Spiritual

With all the hustle bustle of Christmas preparations we often forget to stop and really listen to the words of our favorite Christmas Carols. This year, I have made it a point to pay attention to the lyrics as I have Christmas carols playing in the car and in my home throughout the month of December. So many of the old classic carols have a complete message of the good news of Christ Jesus. The birth of Jesus is what we celebrate and it seems so easy to lose the real reason for the season as we get caught up in our list of “to dos”. So this season, join me in refocusing on the true meaning of Christmas. Focus on JOY, focus on HOPE and LOVE and set your eyes and heart on Jesus, our EMMANUEL-God with us!!!    …

Christmas is here. The season is in full swing. Between all the decorating, baking, shopping, giving, partying, serving, wrapping, and Christmasing, it seems there is hardly a moment to breathe. The one word I would choose to describe my life right now… Busy. But I don’t want to be consumed with busyness. I love the Christmas season. I love getting together with people, the holiday cheer, the excitement sharing food, spending quality time, and spreading love. But how does Jesus fit into this busy feeling? Where is he in the chaos? How do we remember the baby in the manger amidst all the stuff? We put him FIRST. We orchestrate our life so Jesus isn’t just something we do, it’s the center of who we are.   …

Today is Thanksgiving Day.
“O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation,
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms,
For the Lord is a great God
And a great king above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
Come let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts,”
Psalm 95:1-8

My favorite family tradition as we sit around our Thanksgiving table is to pass a small basket and place a dry corn kernel into the basket and share what we are thankful for. Today, we are creating new traditions. My husband and I have the privilege of sharing this holiday with our oldest daughter and her family at her in-laws home. Since the rest of our daughters will be celebrating with friends and family all over the world, I sent them messages and asked them to share what they are thankful for so I could hold each one of them close to my heart today.   …

“But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned, and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16

“Thankfulness is a conscious response that comes from looking beyond our blessings to their source. As Christians, we have been forgiven, saved from death, and adopted as God’s children. There could be no better reason for a grateful heart.   …

It may be just a WORD spoken to you or an hour of TIME that a friend or family member gives to you, but both are forms of ENCOURAGEMENT, a much needed gift; to give and to receive. Encouragement does not always come from the person we need it to come from or at the exact time we need it or in the form we expect, but it will come. I am a natural encourager. I love to look for the “good” in people, finding ways to build them up and help them see their potential. I love to come along side young people who are dreaming of their future and discovering their passions.   …

Okay… that four letter word comes out of my mouth way too often (see, it just did!). How are you doing? Okay… How is work? Okay… How is life? Okay… What does OKAY even mean! Most of the time, okay is just a cover up for something deeper going on. It can be an excuse or a scapegoat to gloss over real issues. Sometimes, okay is the only word to describe the in between or confused emotions I am feeling. But what I really need to be okay with, is not being okay. I try so hard to be easy going that I don’t always voice my opinion. I try so hard to work things out on my own that I lie to myself about the depth of an issue. I try so hard to internalize things so I don’t make something an unnecessary conflict. But maybe it needs to be a discussion, disagreement, or conflict. Maybe I need to be honest. And maybe I need to speak up. What happens is something starts with being “just okay” and it ends up in frustration, bitterness, or resentment. I don’t ever set out for things to end up like that, but it happens. Something happens. I don’t want to react or be over dramatic. So I get quiet. I start thinking. And my emotions start eating away at me. At first the struggle was not that big of an issue, but now it is taking root and growing. Without even realizing it, something I tried to “deal with on my own” ends up being stirred up by something else. Then it comes out in my thoughts, words, and actions. NOT OKAY!   …

Harvest festivals, fall leaves changing colors, making pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies, making big hot pots of soup, canning apple butter with friends, long walks, jumping in piles of freshly fallen leaves….are many of my favorite things about Autumn.…