A Day to Remember

Christmas Anticipation!

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Wow…less than a week until Christmas! How did that happen? We’ve all said it. When we were children, Christmas took FOREVER to arrive. We started counting down the days after Thanksgiving. (I’m sorry, I think Thanksgiving should have its own, special time and I don’t really remember Christmas decorations being put out in homes or stores until AFTER Thanksgiving.) At school you anticipated the long break coming up. It seemed like you would be gone for ages, rather than just a couple of weeks.

Your mother baked mounds of goodies, you decorated cookies and ate way too much raw dough, (yes another bad thing we did as children if you’re my age). You also sampled frosting until your tongue was green. The build-up for Christmas Eve was almost unbearable. Finally, the day would arrive!

When I think back on those years…I don’t really recall the actual presents and what I received as much as the emotions and feelings of that month. It was more the simple pleasure of the preparations for the Big Day. The emotions of family and friends, the close unity we all shared.   We all were gathered for a purpose, and enjoyed being there.

In previous posts, I have mentioned the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas. I wanted to share a few of those here. These pictures of our small town were taken Christmas Eve of 2008 by our second oldest. Boy was it cold outside! I loved it, because it had a ‘Christmas’ feel to it.

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These are some more pictures from that Christmas, seven years ago. I have a village that I used to arrange on my piano. I absolutely loved it! I have always adored miniatures and this was just perfect to display every Christmas. But now it has grown too large and I need a bigger area to display it. Not a bad problem to have! But I have really missed it the past couple of years!

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These two pictures are from that Christmas day. One showing that anticipation I was speaking of. The other of three of our daughters with the aprons I made that Christmas.

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I think for most of us, Christmas isn’t about the presents we are going to receive, (unless we are under the age of twelve). It’s about the preparations, time spent with family and friends. The cards you receive from miles away, the shopping for gifts to give and watching as those people open what you have chosen especially for them. It’s all those emotions that are tied in from being with special people in your life.

I think that is totally appropriate. God planned for and provided those people to encourage us, help in times of need, give us accountability and love us. Who else would you want to spend such a very special day with?

A Quick Thought

My Cozy Little Corner

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Christmas Fireplace

This is my cozy little corner. I sit here in the evenings, on my Cracker Barrel rocking chair. My husband sits in his on the opposite side of the room. This has become a routine for us almost every evening and it’s one that I enjoy. We usually watch Netflix in the evenings, but I do sit here and read at times as well. And sometimes I just…sit.

The chairs were purchased for a lovely front porch we had in an old house we lived in twelve years ago in Upstate New York. I was pregnant with our youngest at the time and I spent a lot of hours on that porch before and after she was born. I absolutely love front porches, side porches and back porches. If I could, I would have every room in my house lead to a porch.  They are kind of a nice, safe, haven that you can observe the rest of the world from. And I really wouldn’t mind if a porch looked out over meadows or mountains. A lake or an ocean would be terrific!

Front porches are old and nostalgic, while decks are modern and open. I do like a deck, but it is just not the same as a porch. I guess I’m just funny that way. (I’m sure some would say in many ways!)

Just For Fun!

BTW…

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I am currently working on my second book in a series of four or five books. The first book in the series is set in the 1980’s and the second one is set in the 1890’s. Yes, you read that correctly, the second book goes back almost 100 years! I love historical books! As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, Gone With the Wind is my favorite book. But I have so many others that I have enjoyed as well. Traveling back in time gives us a glimpse of that world. While I love to read it…it’s a bear to write about!!! Believe it or not, I didn’t live 100 years ago and it takes A LOT of research to get a feel for a different time and place.

All that leads me to my thoughts for today. Yes, our dress is very different, we have various modes of transportation that we didn’t use in the past, and we communicate in a whole unique way that we did not over 100 years ago. We still have phones, we may occasionally write a letter and we visit family and friends.

The communication part is what has been popping into my head the past few days. Can you imagine someone from the 1800’s or earlier see us put a small, rectangular-shaped object to our ear and actually ‘talk’ into it? We probably would have been burned at the stake for witchcraft! Think of all the new ‘words’ or phrases we have now that we didn’t have even when I was growing up. Transport yourself 100 years ago and the person you were talking to would say, “Excuse me?” (They wouldn’t have said, “what” or “huh” 100 years ago!) “BTW, I’ll TTYL, pick-up some moo-joo at the store. TYVM! SYL!” (Okay, maybe they would have said, “HUH?!)

