Soul Stirring Cocoa

2 packets Swiss Miss rich chocolate cocoa

1 Brach’s chewy peppermint candy

1 large mug boiled water

Add boiling water to packets of hot chocolate mix in a large mug

Stir

Drop in chewy peppermint

Enjoy

The Perfect gift

Man, I love this snow on my blog! Honestly, I wish I could keep it here all winter. This is just the kind of snow I like. Some for effect that doesn’t drastically impede mobility

  Anyhow, I stood at my kitchen window this morning while sipping a mug of peppermint mocha coffee, and I prayed.  Our parents are aging, our children our growing up, our churches are growing, friends are struggling , some are at peace- so I prayed. I remembered with a smile the conversation I had with my older sister yesterday and how excited she is about her new evangelism idea. Her prayer partner thought it overly ambitious….I encouraged her to ”go for it”….”go get some souls!” We laughed at the lemonade stand type concept and then we prayed. She spoke a blessing over me and my family that would rival a pope’s….what a gift! 

Three days left to Christmas and some are still shopping, seeking the perfect gift(gold and cashmere always work)…Oops I’m getting of topic . I personally like to hang out in some stores days before Christmas just to see what everybody’s up to and chat when I can. Did you know that a smile is a gift you can give? Friendly conversation is also a gift? An offer of courtesy is a really big one. Some of the best stuff is still free and you don’t have to run all over town to find it. You give it first and someone will give it back to you.

In my prayer time this morning a gentle voice spoke into my heart: “He opens His hand and satisfies every living thing”. Psalm 145:16

God gave us the perfect gift in His son Jesus:

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, Col 1:19

namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5:19

Accept the gift of God’s son today, fill your heart with Jesus, then share Him with someone else. He is the perfect gift.

Pray: Lord Jesus, I know you are God’s son born in the flesh as a baby,  grown up as a man on the earth, crucified for my sins on the cross and alive in Heaven today. I know life is incomplete without you and way harder than it should be. Come into my heart, take over my life, show me how to live for you. I accept you as the perfect gift. Amen

UP

 

This film made me want to be an animator when I grow up  

When my husband told me the title of what we were going to watch, I couldn’t recall hearing of it. I don’t have small children anymore, but the child in me enjoys an animated movie. So, popcorn in hand with my feet up, I began to view this film with anticipation. I had no idea it would present such a poignant depiction of  a life seemingly all sputtered out, yet just on the verge of exploding. 

Exploding with new activities, new possibilities, new people… up, up, UP !

Spirituality is “in”

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

 ”God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:22-23(nas)

It made me smile to hear a news report that more people than ever are turning to books on spirituality and self-help. I haven’t investigated the statistics for myself, but an informal survey of the busiest aisles in book stores may support this assertion. Nonetheless, it’s a good thing that mankind is examining the phenomenon. If you haven’t made a selection off the “spiritual menu” our world offers, May I present my God to you?

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John:16

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

 

Is Tiger alone?

Left alone without fear of consequence, no moral barometer,unlimited resources and the facade of secrecy; What is any person capable of?

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

    I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

Notes

I  totally need to sleep with a pad and pencil under my pillow because somewhere between sleep and waking the coolest quotes come to me.  Then as day breaks the world begins to spin faster, or so it seems to me, and I lose it. Unless I wrote it down.  Guess what? I didn’t lose it today.

To serve humanity. It’s not what you do that means the most,  it’s who you are. kutaylor

Allow me to explain this quote.  If you serve people in any capacity, who you are as you relate to them is of far greater value than the service you give. Of course the service is necessary, but the delivery of it makes or breaks its effect. 

So when helping or giving:

Give with authenticity

Give out of your heart

Avoid the disingenuous

Pursue the climate of peace

All dressed up for Christmas

How do you like my holiday look?

 I think this look is fitting for how I’m feeling. As I mentioned in an earlier post I’m more prepared for the Holidays than I can recall ever being in my adult life. Today I hung the stockings, placed the Poinsettia plants and miscellaneous other interior touches….It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Still thankful

Well Thanksgiving is over, but I’m still thankful.

Thankful that I have my mom(we had a health scare this month)

Thankful that my father-in-law and I are my husbands best friends

Thankful for my buddy from Grad school who came over on Thanksgiving and kept the whole table in stitches with her impressions and outbursts in song-LOL!

Thankful for my daughter’s school Gospel choir that rocked the house last night at church.

Thankful for seeing so many young people excited about praising the Lord

Thankful for how my sisters and I are all very private and content to be so

Thankful for the animated holiday movies that are on from now until the new year

Thankful for fireplaces and hot coco with Marshmallows

Thankful for our cozy burgundy blanket

Thankful for apple cinnamon plug-ins and Christmas lights up earlier than ever at our house this year

I’m just thankful and it doesn’t require a special occasion. Try making your own list. It will lift your spirits

And they’re off!

Less than thirty days to Christmas.

Let’s ask ourselves a few questions:

 1. What are we doing?

2. Why are we doing it?

3. What will it yield?

Feelings

You don’t have to feel competent to be successful. Just do what you do   kutaylor