Year End Singing

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Early in December I was out exercising in our warm weather.  As I pounded the pavement I was singing along with Pandora.  This song was new to me...it touched my heart.  I wondered why I was so impacted by the words as I felt the Lord speaking them over me.  December has brought many sobering events to our nation and even my past history.  Each reminder has brought the soberness of the past year.  January started with funerals of love ones and December ended with more losses.  As I rejoiced and mourned this season I was made aware, as I was in January, of the hurt so many people are walking through.   We enter 2013 uncertain how the economy will affect many of us....but this I know He holds us in His hands.

I sing this over us all as we enter the New Year with the expectations of watching our Mighty God catch us as we jump with totally abandonment into His arms...He Won't Let Go!!!




"I Won't Let Go"

It's like a storm
That cuts a path
It breaks your will
It feels like that

You think you're lost
But you're not lost on your own
you're not alone

I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
If you can't cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let go

It hurts my heart
To see you cry
I know it's dark
This part of life
Oh it finds us all
And we're too small
To stop the rain
Oh but when it rains

I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
And you can't cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight

And I won't let you fall
Don't be afraid to fall
I'm right here to catch you
I won't let you down
It won't get you down
you're gonna make it
Yeah I know you can make it

Cause I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
And you can't cope
And I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let go
Oh I'm gonna hold you
And I won't let go
Won't let you go
No I won't

Ending the Year with Creative Juices

I just grabbed the fleeting chance I had to enjoy the holidays with my little one.  I know from past experience....yes, five times now...that before I blink, they won't be interested in sitting at the kitchen table and creating Christmas goodies.  Even my daughter hasn't once slowed down since her pre-teen years to create Christmas gifts and goodies.  Benjamin is still at that age and his excitement lit my creative juices.  He had just a few dollars of allowance to make gifts for his siblings.  He met me at the table to create snowmen... ....days before our snow. In fact, it was 78 degrees outside the day we painted.  I enjoyed his creations so much that I joined in the fun to make some for his teachers.  These won't melt...unlike our two days of Texas snow.

Ben painted a beard on one of his brother's candles....his brother's wife got tickled at that addition.  I enjoyed the larger glasses for the teacher's candle holders.  This was so much fun and now I will figure out how else I can paint glasses...even turning them upside down.  Thanks, Pinterest, for the inspiration!

It was funny placing my snowmen in the oven to bake....they didn't melt.

I enjoyed gathering some kitchen towels and trying my hand at tracing onto the cloth.  The graphics can be found on Graphics Fairy...it was so much fun. I hope the people I give them to will enjoy using them.  Even pretty kitchen towels can make a boring job fun.

Enjoy your last days of this year....................see you in 2013!!!!!!!!!!

White Christmas

Well for this Texas girl a white Christmas is just magical.  I have only had two White Christmases in all of my 51-years of life.  So when the flakes started to fall from the sky on Christmas day we all got a little giddy.

We are still enjoying the melting white snow as we return to our routine.  I am just busting at the seams to recount last year, tie it up in it's own bow and welcome all that the Lord has for our family in 2013!!

Now to find my word for the New Year and make a new header for my blog.  I will be busy boxing all the decorations up and returning them to their shelves, while organizing all my lists from the past year and the new to come.

I pray you and yours have time to look back over the year and thank God for His goodness for the past year.

Happy New Year!!

Unentangled from the Trappings

Our pastor has continued to pray we wouldn't be entangled by the trappings of this Christmas season.  If there ever was a Christmas season I wasn't entangled, it was this Christmas season of 2013.  I never remember not knowing the reason for the season, nor do I ever remember the world's version taking over my entire heart, yet this Christmas is imprinted on my heart forever.  My pray for you this year is that as you read what God imprinted on my heart you will not take your wrappings on the floor for granted.  You will step back and breath in All the Lord provided for us through His birth and resurrection.  Don't be rushed to clean up the Christmas mess....be glad you can enjoy the Christmas mess with Loved ones.  Be glad you can bow your head and pray for all those who had substantial losses this year...and for our nation as we all heal from the latest tragedy.