I can understand texting the above phrases. (I don’t text unless I absolutely have to, so I may have those, phrases, words, whatever you call them…wrong.) But seriously, are we so busy that we can’t say, “Dairy Queen” or “International House of Pancakes”, instead of “DQ” or “IHOP”? When I was a young girl, we went to the International House of Pancakes many times on a Saturday morning and it didn’t cause us great distress to say all those words. It didn’t take a lot of time out of our morning to ask the question, “May we go to the International House of Pancakes for breakfast this morning?”

I must admit, many of the abbreviations are pretty cute. “IHOP” has a nice jingle to it. My mother would ask my father if we could go to the “DQ” long before it became that, trying to make it a surprise for us. We did figure it out pretty quickly. Mainly because children are fairly smart when it comes to ice-cream or treats in any form. “BOGO” still causes me to stop and think about what they are talking about. It comes in a snap when I’m at Payless looking at shoes, though!

So, the next time you board a plane, think of what someone from the 1800’s and earlier would have thought about that. This is a post for another day, but I’m fairly certain they would have thought we were…crazy!!! “All those people get into that silver bullet and it goes up into the sky, even where the clouds are and then it comes down in another state or country?! NTYVM!!! (For those of you that aren’t as techno-savvy as I am, that would be: No Thank You Very Much!!!

 

 

Bible Verses, Our Christian Walk

A Balm to the Soul

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I have always been amazed that whenever I go to the Bible, God leads me to be where I should be reading. It is not always what I want to hear or apply to my life. Some of it is written for a certain people in a different time period, but applications can be made. This is what I turned to this morning, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

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Psalm 111:1-10:

1)Praise ye the Lord, I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. 2)The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all of them that have pleasure therein. 3)His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.  4)He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 5)He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant. 6)He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. 7)The works of his hands are verity and judgement: all his commandments are sure. 8)They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. 9)He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. 10)The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Scripture copied from the authorized King James Version of the Bible.)

Wow! My Christian walk has been a little shaky over the past few weeks. When you have been through a battle, and injured, you have to heal. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. That takes time. You start out with small, shaky, baby steps, but you keep walking, and you stay on the path. God will lead and direct, he will provide light and shelter when you need it.

I encourage you to read the above passage again and again. I used the King James Version today because that is what I use in my writing. I think it is a beautiful translation, one that I had our children memorize in. It flows and sounds very pretty. For everyday reading, I usually use my New American Standard, a little easier to understand at times. But I think the above is pretty clear.

Christmas is drawing near. It is very easy to ‘get off the path’ and put our minds on other ‘things’. We get caught up in the hustle and bustle and all the ‘things’ we ‘should’ do. Please remember that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. Keep him FIRST in all your activities and thoughts of the day. It will not return void!

 

 

Just For Fun!

Shop ‘Til You Drop!

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This post was from a year ago. I came across it today and it brought back fond memories of shopping with our two oldest daughters. By the time our son came along, I guess taking three small children to the mall wasn’t such fun anymore. I don’t recall going to the mall very much with three children, and certainly not at Christmas time! But I do remember the lights and decorations, and of course the crowds!

When I was younger…much younger, I used to live at the mall. Well, not really. I absolutely loved the mall and spent many a Saturday there. Once I had children, they had the ‘joy’ of going with me. After all, pushing a stroller and dragging a toddler is a pretty good workout!

I look back at that time period and wonder what that was all about. I didn’t really spend that much money there, especially after the children came along. So it must have been the ambiance. As you know, the atmosphere is really great at a mall!

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Christmas shopping was especially wonderful and exciting. The hour you cruised the parking lot, trying to find a parking spot in walking distance of that cement building rising from the pavement. Lugging out the stroller, diaper bag, and of course the coats. It would be freezing for that ‘walk’ to the mall and then you would have to find a place to ‘stuff’ them when you went back to normal clothing inside. I think our stroller had a weight limit of about 500 pounds, fully loaded! Then you would spend several hours, if not most of the day walking aimlessly along, trying to find a path through the masses of people doing the same.

Again, was this actually enjoyable? For some reason, I used to think so.

I think for me, it was the pull of the people. I have always LOVED to people watch. When I was a child, I could sit in an airport for hours, and sometimes it was about that long waiting for an overdue plane. I would imagine where they were going, if they were traveling alone, etc. People Christmas shopping hold the same allure. I would much rather sit and watch people shop these days, than actually shop. (You save a lot of money that way as well!)

The mall at Christmas time is beautiful. The decorations are always fun to look at, and the music puts you in that holiday frame of mind. But these days, my laptop is my BFF when it comes to shopping at any time of the year. Sounds pretty boring…huh?

