Good Friends

I'm good, but I'm tired and I don't have anything significant to share. God is helping me pull everything together and I do so appreciate that. He has blessed me with the best friends that are giving great tips and are so willing to help with anything needed for our Cruise. Thank you, Lord, for such good friends!

Busy, Busy....

How is your Christmas shopping going? I still have a little more to do, and I seem to be able to stay ahead, one day at a time, for delivery of said items. I am also trying to get ready for a Cruise to the Caribbean (coming up on Friday!). So, please pardon me--I will try to do better tomorrow.

Babysitting Duties

Charlie & I are babysitting our granddaughters, tonight. They are so, so precious. We are so blessed! Will keep this short so we can spend time with them. I'll be back tomorrow!

Remembering Some of My Favorite Things

Oops! For some reason, the link doesn't "link" for the interactive Christmas card that I mentioned in yesterday's blog. Sorry about that!

I had an excellent day--doing some of my favorite things:

• shopping for Christmas presents
• having lunch with a dear friend
• teaching group exercise classes
• personal training clients
• being with friends from our mini-church for a Christmas Party
• planning for a Cruise we will be taking at the end of the week

My cup overflows!

The Power That Works Within Us

Today I received two interactive Christmas cards from Ashland University. You click on a ball of snow and it turns into a snowman. You click the sky and it goes from dawn to star-filled skies. You click a track and a small, gray train starts to move slowly around the track. Words of encouragement and gentle nudging to go on to the next thing appear. Beautiful Christmas music starts to play and you are encouraged to enjoy the moment--stay as long as you like. Each aspect of the Norman Rockwell-like picture being added until the masterpiece is done. This is what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. He gently leads and encourages. As we follow and do what we are shown to do, He gives us new pieces of the puzzle, new revelation to cherish and savor until we come to a full appreciation of Who the Heavenly Father is and how much He loves us.

From Ephesians 3:14-- "For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,3:19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 3:20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."

If you would like to see one of the cards in action, just click this link. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html

If You Want to Be Wise--Memorize!

I have been listening to a great CD series by Pastor John Aldridge (he's also one of my personal training clients). He has a special gift of sharing the Word in such a clear, concise way that you can't dodge, side-step, or ignore what the Word is saying. One of the things that I so totally agree with is that if you do not remember/know what the Word says, you can not do spiritual warfare and you can not rest in the security and peace that God would have for you. So, I am convicted. It's time to get serious about memory verses! Who's with me? Where shall we start? Let's do one every day. OK, the verse for today: Ps. 16:11 "Thou wilt make know to me the path of life. In Thy presence there is fullness of joy, and in Thy right-hand are pleasures forever." Why do you think there are pleasures in His right hand? I think because that's where Jesus is--seated at the right hand of the Father.

Stay Tuned.....

This is one of those non-stop days that I have to unwind for a while to think about what God has taught me today. It is late, so I will hopefully, have something good to share, tomorrow. Good Night!

Count It ALL Joy Updates

Count It All Joy updates: 1) Charlie will start a new job on Thursday (Dec. 6th)! 2) We were able to apply for an insurance policy that will be much cheaper than the cobra rate we had. 3) Charlie was able to get Faith's car loud noise problem fixed for only $35! God is so good!

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend is just listen. I did a lot of that today. What a privilege to be chosen to be the listener.

Count It All Joy

So what do you do when your car is involved in an accident and it wasn't your fault and it's taking a long time to get it all resolved? What do you do when your husband is fired because management wants to cut costs? What do you do when your daughter calls and says, "My car is making a really loud noise that it never made before."? What do you do when you have medical bills that all come to fruition at once? What do you do when you have cobra insurance to pay for and you don't have the usual monthly income to pay for it? YOU COUNT IT ALL JOY!

James 1:2,3 "My brethren, count it all joy when you encounter various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."

So why do we want patience? Isn't that overrated? Not in God's eyes. I, by nature, am not very patient, not at all. But through various situations (trials that I have encountered), I have seen God resolve and reconstruct. Because of His faithfulness, I know that I don't have to worry or become anxious. If it were not for the trials, I would not be able to witness Him at work. He is the master of making lemonade out of lemons.

Updates to be coming...

Christmas Lights

Last night, 9 of us when out to McCormick and Smitt's to celebrate a dear friend's birthday. After that, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We saw some beautiful displays!
There is something so uplifting about Christmas lights. The blow up snowmen and snow globes are pretty, but I love the Christmas lights. In the darkness of the night, they are exceptionally beautiful. We, as God's children, are to be lights in this dark world. Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." All the time is best, but especially at Christmas time--people may be watching and really needing some Christmas lights.

Santas, and Snowflakes, and Angels, Oh My....

We finished putting up our Christmas tree and decorating it, today. My granddaughter, Caelee, came over and helped. Our Christmas tree is a trip down memory lane. Someday, I might pick a theme and start over with all brand new ornaments, but for now....I see snowmen, Christmas trees, candy canes and other Christmas items, made out of yarn by Cathy--she makes one every year for every member of our church! I see an Aerobics Bear given to me by one of my students over 20 years ago--we are still friends and she still goes to HAC! There's a Santa with ski's on--that reminds me of the year we were sponsors for our CBC ski trip to Winter Park Colorado (one of the coolest and most fun experiences of my life). Of course we have Charity and Faith's "first Christmas" ornaments--where have the years gone? (Charity is now 24 and Faith 21.). I see clay ornaments that have been hand painted (the girls and I did that one year while we were waiting for the week before Christmas to pass by). One of my very favorite ornaments is a Macy's shopping bag with a Teddy Bear and other gifts sticking out over the edge--this reminds me of the year that Charlie, Faith, and I went to New York. We saw the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Little China, Central Park, the Met, all the great stores--Macy's, etc., the angels with trumpets and all of the beautiful Christmas decorations at Rockefeller Center.

What was I thinking? Why would I ever want to scrap these precious mementos of our life? Someday, maybe I'll get a tiny tree and have it perfectly decorated with "theme pieces".
Your right, it will never happen.

What are some of your favorite Christmas tree ornaments?