Just Plain Old Happy

Just Plain Old Happy

"You will show me the path of life;
         In Your presence is fullness of joy;
         At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

~Psalms 16:11 (NKJV)

Today, I am just plain old happy. I woke early this morning to more snow on the ground, warm coffee in the coffee-pot, a healthy family, and a warm home. After cleaning the house that had been neglected for the last few days, I spent the rest of the day catching up on some reading, listening to my boys play with their new toys, laughing at my dogs and cat chase each other all over the living room, cuddling with my husband and watching the birds in our yard through the window. A perfect day, in my book!--Oh, yeah...the hubby even made semi-homemade cookies and delivered them to me on the couch.

I've got God on my side, and a smile on my face. :)

Bring on tomorrow!



Back to Normal

Back to Normal

And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."
~Luke 8:48 (NKJV)

Well, the last few days, I have kinda' been missing in action. I started feeling bad on Thursday, just in time to start prepping all the food for our holiday festivities with our families. I had last minute shopping to do, so my mother and I headed out to the mall. As soon as I made it inside the first store, I felt a queasy feeling, but brushed it off and pressed on. There were too many things to do to worry about a little tummy problem!

Now I'm beginning to believe I should have worried about that tummy problem and come home to rest. By the time we got back to my house, I felt awful. I went to the bedroom, wrapped the remaining gifts, and started for the kitchen, then started feeling dizzy. The rest of the day was spent sitting in a chair at my kitchen table making cookies, candy, cakes, dips, cheeseballs, meatballs, truffles, party mix and a veggie tray. Finally, when all was done, I read The Christmas Story to the little ones and hit the sack...and hit it hard!

The next couple of days were lived in a haze. I do remember packing up the kiddos and all the goodies and going to my parents' house Friday evening for our annual Chritmas Eve gathering, and watching the kids open their gifts yesterday morning, and I made it to the table yesterday for Christmas dinner (Thank you for cooking, Mom!). Other than that, I did a whole lot of bonding with my pillow and favorite quilt.

Now, all the Christmas hooplah is over, and my house needs some TLC, but I am feeling so much better! God pulled me through once again, and things are back to normal.

We got some snow last night, and the roads are pretty slick, so church services for this morning were cancellled, so my boys and I are going to cuddle and play all day. The cleaning can wait until tomorrow...we have new toys to play with today! That makes me smile!

Bring on tomorrow! 

Blessed Beyond Measure

Blessed Beyond Measure

"'So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them."

~Genesis 50:21 (NIV)

My husband has been off work since early September, due to an injury that he received in an accident at his job. Our "emergency stash" has been used up, and things are getting tight around our house. Because of this, our tree doesn't have nearly the number of gifts under it that our family is used to. (I have to admit, I get  little carried away with gift giving at Christmas-time.). Today, my son, age five, was looking at the pile that we do have, and asked if that is all we are going to have this year. I told him it was, worried that he would be disappointed. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, it's okay. I got lots of toys in my room already. Lots of kids don't have all kinds of stuff like me. And anyway, my teacher at Sunday School said love is a good gift, and we got lots of love."

I smiled...and cried. I think I just might have the sweetest little boy in the world!

Bring on tomorrow!

Jesus's Birthday Party

^{Jesus's Birthday Party}

^"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

~Matthew 2:10-11

At church this morning, there was a birthday celebration.  The director of our Junior Church baked a cake and bought gifts for each of the children to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and symbolize to them the gifts that Joseph and Mary received in the manger so many yeas ago.

The children meet in the basement of our church and have their own service during regular church time, while the adults meet upstairs. Every Sunday, we can hear the rambling of little voices, pitter-patter of little feet, and giggles...lots and lots of giggles...coming from the direction of our kids. Sometimes, they get loud enough that someone from the congregation has to step down there and remind them to tone it down just a little. 

