Sunday Afternoon Tea - Celebrating Christmas on Purpose and Book Suggestions

The weather has finally turned cooler again.  Spring-like warmth was not only odd but it brought the same weather patterns.  I think perhaps part of my Puddleglum attitude mentioned last week is that it has not looked or felt like December.  It looks more like March and gives new meaning to the song In the Bleak Midwinter.

So, last week I indeed went in search of celebrating Christmas regardless of what was going on in the world and what the temperature was saying.  On the one day that neither of us had any appointments or other responsibilities, I took the van into town and enjoyed looking through a couple favorite stores as well as spending well over an hour walking up and down the aisles of the antique mall.

My hunt for vintage Christmas ornaments paid off with two small, red vintage ball ornaments with Merry Christmas written on them for only $1.00 each.  Very cute!  I was hoping my favorite store that sells primitive and Early American items still had a Christmas decoration I had passed on the last time I was there.  

They didn't but I came home with a vanilla shade of a battery operated candle that I needed to go inside an antique looking birdcage (quite small that sits on a side table).

I love candles this time of year but with a curious kitty, battery operated candles are necessary on any surface where she can walk and today's technology makes them look very real.  Old fashioned candles, especially those that are safely scented, continue to have a place elsewhere in the house.

After finishing my grocery shopping at Kroger on Friday, I stopped by our favorite Chinese take out place to surprise my husband with a late lunch.  I don't know about you but I love going into places where they remember me.  She had a curious look on her face until I told her that my husband had not called ahead this time.  I began to give her my order and in broken English, she finished it! Yes, we are creatures of habit.  ;)

Eating out has become so expensive, even fast food places have increased in price beyond what I want to pay.  However, the Chinese takeout lunch prices are very reasonable, even though she had to raise them a little.  I usually only stop for takeout each month after getting an injection of medicine in my eye as kind of a reward for the pain.  But sometimes, especially during Christmas, it is fun to do something special and unexpected.

My Christmas expectations have had to change over the years as I stayed home a lot more and had no organized festivities to attend.  I do miss some of my old activities but less so as the years have gone by.  Life is always changing, sometimes the changes come slowly over years.  As we are now experiencing in the world, sometimes the changes are sudden and take our breath away.

While we cannot control the changes around us, we can decide how we are going to let them affect our days.  So, sometimes we have to celebrate on purpose. Perhaps we do not feel like doing anything special but when we ask God for wisdom, He has been known to lead us into delightful surprises of joy.

Next week, we will go into town one more time before Christmas but after purchasing salt for the water softener (there are plebeian chores even in festive seasons), we will stop by Cracker Barrel to enjoy a meal... and to check off one of my Christmas "must do's".

Since our son and his family now live close enough to spend Christmas Eve "dinner" with us (we always have Holiday meals early), it will be fun to cook for family and enjoy time together.  Starting tomorrow, I will spend plenty of time in the kitchen with Christmas music playing as I bake, make candy, and put together Christmas plates of goodies as gifts for friends.   All, of course, accomplished a little at a time.

One change I began making perhaps three or four years ago was to continue my Holiday "reading and watching and listening" through January and February as the cold winds blow and sometimes the snow does not allow getting out of our driveway.

I came to realize there were now so many options than there once was.  Not only television programs and movies but those on DVD I like to watch again each year.  With many books available for the Kindle (which I read most often due to eye problems), the options for Advent and Christmas reading expanded greatly, too.

All of this to say, sorry I am just now sharing some of my reading with you but perhaps you can join me in making Holiday reading... Winter reading?  That way it is not so rushed as it used to be.  For as most Americans, the Holiday season for me has always been Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.

I will provide the links below to my current reading but I also will remind you that I am taking my usual Christmas through New Year's blog break.  

The way Christmas falls on Saturday this year, it means that today will be my last blog post until after the break. I need time off of pondering to just veg a bit and to write letters and send cards, including to my favorite cows (they know who they are).

Now... for books!  The titles below are all new for this year and include new devotional reading and even a Christmas murder mystery.  ;)

When I heard there was going to be a Christmas theme Laura Child's Tea Shop Mystery, I pre-ordered it for the Kindle and could not wait the many months until it was published.  

As expected, it is an excellent read and yes... it is much of the same old formula... but it has worked now for a very long time.  Not to mention it is CHRISTMAS themed!  More information on Twisted Tea Christmas can be found... here.

I heard many good thing about Tim Keller's new book called Hidden Christmas: Surprising Truths Behind the Birth of Christ.  I'm enjoying it now for a way to get deeper into the story of Christ's birth. 

The writing is easy to understand but he gives a lot of things to ponder. As one reviewer said, "Keller writes like a modern day C. S. Lewis", since he can make the complicated easy to understand.  More information can be found... here.

I first heard about Prepare Him Room when I saw the author interviewed on a Christian television program.  I immediately went to Amazon and purchased her book with credit for the Kindle.  

They appear to be sold out of the hardback edition right now but the Kindle is still available and it is very inexpensive for Audible.  Her writing is lovely and next year I will use it more as a devotional as intended.  However, this Christmas, I have been reading it through all at once.  Kindle version can be found... here.

The host of the television program also recommended Susie Larson's Instagram feed and I have found her morning and evening devotionals to be lovely and light-giving in a dark world.

Home For Christmas is a collection of Christmas stories that has been republished.  It was recommended for the ElizabethGoudgeBookClub on Instagram because the Elizabeth Goudge Christmas story we are reading now is included in that book.

As with the others, I am reading the Kindle version and I enjoyed the very old fashioned stories in it.  They usually have a moral learned in each story.  If you like old style English stories, you will like this book.  More information can be found... here.

Another book that has been recently re-published is the beautiful Goudge Christmas sequel to A City of Bells called Sister of the Angels.  I read this lovely story a few years ago and sent my somewhat beat up used copy to a friend so she could enjoy it, too.

It quickly sold out on Amazon but it is on back order.  If you order it now, you will be sent an email when it is in stock and on the way.  My order is on back order, too.  However, it is worth it to have this story on my Goudge shelves again.  You will especially enjoy it if you love A City of Bells.  More information is... here.

When I mentioned last year that I had enjoyed a Grace Livingston Hill Christmas book on the Kindle, quite a few people recommended reading Astra.  I love how so many of her books are now very inexpensive for the Kindle versions.

I plan to read Astra when things have calmed down (hopefully) in January. Her books are just the best for taking us to a time that seems simpler but often had the same kind of challenges we face, just in an early 20th Century way.  More information can be found... here.

A book of Christmas novellas was offered on sale for the Kindle recently, so I added An Amish Christmas Kitchen to my Kindle library at that time. I found when I was reviewing books that the Amish novella books were often delightful reads, just long enough to be interesting but easily read in one day off and on.

This one is a planned read for the winter. The three authors are Leslie Gould, Jan Drexler, and Kate Lloyd.  When I can purchase one of these types of books for $1.99, they make for excellent reads for days when one is discouraged.  More information can be found... here. This was still on sale for the Kindle as of today.

For more information on my long time favorite Christmas reading, last year's Holiday reading post can be found... here. It has links for a lot of old favorites.

Disclaimer:  Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Image:  Christmas a few years ago, before the sideboard had a lamp on it.