THANKFUL THURSDAY!

I'm joining Sonya again this week for Thankful Thursday! Stop by Truth 4 The Journey to join us!

1) I am thankful that our daughter and son-in-law will be relocating to Richmond by this summer!

2) I am thankful to God for blessing me and my ministry in ways I never imagined possible. Thank you Lord, for expanding my mission field and equipping me to do Your work in the world.

3) I am thankful for my church family. They really are a family, too, after almost 20 years!

4) I am thankful for a new doctor who is proactively helping me improve my health.

5) I am thankful for the gift of our Savior. Sometimes I just can't breathe thinking about how very much I am loved that He would die for me.

What are you thankful for today?

THANKFUL THURSDAY!

Jen and her brother and Jen and her husband

1) I am so grateful to God for my baby girl who is 24 years old today!!

2) I'm thankful for the relationship we have with our children. We are a very close-knit family. We can argue and yell at each other, but nobody else better:-)

3) I'm thankful for the way God is blessing me as I respond to His call on my life to encourage and minister to women and Christian writers.


4) I'm thankful for Thankful Thursday because it helps me remember how blessed I am and how much God cares about me and loves me.

5) I'm thankful for the people God is bringing into my life, in person and through the internet. They are a source of encouragement and hope.

What are you Thankful for today? Stop by Truth 4 The Journey and join us!

THANKFUL THURSDAY!

I'm joining Sonya at Truth 4 The Journey and a host of others again this week in sharing 5 things for which I am thankful today!

1) Our son is coming home from school! We've really missed having him here and it will be great to have him home for a couple of months while he waits for his new session to start. (Our dog will be especially excited to see him!)

2) The three little ones I care for are all healthy after a couple of rough weeks passing a virus back and forth to each other.

3) Monday is the official start of the last course I need to complete to receive my certificate in Advanced Congregational Leadership:-)

4) The sky - every morning and every evening has been so glorious to behold! One morning the moon hung there against a slate backdrop. I had to stop and just look at it for a few moments.

5) My Savior, Jesus Christ. He hears me when I call out to Him. He answers me in ways I never imagined He would.

What are you thankful for today? Join us!

Fabulous Friday!

Yes, it really was a rather fabulous day overall! This morning I worked with the twins and their sister to make Christmas gifts for their parents. Yep, I really did - even at 2, 2 and 4 they did a beautiful job! I'm not going to say what it was in case mom reads this, though:-) Then we watched a couple of Christmas shows (Dora and Go, Diego, Go--or Go, go, go as the boys call it!).

At some point today the Spirit inspired me about the character I will portray when I go the nursing home on December 28th. As a Certified Lay Speaker I volunteer at area assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and sometimes fill the pulpit at area churches if needed. The last time I visited Elmcroft, where I will be on the 28th I gave a short sermon and then portrayed the Samaritan Woman at the Well. I had taken a Storytelling course as part of my Lay Speaker certification training earlier in the year and I was quite excited to have a chance to put what I had learned into practice.

The residents enjoyed the storytelling and asked me to come back, so when I go in a couple of weeks, I'll give a brief intro to the story and then get into character. I've given the details at Godly Graffiti, if you're interested.

(CHRISTMAS 2007)
Tonight my son put up our Christmas tree. I know it's late -- really late for us -- but it's done and I'm really enjoying putting on the decorations. Last year I used the bows and ribbon from my daughter's wedding on the tree. They added such a beautiful touch and have decided to do it again this year. I've got them on and have added all 21 angels from the Hallmark collection we started for our son when he was born.

We don't have my daughter's on the tree this year because we packed them up last year for her and her husband to use. They don't have a big enough tree this year, and they've been and will continue to be on the road, so the ornaments are in a box waiting for them. We've got plenty of others though, and each one has a story behind it. We are so grateful our daughter and son-in-law (and our grand dogs) will be with us for Christmas though.


It's been a very odd year for us and very challenging at times. We feel blessed though that we have been able to work, to keep our home, that our children are doing well and making a future for themselves and for the countless friends and loved ones in our lives.

We are looking forward to our annual Christmas Eve Open House. It has become a tradition for many neighbors and friends of all ages to stop by our home on Christmas Eve. Our holiday would not be complete without the hugs, laughter, good food and good company we enjoy each year.

