On the Journey

Luke 2

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.  ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Ice Berries

Just one of the winter wonders around the yard at this time of year. Those thorns look pretty big, but they are only about a half inch long, they do hurt though! This bush has to get trimmed regularly because it grows into the sidewalk!

Joseph has a vision

Joseph has a vision

 
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

NIV

These Little People are so small, I used a couple of LED flashlights to light them
ISO 200 6 sec exposure -1.7EXP Program Mode, Matrix metering, tripod, 50mm lens.

Christmas Caroling

Crossroads bought the old St Peter's Church on James and they hosted the carol sing, Its a beautiful old catholic church inside. The highlight was the huge pipe organ that the organist played from in the balcony.

 After we sang, everyone was invited downstairs for punch and cookies, or Hot cocoa. The girls were so happy at the prospect of cookies.

"You will have a Son"

 

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

 ²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
 ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
 ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
 ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

NIV

The Christmas Story - Little People Style

Yep! This is just a teaser for what we'll be digging into this week. Full studio lighting of the Nativity story acted out by Little People from Fisher Price!

Luke 2:8 NIV

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

Lit the shepherd with a 9 LED flashlight, hand held by my youngest assistant, Shaniah. Shot at 1600 ISO EXP-3.0, 1/13 no flash. There's a little shake, because I was too lazy to get the tripod, just wanted to see if it was going to work. That -3 EXP makes it very close to ISO 4800.