The Candy Cane

  I remember when I was visiting my grandparents a few Christmas's ago my Grandpa giving me a little booklet that had the True Story of how a candy cane originated. I couldn't remember how it went..so I got crafty - and googled it. :)

The History of

The Candy Cane

It had to be special to be a gift for the
King of Kings, thought the humble candy
maker from Indiana. Not just any piece of
candy would do. It had to be hard candy
because the church is built on solid rock
and God's promises are a firm foundation.
It would be formed in the shape of the
Good Shepherd's staff. A "J" that would
also stand for the precious name of Jesus.
But it had to say more. White stripes
would symbolize the virgin birth and
sinless nature of Christ. Three small red
stripes would represent the scourging Jesus
suffered on His way to the cross. One large
red stripe would remind those with eyes to
see and ears to hear of the blood Jesus shed
as payment for our sins. It would be a
gift of love that would tell His story -
the greatest story ever told.

The True Story

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness,
so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols
for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of
pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless
nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the Foundation of the
Church and firmness of the promises of God.
The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious
name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the
staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down into the ditches of the
world to lift out the fallen lambs who like all sheep have gone astray. Thinking
that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes.
He used three small stripes for the blood shed by Christ on the cross. So that
we could have the promise of eternal life. Unfortunately, the candy became known as the Candy Cane. It became a
meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But meaning is still there for
all those who "Have eyes to see and ears to hear." We pray that this symbol will
again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and His great love that came
down at Christmas.

  And so...tonight I know what I will be reading to the kids...and maybe years from now they'll think "what was that story about the candy cane mom told us..." and then they will type it into the web browsers on their wrist watch (I'm sure that will be all the rage in a few years) and the legend will live on.

  And today what is NOT living on is the gingerbread men we made the other night. Gingerbread and a cup of cocoa is just the ticket on a 12 degree day. I said "yes to the mess" again and let the kids just dive into the frosting and smear away...and had a pound of colored sugar on each. Zac and I spent quite awhile shaking off the excess.

 Today was another really great day - productive and homey and full of good smells (thanks to the pumpkin raisin muffins baking and the tuna pasta waiting for us to be had for dinner. ) Happy Tuesday!