Christmas Letter to Family and Friends 2010

Merry Christmas to you all!  As usual, my plan to write and mail the annual Miller’s Christmas letter early has failed once again to be done!  But I am determined to have it mailed before the 4^th Sunday in Advent is celebrated.  Therefore, I think I will have a busy morning ahead of me!!

The year 2010 was very busy, full of many adjustments and I know has been filled with both very sweet and sad memories for us all.  Our year’s story begins just a day after Christmas 2009.  Mother had another one of her “events” on December 26, 2009, so we brought her up to our home to stay until she felt better and was stronger.  Soon it became very apparent that Mother would be living with us permanently.  I know that it has been very hard for Mother to accept; but she has been so very gracious about it all.  I can only imagine how I would have felt; knowing that our daughters were moving everything out of our home, getting it ready to sell, and seeing myself getting only weaker when I so desperately want to get stronger and better!  Mother has filled her day working on a cross-stitch quilt that I started years ago and put up for a someday in the future.  She is determined to get it finished!   What a wonderful gift-thanks Mom!

Kathleen has been very busy with teaching and finishing her Masters this year.

For the past 4-trimesters, we have seen very little of her.  But yesterday, December 17^th and her b-day, she graduated from Northwestern Missouri State University with a Masters in Education (Teaching Elementary Self-Contained).  In what little free time Kathleen has had; she ran the bookstore for her church, helped family and friends by babysitting so they could go out for a well deserved “night out” and stayed connected with her friends either in person or on Facebook.   Kathleen is looking forward to her next classroom and is already preparing for it.  I am wondering just where that classroom will be?  It is enough to rest in the knowledge that the Lord knows where and it is all under His control!

Kathryn has been just about as busy as Kathleen!  She too is rarely seen here at home.  This year she became a licensed agent at OMI.  There is again “shop talk” around our family table as it used to be when Granddad was still here.  Kathryn’s goals are to get her Dad’s desk completely organized, get her license to sell health insurance, and begin her CSR and CIC.  I think she is going to be BUSY!!  When Kathryn is not at the office, she is a wonderful help around the house and keeping Grandma entertained.  Currently Dad, Kathryn, and I have had our free time occupied splitting a very large and donated woodpile that seems to be replenished before we get all of the last donation split and stacked at the back fence.   It is a “fun” job but sometimes a very COLD job.  Kathleen is great to have hot chocolate, coffee or hot tea for us as the night progresses.

Mackenzie and Brandon again were the highlight of Nana’s summer.  I look forward to their 5-week visit with us!  We had lots of fun with trips to the different libraries & their story hours, playing at the parks, swimming, long walks with LOTS of questions and lots of old fashion fun playing in the backyard and in the playhouse.  Both Mackenzie and Brandon like to help in the kitchen.  I’m betting that this coming summer there may be flour on the ceiling and sugar on the carpet; but the memories I pray will last a life time.  My Grandma always said she did not bother to really clean the kitchen until after I went home in the summer.  I think history is in the process of repeating itself—and I am thrilled!!  I have already started planning what we will be doing this coming summer-I can’t wait. Justin and Kristen are fine.  Justin continues to love his job with All State Insurance and Kristen is so blessed to be able to stay home with the children.  She is still making amazing transactions with the stacking of coupons and saving lots!  She has become very interested in organic whole foods type of cooking and is very vigilant about the about of sugar and what fats her family eats.  I am so happy that she is doing this and hope she will continue cooking this way always.

Olin continues to be active in Lion’s Club, cemetery work and the office.  The office takes most of his time.  Although this summer, Olin had a great garden that kept me busy canning for several weeks! It is always nice when he get to spend time here at home.  He is really enjoying having Kathryn at the office with him.  They are making quite a team!  

This year has flown by as I was taking care of the family, canning, moving Mother and getting her home ready to sell. But most of all I’ve tried to spend quality and cherished time with Mother.  My newest accomplishment is having my own blog and trying not to have to ask the girls too many “how-to “questions.  Please stop by for a visit anytime at, http://seeingadayfullofblessings.blogspot.com .

