It’s Flu Season again….woohoo!
This is a very quick post to ask for prayers from each of you reading today. Somehow I think I have been lucky enough to get the beginnings of the flu. Yay me. No, I did not get a flu shot. My thought process went like this: the kids don’t go to school or day care, and I don’t work outside the home, therefore, we are not at as much of a risk as others. I won’t get one…..DUH! Didn’t think about going to Walmart, the post office, the book store, the library, friends and family for Christmas, and oh, here’s a biggie: HUSBAND GOING TO HIS JOB THEN COMING HOME!!!! Boy, am I smart these days! LOL….ok, well, now I’m paying for my complete and total lack of forethought…..so, um….I humbly ask for you to pray not only for my intelligence to return soon, but for this to pass quickly and be more like a bad cold than the flu. Or better yet – like a SLIGHT cold! I am really looking forward to our church’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Wednesday, and hope to be well…..I’d greatly appreciate your prayers!
Oh yeah, as afraid as I am to ask for this particular prayer, I need some patience! I volunteered to take my 3 nieces and nephews for a few days home with me. Although they are behaving pretty well together (which says a LOT for 5 kids roughly the same ages!), they are wearing me out! I need some patience, a little ingenuity, and LOTS of stamina!
Well, that’s it…I’m heading to the couch for a little peace and quiet while the kids fish with Pawpaw Doug. Peace….quiet….won’t last long!
Have a blessed New Year’s! And don’t forget to sign up for our Bible Reading Challenge!
Resting,
Toni
Hope you had a fabulous, blessed and peaceful Christmas!
I know we had a great one! The Christmas season seems to pass by so quickly within the worldly scheme of things. And yet, we know, that Christmas, as our teacher said yesterday at church, is not simply a “winter event.” Christmas is a miraculous, wonderful, blessed encounter with the Incarnate Christ! Immanuel! Let’s remember that throughout the year – as well as reminding others of the miracle of His birth, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. As our teacher pointed out, again, these are the very pillars of our faith. (Ok, he pointed us to Paul, who pointed that out.) It was an awesome sermon/teaching session. I think our teachers/church leaders always do a fantastic job, and yesterday they did not deviate from their goal of providing excellent “meat” for us to chew, and making sure they were in line with the Word.
May we Christians spend the entire year being true to the Word – not watering down the Gospel as we present it to the lost world.
Have a blessed New Year…..and don’t forget to share a few of your New Year’s Goals with us!
Blessings,
Toni
Still waiting for those who will accept….
the CHALLENGE!
We have about a week left before the end of the sign-up for the Read-Your-Bible-Through-In-A-Year Challenge!
So far, only one brave person has signed up!
C’mon people! You know you want to do this! You know you NEED to do this! All it takes to sign up is a quick comment to this or the previous post about the challenge! (I do suggest you read the previous one, as it tells how this is going to work….)
God says His Word never returns void, so if we endeavor to read it through in a year – by the end of the year we will have been TREMENDOUSLY blessed and radically changed!
And, wouldn’t you agree, this world NEEDS RADICAL CHANGE?!?!
So – comment and sign up today! As if being totally blessed by Jehovah wasn’t enough….there will be a few goodies along the way!
So, c’mon! No more procrastinating! Comment NOW!
New Year’s Goals….
After reading the blog of a friend on MySpace, I decided to do this….here goes!
I am choosing NOT to have New Year’s Resolutions. They’re too easy to break, forget, or ignore. As a society, the definition of the word “resolution” has become so watered down, that New Year’s Resolutions offer nothing but disappointment to the ones who adhere to that tradition.
However, I do believe that the New Year is a great time to begin to make changes in our lives. Although we can certainly do it anytime, the beginning of a year marks a new start, and therefore seems a perfect time to BEGIN!
With that said, here are my goals for the upcoming year:
1. Spend more time playing with my children and my family
2. Teach my children more about the character qualities I want them to have
3. Spend more quiet time with my husband – he is home now, and our time together in the morning must be protected…its the perfect time to talk
4. Read through the entire Bible this year!
5. Spend more time in prayer – and more of that time praising rather than just asking
6. Take better care of my health: get control of my diabetes to a point that it becomes second-nature; stick to my gluten-free/CELL program diet; not beat myself up when I slip or make a mistake
7. Exercise at least 3 times per week
8. Write at least one ebook to offer through my blog
9. Reach a goal of 1000 email subscribers to my blog!
10. Get closer to becoming the wife/mother/friend/sister/daughter/cousin/aunt/PERSON God desires me to be
So, what about you? What are YOUR goals this new year??
