Merry Greetings!

Last week I got organized with my Christmas cards. Not the cards I've sent -- the cards I've received. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to open up Christmas cards from my friends on the different card exchanges on our network websites. We have received so many beautiful cards from all over the world! It has put me in the mood for Christmas like nothing else this year.

And it's about time, too -- its Christmas!

And there is so much going on -- check it out:

In this issue:
-- Santa Updates: Daily from the North Pole
-- Frankincense
-- The Tug of War on Christmas
-- Lessons Learned from Black Friday 2009
-- All NEW Christmas Comics
-- Great Debates: The Angel or the Star?
-- Jimmy Stewart Remembers It's A Wonderful Life
-- Ryan's Prayer
-- In Honor of Step Fathers
-- Glorious Music of Christmas on PBS
-- Christmas Out There
-- What to Do When She Says She Wants Nothing for Christmas
-- Counting Down and Counting Up

The Merry News is brought to you by:

Santa Updates: Daily From the North Pole

My little ones are watching SantaUpdate.com like never before. My two youngest are no longer really little -- Emma is 7 and Madelyn is 9. But they are big believers in Santa. A little of Christmas morning happens for them each day as they race to the computer to see what Elf Ernest has reported about Operation Merry Christmas at the North Pole.

Every day until Christmas Eve Ernest posts news at least once per day (sometimes several times a day, depending upon what is happening). You'll want to get in on the fun because it has been an interesting year at the North Pole.

Frankincense

In an all new feature at My Merry Christmas we explore the hardly-known and barely-talked-about element of frankincense. What is it and why is it a gift fit for a King? What was true anciently about frankincense is true today -- maybe you should get some for under your tree.

The Tug of War on Christmas

It has been yet another wild year in the War on Christmas. Well, it's not exactly a war. We like to call it the Tug of War on Christmas.

Wars are fought by two opposing sides who bitterly engage in battles. The Tug of War on Christmas is really fought by those who are really too chicken to battle. One side is fueled by television commentators who would have you believe that Christmas is simply denied in public. The other side is motivated by a religious-like belief that Christmas is simply too religious. Both really use the season as a convient to push broader overall agendas. It really isn't about Christmas at all.

Once Christmas is over, they lose interest in their tug of war on Christmas -- until they start all over again next holiday season. Come visit us at Defend Christmas where we chronicle all their antics of 2009 including an assault on President Obama for not saying the word "Christmas" in his Christmas card to news from the world of Atheists who decry the commercialism of Christmas by hawking a book -- their "official guide to Christmas", no less -- during the curiously busiest time of the selling year. For those of us who keep Christmas all year, it is all a side-show.

Lessons Learned from Black Friday 2009

The economy ruled the headlines all year -- and it has dominated the Christmas shopping season. In year's past Black Friday was just a day -- one singular blip on the Christmas radar that was more of a starting gun for the shopping season. This year Black Friday became a season-within-a-season -- starting right after Halloween and continuing well into the 2nd week of December, the discounts were deep and the competition was fierce. We analyze what it all means for shopping in the Christmases to come.

All NEW Christmas Comics

Our friend George Broderick of Cool Yule Comics has given us a fresh storyline from Christmas Eve, the First Lady of Christmas Cheer. I keep saying the kids will love these -- but honestly, it is old dudes like me that really get the most from these brilliantly drawn and hilariously written comics.

Great Debates: The Angel or The Star?

We won't engage in the Tug of War on Christmas because we've got bigger fish to fry and real Christmas issues to debate -- such as which do we put on the tree: the Angel or the Star? Seriously, this is a weighty Christmas issue and one that has raged in my family for decades. Get in on the debate and make sure your tree represents which is right.

Jimmy Stewart Remembers It's a Wonderful Life

It just isn't Christmas Eve without "It's a Wonderful Life" playing on television. In my house, I'll watch it in the dead of summer. Any Christmas purist will do so. We're proud to reprint this article written by Jimmy Stewart himself back in the 1980s remembering his role in the film.

Ryan's Prayer

All the best Christmas stories feature children and amongst the best are those where the child teaches the adult. Or, in the case of this story of a young man facing a dreadful illness, the child becomes the teacher for the teacher. What's best, this is a true story. Bring yer kleenex.

In Honor of Step Fathers

Without notice and fanfare Joseph the Carpenter played a role in the Christmas story that to this day gets little notice. It was Joseph who was engaged to Mary when she became "great with child". It was he who heard the voice of an angel instructing him to marry her. It was Joseph who took a very pregnant Mary on a long journey to Bethlehem. It was Joseph who was her attending physician, her friend and the mortal father to her Son. His silent service is a role model -- and an honor -- to step fathers everywhere.

Glorious Music of Christmas on PBS

Tune in to your local PBS television station next week -- usually on Christmas Eve -- to catch the annual Christmas Concert of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Each year world-class entertainers team up with the Choir to provide the best of classic Christmas music. The featured performer this year is Brian Stokes Mitchell, Broadway's leading man, who gives an engaging performance. With warmth, humor and touching sentiment this show will delight all ages and add a spirit of Christmas to your festivities.

Christmas Out There

Some of the best of new features from our sister sites of the Merry Network include:

ClausNet.com -- Upgraded and redesigned!
Why Christmas? -- A spiffy new advent calendar
Noella Designs -- Our newest friend has lots of Christmas to explore.
Magical Holiday Home -- Loads of chatty folks talking home, food and family
Jinglebell Junction -- too much new to list -- have fun!
Christmas Talk -- Newly redesigned and chatting up a storm

What to Do When She Says She Wants Nothing for Christmas

In the early years of our marriage our economic prospects were not good. As we faced Christmas after Christmas challenged to make it all happen for the kids my wife would bravely tell me that she wanted nothing for Christmas. One year, that is exactly what I gave her.

Counting Down and Counting Up

Deeply rooted amongst our many traditions at My Merry Christmas is one we've absorbed from a now-defunct website -- an ongoing thread wholly devoted to just counting down to Christmas. To see this is to believe it. Friendships have been born, life stories shared, jokes told and day-to-day trial and achievement have all been celebrated through these threads. This year, the thread is closing on 8,000 posts for the year...and we're getting ready to launch a new countdown where we will count the posts up to...what?...10,000 in 2010? If you're looking for community to share your love of Christmas, this is the place to start.

Merry Christmas, Drew

Since late summer we have been dedicated to raising funds through Santa's Sleigh for a special needs child. Santa's Sleigh began a few years back as a conduit for us to do something good -- to just give back a little. It is, after all, Christmas -- and this is what we do. Those of us who run websites through the Merry Network have want to do that kind of Christmas together. This year, Santa's Sleigh has done a great work. In a little more than 3 months time we have raised more than $4000 for Santa's Sleigh -- enough to make a big dent in the $50,000 bill needed for young Drew to have a vehicle to transport him.

This effort was a very personal one for my family. My dear wife and my children sponsored an offline event to raise funds -- selling candy. Through snow storms and freezing weather they hit up neighbors, relatives and friends to raise money for Drew. They went after it with gusto, happily doing the work without regard to their own schedules or needs. I saw in their eyes and their smiles the service they gave in selling and then distributing candy to those who opened their hearts and wallets to the cause. Of course, I thank those who supported us. But even more I thank Santa's Sleigh for the spirit of giving instilled in my children through this project. The Christmas spirit runs thick in my house this year, and for that I'm profoundly grateful.

-- All the best for a blessed Christmas for each of you,
Jeff