Financial lack this year reminded me that my Savior wasn't born into earthly wealth.

His parents relied totally on God for their provision...as I did also.

God provided for gifts for my family, none of them came from our own efforts.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, Phil 2:7

The shooting of precious children sent me to my knees for over a week, and I will continue to stay there.

Tears have flown over and over again...Benjamin reminds me through his presence of those who

are now dancing in heaven.

This reminded me also that my Savoir was born into a very violent culture.

He came to save us....our world still needs this child.

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

My child's singing this year...even singing himself to sleep praising God, reminded me 

that I too, have to be like a child in my faith.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matt 9:14

My husband's love for me reminded me that God's love is unconditional.

 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  John 4:10

As we celebrated with our growing family I cherished the possibilities of our future.

A grandchild waiting for final adoption, marriages and even old age....our future is in

His hands.

 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,  Matt 18:3

My final stuffing for my stocking.  God is Good.  God is Good All the Time and worthy to be Praised.

Merry Christmas to my blogging friends.  Thanks for letting me be silent as I continue to pray for our country's latest losses and for eyes to be open to the need for our Savior. 

My Heart Breaks

Connecticut.  I bow my head in prayer.

O Little Town

Just one hours drive from the bustle of the growing Metro-Plex of Dallas, Texas you can be swept back in time.  We loaded our youngest boys and headed for this quaint piece of the past to discover the wonders this once booming city held for us.  As we entered on Main Street we passed jewels of architecture built in the late 1800's and early 1900's all dressed in their Christmas glory.  We "oohed and awed" at what seems to have been a more simpler time in life, though not without its own struggles, as the city tells the story of a boom town where the glory days have left, leaving behind emptied downtown business fronts.

As we continued past the wonderful homes along Main Street, onto the city square, there stood the beautiful Court House built in 1829.  The calmness of the streets reminded you that modern day conveniences have moved business out from the square and near the highway. I soaked in the past as we took pictures of the courthouse, while the revitalized movie theater hold its last live performance of the season.  We all stood in wonder of the gifts of past builders...carpenters.

Yet we hadn't come for the American carpenters or architects gifts, we came to re-visit the excellent re-creation of the City of Bethlehem   This small community gathers her resources to give all those who travel near or far,  the real meaning of Christmas, a eternal gift of the story of one humble beginning....over 2000 years ago.

Stroll with me through my inadequate pictures.  Let your heart wonder back to those humble beginnings.  Let your child's heart be swept away in awe. (this was one of the first words I packed in my stocking, the heart of a child's wonder).  Let the Lord tell you His story through the Rabbi and those who like Simeon waited to see the birth of the Messiah.  Listen for the crowds and the word, "I have no room." that were said to Mary and Joseph.  Ponder, as Mary did, what all this would mean for us.  Enter the meaning of Christmas.

They stay in character as they teach.  This man explains the weaving and the meaning of the "swaddling cloth".  They are threshing flax, showing you how they dye the threads, and weaving.

The Rabbi teaching in the Synagogue.

The Menorah....He is the Light of the World, as he proclaimed in the Gospels.

The Roman soldiers along with their tents.  They correct and move among the crowds in the city.

Benjamin was fascinated and took videos throughout the evening...these visuals will stay with him.

The High Priest and King Herod.  The Magi, who left from his courts on camel to go find the King. The tax collector collecting the taxes in Bethlehem.

The young couple in the stable with their new child...the King of Kings!!

Thank you little town of Waxahachie, Texas, for sharing with your community your free Christmas gift, which allows us all to remember and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.  May God Bless you all.

Singing Through December

We are so blessed to have a little one in our home on a daily basis.  Now have I said that before?  When God looked down and say two graying parents He knew what our future held.  He knew  we would walk through some very deep valleys.  He knew that income would be lacking more times than not. He knew that lives challenges at time would be more than I would think I could handle, yet, He produced a seed in my womb at age 44...dad-to-be was 51.

