11)Stephen Carradini: There's Been a Lot of “They”

There's Been a Lot of “They” This Year

So a low-pitched roar from the humidor
Says someone's life is going up in smoke;
Backroom deals made by the faceless “they.”

The love of life is all too easily surrendered
with one more district gerrymandered.
Who is the "they" that brought this down?

A straw man, raw deal, someone to hate
but there's no one there to incinerate
We invent a they to rage against.

But all is not weeping, there still lies a pause
We yet look past ourselves at He who caused
Christmas, Christ in mass, en masse.
Whatever it is they've got, they don't got this.

I believe in one everyone.
An everyone on this side of the manger,
and one soul inside, looking out at us.
And thus he came, born in a humble way,
One outside this "they," to bring us into his “we.”

And now a birth, that matters because of a life,
is celebrated, carols and presents (some reverence)
to remind ourselves of a coming peace on earth,
that we are all a they together, struggling towards
or away from, but all with a singular point of reference:


“whatever it is they got, they don't got this.”


Stephen Carradini is a writer and musician who currently lives in Alabama.

10) Greta Cydzikaitė: He Loves Us

Click on the image to enlarge.

Greta Cydzikaitė studies Psych, German, and Music at Glasgow University in Scotland.  Hailing from Mažeikiai, Lithuania, she is a talented and passionate violinist, and an inspiring friend in service, Spirit, and prayer.    

9)Amber Sluis: December Photography

Amber Sluis:  These are the pictures that remind me of how much I love Christmas, through and through. December is just my month. That's probably why I was born in it... I'm glad that it's a great month that we get to celebrate all the cool things that God does for us even when snow isn't falling. 

Amber Sluis is a student in Placer County, California.  She is an avid photographer, loves kids, and going on missions trips.  :)

8)Audrey Miller: Hidden Treasure

Here is a watercolor I made. You can use it or not.  It is an ornament from a tree at my school’s library and it just seemed to say “Christmas” to me. Let’s see if I can explain why… In itself, this is just a cheap glass bauble, but visually it is so very precious. It gleams from its place nestled in the green needles, inviting you to look closer. The way shadow wraps around it and the tinkling stars of the tree’s lights are mirrored in its surface is so complex it is possible to spend hours gazing at it without fully understanding its beauty. Christmas is filled with thousands of visual delights from the shadows from sparking lights of the Christmas tree reflecting on the ceiling to firelight caressing a family member’s face to the languidly draping greenery in the church. Each of these is simple and easy to miss, but if you take the time to really look, you find a fleeting beauty. They are priceless, each one a gift from the God who loves us more than we can comprehend.


Audrey Miller is a student at CSU Chico in California.   She is quite the accomplished nerd and an artist, but the most striking thing about Audrey is the joy she finds in life and God.

7)Adriana Polanco: Glory to the Newborn King!

Please click on the image for a larger size.

Quotations from:  

1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
2. Angels we have heard on High
3. God rest ye merry gentlemen
4. Do you hear what I hear?
5. O Holy Night
6. Silent Night
7. Go tell it on the Mountain
8. What Child is This?
9. Joy to the World
10. Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Adriana Polanco is a freelance Graphic Design Artist in Guatemala, Guatemala, and a talented translator.  She also works for Life of Hope Ministries, a ministry that supports ministries working with at-risk youth in Guatemala City, has impeccable taste in music, and prays big prayers.    

6)Krista Kahsen: Winter Photography

Krista Kahsen is a young homeschool student from Temperance, Michigan.  Along with photography, she is interested in God, missions, graduating early, and teaching/playing piano rather extensively--and from what I gather, rather well.   

5)Robertas Lisickis: [All]

All I can hear.
Just open your heart.
All I can feel.
My heart split apart.
All I can breathe.
A rush of a mist.
All I can do.
To follow my wrist.

All I can hear.
The crunch of the snow.
All I can feel.
A touch of a blow.
All I can breathe.
The chill of the cold.
All I can do.
Submit and be told.

If ever I hear.
The sound of your breath.
All will I feel.
Your heart in its depth.
If ever I breathe.
The whispering winds.
All will I do.
Will follow its wings.

Robertas Lisickis is a Fourth-Year English Student at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania.  Robertas is friendly and kind in four languages, leads worship, writes poetry, and is a Youtube-video expert.