Have you experienced Wordle?
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Posted by Unknown at 8:31 PM 4 comments
Labels: cool beans, God, wordle
Are You Prepared?
For 2009, these are the areas I intend to focus on:
Me. What adjustments do I need to make in my life in the areas of ministry, Bible study, service, prayer and obedience to what God is calling me to do? As a small group leader, I strive to be the example God would have me be for Him. I want to have His word hidden in my heart.
My husband. Besides my prayers for his salvation, I ask God specifically for ways I can and should be praying for my husband throughout the new year. I pray for God to show me how to be more loving towards him today than I was yesterday. I also pray to be the wife God honoring wife I am designed to be.
My children. My constant prayer is for their protection and a deepening faith, but I also want to be sensitive to what God is doing in their lives. Along with my own concerns, I ask God to show what areas I need to cover in prayer for the upcoming year. How can I be a God honoring mom to them?
Extended family. Who in your family needs special prayers for the coming year? This is a good time to make a list (not too long or you’ll be overwhelmed) of those who don’t believe, are struggling in their lives, or are ill.
Friends. How can I be praying and uplifting the special people in my life? Praying for them keeps me closer to them as well.
Missionary. Do you have a cause or missionary you support? Put it down and make a commitment to pray for them. (Include my pastor here too!)
World. Is there an area God is calling you to pray for on a larger scope? I’m committed to praying for President Elect Obama. (side note: 1/20/09 is the day set aside to cover our President in prayer.)
Finally, write it all down. (#8 & #9 haven't been changed from the original writer's words.) Assign a day of the week to each area (Monday for my immediate family, Tuesdays for extended family, etc.) Give each day a page and list who and what you’re praying for. Then leave space to write in updates during the year. This will help you reassess the following year as well.
Also jot down any promises God gives you in these areas so that you can go back and read them when you find yourself discouraged or off track. You’ll be amazed how much strength you can draw from these reminders that God is personally involved in every aspect of our lives.
Uh-oh Charlie Brown!
Posted by Unknown at 4:19 PM 2 comments
Really?
Let's give God a big round of applause and praise Him! Thank you Lord finding favor in me and giving me the desires of my heart. I will worship while I wait on You.
Have a beautiful Saturday. And remember to praise Him through your circumstances. He is worthy!
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Posted by Unknown at 8:54 AM 1 comments
Labels: Christ, christianity, crema, faith, gift, giveaway, God's plan, prayer, scripture, winner
Siesta ornament exchange
The Siesta Fiesta Ornament Exchange!
Us Siestas got together and did an ornament exchange. Unlike Secret Santa, we knew who drew our names. Lisa and I exchanged information and set about to send each other ornaments! Let me just tell you that Lisa is a very talented photographer! If you love pretty pictures, go look at her blog.
I had this great box waiting for me when I got home. I opened it up and found 2 Santas and a cute little name holder ornament. Not only did I get cute ornaments in a cute box, I got to see a picture of Lisa's brand new grand daughter! CONGRATS LISA and thank you!!
Secret Santa!
I'm excited I have a package waiting for me when I get home. Stay tuned!
Wow - my Secret Santa (who isn't secret now) was so generous! Here's a picture of the wrapped contents!
Just last night I was online looking for a calendar/organizer and here my Santa Tam has sent me one! How did she know I desperately need to get organized? Tam have you been looking in my purse??
Seriously, thank you so much for the wonderful package. I really don't have the words to adequately express my thanks.
*hugs*
I hope my recipient likes her stuff as much as I like mine!
Merry Christmas!
Posted by Unknown at 4:00 PM 2 comments
Wow...
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Introducing...
12 Things You Might Not Know about A Christmas Story
1. Which Oscar-winning star wanted to play Ralphie’s dad? Which actor went on to a seedy career in the adult film industry? Can you really get your tongue stuck to a metal pole? Here are a few tidbits to tide you over until the 24-hour Christmas Eve marathon on TBS.
Jack Nicholson was very interested in playing Ralphie’s dad. But casting (and paying) Jack would have meant doubling the budget, so he was removed from consideration. Director Bob Clark – who didn’t know Nicholson was interested at the time – says Darrin McGavin was the perfect choice, and I’d have to agree. I think Jack would have been too much of a scene-stealer.
