The Christ Candle – Crosstalk Ministries Day Camps

The Christ Candle

And so the Circle of Light is now complete.

I do hope you all enjoyed a very Blessed Christmas Day and that you plan to continue celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas.

As soon as I turned on the radio today, gone were all the schmaltzy Xmas songs and the news was about the bargains to be found at Boxing Day Sales. I was encouraged that the CBC announcer, who comes from England, did take a few moments to explain the origins of Boxing Day and pondered, rhetorically, why a day of “giving” to those who are less fortunate and who work hard throughout the year, has morphed into a day of frenzied “getting”.

Actually the same sort of thoughts were running through my mind as I walked Wil, yesterday afternoon.Across the street a father was walking the other way with a small boy and girl. I do not think the boy could have been more than 8 years old. He was discussing, in a voice filled with such excitement, whether it was acceptable to call his new “Ipod Touch”, just an “Ipod”. It was obvious that his desire was to boast to everyone about his aquisition. I am not a Scrooge at all but I reflected, as I continued on my walk, how we, as followers of the One who gave us the greatest Gift, have gone wrong in sharing this Gift with the world.

It is my prayer that the “One of Us” program in 2012 will touch the hearts of children and cause them to have that same voice of excitement in sharing with their families the story of the gift of Jesus.

I will be well satisfied with my part in our Day Camp Program if seeds are sown that will cause people to take even a small step towards the Manger and away from the Mall and to begin bringing a more Christ-centered Christmas to our 21st Century world.

My Glorious Tree!

When I returned home from the Candle Light Carol Service at St. Stephen’s on Christmas Eve, I found this glorious tree leaning beside my front door.

A kind friend, who knew that a tree was beyond my budget this year had brought me this special gift, I stayed up late (for me!) to decorate it and Christmas morning I awoke to the heady fragrance of fresh pine. Of course after lunch, in my “just a quiet afternoon at the Taylor’s” world of the “wild things”, I was standing in front of the tree ready to take this picture ,when the whole thing crashed down on top of me!. Mercifully, my body broke it’s fall and no decorations were broken.

I subsequently spent a most unpleasant half hour lying under the tree trying to fit the trunk in the stand with one hand while fastening the bolts in place with the other.

Ah well, such is life! At least my Advent Wreath did not catch fire when I lit the Christ Candle, as did the one at St. Stephen’s on Christmas Eve.!!!

Before I move onto a Christmas Recipe I must mention that some of my Internet savvy Team Members have discovered that one of the Flock, has NOT been wintering in the Baa-hamas, as we were all led to believe, but has,in fact, been moonlighting as a Character in a Nativity Play, somewhere in the USA!! Do check out this marvellous Video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1pbuyGlQ0
Thanks to Everett (who found Lamb) and to Jillian for showing me the Video!!

And while you are happily watching things on YouTube you could be multi-tasking by running up a delicious pot of…

Maritime Salmon Chowder

6 cups potatoes, diced
2 large onions, diced
1 1/2-2 pounds Salmon( or Trout) fillet, skinned and cut into chunks
2 Tbsps. butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups light cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups fish stock
chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot bring 3 cups of water to the boil over medium-high heat and cook potatoes and onion for 5-10 minutes, until potatoes are just tender. Do not drain. Reduce heat to medium. Add next 6 ingredients and simmer gently until fish is cooked through ( approx. 5 mins.) Season to taste and garnish with parsley before serving.Serves 6