2nd Day of Christmas with Courtney Joseph
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Welcome to the 2nd Day of Christmas. Today our guest is Courtney Joseph of Women Living Well.
Courtney has been married to her high school sweetheart for over 16 years and classically educates her son and daughter at home.
Courtney is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Evangelism and Discipleship. After over a decade of leading women’s Bible studies, mentorships and workshops in her local church, she decided to move her ministry on-line at WomenLivingWell.org and WomenLivingWell.TV.
You can follow Courtney’s ministry on Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Instagram under the Profile: Women Living Well. Join her, as you walk with the King!
Here is Courtney sharing what her family loves to do at Christmas:
Every year on Christmas day we get together with extended family. Before the presents are opened, we read the story of Baby Jesus to the children.
Each year we try to be creative. One year we used a birthday cake. Another year we used a nativity poster and stickers. Each child had a sticker and got a turn to place Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels, Wisemen, Jesus and the star on the poster.
A few years we acted the story out. Though we did not have costumes, each child had a role and even some of the adults were innkeepers turning away Mary and Joseph.
Here are our little actors getting warmed up.
Here’s baby Jesus:
And another tradition is for the papararazzi to show up!!! Look at all those cameras! Lol!
What joy it is to remember the Reason for the Season with both the little ones AND the big ones!
Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’.”
NOW FOR TODAY’S GIVEAWAY:
Two winners will be chosen to receive a copy of Courtney’s book Women Living Well.
Women desire to live well. However, living well in this modern world is a challenge. The pace of life, along with the new front porch of social media, has changed the landscape of our lives. Women have been told for far too long that being on the go and accumulating more things will make their lives full. As a result, we grasp for the wrong things in life and come up empty.
God created us to walk with him; to know him and to be loved by him. He is our living well and when we drink from the water he continually provides, it will change us. Our marriages, our parenting, and our homemaking will be transformed.
Rooted in the Bible, this book includes tons of tips that are perfect for busy moms, including:
- Simple Solutions for Studying God’s Word
- How to Handle Marriage, Parenting, and Homemaking in a Digital Age
- 10 Steps to Completing Your Husband
- Dealing With Disappointed Expectations in Motherhood
- Creating Routines that Bring Rest
- Pursuing the Discipline and Diligence of the Proverbs 31 Woman
There is nothing more important than fostering your faith, building your marriage, training your children, and creating a haven for your family. Women Living Well is a clear and personal guide to making the most of these precious responsibilities.
To be entered to win, tell us your favorite family tradition at Christmas. Ours is having bbq chicken pizza and peppermint stick ice cream at my mom’s on Christmas Eve and then driving to look at Christmas lights.
And yours?
Christmas Eve service.
Favorite tradition is playing lots of Christmas music during December
We go to a large nursery that has live reindeer. I also play clarinet in a community band, and the girls watch me play in the town parade.
cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning
My favorite Christmas tradition starts the season on Thanksgiving Day. We always make “Santa’s Hats” that evening. It is just ice cream floats topped with whipped cream & a cherry. We do this every year since my boys were little and as teenagers they still ask if we are making Santa’s Hats.
Definitely my favorite is attending the children’s mass on Christmas Eve with my family and seeing all of the excitement of the kids at mass!
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus :)
Driving around to see Christmas lights and to visit family! :)
Dinner with family and Christmas Eve mass.
Chocolate Malts around the fire and S’mores.
On Christmas Eve we go to church and then ride around to see Christmas lights. thx
Our family spends Christmas Eve camped out on my living room floor. Very fun now that there are spouses and grandchildren too! There is popcorn and Christmas movies until all hours :-)
Mine is getting to open the Christmas P.J.’s that Mom gets for EVERYONE on Christmas Eve. just being together and watching christmas movies too!
All my family coming to my house for my famous salt crusted herbed prime rib
Live nativity, if we can find one. Driving around to see the lights. Candlelight service on Christmas eve.
Our main tradition is opening one present on Christmas Eve and watching Christmas movies.
Our favorite family tradition is just spending time with family. We follow the same routine throughout the day each year.
We go to the candle light service on Christmas Eve, then drive around to look at lights. When we get home, we have hot soup that’s been simmering in the crock pot. We always have Country Potato Chowder and one other soup that the kids choose each year. Then we have cocoa in front of the fire with just our Christmas lights on. The kids get new pj’s and it’s off to bed!
On Christmas Eves past, we just sat home and drank hot cocoa and watch Christmas movies. Open our jammies present and get ready for the next day. This year, since I’m a new Christian, I want to go to service if there is one. (We find out on Sunday.) Otherwise still the same as years past.
We have appetizers on Christmas Eve following the Christmas Eve service. We get up Christmas morning, read the Christmas story and then open presents. We have pancakes for breakfast.
Going to my grandmother’s on Christmas Eve. And midnight church services! :)
My new favorite tradition is taking my daughter around town and parks to see the Christmas lights – hearing her reaction to them is priceless (and ear piercing!)
Growing up it was church, then dinner @ my paternal Grandma’s. Since we moved a decade ago, it’s just been hub & our kids, with his mom coming in to see us..most of the rest of our family has passed, or in my case, disconnected.
The first rattle a baby receives becomes their first ornament.
My favorite tradition is Christmas Eve. Church and then on to my Aunt’s house.