This morning, we heard the usual sounds as the pastor started his sermon . Then, suddenly, he stopped what he was doing and pointed to the stairs. The song "Happy Birthday" rang out through the church as the children sang with boisterous voices. I don't think there was a person there this morning that didn't receive a blessing, and we all left with a smile on our faces. You really shoulda' been there!

Bring on tomorrow!

Winter Snow Song - Audrey Assad with Chris Tomlin

Giving With Joy

Giving With Joy

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."

~2 Corinthians 9:7

Water. Funny how you don't notice how important it is until you don't have any. This morning after breakfast, I ran dish water and left the sink full of dishes to soak, then sorted laundry and sat down to read my devotional. My step-son came into the living room and asked if I had noticed that our water pressure was low. I hadn't, but went through the house to check things out. I turned the knob on the kitchen sink and had barely a trickle. Then, suddenly, nothing! I called my parents, who live 2 streets over, to see if it was also off at their house. It was. A few minutes later, I found out from a friends that there had been a break in the main waterline to our town and we'd be without water for at least 8-10 hours.  Great! Just fabulous! (insert hint of sarcasm!) I hadn't bathed, brushed my teeth or bathed the boys, and we had no water. What now?

One thing was for certain...I had to go to the grocery store and get jugs of water. We could at least use that to brush our teeth and wash our hands. As for the toilet, we could melt snow, since we had plenty of it in the yard. I threw on my shoes, trudged out to the car and drove to the store. I was not happy about having to go out in the cold without a shower to get something for which I already pay a monthly bill!

As I was walking across the parking lot, freezing half to death, a little boy about 9 years old ran past me in just his t-shirt, jeans and tennis-shoes. He headed straight to the check-out counter and handed the cashier a handful of change. The elderly lady in line looked down at him and thanked him, with a tear in her eye. He grinned and said "I told you I'd be back. I knew I had the change in my backpack, and you needed it worse than I do." Then he turned and went back out the door. The lady had been short less than a dollar, and was buying milk, bread and eggs. It turns out she didn't know the little boy, but he had been standing near-by, waiting on his mom to finish shopping, and had overheard the lady tell the cashier she'd have to put something back.

After witnessing this, how could I be in a bad mood? I went to the back of the store, picked up two jugs of water for myself, and two for a neighbor that doesn't drive-- surely she'd need water, too!--and paid the cashier who told me the story I just shared with you. Are you smiling? I sure was!

Bring on tomorrow!

Best Friends and Snow Days

Best Friends and Snow Days

"She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet."

~ Proverbs 21:31 (NKJV)

You know the scare you get when your phone rings in the middle of the night? Well, this morning at 4:45am, I was sound asleep in bed next to my husband when I got that scare. Did something happen to one of our parents? No. What about my adult step-son who lives with us and hadn't come home last night? No. My sister? No...It was the school where my son attends kindergarten. We were hit with a winter storm last night, and school was cancelled for the day. This evening was supposed to be the school Christmas program, and my heart sank. I know how excited my little boy was for this evening, and I worried that he would be upset. (I have to admit, I was looking forward to it, too. I think it's so cute to see the little ones on-stage.)

I crawled back into bed to sleep until everyone else in the house to wake up (and get warm again...it was COLD this morning!) Around 7:15am, my 5- and 3-year olds came to our bedroom door and asked if they could get in bed with us. I love to cuddle with my babies, so of course we let them. When daylight started peaking through our window blinds, the 5-year old asked why I wasn't getting his things ready for school. I broke the news to him, expecting to see sadness in his face. Instead, he giggled and dove under the quilt, shouting, "Yay! I get to stay home with my best friends today!" I told him that his friends wouldn't be coming to our house because the roads were really bad, so they had to stay at their own houses today and explained that their show for tonight was cancelled for the same reason. He looked at me and said, "No, Mommy, You guys are my best friends.And don't worry about the program, Mommy. I can sing all my songs for you guys. Besides, I don't know all those other mommies and daddies that were gonna' come and see me tonight."  Now who wouldn't smile at that??

Bring on tomorrow!