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Showing posts from December, 2014

Here Comes Grace

Everybody loves a thankful kid.   To be thankful and have a heart like a child, that’s my desire!   Papa God has blessed me with so much in 2014; I want to pause and mention some of the things that make me smile as I look back over the highlights of the year: Our newest grandbaby’s arrival in the spring. Celebrating our 43 rd anniversary in Mexico and enjoying an afternoon sightseeing, stopping for lunch and being serenaded at a Mexican Cantina. It took all summer, but I was able to paint my kitchen cabinets white!   I think I know the words to every Rod Stewart song on my IPod.   Fun days of preparation, cooking, planning and choosing costumes for our daughter’s birthday bash last fall when she turned the big four-o.   It was wonderful to celebrate with family and friends traveling by far to be with us! The beauty of attending a six-week seminar at church with my spouse called “Cleansing Stream.”   The experience was the catalyst to communicate better for us and lo

Presents or Presence?

I know what my kids are trying to do.   They’re instructing their children that Christmas is about someone not something.   And it’s working. The request to us as grandparents this year was “just a few presents to place under the tree for the kids.”   I really tried hard to oblige them.   I really tried.   But then I spotted a “Fancy Nancy” storybook that I wanted to read with our six year old granddaughter!   And the games, kids love games!   Their parents should only know about the stuff I passed up!   It worked out great and our Christmas visit with the kids makes me smile every time I think of it.   We decorated a birthday cake together and sang to Jesus.   Before Sookie blew out the candle she whispered her wish in my ear “I wish we can make a cake like this every day and all be together.”   Presents followed and as she opened each one carefully, she jumped into our laps and gave us a thank-you hug.   Each one! I would say the lesson is being learned here.  

I Love Christmas Surprises!

I love Christmas surprises; the simple pleasures that make me stop and think “That person really cares.”   Twice today I received such a surprise.   Once, when a package arrived from friends on the east coast delivering a lovely gift I was not expecting.   Secondly, I received a Christmas card from a long-time friend whom I lost touch with a few years ago.   She moved and was so thoughtful to connect again and share her new address!   Unexpected surprises are wonderful! I decided to shuffle things around a bit today and surprise Jesus by showing up mid-day and surprise Him with a pinch of quality time despite my hectic schedule.    The middle of the day is so busy, especially at Christmastime.   There are cards to address, cookies to bake, decorations to hang and people to meet with and encourage.   These are all good but even good things that have value need to be placed in perspective.   I’ve read many blog posts and devotionals that target getting our priorities right

Christmas Fun in San Diego

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The Eve I Will Always Remember

We've enjoyed some fun Christmas Eve celebrations as a family.  A few years ago, however, I wanted to cancel Christmas.  The kids wouldn't let me.  Instead, they picked up the slack and put together a celebration I will always remember!  I invite you to read the rest of my story at LisaShawcares.com, her web site:   Women Walking With Jesus,

The Botched Cookies

For years I have boasted how I love cookies and enjoy baking them.   I’ve accumulated five-star recipes and confidently bake them, package them real pretty at Christmastime and give them as gifts.   That’s why no one was more surprised than me when I dumped a tray of homemade brown sugar cookies in the trash just days ago.   They were awful, inedible.   A good baker knows when to improvise and when to follow the recipe to a tee.    This recipe called for a cup of unsalted butter.     I added a cup of margarine instead, and it ruined the whole salty batch.   I was left with nothing.   I didn’t follow directions. Sometimes I do that in life.   I do things my way instead of the preferred way, the well tested way that insures success.   Who then can I blame then when the consequences turn sour? One of my favorite topics preached at Christmastime is forgiveness.   To me it is the essence of why Jesus came to earth.   Sunday’s sermon taken from Matthew 5 came alive to me.