese people. Additionally, she challenged Southern Baptists to go to China or give so that others could go.

Lottie Moon died at the age of 72. Her commitment to sharing the good news of Jesus with those who have not had an opportunity to hear it continues through the Lottie Moon offering. Every penny given to Lottie Moon is used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas. This allows our church and individuals to join in a strategic global effort to reach the whole world. It also enables missionaries to spend their time working to reach lost souls instead of raising their own support.

This year our family will be making an extra gift in honour of all those who prayed for us and supported us during Liam's recent surgeries and hospital stay. We could not think of a more appropriate way to honour you than to support the work of sharing the gospel across the globe. Our prayer is that others will come to know Jesus.

If you would like to more about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and ways that you can give please click on the link.

Pray for us. Liam has been chosen by McMaster children's hospital to be the poster child for this year's telethon. The photo shoot is this Wednesday with a couple of TV news anchors. The Public Relations division of the hospital will also be doing a five minute television documentary on Liam and on our family and we will be on a live television show in May 2009. We will let you know exact dates when they give them to us. Pray for opportunities for us to share what Jesus has done in our lives.