Well, I've almost got my second wind, so I may go add a few more ornaments to the tree. We're really scaling back this year, but my husband was off today and he did put the candles in the windows. I'll hang stockings, but I don't think we'll display the nutcracker collection or the Santas this year. We're going with understated and low stress as our theme:-) I kind of like it!

Such a Great Cloud of Witnesses

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1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us [Hebrews 12:1]

These words have always been powerful for me. As a writer I love the imagery of a 'great cloud of witnesses' in Paul's letter to the Hebrews. Paul is saying that since we are indeed surrounded in this way, we are more able to throw off all that entangles us in the matters of this world--those "of the world" things.

Things like the 2-year long U.S. Presidential election process, the war in Iraq, all the unrest, wars, famine, natural disasters, and on and on and on distract us from what really matters. In the midst of this "cloud" we are energized, nourished, sustained, encouraged and supported in the "race marked out for us."

The "cloud" refers to those surrounding us. It's important with whom we associate, with whom we choose to be friends, with whom we spend time. We may not have control over these things at our jobs, but without godly friends and a strong faith community, it's nearly impossible to live live out our call as Christians.

Why? Because we tend to act like those with whom we interact. We tend to speak as those with whom we speak. We tend to spend our time the way those with whom we associate spend their time. While familiarity may not breed contempt, it can and may breed something even more insidious. When we become so comfortable and familiar with friends we may relax our standards a bit, or allow them to relax theirs. Our conversations may shift from how we can deal with difficult people by remembering they are children of God to how annoyed WE are by the challenging people in our lives.

When we get so comfortable with our Christianity we may forget that we are as broken, frail and flawed as are each of the other people in the world where we live. Our co-workers, the other commuters on the road, the clerk in the store, our spouse, our children all deserve to be viewed through the eyes of our Savior. All too often, though, we make it about "me" and that's, as it was explained to me one day recently, "idolotry." That's right: we make ourselves the center of the world rather than God when we snap at, gossip about, begrudge and bemoan all the others in our lives.

I've had an interesting month. I've attended two Christian Writer's conferences, met some amazing, gifted, wonderful Christian women writers and deepened friendships with some amazing, gifted, wonderful Christian women writers. Don't get me wrong--I'm not so selective about my friendships that I am only friends with women Christian writers! That's just where I am right now -- in the writing mode - and since I'm a Christian woman writer . . . well it kind of all makes sense.

Since I've been published (for pay) this past year, I've been asked to be a member of a panel discussion at the annual dinner of the Christian writer's group I belong to. I honestly don't know what I will say beyond the fact that I am ever humbled and awed that the God of heaven and earth has selected me to be a vessel of His word to a world in desperate need of healing and hope. I will also relate my ongoing struggle to live a life worthy of God's design for my life.

To Him belongs the glory and to Him belongs any success or wealth or recognition I have or will ever receive as a writer. "My" words are all God-breathed and spirit-inspired. When I read the words of some of my "new" and current Christian writer friends, I can tell they feel as I do--that they are blessed beyond imaginging; that they are God's willing and holy vessels of the Good News. I read their words and think they are so powerful and beautiful that I aspire to be like them.

I still love my "old" friends and they will always be important in my life! They have been some of the strong Christians that have helped keep me in line as well as encourage and uplift me. Interesting though, that all my "old" friends with whom I maintain friendships are Christian. My church is truly a Christian family - after almost 20 years together, that makes sense.

So my challenge to myself is to not be so relaxed and comfortable that I forget whose I am and how He desires me to act and think and speak. My desire is that I can be a light for my friends and family as I live out and live into God's plan and purpose for my life.

I Guess An "Old Dog" Can Learn Some New Tricks!

I know that some of you who know me well will be in utter shock when I tell you this: I actually used html and other computer "stuff" to create a blank journal for sale on the website lulu.com!

For those who don't know me well, the humorous part of this announcement is that I can't even handle using the remote control for the television except for the "on/off" function! We have so many options with cable t.v., etc., that I inevitably hit the wrong button, much to the exasperation of my family!