We all wish for you a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Blessed New Year.  Thanks for all the cards and letters we have already received; we so enjoy hearing from you!  With this letter and wishes we send all our love you and your families.

Christmas With Grandma Mc (II)

Next Grandma read a poem entitled "Christmas" by Gertrude Hollis.  Unfortunately, I cannot find this poem in any of her books or notes.  If you should have a copy of it, I would surely appreciate you sharing it with me!  Also not found on YouTube, "Shadows so Softly Enfold Thee" was sung by Mr. James Thompson.

Out of the Glory                                                                 Grace Noll Crowell

Out of the glory which He had with the Father

Before the world was, the Lord came down;

Out of the radiance and the dazzling splendor,

To the shadowed dusk of a little earthly town!

Only the stir of the sleeping beasts about Him,

Only coarse hay to line His manger bed

After the glory-after the glory to find there

But a single light from a star-lamp overhead.

Out of the glory. . . .Oh, the wonder that Jesus

Once came o the earth to meet our human need!

That God the Father loved us enough to send Him

Is marvelous, all but incredible act indeed.

That Christ should leave the companionship of His Father,

The magnificent splendor for a lowly birth,

Is cause for rejoicing-let the whole earth praise Him;

The Saviour who came to save our small lost earth.

Mrs. Snoddy then sang one of Grandma's all time favorites (mine too), "Birthday of a King"

The Light of Bethlehem

Thomas Curtis Clarke

Above a world entrapped by fear,

There shone a silver star.

The doubters saw it not, nor cared;

The men of faith, from afar,

Knew that the Light of Love looked down,

And followed it through field and town.

Through desert lands they made their way

Past mountains bleak and wild;

They came to humble Bethlehem

And found a little Child.

Their hearts were stirred; their feet had trod

A rode of peace-they learned of God!

How blind are we who walk through night

In desert lands of sin!

Our ears are deaf, we cannot hear,

Amid the strife and din.

The voice of One who came to tell

The Word of Truth – that all is well.

Our hearts are broken by the years,

But still there shines a star

Above a little manger – home.

Oh, that we might, from afar

Retrace our steps through fear and night

To faith and hope, and Bethlehem’s light.

The Christmas Star

Merle K. Heicher

How strange the portent of the star!

It seems to hold within its light

A revelation from afar

With which to pierce the present night:

It holds the hopes of ancient men

Who by their faith lived life aright,

And taught us with prophetic pen

The message of this wondrous night

How rich the token of the star!

We feel the stir of angel’s wings,

And in the fields in dulcet bar

The heavenly host around us sings:

We stand in awe with shepherds old;

We kneel with Oriental kings,

Our myrrh and frankincense and gold,

Each one a precious tribute brings.

What peace!  The guidance of the star!

It shines across the coming years,

It loosens us from sins that mar,

It casts away our shackling fears.

What joy! The brilliance of the star!

No more can sorrow start our tears,

It sets the gates of heaven ajar

And lo, the glorious Christ appears.

The clip is so reminiscent of the old phonographs of my grandparents.  Our girls remember with fondness playing with Granddad & Grammy's old Victrola in the basement of their home.  The sheet music that is featured at the beginning is the exact piece of sheet music I learned to play "Star of the East" on the piano.  Guess I am old enough to be a Nana!



The program "The Stillness of Christmas" was written by Grandma.  She had read an article by that same name in a very old publication,  An American  Annual of Christmas Literature and Art  - Christmas.  It was written by John Peterson and I so wish I could find a site to link with this program.  Mr. Peterson's article is excellent and it is a Christmas memory that I will always cherish.  It is found in the Volume 11 of the Christmas Annual, 1941.

The Stillness of Christmas

For a number of years, I have looked forward to the Christmas season with utter dread.  Believing this attitude of mine to be wicked, I pushed it deeper in my heart and tried to cover it up with a feverish activity- trying to work up the Christmas spirit.  Then, to my surprise, I learned I was not alone in this dread of the Christmas celebration.  There were others who shared the same feeling.  It was then I dragged my thoughts out into the open and examined them.

