Baby it's cold!

 This is crazy. Our tree in our front yard is hanging onto its leaves for dear life, despite we just had a snow storm this past week and it has been freezing cold! The snow is melting, but the leaves are hanging on. Ahh how I long for the spring and summer weather again.  Countdown has commenced already. 

I don't know about you, but sometimes I am like that...hanging onto something that I should let go of.  I don't know what you are hanging onto, but I think we all need to re-evaluate ourselves and what we need to let go of. I still struggle with the demon of my phone. I have gotten better, especially since I have gotten out of management and I am not required to be attached to my phone 24/7. BUT, that habit that I had was made over years, it is hard to change. And I do love my color by number app on my phone!

One way to move and change habits is to create new hobbies, new likes. I am trying to learn spanish. Yes, still trying! I think it has been over the last 5 years off and on. Babel loves my money subscription. It is hard to learn the older I get. I don't know why I struggle with it. To be honest, it may be because I need to be more involved with learning it??? Or have more consistency with it. A new thing I am going to start, once my daughter comes to visit in a few weeks, is we are going to try to learn how to crochet! I am excited about this. I think hats and scarves for everyone! I love crafting and it is a great outlet for being able to create something beautiful. 

What is your thing? I know you can come up with something. Just try it. If it doesn't work out, then do something else.  But never be afraid to try something new. 

Now let's get started! No fear! Get out there and just do it!

Ephesians 3:20;"  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

Love to all,

Safe in HIS arms

Death. To me it's not final, to some it is. I know where I will be when I leave my earthly body. Jesus has promised eternal life for all who believe. I believe. I believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. John wrote in the Bible, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31). Do you believe? 

Today is another hard day. Today my family celebrates the life of my uncle. He may no longer be here in this world in his physical, human body, but I know he is in heaven, healed. He is no longer suffering or in pain. I look forward to seeing him and all my loved ones that has passed away before me once again. It is hard for us as we age. We start to experience illness more and see more loss. But God.....He is with us. He will never leave us. And I can say he has carried me, comforted me and he gets me through life. This human body is only temporary. Our "stuff" stays here on earth. Earth is not our home. But I know I have a HOME with Jesus. Am I ready? You bet! As I have said before, thinking about it makes me sad, because I do not want to leave my family. But when Jesus calls me, I am ready to see him. 

Are you ready? Do you know my Jesus? He is the saviour of the world. He is God in human form. He came as a baby (Luke 2) and has experienced what we do...temptation, hunger, want, frustration, love, being tired, anger, friendship and everything else. He was loved by many, then people turned on him and he was hated, beaten, crucified on a cross and died. But Jesus was prophesied hundreds of years before he was was even born. (Isaiah 40 and 53).  He died for us (Luke 23). Bore our sins as the lamb sacrifice to God. BUT...He rose from the dead on the 3rd day (Luke 24, Matthew 27). And he is in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, waiting for us (Romans 8).

You may not see him, but he is with us, all around us. You just have to ask him into your  heart. Believe he is the Christ. 

Please pray for my family, my aunt, my cousins, through this time of heartache. As we grieve for the earthly loss, we celebrate the heavenly win.

Romans 8:34; "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."

Hebrews 10:12; "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,"

Love to all,

A time for Thanksgiving

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I would like to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving holiday. I hope you all were able to reflect on what you are thankful for and spend some time with your family or those that you love. 

Wait....what? You don't know what this holiday means? Well for my friends that do not live in the U.S., let me explain. According to google AI..."Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the United States as a time for gratitude, community, and togetherness, rooted in a 1621 harvest feast shared by Pilgrims and Wampanoag Native Americans."

So in the U.S. we celebrate and give thanks for our community and family. It has also evolved into togetherness with family. For my family, we get together and have a great meal of turkey and dressing and all the fixins! The dressing is my papaw's dressing that has been handed down. It is a revered recipe that only a select few have! And guess what...I am not one of them! I don't know what you have to do in my family to get it. I guess I need to figure that out. And you can't forget about the chocolate pie my aunt makes! You have to eat dessert first if you want a slice of it!

But back to Thanksgiving. This is a time when we celebrate our family and friends and pray for each other and our country, giving thanks for all the blessings we have. We take time to remember the many blessings God has given us and the love he has for us. I love being with my family. I have a large family. And when we get together, it seems to make the house seem so small from all of us. But I love seeing my family that I do not get to see much, catching up with them and seeing how much all the young un's have grown! With family, no matter how long you are apart, it is like you never were, and you just pick up where you left off. That is the joy of family, the unconditional love and support you have. 

