Friday Funnies: The Flu

Yeah, so this Christmas is pretty memorable. The flu hit our house on Dec 23 and hasn't let up. 3/4 of us are sick.  SO, today's funnies are all flu related.

Happy last-friday-of-the-year and I hope your family has better flu luck than mine!

Christmas Giving

There's a jealous, evil, murderer in the Christmas story.  His name was Herod.

This article goes into much more depth, but let me summarize.  

• Herod didn't want anyone else to be king. 
• When Jesus was born Herod felt threatened, there was a new "King of the Jews" and Herod didn't like it one bit.  
• He was a ruthless ruler and on more than one occasion had innocent people murdered. 

"His paranoia was legendary. He was afraid one of his two sons might take his throne, so he murdered both of them. ...In one of the final acts of his evil life, he had all the distinguished citizens of Jerusalem put in prison and commanded that they be slaughtered the moment he died. 'These people will not weep when I die,' he said, 'and I want them weeping, even if they weep over someone else.' So even at his death there was a great slaughter." From GTY.org

Yeah. What a guy. It gets worse.

Back to when Jesus was born and Herod was trying to hunt him down and kill him, he sent the magi to find Jesus and come back and tell him where the baby was so that he could kill him.  
In an act of what I suppose was ancient times civil disobedience, the magi refused.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph escaped to another country. To return home, where Herod ruled, would be certain death. They were refugees. He was already killing all male babies.  

"Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance." (Matthew 2:16)

It struck me the other day...if we are truly going to live the spirit of Christmas, we will be loving and supporting refugees. 

After all, our Savior was one.  

BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

And so, today, Christmas Day, I looked around my living room. I saw our beautiful tree and fireplace; our happy, safe children; our lovely presents. And I thought.

I thought about the families who aren't together this year.  

• About the children forced to leave their homes.
• About the hungry, scared, injured.
• About those who aren't as lucky as I have been.

And I did something about it.  
Today I donated to a religious charity in my home state that supports refugees.  They help with housing, visas, learning English, and more.

If, like me, you are feeling called to help others in the name of Jesus, our King who was first a refugee, please give.

Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

Not sure where to start? Here's a list of highly rated charities that help refugees.  Some are non-religious, some are Christian based (such as World Vision).  

Click photo to enlarge. Courtesy of CharityWatch.org

Thanks for listening to my heart.  I hope all who read this will have a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones.

P.S. **We understand that many refugees do not share our Christian faith.  Jesus does not tell us to feed and clothe only other Christians. He simply tells us to feed and clothe those in need.  Perhaps by seeing the love of Jesus lived out they may one day turn to Him. Regardless, I am committed to living my faith without condition.

Friday Funnies

Here are some Christmas themed funnies for you to enjoy!  

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card

It's the time of year to celebrate giving!  

You have given me over a million pageviews and now I'm giving away an Amazon gift card! Just in time for you to snag one last Christmas gift!

Entering the giveaway is easy (just follow the Rafflecopter directions below) and some entries can be done every day to get you even more chances at winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
*fine print* 

1. No purchase necessary to win. Open to residents of the 50 United States (including District of Columbia) who are at least 18 yrs old.  Winner to be selected at random by Rafflecopter.com and will be announced within 24 hours.  Winner will be notified by email and has 24 hours to respond to claim their prize.  
2. If the potential winner cannot be contact, fails to reply within 24 hours, or prize is returned as undeliverable, the potential winner has forfeited the prize and a new winner will be chosen.
3. All prizes are non-transferable.
4. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address and/or household. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and log-ins, or any other methods will void that entrant’s entries and that entrant may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in disqualification. 
5. Void where prohibited by law.

Friday Funnies: Lego

It's the first Friday in December!!!  Take a break from the hectic decorating, wrapping, and party planning and let these 3 Lego funnies give you a laugh.