Leave a comment and let us know!
Will you accept my challenge this year?
I have been feeling a need to do this, so here it is:
I am issuing a challenge to each and every one of you – EVERYONE that reads this blog!
The challenge is this:
Read through your Bible in one year with us!
Now, if you have done it before, GREAT! Do it again! And if you haven’t, PERFECT! Do it now!
Here’s how it will work:
I will post a reading schedule at the beginning of each week. It will list the daily readings for the week, and be the catalyst for comments during the week on the readings we are doing. I plan to have some free goodies for those of you who participate (by participate, I mean, leave at least one comment per week on that week’s readings!). And, there is a distinct possibility of having a drawing mid-way through and at the end of the year….if not quarterly!
So, join with us today….we begin on January 1st!
Leave a comment on this posting if you will be taking up the challenge to Sharpen Your Sword all year long!
Preparing for Battle,
Toni
Christmas Poetry
Christ came to earth, one blessed
Holy night, to offer
Redemption to a world, so lost in His sight
Immanuel is His name, our
Savior He chose to be.
Three gifts were brought to Him, by the
Magi, for the One who would be
Atonement for sins – offering
Salvation to you and me.
Christmas Trees
Have you ever noticed the differences in Christmas trees?
Some are simple – others are ornate. Some are flocked – others are a beautiful evergreen. Some are real – some are artificial.
It seems Christmas trees are a very personal thing in our country. One person may have a designer tree full of gorgeous department store ornaments, ornate ribbons, and hundreds of lights. Truly a sight to see.
Others may prefer a simpler decoration – perhaps just lights and some tinsel. Or maybe all homemade decorations. There are trees with ornaments depicting our hobbies and memorializing our deceased loved ones. Some of us use garland, others use ribbons, some tinsel, and others pinecones. Trees run the gamut from truly country-style to high-end upscale fashion.
Yes, Christmas trees are a personal expression of ourselves. For us, our tree this year is one with multi-colored lights (I generally prefer clear, but am outnumbered by 3!) and decorations of all kinds. There are the beautiful ones my Mom bought for my sister and I a couple of years ago. There are ones the girls have made with no help from anyone. A few were purchased at the girls’ first or second Christmases. One is a photo ornament of my late father-in-law given to us by my sister-in-law last year. Perhaps the most sentimental to me are the ones that John has chosen for the girls each year. It is a special gift from him each year to his girls, and they all look forward to the tradition. There are puffs of white tulle in various places on the tree (my attempt at simulating “snow” – actually very cute!), wonderful large ribbons of varying colors and types of ribbon – all made from bows received on ornately-wrapped gifts in the past. Tucked in the tree in a few cozy spots are small teddy bears – remnants from a set of 12 we bought for Alexis when she was a toddler. She insisted on using the red beaded garland, so that encircles the tree, as well as a 4′ length of cranberry garland she made this year. With the exception of ONE – every ornament we have, I believe, is on the tree this year! And, to top it off, they are all on the front 2/3 of the tree! LOL….When I asked the girls if I could move a few to the back and rearrange a little – they both said, “NO!” So, the tree remains a little “front heavy.” Hopefully it will stand straight until Christmas!
The night our tree goes up, I always like to stay up after everyone goes to bed with the lights out and only the tree lit. It somehow really helps to put me in the Christmas spirit. This year was no different, and while I sat, God gave me this thought:
We (God’s children) are like Christmas trees.
How? Easy. We are all different. No two of us are exactly alike – we all come with different experiences (ornaments) and backgrounds (the tree itself). The tree itself represents the whole of our lives, and the lights reveal His presence. Like our individual Christmas trees are to us, we are all very special to Him, indeed.
He sees the absolute beauty in each ornament as it adds something unique to our lives that no one else has. He put it there! The ornaments of our lives are used by the Lord to shape our hearts and bring us closer to Him, while showing an outward sign of what He has done for us, and can do for others. The ornaments are one way for us to show the love of Christ.
He is the Light that illuminates our trees and shines so that the holes where ornaments are missing, or broken ornaments are placed, can be seen. Clear or multi, the lights reveal empty spaces and magnify mistakes. The Light of Christ reveals unrepented sin, and therefore, the lights are the most important of all the elements.
