Beautiful Homemakers

 Hello, Beautiful Homemakers! Today I've got a story, actually an old e-mail from 2018 from Craig Huey, about the Christmas Story: "Five Little-known Facts You've Never Heard about the Message of the Manger." 1.  A manger?  Or "the" manger?  Luke 2:7; 2:12; and 2:16  Why is this important? 2. Priestly shepherds would watch the birthing process of lambs, inspect them immediately after birth, and protect it from becoming injured or blemished after birth. How did they do this? 3. Migdal-Eder is a watch tower mentioned twice in the Bible as Tower of the Flock:  In Genesis 35:21 and Micah 4:8.  The shepherds could observe a flock of sheep from a high position, and bring ewes about to give birth into the base of the tower where there was... 4.  The feeding troughs weren't made of wood, but of ....   New-born male lambs that were without spot or blemish were wrapped in "swaddling clothes" to prevent them from thrashing around and bruising thems...

 Hello, Beautiful Homemakers! Today I am reading you Chapter 2 of Carolyn Haywood's Snowbound with Betsy for Homemaking Storytime.  I loved this book as a child and was thrilled when I found it for a quarter at a library sale, as online it was selling for $325 (this was in the late 1990s). I would often read only Chapter 2 during the busy days of December, because it's such a cheery little chapter.  I read the book to my son at least three times.  So I thought I would give you a little taste of it, too. Reading this book reminded me of another story I had heard, long ago, and then it brought to mind Emilie Barnes, homemaker extraodonaire, who wrote 80 books! As a teen, I was lucky enough to attend her "More Hours in My Day Seminar" twice with my mom in the 1980s.  She lived in Riverside, California, and made the rounds to different churches with her seminar.  I still have my notes on Christmas.  Maybe I can share those with you next year. In the video...