Why should one come to dread the observance of a season that marks God’s greatest gift to earth, His Son and that gift in the precious form of a baby?  There was a reason for this dread-something most assuredly was wrong.  What was it?  Two reasons were at once obvious - over-commercialization and over-organization.  These two conditions leave us first with little to nothing financially, to carry out the true meaning of Christmas – the bringing of comfort and happiness to those in need.

A child stood in the market-place,

Privation marked his wan white face,

His lips were blue, his listless eyes

Were like the gray of winter skies.

Can this be Christmas Day?

A rich man sat in cushioned ease.

Thought he, “I have what e’er I please.

Food, clothes, are mine, no wants annoy.

My wealth can buy what men enjoy.

Can this be Christmas Day?

The rich man left his house of stone

And saw the needy child alone,

Gave of himself, gave of his store,

Found peace he had not known before.

Yes! This is Christmas day!

                                                                                Alfred Grant Walton

Too much of our Christmas giving is to those who have.  Then the seemingly endless round of activities leave us with no time for meditation to ponder in our hearts as Mary did – for stillness – stillness to hear the angel sing and to hear God speak.

Stillness at Christmas?!!  You ask in surprise.  With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the rushing around, the blaring of the lovely Christmas hymns from public address systems practically all day long during the shopping hours – a travesty that should not be permitted, can there really be stillness at Christmas?

“There must be.  For stillness belongs in a special way to the deeper significance of the season.  The writers of many of the best loved Christmas hymns have called attention to that quietness which is so essential, a part of this festival time.   In the first stanza of Edmund Hamilton Sear’s ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ is voiced the thought of a world that ‘in solemn stillness’ heard the angels sing.  The quietness of a night under the open skies rested on shepherds as they watched their flocks but a deeper, far deeper stillness must have held them as the glory of the Lord shone round about them and fear gripped their hearts.  And after the departure of the angels, after the glad tidings had been brought in word and melody, stillness awed, solemn, sacred, must have enveloped them for a time.  Bishop Philip Brooks’ famous hymn pictures a little town asleep in the quiet midnight hours; “O Little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie!  Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by'.”

"As the peaceful village sleeps through the silent night, the heavenly gift is given.  There are no crowds or cheers.  Humble shepherds hear the announcement and rejoice; but the little town sleeps on in undisturbed repose: How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given."   So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of his heavens. No ear may hear His coming, but in this word of sin, where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.

"A silent Bethlehem, and within it a Mother and her Child slumber in dreamless sleep.  The most universally loved of all Christmas songs is the familiar ‘Silent Night, Holy Night!’" Have you ever experienced a certain stillness as the night before Christmas draws on?  The excitement of preparation is over, the time for which we have worked feverishly is about to come.  Or perhaps the Christmas program at the church is over and as we go out into the night, suddenly we are aware of a stillness, a holy calm.   In these moments of stillness as we meditate on the meaning of Christmas-in such moments Christmas enters the heart and our hearts are at peace in the stillness-it must be that peace of which the angels sang on that first Christmas night so long ago.

"True, there is a stillness at Christmas that may only be irksome to him who knows nothing of the glad tidings of great joy that make this a festival day to all who really keep Christmas.  There is also a stillness of Christmas, a stillness that bring quietness to fearful longing hearts, peace and unspeakable joy to those who receive the gift of our gracious God at Christmas-time."

This year as never before, the children of men who would hear the song of the angels at Christmas-time, who would experience the stillness of Christmas – must first hear the Voice that says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.”

“I’ve built Thee of holy thoughts

A cradle for Thy bed

And close beside a glowing hearth,

It waits to rest Thy head.

A candle in the window shines

It’s welcome out afar

And that Thou mayst be born to me

Love holds the door ajar.

Accept the hospice of my heart

Thou precious Babe divine

For all I am or have or hold

Forever Lord is Thine.