4. Peter Billingsley, AKA Ralphie, has been good friends with Vince Vaughn since they both appeared in the CBS Schoolbreak Special (their version of the after-school special) in the early ’90s. He doesn’t do much acting these days, but he did make a surprise appearance on the “Vince Vaughn Wild West Comedy Show” in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005. Peter’s doing quite well for himself, though. He was the executive producer of Iron Man and had a brief bit as William Ginter Riva – I’ve seen Iron Man twice, but I can’t place his character. I’ll have to go back and look. Peter also executive produced Vince’s latest movie, Four Christmases (which he also had a cameo in), as well as 2006’s The Break-Up.
8. Director Bob Clark got the idea for the movie when he was driving in the car with a date. He heard Jean Shepherd on the radio doing a reading of his short story collection, “In God We Trust… All Others Pay Cash,” which included some bits that eventually ended up in A Christmas Story. Clark said he drove around the block for an hour until the program ended, which his date was not too happy about.
10. The real Red Ryder BB Gun was first made in 1938 and was named after a comic strip cowboy. You can still buy it today for the low, low price of $44.99. But the original wasn’t quite the same as the one in the movie – it lacked the compass and sundial that both the Jean Shepard story and the movie call for. Special versions had to be made just for A Christmas Story.
11. While we’re talking shopping – you know you want the leg lamp. Put it in your window! Be the envy of your neighbors! It’s a Major Award! You can buy it here, but if you’re not feeling quite so flamboyant you can get a replica that serves as a nightlight for $14.99. The people who own the house also run a gift shop, and they sell pretty much everything you could possibly want from the movie – the decoder pin ($7.99), Lifebuoy soap ($3.99), the leg lamp variants mentioned above, and even pieces of the original house.
12. There’s a sequel of sorts, My Summer Story, which came out in 1994. Kieran Culkin plays Ralphie, Mary Steenburgen is his mom, and Charles Grodin is his dad. I’m not sure if it’s because of this movie or A Christmas Story, but whenever our dogs are running around together in a pack, my husband always yells, “It’s the Bumpus Hounds!”
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Don’t shoot your eye out (kid).
Thank you, mentalfloss.com. I love this movie!!
Posted by Unknown at 8:27 PM 2 comments
Labels: A Christmas Story, cool beans, trivia
Come to the Quiet
Shared with permission by author Nancy Kennedy from Lipstick Grace, Multnomah Publishers
Shhhh. Hush.
Stop all the fighting and sniping. Cease the quibbling and the squabbling over whether “Merry Christmas” is politically correct or not.
Shhhh. Quiet. It’s okay.
Put away your credit cards. Your kids don’t need another computer-digital-anything. You and I don’t need any more debt. Our debt is crushing us as it is.
We need a debt canceler.
Be still, if only for a moment. It’s Christmas-our Debt Canceler has come.
Off in the distance dawns the light for the nations. The darkness is pierced, and the light will never, can never, be extinguished.
Stop your striving. Take a breath. Breathe deeply the life you’ve only dared to dream of. The life where you lie down and sleep in peace and awake with joy.
Put down the bottle. Put away your grudge.
Lower your fist. Kiss your kid. Forgive your dad. Love your wife.
The One who has borne our sin is born.
Our King forever, our Prince of peace, our Mighty God, has come to us, to live with us, identify with us, bear our sorrows, give us rest.
So rest. Stop.
Hush.
At my church on Christmas Eve it’s our tradition to sing of peace and silence. “Pease, peace, peace on earth and goodwill to all.” “Silent night, holy night.” “Now let us all sing together of peace.”
Shhhh. All is calm. Christ has come.
He hasn’t come to wage war on retailers. He hasn’t come to battle Santa Claus or debate whether or not the fir tree is a pagan symbol. He hasn’t come to argue with local governments over crèches and menorahs in the public square.
The government, after all, is on His shoulders. He is Ruler. He is Lord, and He has come to set His people free. To rescue and redeem. To find the lost, bind the wounds of the broken, heal the hearts of the sad and grieving, the lonely and afraid.
He has come to give rest to the weary, direction to the wandering, purpose to those who think life has no meaning. He has come to still the restless hearts of men and women, to give hope to those who cannot even fathom hope, sight to the spiritually blind.
His law is love and His gospel is peace. His yoke easy, His burden light.
He is salve for tired eyes, a hand for the lonely to hold, a lap for the child at any age to climb upon, a shoulder broad and strong on which to lean and to cry.
So rest. Take your shoes off. Turn down the noise. Switch off the TV.
Pray.
Even if you’ve never prayed before, it’s ok.
Do you hear that? Can you feel it? That soft smile? That’s your God, the One who came as a baby, a lamb, a lion, a Messiah.
He smiles!
Shhhh. Enjoy the silence. Cry if you need to. Laugh if you want to. Stretch out your hands. Touch the splintered cross He was nailed to. