The Christmas Cradle by Meadow Rue Merrill

Is It Time to Rethink Your Definition of Christmas?

Posted on by Michele Morin

When Christmas seems to have been reduced to a shopping list;
When the squares on your December calendar are bulging with enough activity to exhaust Frosty the Snowman, Santa, and all his elves;
When you are tired of the knot that has already twisted itself into your stomach by the day after Thanksgiving . . .

. . . it’s time to look carefully at your definition of Christmas.

This Christmas season, join Meadow Rue Merrill at Lantern Hill Farm where a Christmas party in the barn helps to redefine the season for her young friend Molly who knew all about Christmas!

“Christmas was Santa and reindeer and elves!
Christmas was bright lights and a tall tree!
Best of all, Christmas was presents!”  (5)

 

The Christmas Cradle Picture Book (Ages 4-7) spins a realistic tale in the context of family and comes alongside parents with practical and yet winsome suggestions for activities that will help children discover the joy of serving others. Inspired by Jesus, the ultimate Sharer who invites us into a poured out life, our acts of love become a gift to Him. Like Molly and her friends at Lantern Hill Farm, we learn:

“Christmas [isn’t] Santa or reindeer or elves.
It’s not bright lights or a tall tree.
It [isn’t] even presents.
Christmas was a baby who shared God’s love with the world so that we could share it, too.”

Many thanks to Hendrickson Publishers for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.

Because of God’s great Gift to the world,

Michele Morin

 

I  am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. If you should decide to purchase, The Christmas Cradle Picture Book (Ages 4-7)  [or the board book version, The Christmas Cradle Board Book (Ages 1-4)] simply click on the title here or within the text, and you’ll be taken directly to Amazon. If you decide to buy, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and six adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

69 thoughts on “Is It Time to Rethink Your Definition of Christmas?”

  1. So nice to see what Meadow Rue Merrill is up to these days. I have followed her blog and her writing when she was writing for Bangor Daily News but have lost track of her. What a lovely book for this season. I’m going to put it on my list of gifts for my grandsons as a Thanksgiving present so they can get into the true spirit of Christmas.

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  2. …I believe that Christmas is two winter holidays of light. One religious and one secular. This is not to minimize the former. Even a commercial Christmas embraces some of the religious story, the story of giving, family and love. Today too many Christians brush over the part about love, love for those foreign and strange.

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  15. It’s nice to remember the heritage of Christmas and what it’s really about. It’ll be here before we know it.
    X, Julie | This Main Line Life

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  19. Michele, this looks like such a sweet book with a message we all need to hear and remember. Thank you for recommending it as I will be checking it out for my grands as well.

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  22. I need to start making my list of good read aloud again with a grand baby on the way. I realize I have missed out on a whole lot of amazing children’s books as I wrapped up my teaching career.

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  30. This is the kind of book I used to love before our family decided to just let go of Christmas altogether and focus on the Biblical feasts. I was so surprised when my kids expressed intense relief a few days after our decision. They said they had found Christmas so stressful because of all the effort it took to separate the true meaning from the rest of it. They were so glad we had just let it go. It was very eye opening for me. Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com!

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  31. I’ve not heard of this one before, but it looks like it’s worth the read! One of my favorite’s, (which I can’t remember the title at the moment), is the story of how the candy cane got its name. It’s a beautiful story, weaved with spiritual truths in its pages.
    Love Christmastime stories! ❤

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