Christmas With Grandma Mc (II)

This program was a beautiful mixture of both the secular and sacred sides of Christmas.  The program was begun with a medley of secular Christmas music; the only song mentioned was "White Christmas".  Since this is the anniversary year of the movie, I could think of no better video clip than Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney!!  I remember when the movie would be aired around the holiday.  Mother and Daddy would have Grandma and Grandpa at our house so they could see it.  They did not have a TV and WOULD NOT have one.  They had their radio and love to read.  Grandmother so enjoy the movie and especially the music.


It was no surprise to find that Grandma had "Twas the Night Before Christmas" read by a Mrs. L.B. Eubank.  Grandma read that poem to me so many times, that I could a one time easily recite it as she read it to me.  I was sadden to see that when I was looking to the poem on the net; all the sites I checked had become politically correct in the refusal to say "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.", and use "Happy Christmas to all. . .".  How sad!!  Anyway if you do not have it memorized, or need to check your memory as I would, click here.

Then Grandmother "switched gears" and began the beautiful sacred side of this program.  She started it with "Mrs. Rice and Mrs. Snoddy playing a piano duet of "O Holy Night". Liberace was a favorite of Grandmother's; so when I found this clip, I thought it was perfect!



Next, Grandma had a "Prophecy Solo" sung by Mrs. Snoddy, "Unto Us A Child is Born"  from Handel's Messiah. At a very early age I learned to appreciate and love classical music.  The Messiah was a favorite of mine, because it was a favorite of Grandmother's.  Not in a prideful way, but I so wished she could have lived to see me sing in the "Messiah" when I was college.  That will always be a favorite memory of those days!



Of course no Christmas program would complete without the reading of the Scriptures.  Mrs. J.E. Jones read Luke 2:1-20.  (One of my favorite memories of this particular Scripture was when Kathryn was in 2nd grade and she had to memorize it.  I so cherish the memories of helping her learn God's Word and hearing her little voice recite what she had learned that day in school at the supper table!)  After Mrs.Jones reading of the Scripture, the club women sang "Silent Night".  The first clip I am posting is "Stile Nacht" or "Silent Night" spoken in German.  The reason for this is that Grandmother's parents were a young German couple who came to America for a better life.  When Grandma's oldest sister, Amelia, was having trouble in school; because she did not understand the American language very well, Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma vowed to only speak German when the children were not around.  The idea was a great idea.  Their legacy was five children all who loved the Lord and did very well.

Mannheim Steamroller's recording of "Silent Night" has to be one of the most beautiful renditions of the song.  I hope you will enjoy it!!  It almost takes me back to the old upright piano of Grandmother's and listening to her play and knowing all was right in my world.



Please continue reading the next bog.  Thanks!

Christmas With Grandma Mc!

My Grandmother McMillan loved Christmas!!! The very second you walked into their home you were greeted with the love that is the essence of Christmas.  Grandmother loved the holiday season, was an amazing cook with something always good just about to come out of the oven. She was a wonderful author and avid reader of literature.  She was asked to do many programs for the different clubs she was in.  I am now the bless recipient of many of her programs she gave and I want to share them with you.  I hope they will add a new a wonderful dimension to your holiday.  I was blessed to grow up hearing many of the poems, stories and programs.  I so remember with such love sitting in their living room with Grandpa or Grandma reading to me from the Bible, storybooks, poems, etc.  We would always end the evening gathered around the old upright piano with Grandma playing the Christmas hymns and all of us singing.

The following Christmas blogs are an assortment of poems and programs that she wrote or compiled.   I am having to post several blogs because to the amount of music Grandmother had her friends sing in the programs.  I am pretty sure she accompanied many of the solosts.   Hope you enjoy and that the messages bring you closer to the real reason of the season--JESUS!

The Road to Bethlehem

Come, take the road to Bethlehem!

For on a Christmas night,

Illumined by a host of stars,

Its holy way is bright-

As bright as when an amber star

Hung poised above His bed,

And Mary bent in joyous awe

Beside a drowsy head.

The very One the Magi knew

And knelt before as King,

Will take with joy a questing heart

As richest offering.

