Skip to main content

Guest blogger Meredith Efken

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.11.2006

Today I have my friend Meredith Efken guest blogging with me!

Meredith's latest mom-lit novel is @Home For the Holidays

Sitting by the fireside, humming carols and knitting mittens…not! For these stay-at-home moms, the weeks before Christmas are anything but mellow. How can you balance housework, home crises and the husband without losing your mind? Plug in your laptop!

Meet Dulcie, Zelia, Jocelyn, Rosalyn, Veronica and the rest of the women of SAHM I Am. An e-mail loop of stay-at-home moms, they've seen each other through months of domestic drama: babies who won't come, bills that won't leave, kids who won't listen and spouses who won't talk. Now, as the yuletide approaches, the SAHMs are on hand once again, bearing gifts of sisterhood, sanity and the real Christmas spirit.

And now, here’s Meredith!

This is the season of peace and love, of giving, of friendship. And for we who are Christians, of celebrating Jesus’ birthday. I think we choose to celebrate in really odd ways sometimes. I heard of one neighborhood association who demanded that a resident remove the Christmas wreath off their front door because it was shaped like a peace symbol. The resident sued the neighborhood association. Peace on earth, indeed. (To be fair, I have no idea if any of them claim to be Christians or not.)

I’ve gotten emails from people who ARE Christians who think it would be a fun idea to try to shut down the mail system of the ACLU by bombarding the office with “Merry Christmas” cards—to remind them that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” How…er, thoughtful of them. Or the American Family Association’s email from last year, suggesting that we “boycott” Christmas presents in order to teach retailers a lesson in the importance of saying “Merry CHRISTmas.” (That one ended up in modified form in my new book @Home For The Holidays.)

I read about someone whose business was displaying a life-size nativity scene outside, and the owner flew into a rage because they’d put baby Jesus in the manger BEFORE Christmas Day. “You can’t DO that!” she screamed. “It’s not accurate!!!”

Some people call it the “War on Christmas.” In a season that should be characterized by peace, I call it a bunch of utter crap.

I wonder how Jesus feels about these ways of celebrating his birth?

We really need to lighten up. First of all, Christmas is not a “Biblical” holiday in the sense of, say, the Day of Atonement or the Feast of Booths. The word itself is derived from “Christ’s Mass” and wasn’t celebrated in December until the second bishop of Rome declared that the Nativity of Christ should be honored during the Saturnalia feasts in order to counteract the pagan festivities. This is where the “decking the halls” tradition came from. Other influences of our Christmas traditions come from Mesopotamia and Egypt, as well as from European Germanic and Celtic fertility celebrations and the Winter Solstice.

Second, when we are more “inclusive” (*gasp* Yes, I said the “i-word”!) about how we refer to the various holidays this time of year, especially Hanukkah, we actually honor Jesus’ own real traditions and culture. Did you know that the Bible mentions Jesus celebrating Hanukkah, or the “Feast of Dedication” (referring to Hanukkah’s purpose of dedicating the temple after it was defiled in the Maccabean period) in John 10:22? It only makes sense, since He was Jewish, and the Jewish people began celebrating the Feast of Lights over a century before He was born.

I feel quite sure that the best “present” to give Jesus on his “birthday” would be respect for other cultures and an attitude of peace and real love, like he showed to everyone he met. That’s the only way to make this a “merry” holiday season for all.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Meredith Efken

Camy here: Thanks, Meredith!

TMI:

Writing:. I posted another short article on dialogue at my Story Sensei blog.

I’m almost done with my manuscript, but I’m not as far along as I’d like to be. Please pray I can finish these last few thousand words quickly.

Popular Posts

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

A Wallflower’s Slip of the Tongue – Free Regency eBook

If you enjoy Regency romance with wit, awkward ballroom encounters, and a heroine who can’t quite keep her thoughts to herself, you’ll love Lissa and the Spy . This free Christian Regency romantic suspense novella is the perfect entry point into my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series. Get it free when you join my newsletter (details below). Miss Lissa Gardinier survived her last London Season by pretending to be as inoffensive as possible. But at this ball, she lets her true thoughts slip yet again . And this time, they involve an unfortunately named spaniel. Excerpt Last year during that first dance with Mr. Collingworth, upon seeing him excitedly discuss his dog breeding, she had been encouraged to also speak without restraint. So she had voiced her exact thoughts rather than hiding behind a vapid facade. “Why in the world would you name a dog Lickspittle Furrybottom?” At Mr. Collingworth’s startled look, Lissa realized that she’d said that out loud now , in this dance with him. “… Not...

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures...

Free Christian Romantic Suspense Novels by Camy Tang / Camille Elliot

Curious about what my writing is like? Here’s a list of all my free books and the free short stories, novellas, and novels that you can read here on my blog. I’ll update this post as I add more free reads. Christian Romantic Suspense: Necessary Proof (Sonoma series #4.1, novella) Click here to buy the FREE ebook on all retailers Alex Villa became a Christian in prison, and because of his efforts to help stop a gang producing meth in Sonoma, he has been set up for the death of a cop. Can computer expert Jane Lawton find the evidence that will prove his innocence before the gang eliminates them both? Fantasy short stories: Pixies in a Garden in Kyoto There were pixies in the garden. Since she was in Kyoto, she was certain they were not called pixies, but she didn't know what they would be called in Japanese, and they certainly looked like what she imagined pixies would look like. The King’s Daughter The trees in the King's garden were full of colored pixie lights. The...

Insecurities in writing

Captain's Log, Stardate 10.31.2005 Happy Halloween! I'm filching--er, giving away candy at the front door to all these kids. (The Butterfinger Crisp bars are GOOD.) I just emailed Dee about something that's been bugging me--as I do the rewrites for my suspense, I'm feeling insecure. I got great feedback from Wendy and those authors' scoresheets, so I know what I'd like to do, but I'm having a hard time feeling confident that I can do it. Please, no fuzzy-wuzzy cyber-hugs or anything like that. This isn't something I need encouragement about. I need to sharpen my focus, sift through all I've learned from books, articles, and workshops. Most of all, I need to pray. I know my insecurity often comes from Satan. I give in too easily. I was even expecting it, ever since the ACFW conference . I can't shake it. It's like flapping your hand to get gunk off your fingers, but it's too sticky to let loose. I need t...