Please go read this!

You really need to read this post on my friend Keith's blog. Perspective is everything!

It's the 25th!

And that means today is "Work on something for Christmas!" Day!! :) We're only 275 days until Christmas - only 9 more months. And it will go FAST!

Today, I'm going to work on my gift list. I'm going to write down "people I WILL give to" and "people I'd LIKE to give to", and then write down ideas. Maybe even start on those ideas, if they're something I can start crafting now. I *always* procrastinate doing that, and then only half of what I want to do gets done! :)

What are YOU going to work on today?

Don't forget!

Today is the first DO SOMETHING FOR CHRISTMAS DAY of the year! :) Each 25th of the month, Becky and I have committed to doing SOMETHING for Christmas. Today, I'm trying to sort out my tree decorations as I put them away - I grew a brand-new tree this year. ;D
Be sure and leave me a comment about what YOU do today! Only 11 more months! :D

Happy New Year!

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

Psalm 20:4-5

Goodness, time just FLIES. I have SO MUCH that didn't get done during December; not only were we blessed with lots of stay-over company, but we had a washing mashine cause over $10,000 worth of flood damage! Which, in turn, caused a lot of fuss and turmoil, and time to recover - but God is GOOD, and there are LOTS of possible worse-than-it-was scenarios! :)

Last year, I THINK, we talked a bit about goals. This year, I want to present you with a DEFINITE goal to work on TOGETHER. Becky, one of my dear friends, was so not satisfied with the way her Christmas went! So, we're joining together to make every 25th of the month "DO SOMETHING FOR CHRISTMAS DAY"!

Whether it's gather your recipes together in one place for the special treats you want to make, or addressing your Christmas card envelopes early so you only have to do the cards - we're going to take one day a month to focus on getting things DONE, so we don't have to cram at the last minute. :)

Now, I will admit to you: I do a LOT of the same things year after year, and thanks to Christmas Organizing, I've had a couple of Christmas notebooks - one in particular I keep my December calendar, shopping lists for traditional meals and the Open House, and recipes in. It SO helps to be ORGANIZED - and it's a little, teeny-tiny job to do at the beginning of the year! I highly recommend CO - I'm a moderator for the Yahoo group, so I'm around there a lot. :D Krisann is a great person, and you'll learn a lot from her! (I'm not getting compensated in any way for the promo, just offering a place you can get sensible help!)

IF you want to join us in this goal, 11 days total in a year - because obviously, you'll be CELEBRATING Christmas in December! :D - just leave me a comment, or send me an email. I'll remind us on the 24th of each month, and IF POSSIBLE, tell you what I'll be working on. If it's a present for you, I can't really tell, now, can I. :D

OK, off to get back to work for the year. Please pray for me; I'm still pretty TIRED.

Be blessed, dear one! I would love to hear from you! Let me know what's going on in your life! If you have anything I can pray about, let me know - or tell me if you'd like everyone here to pray for you! It's a small group, but they LOVE to pray for other people!! :)

YOU ARE LOVED!!!! My prayer for you is that you'll truly discover HOW MUCH this year - it will change your life!

What a wonderful Christmas we've had here!

I just wanted to stop in and say hi. My sister, Kelli, has been here for a few days with her husband, Stephen. This morning, we did a little photo shoot - we have a good time together, and it's been a sweet time with her!
Proverbs 15:30 says, "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." Thank you, Kelli, for bringing joy to my heart!

Be blessed, dear friends! :)

Happy Holidays! And yes, I mean that!

Photo taken at Gaylord Opryland Hotel's exhibit, ICE: A Charlie Brown Christmas, 12/7/09

I am really tired of all the warring that goes on this time of year over "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas"!!!! So, I'm going to give you MY thoughts on it. Whether you find something to think about or not, I'm leaving totally in the Spirit's hands. But it's gone SO far lately, I HAVE to speak up. :)

So. Is it "Merry Christmas" and ONLY "Merry Christmas" for you? I hope you'll take this post in the spirit it's meant; it's been brewing in my heart for a while now. :)

There are several things I hear around this time of year about how people are trying to force "Merry Christmas" from our society, and we can't let this happen, and how dare they! Dear ones, I am here to tell you that, while it does matter what YOU celebrate, it doesn't matter what someone else says to you!