The poorest man may lay the gold

Of worship at His feet,

And love is frankincense; and myrrh

Of sacrifice is sweet

O that we might from far

Retrace our steps through fear and might

To faith and hope and Bethlehem's light.

Here by the Babe of Bethlehem,

Is comfort for the sad;

World-weary hearts, made old by sin,

Grow young once more, and glad;

And all, both rich and poor, may come

And find a sure release

From cares that fret, and doubts that prey,

through Him, the Prince of Peace.

O Wondrous Child of Bethlehem!

O Man of Majesty!

Who lifted high above the star

The cross of Calvary!

Christ of the lowly manger,

Christ of Gethsemane,

Bless an hear this Christ night

That takes the road to Thee!

                                                                                             Dorothy Louise Thomas

Bethlehem Caravan

Charles Hannibal Voss

Over the wind-blown sands,
Under a sapphire sky,
The Magi came from Eastern lands
With frankincense, gold, and myrrh in their hands,
At the call of an Infant's cry.

By caravan trail they came,
In the silver hush of the night,
With their eyes fixed on a starry flame
That sparkled and shone for One whose name
Is Savior, and Light of Light.

Camels and men are gone,
The earth might cease to be,
But the gifts that they brought to that tiny Son
Will be remembered by everyone
Throughout eternity.

The Consecration of the                                                Edwin Markham

Common Way

The hills that had been lone and lean
Were pricking with a tender green,

And flocks were whitening over them

From all the folds of Bethlehem.

The king of Heaven had come our way,

And in a lowly stable lay:

He had descended from the sky

In answer to the world’s long cry-

Descended in a lyric burst

Of high archangels, going first

Unto the lowest and the least,

To humble bird and weary beast.

His palace was a wayside shed,

A battered manger was his bed:

An ox and ass with breathings deep

Made warm the chamber of His sleep. 

Three sparrows with a friendly sound

Were picking barley from the ground;

An early sunbeam, long and thin,

Slanted across the dark within,

And brightened in its silver fall

A cart-wheel leaning to the wall.

An ox-yoke hung upon a hook:

A worn plow with a clumsy crook

Was lying idly by the wheel.

And everywhere there was the feel

Of that sweet peace that labor brings-

The peace that dwells with homely things.

Now have the homely things been made

Sacred, and glory on them laid.

For He whose shelter was a stall,

The King was born among them all.

He came to handle saw and plane,

To use and hallow the profane:

Now is the holy not afar

In temples lighted by a star,

But where the loves and labors are.

Now that the King has gone this way,

Great are things of every day!

What Makes a Christmas?

What makes a Christmas? Is it place, or time,

A Christmas card, a holly wreath, a rhyme?

Is it a gift tied up with ribbons gay,

Does it mean Christmas when you “Merry Christmas” say?

The bells may softly chime “O Holy Night!”

The Christmas tree may glow with candle light,

The table may be spread with festive cheer

And yet no Christmas spirit hovers near.

No, Christmas is from all these things apart,

It needs but a warm and open heart;

And sorrow, pain, and fear are swept away

When Christmas comes into the heart to stay.

For Christmas is but faith, and trust, and love,

A lifting of the eyes to Him above-

The Christ who cam to earth to set men free,

God’s gift of love supreme to you and me.

And as the angel choir their anthems sing,

The story of God’s love to man they bring

,’The promise of abiding peace impart-

‘Tis Christmas when Christ dwells within the heart.

                                                                                                              -Jesse Williams

“PEACE ON EARTH”

Our God will not be mocked.  The angels’ singing

Was not vain words flung on the empty air,

But vital prophecy and truth set winging

That will not be denied.  Today’s despair

Is pierced by golden shafts.  The sunlight breaking

Its way through clouds should bid our darkness cease,

And ease our anxious hearts long numbed by aching.

There shall be peace on earth, there shall be peace!

