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This page was developed and maintained by Wendolyn D. Davis, BS, MBA/HRM
Great Lakes Michigan, GMWA
P.O. Box 1633
Grand Rapids, MI 49501-1633
Email: chapter@greatlakesmichigan.org
Website: http://greatlakesmichigan.org
P.O. Box 1633 Grand Rapids, MI 49501-1633 Volume 3 Issue 12 December 2006
Thought Starter
Be careful of your thoughts,
for they become your actions
Be careful of your actions,
for they become your habits
Be careful of your habits,
for they become our character
Be careful of your character,
for it becomes your destiny.
Let’s Remember Christ in Christmas
There are those who will refuse to celebrate Christmas in December as they proclaim that’s not really when Christ was born. This may be true since the months as we live by them are not in the same order nor do they have the same name as they did when Christ was born. But does this really matter? We should be glad and want to celebrate the fact that Christ was born at all.
Considering His birth was solely to save our wretched undeserving souls should this be our only consideration to praise God for such a wonderful Savior? It should not. As most of our pastors have instructed us everyday should be a celebration that God loves us this much.
With that said, please let’s also show God who we can’t see how much we love Him by loving ourselves and each other who we can see!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The Christmas tree has a German beginning in almost all accounts of its history. Original trees were used as symbols of Christianity. When few people could read the tree was decorated with apples and used in “Miracle Plays” on December 24 to explain about Adam and Eve and their eviction from the Garden of Eden, hence the red and green colors of Christmas.
Converted Germans are said to have hung the fruit, nut and red paper strips decorated trees upside down from the ceiling in reverence. The trees became so decorated with fruit and sweets they were often referred to as sweet trees.
In some stories the trees were decorated with sweets and on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6, the trees were shook for the children symbolizing the gifts of the Three Wise Men’s gifts to Jesus.
The Christmas was introduced in the United States in the 1800’s by German settlers. Glass Christmas ornaments from Germany were introduced in the late 1800’s.
The star on top represents the star of Bethlehem.
Sources: wikipedia.com and www.christmastree.org
Recipe Corner
Awesome Pound Cake Recipe
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My Aunt Ruth used to make the best pound cake in the whole world. It was so rich and creamy. She explained to me that it was called a pound cake because it used a pound of butter and a pound of sugar. This was what made it so rich. |
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Ingredients: |
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Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in salt and the sugar. I use a large spoon for this. Next I add the butter. My grandmother would melt the butter in a pan over slow heat to make it blend easier. You can do this or just let the butter soften at room temperature. Add the eggs, whole. At this point I break out my mixer and begin mixing on slow. I slowly add my buttermilk, and then the vanilla extract. After it is thoroughly stirred, I turn the mixer up to medium for a few minutes, and then finally on high. If the mixture is a little thick I add just a touch more buttermilk. If you don't mix things thoroughly you will have lumps that will form air bubbles in your mixture and leave holes in your finished cake. It was always a matter of pride not to have these air pocket holes in our cakes so we always made sure we got all of the lumps. In the pre-electric-mixer day that involved a lot of whipping the cake by hand. We usually didn't have a hand cranked mixer that worked well, so this involved a large mixing spoon to whip it. Some old timers even counted the number of times they whipped the mixture - sort of made it fun and you didn't notice your arm tiring. |
Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.
The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African "first fruit" celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration.
Copied directly from www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org. The founder of Kwanzaa is Dr. Maluana Karenga, professor Department of Black Studies at California State University.
The History of the Christmas Tree
The History of Kwanzaa