I find as I get older, my thoughts are changing, the things I enjoy doing are not the same as they were even a few years ago. And I think that’s good and just fine. Many of us could not maintain the pace of our younger years. No, I still don’t want to become a couch potato and never go out, but I don’t enjoy being part of the crowd as much as I used to.

So, I reflect this morning over my young adulthood of shopping. I didn’t go to the mall this year, even though my husband tried to get me there this past Saturday. A couple of stores was about all I could handle. Most of my shopping was done from the comfort of my office at home. I could pull up sales and items from anywhere. They came right on time to my back door. I wrapped them in the comfort of my home, listening to Christmas music on Pandora. And I’m done…well in time for Christmas Day. Now that’s MY kind of shopping!

Just For Fun!

To Sleep or Not to Sleep…that is the question.

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Well, it is two in the morning. What are you usually doing? The correct answer to that should be…sleeping. If you are a woman over fifty…probably not!

I have never been a great sleeper. I would wake with each little sound in the house. If I wasn’t in my own warm, comfy bed, sleep probably wasn’t going to happen. For a short period of time, my brother and I had a paper route. We delivered papers every week night, and then very early on Saturday mornings. On Friday night, I went to bed dreading the next morning. I woke every couple of hours, hoping it wasn’t time to get up, listening to the barking dogs and wondering which one was loose and waiting to chase me on my bike.

Of course, teenage years in school were awful. I loved school, but if a special event was happening the next day or a test…sleep was the last priority. Not good when you have finals for a string of days!

Then came babies. I could never understand how I could be so exhausted but catch every little hiccough, sneeze or coo from down the hall! Really? Anyone that is a mother knows that pretty much comes with the territory…and it doesn’t end when they marry and have children of their own. I can hear my oldest sneeze from a mile away in the middle of the night!

So when I turned fifty, I thought, “No big deal, I’ve got this, I haven’t slept for years. This won’t be any different.” Wrong! Now it’s a whole different kind of sleepless nights with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes I’m agitated and I sleep wonderfully and other times I’m awake the entire night. I may go to sleep really well and then wake up a few hours later, tapping my toes against the sheet for another few hours.

And now…my dear husband tells me I’m snoring when I’m sleeping! What?! Maybe that’s a blessing. Just maybe I’m finally, actually sleeping when my eyes are closed and going into that deep sleep you’re supposed to have for good health. You know the one…where you lose weight, your eyes are sparkling and you have all sorts of energy?

I don’t think so. The picture in my mirror still looks the same and my running shoes have an inch of dust on them. Oh, I don’t own a pair of running shoes!

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A Quick Thought

Thankful for Friends!

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They make life brighter…a day that is headed for the trash heap can be turned around by a great conversation with a friend. I am so thankful for mine…and you know who you are!

Friendship

Friendships develop from many different areas in our lives. We can have childhood friends, school friends, church friends, and work friends. Many of us count our spouse, children or grandchildren among our friends. I know I do my adult children. To think that these children I use to change diapers on, feed and bathe are now counted among the most trusted people in my life, is pretty wonderful!

So, thank you all for your love, prayers and encouragement. For the great conversations and laughs in tough situations. They are very much appreciated! YOU are loved!

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Just For Fun!

What makes you smile?

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Usually when I write an article or post, I title it after I have written it. In the writing world, I don’t know if this is correct, but it works for me. When the ‘story’ is completed, even I know what it’s about! Because believe me, it doesn’t always end the way I thought it would. When I write, the conclusion of a book is sometimes just as much of a surprise to me as to my readers.

The above title was easy. In light of all that has gone ‘wrong’ in our world of late…and by that I mean the entire world we live in and the very small corner of this earth I reside on, I wanted something to smile about. You get tired of all the garbage being dumped on you and you just want to think happy thoughts. Sometimes this needs to be a conscience decision in our lives. We have to ask ourselves, “Am I going to let this ruin my day, my life, or am I going to choose to take a different path?”

Today, I want to think about what makes me smile. I love it when I check out Facebook and people have posted really funny items. I want to smile, I want to laugh out loud and feel that release of just…good. Nothing on my mind, nothing worrying me, nothing I have to do…just good…for a few moments. Here are a few for you to smile about as well:

Family pictures always make me smile, as I’m sure they do for you. Some examples of my favorites:

Our little Diva!
Our cat when she was a kitten. She loved this little ‘chair’.
Our three youngest and their friends in Branson.

House projects well done ALWAYS make me smile and give me a sense of great accomplishment. Our son helped me with this stone terrace we put in a few years ago. He was probably too young to be working on such a thing, but he was a huge help and I so enjoy that terrace to this day! Thank you, Nate-Nate!

