God's Gift of Love

The Christmas season has finally arrived and our house has no shortage of yummy treats coming out of the oven! These cookies are so special that I wanted to share why I made them and maybe share this sweet idea truly given from the Lord (He does have all the great ideas after all!). These cookie packs were part of a gift for kids I teach at our church. We started the Christmas celebration early with a birthday party for Jesus complete with cupcakes, games a manger craft and of course reading the story of Jesus' birth. There is no better way to celebrate Jesus than with 10 four and five year olds!

These sugar cookies are made with a present template (use the paper template to cut the cookie out by hand, which is what I had to do) or cookie cutter. You will also need a small heart cookie cutter or again, use a template and cut by hand if you don't have the cutter. Outline and fill the cookie as you normally word and I added red disco dust to the hearts for an extra special sparkle!

 After the cookie dried for 24 hours, I packed them up as usual, but added a little something extra. This is not my original idea, I did see this on another blog and loved it! I typed out the message I wanted to send home with the cookies, cut the papers into strips and attached to a Christmas scrapbook paper. The paper gets folded, wrapped around the top edge of the bag and stapled in place. So very easy!

These two simple cookies have a very powerful message about why Jesus came. The gift isn't refering to all the presents we find wrapped under our tree but it's the sacrifice Jesus gave out of so much love for us to leave his Father in Heaven, be born a tiny helpless baby, grow up and face all the challenges we do all to die on a cross. That's a love that's hard for us to understand. Most of us wouldn't do what Jesus did. I am so grateful he did. I have hope in my future for a better life and one lived in Heaven with my heavenly Father. Because of Jesus, I've been given grace when I deserved very severe punishment; one that would seperate me for all eternity from my Father. This free gift of love is the most precious gift he could send. Wrapped in the tiny package of a baby boy.

Merry Christmas!