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By Diane Forrest
My grandmother had a green thumb...she could keep a poinsettia
alive for months, just by dropping an ice cube in the pot each day. She kept this plant alive so long, my mother
grew so tired of it, because it was Christmas again, and she wanted to replace
it with another one. Every year on the
first Sunday in December, I walk into the church to find it filled with
beautiful Poinsettias. We can contribute
money and have a plant placed in the church in memory, or in honor of a loved
one. That way, the church is overflowing
with the flowers, and then after the last Sunday of the month, we are allowed
to take the plants we donated and bring them home, or do with as we wish. I normally take them to the nursing home, or
invalid neighbors.
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Today is National Poinsettia Day, below is a story about
how the Poinsettia came to be a symbol of Christmas. Celebrate this day by going to a florist, or Wal-Mart,
and picking up a plant to decorate your home, or brighten someone else's day
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'The Legend
of the Poinsettia'
Maria and Pablo lived in a tiny village in Mexico.
Because Christmastime at their house did not include many gifts, Maria and
Pablo looked forward to the Christmas festivities at the village church with
great joy and anticipation.
To honor the birth of Christ, the church displayed a
beautiful manger that drew crowds of admirers. Villagers walked miles to admire
the manger, bringing lovely, expensive gifts for the Baby Jesus. As Maria and
Pablo watched the villagers place their gifts in the soft hay around the
manger, they felt sad. They had no money to buy gifts for their family and no
money to buy a gift for the Baby Jesus.
One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo walked to the church
for that evening's services, wishing desperately that they had a gift to bring.
Just then, a soft glowing light shone through the darkness, and the shadowy
outline of an angel appeared above them.
Maria and Pablo were afraid, but the angel comforted
them, instructing them to pick some of the short green weeds that were growing
by the road. They should bring the plants to the church, the angel explained,
and place them near the manger as their gift to the Baby Jesus. Then just as
quickly as she had appeared, the angel was gone, leaving Maria and Pablo on the
road looking up into the dark sky. Confused but excited, the children filled
their arms with large bunches of the green weeds and hurried to the church.
When the children entered the church, many of the
villagers turned to stare. As Maria and Pablo began placing the weeds around
the manger, some of the villagers laughed at them. "Why are those children
putting weeds by the manger?" they asked each other. Maria and Pablo began
to feel embarrassed and ashamed of their gift to the Baby Jesus, but they stood
bravely near the manger, placing the plants on the soft hay, as the angel had
instructed.
Suddenly, the dull green leaves on the tops of the plants
began to turn a beautiful shade of red, surrounding the Baby with beautiful
blooms. The laughing villagers became silent as they watched the green plants
transform into the lovely star-shaped crimson flowers we call poinsettias. As
they watched the weeds bloom before their eyes, Maria and Pablo knew they had
no reason to be ashamed anymore. They had given the Baby Jesus the only gift
they could--and it was the most beautiful gift of all.
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