Then there are the pictures that just have great memories. You look at them and smile because so many happy thoughts come your way. You’re put back into that instant…and it’s wonderful! These are some of mine:

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What makes you smile? Take a moment to go through some old pictures…remember that fantastic day. Watch a funny movie and really laugh. Spend a few hours with a cherished friend. Or hug a child/grandchild…that ALWAYS makes me smile. Have a joyous day!

Our Christian Walk

Doubt Versus Faith

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    Some call it ‘the glass half-full’ rather than empty. It can be called a positive attitude, or remember the song, ‘The Sunny Side of Life’. I prefer to look at it as the poem says, even though I do use the above from time to time.

When times get rough, we as people generally look at all the bad. The hill is too steep, the water too deep, the soil is rocky, it’s too hot or too cold. I don’t think that makes us ‘bad’ people. Just ‘people’.

God knows us, and He takes care of his little sheep. I just watched a movie the other night, which I won’t title here, but some of you may have seen it. At the beginning of the movie, there is a farmer/shepherd that is training a new sheep dog to replace his old sheep dog. This ‘youngster’ just isn’t getting it. The older dog watches this ‘training’ and you can just see him shaking his head. Well, one night there is a ruckus, sheep bleating, and you know something is wrong. The farmer jumps from bed, telling the old sheep dog to ‘stay!’ . The farmer runs outside, sees the fence broken down and all his sheep…I think 200 of them…gone! He follows the bleating and barking to the edge of a cliff. The young sheep dog had driven all the sheep to jump…to their death.

This may seem a little depressing for a Monday morning, but that scene made great impact on me. So many times we are as sheep in our Christian walk and we blindly follow what is wrong. If it looks good on the outside, if the leader seems strong, just follow. We stop thinking and using just plain old common sense.

Examine your Christian walk. Do you have faith that God will lead you through the scary and dark night. Or are you doubting, being swayed by whatever sounds good at the time. Having faith causes us to look at the glass half-full during the roughest times. We KNOW that we are being led in the right direction…not over the cliff.

Doubt versus Faith

Doubt sees the obstacles,
Faith sees the way.

Doubt sees the darkest night,
Faith sees the day.

Doubt dreads to take a step,
Faith soars on high.

Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
Faith answers, “I”.

Author Unknown

 

 

 
A Quick Thought

Hurray for Facebook!

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I am usually a very organized, methodical kind of person. When it comes to blogging…NOT! Maybe that is my writing style in general. I am definitely a SOP writer. This means a ‘seat-of-the-pants’ writer. A story comes to mind and I start writing. As it unfolds, twists and takes over my life, I get it down ‘on laptop’. My blogging takes on the same form. So, when you come to read my posts, you don’t know what you’ll find…and I guess I kind of like it that way. All of life is so planned and full of ‘have-to’ type stuff…why not have a little fun and excitement every once in awhile?

Every since I went back on Facebook again, I have been amazed at the way you can reach out to people. I know my children think I was raised in the Dark Ages, but we did have a telephone, hooked to the wall and we did have a television set. It was even in color and weighed about 500 pounds. I thought we were pretty big-time. But…when I was growing up, you generally still wrote a letter if you wanted to communicate with someone far away. You could call, but that was for VERY special occasions.

I wrote many letters in my pre-teen and teen years. I wrote my paternal grandmother at least monthly and most definitely every time she wrote me. I had an aunt that I wrote very frequently and I had childhood and teenage friends that I wrote for many years. It was always exciting to get that letter or card in the mail. I would recognize the handwriting and usually tear the envelope open on the way to the house, so anxious to read about what was happening in their lives.

Childhood friends were married, we shared pictures of our children. My grandmother always received the latest pictures in the mail. There is a huge part of me that misses that form of communication. This younger generation will never know the simplicity of writing a letter, the excitement of it, that pile of cherished pages.

Facebook has given me the opportunity to reconnect with some of those childhood friends. I’ve been able to see pictures of their spouses, children and now grandchildren. Thirty plus years have come and gone…and WOW, they had a life as well! So many of them moved away from the small town we attended school in. Most have had pretty exciting lives compared to mine. Staying at home and raising children is rather ‘blah’ when stood up next to…well, almost anything probably! But it is what I chose to do, wanted to do and loved doing.

So, here is a positive vote for social media. Like everything in this life it has its good aspects and the not-so-good. Right now I’m mostly enjoying the good ones.

Johnson Family Third Avenue 1972My family in the 1970’s. This ‘me’ is what some friends may remember.