As the year closes I would like to say I pray each of you have a new year full of blessings! May your relationships grow stronger, your pocketbooks feel a bit fuller & your faith grow everlasting.
For those of you planning to party, please be responsible & safe. Even buzz driving carries a risk of taking a life.
With all the love in the world, Love,
"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.
Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:8
Well, Christmas has come & gone. The girls enjoyed their gifts from Santa & from the family. Crispin did not know what to think or what is going on, of course since he is a baby. hehe We had good fellowship & food. JD made us his famous brisket, which is delicious & not just because he is my hubby, but because it really is!
Unfortunately we received sad news that a kid we grew up with was killed in a car wreck early Christmas morning on his way to work. It is just a simple reminder that life is not guaranteed. We should always look at ourselves & our lives to see where we are with relationships & in our lives.
Do we have a relationship that needs mending? Do we have a situation that needs to be taken care of? A wrong that needs to be made right? You may have to be the bigger person & initiate the conversation. Even if you do not think you were the one in the wrong. Or maybe you know you are the one to blame & do not know what to say. How about start with, "I'm sorry". See where it goes. It may even take more than one time to initiate the conversation.I pray this new year you find the time to work on your relationships whether it is with God, your parents, siblings, etc.
Now, this is the time to take care of things. A few moments, a few days, a few weeks, a month, Tomorrow, could be too late.
"Be completely humble & gentle; be patient, baring with one another with love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:2-3
Well, Christmas has come & gone. The girls enjoyed their gifts from Santa & from the family. Crispin did not know what to think or what is going on, of course since he is a baby. hehe We had good fellowship & food. JD made us his famous brisket, which is delicious & not just because he is my hubby, but because it really is!
Unfortunately we received sad news that a kid we grew up with was killed in a car wreck. It is just a simple reminder that life is not guaranteed. We should always look out ourselves & our lives to see where we are with relationships & in our lives.
Do we have a relationship that needs mending? Do we have a situation that needs to be taken care of? A wrong that needs to be made right? I pray this new year you find the time to work on your relationships whether it is with God, your parents, siblings, etc.
Now, this is the time to take care of things. A few moments, a few days, a few weeks, a months, Tomorrow, could be too late.
"Be completely humble & gentle; be patient, baring with one another with love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:2-3
CHRISTmas is gaining on us fast!
Every year while we are decorating our tree, ask my girls what the meaning of CHRISTmas is & Makaila usually chimes in first. We talk about the reason we give & receive presents is because of the presents that were given to Jesus & the gift of life He gave us by dying on the cross. She loves to hear the stories of Jesus & the angels & tell them just the same. This year she told us that CHRISTmas is about being together & loving one another!
When I think about how many children I have to buy CHRISTmas presents for, I always think about him, because I know there is one present I will not be buying. Every year we take all of our clothes & toys to the Faith City Mission. Andrea has been donating her toys since she was a toddler. We only had to explain to her once that there is a man who has many children & he cannot afford to buy them clothes & toys, so she is being like a big sister giving her stuff to these children. I have never had to fight with her or Makaila & for that I am grateful.
I am thinking next year we are going to pick an angel from the Angel Tree that Salvation Army does & buy for that angel. I am going to make this a yearly tradition & it will be like I am buying for Nehemiah. This year we bought for a friend of mine's son. I would do the angel tree this year, but I believe the deadline has passed.
What family traditions can you start to remember someone by?
Isn't it crazy how a little smell, a saying, a touch, et cetera, can trigger a memory?
Sometimes, while having a fantabulous day, I all of a sudden remember back to summers at my grandma's & being in her kitchen. It always smelled like yellow apples & bananas. I love that smell! Or if I get a whiff of a lilac, it sends me back to spring time in our backyard where we had lilac bushes along the fence & beside the house.
Sometimes I am taken back to happy memories. Sometimes I am taken back to sad memories. Sometimes I am taken back to horrible memories. However, I am thankful for each & every memory I have. For one day I may never remember.
Here lately I have been thinking a lot about my precious son Nehemiah. Every October, since he was born, I have had a smell that gets stuck in my nose & does not leave until November is here. It is a smell I have been asked numerous times to explain, but I can't.
This year was different though & it kind of made me sad. I do not know if it is because I have a new baby to tend to & I have the smell of pooh or spit up, but the smell only came to me at certain times of the day. One good thing though, I have been having that scent come & go since September. Like he is telling me hello or letting me know he is here with me.
I like to think when I am feeling the sunshine on my face he is giving me kisses, or when a breeze swishes past me that means he is dancing around me, or when I get goose bumps he is whispering he loves me in my ear. I like finding things too. Pennies, little white feathers, stickers on the bottom of my shoe.
I know this may seem a little weird, but it makes my heart happy to have these things around me.
What memories do you have that are kept alive by your senses?
I cannot believe it is already December! This year has just flown by & I feel dizzy because of it!
CHRISTmas time is approaching. This is one of my favorite holidays, beside THANKSgiving! When I was a child it seemed like it took for ever to get here. Now it just speeds up here unexpectedly!
I remember waking up super early CHRISTmas morning & having to wait on our parents to wake up so we could go see what Santa left us. It seemed like an eternity waiting on them to wake up!
For the first few years my husband & I were married we would spend the night at my parents' on CHRISTmas Eve with my sisters & brother who still lived at home & we would do the same tradition we had been doing all my life. But it has gotten to where there are too many of us for all of us to spend the night in my parents' home. The times when my older brother & his family don't get to come down for CHRISTmas we have not quite figured out a tradition to suit us. The funny thing is we live in the same town my parents do, so it isn't like we have to travel far!
But, it is fun just the same to see our children's faces light up when they get to see their presents. My mom has made the sweetest stockings for all of her grandchildren, so it is really special when we get to see those filled up.
It will be extra special this year with Crispin celebrating his first CHRISTmas! There is a still a part of us missing on these special occasions.
But we can never forget the true meaning of CHRISTmas, now can we?!
The day our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ was born in a manger!
"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him a manger because there was no room for them in the inn" Luke 2:7