The tree itself was grown and handpicked specifically for us – God knew the exact tree: shape, size, type, flocked or not – and He knows why that tree was chosen. Sometimes we are disappointed in His choice of trees, but we shouldn’t be – #1 – we can’t change it. Our past is our past and our background is what made us who we are today. And #2, God has reasons far beyond our comprehension for choosing the background we have had. He can and does use any circumstance for good, and for His purposes.
So, you see, your Christmas tree can remind you of more than the birth of Christ this year, although I am in no way taking that away. I merely want to add that your Christmas tree can remind you, if you allow God to use it that way, of what He has brought you in your life. Of what He has brought you out of in your life. And when you look at the top of the tree – the star, the angel – let that be a reminder to know where He is taking you in your life.
I hope that after reading this, you look at your Christmas tree a little differently. And I hope that you spend a little time in the Light of your tree, looking to the One who decorated it so beautifully.
Merry Christmas everyone.
The Christmas Gift
I wrote this originally in my personal journal (don’t you feel like a special friend, now?) as a Valentines poem. But I have been wanting to share it with you. I changed a few words so it pertains to Christmas…hope you like it…let me know.
The Christmas Gift
Lord, I have forgotten Your ways
I haven’t read Your Word in too many days
I have missed the mark time and time again
Who am I to say that You are my friend?
But, Lord, in Your grace I want to grow
And I’ll need Your help, this I know.
To find my way back to Your Throne
This is a journey I can’t make alone.
Lord, I have called upon You only when in trouble
Perhaps that is why lately, all I do is stumble.
I’ve cursed and I’ve cried, I’ve felt I could die
But, Lord, You never left. You were always at my side.
You’ve never forsaken me, you’ve always been there
In the morning, at night, and when I say the occasional prayer.
You’re there when I sleep and there when I cry
You’re there when I slip, though I sometimes wonder why.
I wonder how a Lord so sovereign and good
Can still love a sinner like me – I’m not so sure I could.
But You do Lord, and I’m blessed
For of every gift in life, Jesus is the best.
So, Lord, this Christmas Day, I want to tell You
That whatever it takes, that’s what I’ll do
I’‘ll do what’s needed to get back that fire.
Lord, I just ask You to teach me to desire
The things that are good, righteous, and just
And to never lose faith in Your love, but to trust.
To trust in Your provision, Your love, and Your promise
For You o Lord, cannot be dishonest.
Lord, You have my heart from now until forever
I will love You Lord, and not lose faith, no never.
So, Lord, be with me as on this new journey I start
And Lord, please accept this Christmas gift – my heart.
Something funny…at least I think it is…
I thought I would throw something on here a little different….this is something I wrote one day for fun, just to write….it describes a desk I was using at the time…and I happen to think its pretty funny stuff, but, I could be a tad bit biased.
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The top shelf holds lots of junk – packets of label paper, graph paper, photo CDs, blank CDs, and my trusty stapler. Actually, the stapler isn’t all that trusty – it never staples the left side completely. It must be in cahoots with the dust bunnies. Behind the stapler and blank CDs are three software programs the girls got for Christmas – Alex has tried to play hers once, but they keep shutting off in the middle of the game, so I assume that the dust bunnies have worked up some master plan to crash my system. It seems they are off to a good start. On that shelf I also have the 5-page East Texas phone book. I also have a solitary spiral notebook, one of hundreds I have bought for who knows what reason. Another pad of graph paper (what am I? A math nerd??), some cute printer paper, a purple metal ruler, an ugly pen, and an open pack of Sharpies.
Above the shelves sits my cheap DELL printer – currently out of commission since it is nearly out of black ink. It is on, but I don’t know why….no paper, no ink. Next to the printer is where the worst cordless phone EVER resides – the battery in this phone lasts all of about 20 minutes. Maybe it’s mad because it too, is covered in those dusty little rodents. In front of the printer is my newest purchase of spiral notebooks – 5 blue ones to be exact. I bought them because a book said to. No really, I’m reading a, well, two actually, books about writing a novel and one of them said – “be sure to have at least 5 notebooks – I prefer the spiral bound type,” so, of course, I ran out to get them right away. And the blue, well, it’s my favorite color. Had I gotten red, John may have thought they were his Valentine’s gift.