Even though you may not celebrate a thanksgiving holiday, you can still celebrate thanksgiving by giving thanks for all that has been given to you. It may be blessings with family, children, a home, a pet, a good meal, chocolate, warm socks, a fluffy blanket....sorry I got carried away! But whatever it is, whatever your blessings are, give thanks and praise to God for all he has given you. 

Colossians 2:7 "rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

1 Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Love to all, 

Different but same

 

You may think I am a weirdo. But, over the last few years, I have taken delight in looking at trees. I mean really looking at them. Seeing their uniqueness and beauty. Wherever I go, if I see a tree that has some personality, I just have to take a picture of it.  And if you really look at them, you will see their personality. It is amazing how God has made everything the same but different. What I mean is that when we look at the above pictures we see trees. but they are unique in their own way. One at the top is at my new home that is being built. It has already dropped their leaves to display their wonderful structure and limbs. And it even has its own creativity of how it wants to appear.  Like it has "dressed" itself to show its limbs reaching out as if to pick something out or reach out and shake my hand.

The other is in my front yard at my current home. It still has its beautiful yellow leaves on it. It is as if it wants to show off its beautiful coat of many colors. And I picture it reaching up to the sky like it is raising their arms in praise. 

           

I am sure you see your own version of those pictures but this is what comes to my mind. Just like those trees, we are the same but different. We reach out and reach up for others for many things. We show off our colors through actions and words, not just externally with appearances. Have you ever wondered what others see in you? We all "people watch", sometimes it isn't intentional but we do. What are you showing others? Do you walk the talk that you believe? 

I think my trees are giving me a life lesson. To be myself, to love myself, and to love and accept the differences that we all have. Jesus loves us all, despite our differences. He doesn't see that, all he sees is that we are made in his image and we are his children.  So love starts with loving yourself and the differences you have. You are beautiful. 

1 Peter 4:8: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins".

Psalm 139:14: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made". 

Ephesians 5:29: "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church"

Ephesians 4:2: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love".

Love to all, 

Kentucky-isms

 

Well, if you live in Kentucky or any part of the Southern part of the U.S., you have heard or even may had said any of the below. I just thought I would enlighten my fellow readers. Different parts of the world have things you say that others are like, "what in the world are they talking about!" This can even happen in other parts of the US. As with my daughter who moved from the southern part of the US to the west coast. When she says one of these, her co-workers are like, "what the heck!" and then just start laughing! With the help of my daughter, she compiled a list of some of the common ones we say. So let's get started!

* What the Sam Hill?  

    This means: what the heck? Fun fact: Apparently, Sammy was a guy that cussed so much his name became a euphemism for cussing itself!

* I got a Hitch in my Gitty-up

    Means: I'm hurting, to be injured, moving slow Ex: Slow down, I have a hitch in my gitty-up. Happens to me a lot, since I am getting older! Especially in the cold weather.

* It has been a month of Sundays

    Means: A super long time. For me it happens usually on Wednesday's when I am ready for my work week to be over!

* O' Lord, Katie bar the door!

    Means Watch out! Prepare yourself, something's coming.

* It's all "Gummed up"

    Means Nasty or dirty

* I'm living High on the Hog

    Means Rich/extravagant or financially secure. I usually say this if I am eating a steak, because that doesn't happen often!

* To be "hot". Ex: Ohhh, I am so hot! Sometimes also will say, "I am so over it"!

    Means: incredibly mad, like you're so angry your face turns red

* I am full as a tick

    Means you have eaten so much food, you cannot eat anymore. Mostly said on holidays

* If it were a snake, it would've bit me

    Means: often said after you lost something and it was so close to you when you found it, if that object were a snake it would have attacked you

* They are three sheets to the wind

    Means incredibly drunk

* Piss or get off the pot

    Means to stop dilly-dallying (stalling)

* They couldn't hit the broadside of a barn

    Means Bad aim. Ex: when someone is throwing a ball and can't hit the basket.

* Spitting snow/rain

    Means it's trying to snow/rain

Well, I think you are ready for a visit to us Kentuckians! I can't wait! We are all different and it takes all of us to make up the world. So wherever you live, however you talk, we are all one in humanity. You are perfectly made, no matter where you live. 

God made us all, in his image and He loves you!

Psalm 139: 13-14; "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Luke 12:7: "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." 

Love to all,