First, let's tackle the famous "Don't use Xmas - it takes Christ out of Christmas!" The truth of the matter is, the letter X is formed the same way as the first Greek letter of "Christ". It's been used since His ascension by believers to represent His name. "Xmas" doesn't take Him out of it, dear one. :) I promise! Google it, see what Wikipedia has to say.

Word studies are VERY interesting! Here's another one I hear: "Happy Holidays" just means they're being politically correct, trying to include ALL religions at OUR special celebration!

I'm trying really hard not to be sarcastic, but two things come to my mind. First of all, "OUR celebration" has become so commercialized that it really isn't "ours" anymore - and what do you expect retailers to do? If you're trying to make money, why would you exclude anyone?? It doesn't make sense - and honestly, it makes me cringe when I see so much nastiness abound about this subject. I believe in taking a stand about what I believe - but trying to force the rest of the world into doing what one group wants much less BELIEVING what I do, just isn't going to happen. As a matter of fact, it turns more people away. And I don't think that's what Christ wants from us. Do you?

The second thing is, let's look at this word, "holiday". Yup. It's from HOLY DAY. Wikipedia again: A holiday is, in the English-speaking world, a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observation is warranted.

Let's see. The government observes several days during this season. That would make it "holidays", wouldn't it? Seems like it.

The only way that "Happy Holidays" becomes a bad thing, in my opinion, is when it means "Merry Christmas" is not allowed. Then it's not an inclusionary thing, but an exclusionary. So, if a store will not sell anything with "Merry Christmas" on it, or allow "Christmas carols" to be played over its loudspeakers, then I think there's a problem. But it IS a holy day for Christians, is it not? How, then, can being wished "Happy Holidays" HURT YOU???????????????????? The person saying it doesn't mean it as a bash to you, do they? I don't think so, for about 99.75% of the people who use it as a greeting. Heavens, even *I* use it! I use the plural - and include New Year's in the wishing. You don't think I mean to block your Christmas, do you?

:) I hope what I'm saying makes sense to you so far!

Biblically, there is no imperative to celebrate the coming of Christ. If you look at the history of "Christmas", it might surprise you -it's widely held that the Catholic church couldn't suppress the pagan worship on the Winter Solstice, so it was decided to change the celebration from pagan to holy. There's a LOT of interesting information out there, if you decide to go looking!

The bottom line, for me, is this: I CHOOSE to use December 25 as the day to "officially" celebrate Jesus' birth. But unless it lives in my heart ALL YEAR THROUGH, it's just another day. Unless I am daily striving to die to myself, and my selfish desires, and show the world the love God showed in sending His Son, Christmas doesn't really matter. Why on earth would anyone want to celebrate the Christian's holy day when they are treated with ridicule and contempt over WORDS?

Please, dear one, hear what I'm saying: actions speak SO MUCH louder than words. This HOLIDAY season, take the opportunity to share WHY you believe Christmas is true. Share the AMAZING LOVE that made the holiday celebration-worthy. Meet someone's need, and watch their hearts open to hear what you have to say, IN LOVE.

Glory to God in the highest!
And on Earth, peace! Goodwill toward men!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, dear one. You are SO loved! Let His love light your day!

Christmas, Christmastime is HERE!

Hello, dear friends! How are you this beautiful day? It's SUNNY here - I know Kenn will be THRILLED about that. he's been bemoaning the fact he hasn't seen the sun in days. It makes him even crankier. LOL!

It's the 19th of December. Only a few more days until we celebrate the birthday of our King! Our church held its birthday celebration on Wednesday - it was a HUGE party. :) There was dancing everywhere, and so many carols - so much jubilation! Many, many different ways of giving thanks for the amazing grace that came from Heaven were shown Wednesday night. It was amazing.

Have you been too caught up in the hustle and bustle of this season? Have you been able to just SIT, and dwell on His amazing love for you? Or to celebrate the gratitude in your heart towards Him? I would encourage you to do so! :D

The picture above is one of our newest acquisitions for our decorating in the kitchen (I'll try to get a few pictures from the open house up soon....). He was originally made to be a paper towel holder, but I LOVE this little snowman's attitude: HUG ME! BE HAPPY!!!!!! :D

I encourage you, dear friend, to bring someone to your house this season. A close friend you want to enjoy, a friend who's having a difficult time this year due to stress or loss, someone you want to get to know better. Welcome them. Treat them to an hour of your time. Share a season of peace and hope with them. Bless them - and you will be absolutely AMAZED at how blessed you are in return.

