Merry CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Christmas for me is a remembrance of God's promise through Jesus. God came down to earth as a human, fragile as a baby and we know him as Jesus. Sometimes we get carried away with Christmas with all the shopping, gifts, food that we lose sight of what we are really celebrating...Jesus.  

Jesus was prophesied long before he was born. 

Isaiah 9:6; "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Luke 2:11; "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord"

Don't get me wrong, I have gotten caught up in it all too. But I remind myself to slow down when I am wrapped up in all the chaos and frustration and remember to focus on God. This time of year can be hard for some people too. It can bring up good memories but can cause sadness in remembering. It can be through a lost loved one, a bad experience, a bad interaction and that just stays with you.

BUT.....SANTA CAME TO MY HOUSE! Here I thought I was on the naughty list. I must have just skirted by to get on the good list. And did  you know, I have met Santa! A few times.  Here is a picture of the proof!

I pray everyone has a wonderful Christmas and sending love to everyone that is having a hard time through this holiday season. 

Love to all,  

Don't forget to live

 I went to the Cincinnati Museum and was able to experience the Holocaust exhibit. If you have not read, or seen anything about this history, you need to. It is very difficult to see, but it is necessary. Why? Because we need to know history. We need to see that what happened in the past, even though it was in a different time and different county, it is still hatred. Hatred toward humanity. And if anything, it teaches us and shows us to love one another. We are not different. We are humans, living beings, a person. 

But going through this devastating and heartbreaking story, and seeing the artifacts, it has taught me something. To live life. To love. 

The above picture was taken at the exhibit and it is the words of a survivor from Auschwitz camp.  It hit hard to see this at the end of the exhibit with their words of "it would be too senseless, after all, for so many to have died while you live, doing nothing with your life." WOW, that is powerful. I listened to their storied, through their own words and they survived. Then after they survived, they lived!

So whatever it is, do something. It can be something small as a kind word, or something big, whatever that may be for you to do. But whatever it is, just do it, live life and love the life you have been given.

Ephesians 2:10; "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

1 Peter 4:10; "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace"

Love to all,

Quiet time

 Well I woke up at 4:45 am today. I feel like I have already put in my day and need a nap at 9 am! When I wake up early and can't sleep, I enjoy my quiet time. You see, everyone is still sleeping and this forces me to not make any noise. And if you know me, that is a feat in itself! Hubs is always telling me that I am a bull in a china shop. When I do wake up early, I use this time as "me time". I do my devo, reflect on yesterday. I should journal and maybe I will start that too. That gives me an excuse to go get a new fancy journal!!

Do you have any quiet time? A time that you just reserve for yourself? On days that I don't have to go into work, I usually have about an hour for just me. Just me and my chair and my thoughts. One my work days, I have to get up earlier and I usually have 15 minutes to get my mind in gear for the day and get my body going. It usually consists of my devo while I am on my vibrating plate.  I have learned how to read while the vibrating plate is shaking me up!

As I have grown and gotten older, (ummm, more mature), I have found the value in taking that few minutes before each day to reflect, connect with God and make my mind and heart right and ready for the day. Without it, I feel disorganized, discombobulated. And I do find that I am more calm on my drive into work in the traffic, I don't find myself talking to the other drivers or yelling at them as much because of their horrible driving skills. 

So my challenge for you is to make time for yourself, especially during the holidays when things get so crazy, just chaos. Take care of yourself, fill yourself up with Jesus, so you can overflow his love to others.

John 3:30; "He must become greater; I must become less.”

Love to all,

Christmas fun or frustration?

Do you believe? You bet I do! Christmas, Santa, whatever it is, it may mean something different to you. 

Once my kids were told about Santa (and that is a story to tell in another entry!), I always said, if you believe, Santa will come every  year! Santa does come every year, even though they have moved out. BUT.. with the holidays, there comes fun and frustrations. Here are some of mine!

FUN: My kids come home! Spending time with family I don't see too often. Shopping! Decorating! Christmas Carols! Papaw's turkey dressing! Traditions that continue every year. 

Frustrations: Shopping, traffic, rude people that are not in the Christmas spirit like me. Wrapping presents (thank goodness for gift bags, because I suck at wrapping boxes!)
 

What are some of your traditions? My family Christmas traditions are:

We go to my parents house for dinner. (This is the last year at their house. Next year the tradition will continue but at my house!) We always eat at 2 pm. My family that I don't see to often, comes out and we eat, talk and get caught up on the going's on in our life. We ALWAYS have papaw's turkey dressing and it is the highlight of our meal. We all look forward to this. Even though my papaw is gone now, we still make his famous dressing from the recipe he has handed down to us. We all bring our to-go containers so we can take some leftovers home! After dinner we play games, watch a little football sometimes, but we always read the Bible story of the birth of Jesus.

You see, Christmas is about celebrating Jesus and his birth. Without Jesus, we would not have Christmas. It isn't about gifts, or things or food. That is a plus that comes with holiday we celebrate. It is kinda funny that Christmas is celebrated by a lot of people, even those that don't believe in Jesus. But when you celebrate Christmas, I think you celebrate Jesus. 

As Christmas comes around the corner, remember to bring Jesus into your celebration. Do you Believe?

The birth of Jesus:

Luke 2:1-20; "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Love to all,

Happy Anniversary-another wonderful year!

36 years tomorrow, Dec 9th. 36 wonderful years...amazing years...my life...our life.

And I can't leave out the 6 years we dated before we were married.  met in 1983, just kids...married 1989. What a wonderful year. I was 22, he was 23. We were so young and felt so grown up. I think back to when my kids were that age and think, "there is no way I would let them get married!" These years have brought us so much happiness, pain, hard times, and through it all, we survived.

We battled infertility, but then we were blessed with 2 awesome kids. Then we bought a new house and moved when they were 9 months old.  Then illness hit my hubs with a back injury and surgery, blessed with healing. This brought us to a tough decision to have him be a stay at home dad. That was one of the best decisions we ever made. Our kids are better for it. And even though I had to work, a lot, I got out of doing house work, grocery shopping, dishes! 

Then cancer hit us. My breast cancer battle. That was a hard one, and it was hard for my kids because they were just teenagers, going through life themselves. Hard for my hubs, to watch me be so weak when I was so strong. But we came through on the other side and have been blessed with healing. 

We have had other times of ups and downs, my hubs going back to school and getting his degree, the kids going off to college, me having to let go and let my kids grow up and move out (and away. I don't like that part!). Our grandparents passing away, (I really don't like that!).

Through it all, we experienced it together. Supported each other. Our marriage is stronger every day, every year. He gets me, he knows me. All my quirks, nonsense words. When I don't make sense, he understands me. Knows what I need before I say it. He talks "Autumn"! He says sometimes he just has to laugh at some of the things I say. He tells me that is one of things he loves about me. I have been so blessed that God placed my hubs in my life. 

So as we celebrate our lives together, married 36 years, I anticipate and look forward to the future years. I know we have so much more to experience together. 

And I can't wait to see what is in store for us. 

Ephesians 5:33 "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10- "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

Love to all, 

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,