Men will give glory to their God, and nations

Will yet turn to Him, unified at last;

Class after class of high and lowly stations

And race after race will turn, their warring past,

And brother will kneel by brother, each tongue naming

One name, and like a spring flood this release

Their pent up praise, too long withheld, proclaiming

Him Counselor, the might God, the Prince of Peace.

                                                             Grace Noll Crowell

Proverbs 31 Woman, A Life Long Quest with Gods Help!

When I started this blog, it was my intention to leave something special for our three girls and their families.  Everyone seems to be "blogging".  It took very little encouragement from Kathleen, and I too found myself a blogger who has a lot to learn; but is loving it!  Thankfully the Lord had given me MANY hours mowing our lawns to think about this new season of my life.  Seemingly all too fast, the summer came when I was not planning the next year of home school and buying curriculum.  Our family had changed!   Our daughters were grown and were strong "arrows in their father's quiver".   Each daughter landed squarely in the middle of the target God had chosen for them and they are now busy doing His work.  Praise the Lord!! The books are all neatly put away in hopes that someday one of our girls will be homeschooling their children and the books will be "dusted off" and put back into service.  Yes, I know that new books would be needed etc.; but as education tries to change to a new and better ways, many of the old tried and true applications are as applicable today as they were in the old days!!!!  I believe it was once said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same!"

Currently, I am caring for my Mother who will be turning 92 years old on December 12, 2010.  What a blessing and growing time this is for me!  Role reversal is never easy for any of the players in the game of life!  After all I realize that I will always see our girls as "our babies" and want to protect them and not lean and depend on them.  That is my job!!  And so it is with my Mother.  But with that thinking, comes heartbreak for both mother and daughter.  I have realized that there will come a day when I too will have to see at Kathleen, Kristen and Kathryn in a total new and STRANGE  way.  Instead of caring for them with my hands, their hands will be caring for me.  I pray that God will give me grace and wisdom at that time to help them step into their new role and realize that it is the circle of life.  And what a wonderful blessing it is!!!  As my Grandmother McMillan's mother once said, "It is better have a Mother in the corner, than no mother at all."  I can only say a hearty "AMEN"!!!  It is my prayer that in the coming days of Mother's life, that I can give her the love, protection and yes guidance that she need.  But more than that, I pray I can make changes in my life now; and that those changes will become so much a part of me, that when that time comes for me I will be able to in some small way to still be an active Proverbs 31 woman and a blessing to my family.

During those many hours of mowing Mother's and our lawns I have reflected back over our life more than once!  I so remember the day Olin took me up to his dorm room at MU and read Proverbs 31 to me.  Oh my, what a women!!!  Was that what Olin was wanting in a wife, could I become someone like her?  Oh God help me!!!!!! And that He did in so many different ways.  I have a wonderful example in my Mother.  Daddy was killed when I was in 7th grade.  Mother was more concerned about helping me than she was about herself.  She was so very strong, although I am sure she cried herself to sleep many nights.  Mother was always and continues to be there for me and our family.   I am a very blessed daughter to have been given such a wonderful gift in my Mother!!!  I pray that I will be able to do for our girls as she did/does for me!! My second Mother, Olin's mother-Mary, showed me so many ways to fulfill the Proverbs 31 women's mission.  God could not have given me a more perfect "second Mom" and I love her so very much and miss her ever so very much!  I am so very blessed to have called her Mom and been taught by her so much of her wisdom!  Strangely enough each of our daughters played a part in my journey of trying to be the Proverbs 31 women in the Olin Miller family.  Each daughter, in her own way , came to me with the same idea of being a Proverbs 31 women to a younger friend or neighbor.  We talked about how each woman, young or old, was an example to someone in "her circle".  It was so wonderful to hear their plans to help a younger friend!  I again turned to God and thanked Him for the blessing of children with a soft heart for Him!

I hope in some small way, for everyone who reads this blog, you will be strengthen in your belief in God, learn something new, or have had an enjoyable time reading a post that puts a smile on your face and a day brighter that will help you be a Proverbs 31 woman in life.  We are all blessed to be a blessing and we all have many blessings.  Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder!  I know I certainly do!!