What is so amazing to me is not only that I was able to produce a product that looks exactly as I envisioned it, create a "storefront"/"website" where people can go to buy it on line and then add links back to the storefront from my website and my blog all by myself, but I did it on a day I was not originally scheduled off. I received a bonus day off and so I used it to accomplish this goal.

Perhaps you don't see God in all of this, but I know He has been at work arranging and rearranging circumstances for me in response to my ardent prayer that He take over all the how's and the when's of everything I believe He wants me to do to spread the Good News. A week ago, I couldn't imagine how I would possibly have time to sleep because it seemed my days would be so full and busy! Finally, on Sunday, I asked God to give me some kind of sign, that I could not mistake or doubt, about whether or not I was on the right track in the goals I have set.

This is part of an email message I received from a friend on Monday morning:

GOD WANTED ME TO TELL YOU, It shall be well with you this coming year. No matter how much your enemies try this year, they will not succeed. You have been destined to make it and you shall surely achieve all your goals this year. For the remainder of 2008 and all of 2009, all your agonies will be diverted and victory and prosperity will be incoming in abundance.
Today God has confirmed the end of your sufferings, sorrows and pain because HE that sits on the throne has remembered you. He has taken away the hardships and given you JOY. He will never let you down. I knocked at heaven's door this morning, God asked me. My child! What can I do for you? And I said, "Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message".

Apparently this prayer began with Mother Theresa and has been circulating for several decades. Needless to say, I have been praying that all it promises is so. I have no doubt that it will be through the power of Christ and the prayers I lift as well as the prayers of my friends and family.

I want you to know that I pray this for each of you every day as well. I wish you JOY in your journey.

The Benefits of Parenting Advice from Experienced Parents

When we become parents for the first time, we are really beginning a journey into uncharted waters. As new mothers and fathers we have so many questions and may not feel very confident about our parenting abilities. The first inclination for mothers may be to seek parenting advice from their own mother, their mother-in-law or another family member, the child's pediatrician, parenting books or by searching on the internet.

You mother or mother-in-law has certainly reared children, but it has probably been quite a long time since they had young children under foot. The parenting styles of older relatives may not be consistent with modern ideas and methods. One potential problem that could develop by asking your mother or other family member for advice is that if you don't follow their advice, they might take it personally. That could potentially lead to a rift in your relationship with them.

So, how do you find experienced parents from whom to get parenting advice? Find out at The Benefits of Parenting Advice from Experienced Parents.

Thanksgiving – Not Just About Turkey and Pumpkin Pie

This is a great time of year to teach children about gratitude and generosity. Actually, as parents we could probably use a small refresher course, too! The holiday season is also a wonderful opportunity to share your families’ history with your children—traditions, funny stories, and other unique qualities about your child(ren)’s extended family.

Thanksgiving at my childhood home was heralded in when the premier batch of my mother’s famous party mix came out from wherever she hid it from us. I’m not sure when she began making her annual supply of party mix each year (eventually it was made, stored and consumed by the garbage bag sized container!). We always had a house full of neighbors, cousins and friends for dinner.

While we’re talking to our children about gratitude and generosity, why not allow them to pick a community service project you can do as a family Christmas. Serving a meal at one of the homeless shelters, delivering Christmas cookies to the fire station, visiting a nursing home and singing Christmas carols are all great ways to share the joy of the season.

Read more ways to celebrate Thanksgiving at Associated Content: Thanksgiving -- Not Just About Turkey and Pumpkin Pie

Kids in the Kitchen -- How to Cook up Family Fun

One of my earliest memories of “cooking” is when I was very young and my mom allowed me to stir the party mix. Now keep in mind, her party mix is legendary! Though she swears she uses the identical recipe she has given me, hers is always just a bit better. So, it was an honor to have even a small part in the creation of her famous party mix.

As I grew older, I learned and mastered more tasks required in meal preparation. After I mastered stirring cereals, corn chips, pretzels and several secret ingredients in a bowl without sending them flying all over the kitchen, I was allowed to stir a cake batter, etc.

Begin with simple recipes. There are some great cookbooks for kids on othe market today that include step-by-step instructions and pictures so kids can see what the food will look like when it's finished. Read more . . .