YOU ARE LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the winner is....

SUSAN! :) Congratulations, Susan! I'll wait for your email to pooh0612@aol.com to confirm and send!!

I generated the winner with random.org; it was difficult to make myself do it that way. Those of you who are my close friends, know I would have picked each one of you if it was fair! LOL!!!!!!!!!

BE BLESSED, dear friends. Tomorrow's the open house, so I need to fly! I hope you're stopping by if you're local!!!!

There's still time to enter!

It's not too late to enter the blog drawing - GO HERE to read details and enter!

As Christmas draws nearer, I hope you're taking the time to focus on what we celebrate: the birth of the Messiah, the Long-Awaited One. Our email devotionals are about the Advent this season, and it's been very interesting to dwell on the different viewpoints of the characters involved.

My heart particularly hurts for Israel itself: they'd been away from hearing God for so many years, hungering for their Messiah to come. Still, many of them didn't recognize Him when He did come. Have you ever wondered if you would have?

We live under God's grace now, because our Messiah came to fulfill the law. Be sure and thank Him for willingly giving up the comforts of Heaven to be born in a stable in Bethlehem, and live on this fallen world for 33 years to fulfill the demands of the law for EACH and EVERY one of us!

Be blessed, dear one. YOU ARE LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's BLOG CANDY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And not just on MY blogs, either! If you hit the button below, you'll find lots of people who have things to give away! We're all drawing a winner by FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12!

For this blog candy, please leave a message - a nice one! :D - about anything on my blog. If you have someone you want this shipped TO, when you win just tell me the address - and I'll put in a gift card for you, too. :)

Shipping only in the U.S. Sorry, everyone, but I just can't afford it this year!

Have FUN playing, and if you're a crafter be sure to check out my other blog, too!

Peace on earth, good will toward men....

Happy December, my friends! Thank you for those of you who have checked in; things have been rough for me the last few weeks - but I KNOW my God is in control, so I continue to struggle back to rest in Him. :) I KNOW you know how it goes. What's that saying? :Life is what happens to you while you're making plans"? :D

ANYWAY. This picture is my little tree in the stamping area. I love this tree; it's silver, but it's a 4-footer. Maybe that makes it easier to love? :D The stamping area is done in blue, white, and sliver; it's VERY peaceful. I can sit in here and work just by Christmas lights. RUDOLPH is on the TV behind me, Kenn's upstairs working, and I am sitting here counting my blessings again. I'm HOME. I have some of my loved ones here with me during this special time of the year. God send His only Son to live a humble life - to live and be tempted by things we're all tempted by, to know pain and joy. I am so blessed. I live in a beautiful home. I am loved.

So are you. :) I hope you find a quiet moment to sit and count your blessings this week, too. It helps keeping Christ the middle of your season! :)

TOMORROW WILL BE A BLOG CANDY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're interested in reading our Christmas newsletter this year, you can find it HERE.

Be blessed, my dear friend!

This, That, and The Other....

Good afternoon, dear friend!!! I'm so glad you stopped by to visit me. :)

Yes, indeed, I do have too many ducks. :D But I'm beating them into submission, I promise. :D

Thank you, those of you who prayed for the insurance by the state to pick me up! It DID!!! Unfortunately, they don't have funding to help out with the premiums, so please continue to pray for that financial burden - it's considerably more than COBRA was, but it's still insurance! :)

Rhonda and I are making plans for her visit for Thanksgiving; I think she's pretty excited. :D She's ready to come NOW, but I told her I need the next two months to get everything done I need to! LOL!!

This photo is part of our fall decorations; this is on the mantel in my stampin' room. Isn't it beautiful??? I love fall, and then comes CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Mom had all the decorations up in an afternoon; the outside will go up when we can get corn stalks from the farmer's market.

I just wanted to post and say thank you. :D And THANK YOU goes out to Karna, also; she sent me a papercrafting book! :) It was very sweet, and I'm blessed beyond measure just by her friendship!

Have a wonderful, blessed day, dear friends!!!! I treasure you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Count your MANY blessings, and see how loved you are. :)