An Early Christmas Gift For You!

Mesu AndrewsFeatured Articles

Our Family’s Holiday Traditions

Our best family tradition is celebrating “Happy Thanks-mas” each year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year during the week/weekend of Thanksgiving! It’s my hubby’s and my gift to each other of a quieter December.

Here’s how it works.

Everyone is here by the night before Thanksgiving. We catch up on life and do all the “sweets” baking (pies, cheesecake, cookies) on Wednesday.

Thursday is all about our mid-afternoon traditional meal. We get all hands on deck to prepare the family favorite foods, the table set up, and decor for what my hubby calls, “Our Thankful Glutton-Fest.” 😆 By Thursday evening, we point the kids to the refrigerator and say, “YoYo–Yo’ on Yo’ own!” After the little grands are tucked into bed, we adults do our white elephant gift exchange. Oh what fun!!!

Friday morning is Kids Gift Time. As of mid-November, I’ve purchased all family gifts and Keepsake ornaments (Hallmark). See why my December is quieter than most? 😉 Breakfast between 7:04-9:05am (one of my sons-in-love does the scheduling). Then, the younger grandkids skedaddle into our bedroom while the adults decide where to hide the Baby Jesus out of our nativity set. At 9:20, we release the kiddos with the mission: “It’s time to find Baby Jesus because there would be no Christmas or gifts if it weren’t for Him.” My favorite part of this day is watching our grandkids find Jesus. (I pray it will be so in each of their lives.)

Best Loved Christmas/Advent Books

I asked myself, “What sort of gift could I give my readers in December?”

Gift #1:

Y’all seem to enjoy my book reviews (https://mesuandrews.com/category/book-reviews-2/), so why not remind you of my three favorite reads for the season?

  1. Roseanna White’s Giver of Wonders (novel–the TRUE historical origin of Saint Nicholas)
  2. Susan Fish’s Seeker of Stars (novel–great historical background on the Magi)
  3. Angela Hunt’s retelling of The Tale of Three Trees (kids’ book).
Gift #2:

In 2021, I asked some of my author friends which Christmas novels and children’s books were their favorites. I asked again this year and added two more to the list. Here’s a curated list of the 2021 favorites, 2025 additions, and a devotional category to help prepare our hearts for this year’s Advent.

I pray the reading suggestions below will bless you as we celebrate the Messiah’s birth and wait for His second coming!

Novels:
Advent Devotionals:
Children’s Books:
Books Written By My Author Friends:

CLICK HERE for a downloadable PDF of these Christmas favorites!

Need More Ideas On Books For Gifts?

Check out my books on these online retailers Amazon, Christianbook.com, or my fav bookstore for paperback copies–Baker Book House!

CLICK HERE for a pdf download of all my books.

Find Out More on My Website’s Book Pages:

Enjoy this Advent season by filling your heart with the things–and people–you love most!

Because I’m an Amazon advertising affiliate, I earn a small commission when you make purchases using the Amazon links from this site. Thank you for your support!

News About My “Sabbatical”

Many of you have experienced the loss of a loved one during the Christmas season. My sweet mama ran into Jesus’s arms on November 16, 2025 at 3:40pm–ten minutes after Roy and I arrived to tell her we loved her. What a GIFT this was to us. We’d left the house early to drive down to Central Indiana. Had we left at our planned time, we would have missed the opportunity to be with much of my family for Mom’s homegoing. Such a tender plan from our loving Heavenly Father.

Some of you know I’ve struggled with “long covid” symptoms since last Thanksgiving. The symptoms had improved as of September this year; however, it seems the emotional strain and crazy work hours have brought back the brain fog with a vengeance. Because of this, I’m stepping back from social media, newsletters, and blogs until I’ve submitted the first draft of Loyal: The Story of Haggith (Bk#3 of King David’s Brides). Thank you in advance for your patience and your prayers as I focus on only family and writing for the next 3 months.

I look forward to reconnecting in March! 😀