It seems the dust bunnies are everywhere! On my desk in front of me, I have my mouse (not related to the dust bunnies – they fight like the Hatfields and McCoys), a half-full glass of milk (always the optimist), and lots of other stuff. It’s a given that my rodent covered monitor lives here. Currently residing there are a few radical groups of rebellious staples from the untrusty stapler. These happen to be red ones. They were John’s last Valentine’s gift.
If you were here you would also notice that I have a copy of How to Write, & Sell your First Novel by Oscar Collier with Frances Spatz Leighton. (Told you I was reading.) But, there’s more…a booklet of Pass-Along Promises sits between the monitor and my book. Atop the desk are also a folded $2 bill, a hinge paper clip, 2 coasters (one holding my milk), my current month’s budget sheet (more like a doomsday report), my digital camera, a box of Aleve Cold & Sinus, a box of Tylenol Sinus, 3 debit cards (one is no longer active), a steno notebook, and a flea comb for cats.
I haven’t even begun to tell you about the keyboard tray…..
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So, ummm….still want to read this blog? LOL!
PS – I have a new desk that my honey built for me, now!
Love letters
Imagine this scenario:
You pick up your mail, like usual. As you sift through the endless amount of bills, credit card offers, sales flyers and more junk mail, you see a long white envelope with an actual stamp on it. You pull it from the stack and realize it is a letter from a dear friend you haven’t heard from in years! You pull into the driveway and read the letter before you even put the car in park!
Or, how about this one:
Ladies, you’re being courted (or dating as is said now, though the two are not interchangeable), and your betrothed presents you with a handwritten letter. The letter tells you about the way his life was before you met. It tells you about how great of a love he has for you and talks of future plans and dreams. And deep within, in the middle of the letter, is a wonderful surprise – a marriage proposal. This is definitely a letter you will read again just before you walk down the aisle. In short, it is a letter you will read over and over again, breathing in each and every word as if your very life depended on it.
Try this one:
You receive a poetic love letter from your spouse. The letter is very long, and handwritten, with all types of prose. It begins with the story of your lives together. It tells of the good times, and the bad. There are pages that talk of nothing but hardship, and other pages that are full of blessed memories. There are poems and beautiful language. You read this letter everyday, especially since your spouse is now deceased. You treasure every single word, and you can almost say the entire thing by heart. It is, by far, your most valued possession.
Now, imagine this one:
Imagine getting any of those letters, and only taking it out once a week to read one or two sentences. Imagine only reading the parts that are happy, and not ever bothering with the parts that are hard to understand.
Instead of reading it all, you pick out little bits of information here and there, but you miss the big picture since you never read the whole thing. But, after all, you don’t have time to sit and read the whole thing. Dishes must be washed, laundry folded, errands run, and emails to check. So you miss out on the wonderful words and sweet poetry your friend or loved one put together, specifically for you.
Are you wondering where I’m going with this? It’s been said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. And it struck me tonight that if it is indeed a love letter – or a letter at all – we have ignored it unopened on the desk corner for far too long. Unlike the long-lost friend’s letter, or the letter from our beloved husband or wife, we open it and read only a verse or two once a week. And we wonder in the meantime why there are days when we just don’t understand what’s going on. There are days when nothing makes sense, and when we ask God to explain it, we wonder why He doesn’t speak to us.
The truth is, He does speak to us still, and has given us something that the early church would have gladly died for – a book that contains His words and thoughts. We have in our hands something of such great value that people die for it everyday. And we leave ours all too often on a shelf or coffee table to gather dust.
Why don’t we give our Bible the same attention and care we give those love letters? After reading those love letters, we can quote so much of it word-for-word, and yet we have a hard time remembering much more than a few scriptures, and then may only know the jist of it. Knowing its address (the book: chapter and verse) is another thing.
So my challenge is this: treat your Bible and the word of God as 1000 times more important than any other love letter you could ever receive. Read it every single day. Read it all the way through (not all at once, of course!) – and then do it again. Carry it with you when you travel. When you feel worried, scared, happy, sad, or blessed, read it. Memorize it – hide its words in your heart.
Do that, and its guaranteed, when the hard times come, you’ll have a direct line to God – His written word. And you’ll have a much easier time of knowing how to handle everything that comes your way.
Spend time in His word today – and be blessed.