Seven years ago I celebrated Christmas with a very large belly!  I felt the kicking of a little one who we didn't know the sex of.  I wasn't sure if this little one would be healthy on his arrival or if I would be able to deliver at home as I had with my past two.  We all waited in expectation of a what a Mighty God was going to do for us.

Mid-wives walked this mid-age woman through a long pregnancy.  My husband was called away for a full month on work as I stayed back to home school three children and taxi teenagers to all their activities. I was alone.  My mind battled the words of the world against this pregnancy...the stats of what my pregnancy held and the unsurety of the future, while still parenting three other children, rejoicing with our newly-weds and watching our college son spread his wings.

That Christmas this song just meant so much to me, as it does this season while my miracle of a healthy 10 pound 4 oz boy arrived just after the New Year, to a 45-year-old mother.  He changed everything, as all children do.  His arrival has brought joy in the midst of so many struggles since his birth.  His voice singing "Glory to God in the Highest" this season has kept his smiling mother humble, as I continue to walk through our family challenges.

Did Mary know what was before her?  Could she have even grasp what her child would deliver the world from?  Could she have even imagined the cross or the empty grave?  NO!  I don't believe she could have...we still can't, at times, believe the gift. So many choose not to receive the gift.  My Benjamin reminds me that God gives gifts that don't go with the world's culture of what you should do.  God knew that my husband and I would need the smiles...and the ears of listening to a six-year-old sing "Glory to God in the Highest", while he is in bed.  God knew we would need the smiles he and his sixteen year old brother bring in our home. God gives perfect gifts!  May we all receive His gift this season.

So I leave you with a song that has become a classic for me.

Just a Little Nuts

green top stockings are the new additions to our family...the spouses...so next year will have two more green stockings

I had so much fun reading everyone's comments on starting to stuff my stocking.  It's amazing how many of us were raised with oranges stuffed in the bottom of our stockings.  I wanted to share this link which tells how this tradition began - http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1853/#b.   I am looking forward to putting oranges in all of our stockings again this year.

Along with the unexplained tradition of oranges were the nuts that filled in all the spaces of my Christmas stocking...we have done the same with our children.  We would pour them out all over the floor and then, later, gather them into a bowl to be enjoyed by all.

This year, the symbolic nuts in my stocking are the giggles from children.  My Benjamin is a source of continuous giggles in our house.  To watch the world through a young child's eyes allows us adults to also giggle...sometimes out loud and many times a giggle in our spirit.

Christmas provides times of plentiful giggles...Charles Dicken's Christmas in McKinney...The Dallas Children's Parade...Viewing of Christmas lights...The windows at Neiman Marcus...Making Christmas cookies.  Stories being read at bedtime during this season allow the giggles of a child to pour out into adults' hearts.

Here are just two stories from our "giggling machine" that I place in our stockings, along with pictures of his eyes of wonder.

As we were riding along listening to Christmas carols, Benjamin heard the song about being naughty or nice.  I didn't think anything about his silence..which means his brain is churning.  Finally, the song ended and he voiced very matter-of-factly, "I think I am in the middle of that list!"

The pure honesty of a child just warmed our hearts.

my last two boys at home...Stephen 16 and Benjamin 6

Another night, he was helping me set the table for dinner, filling all of the glasses with ice.  I noticed that he selected the ice dispenser that gave out large cubes for everyone's glass except one, in which he placed crushed ice.  I didn't ask why... When I sat down, I poured the tea in the glasses and started to drink from the glass he had put crushed ice into. He shouted, "Stop! You can't drink that. That glass is Dads! When he orders a drink he always ask for little ice so I made sure he got little ice!"

My heart was warmed that this little man wanted to honor his dad with the request for little ice, even if his dad meant the volume instead of the size of the ice.

So this Christmas season, I pray you have the joy of a child.  Our Savior came as a child and he beckons us to come as a child to Him.  May your stockings be filled with giggles.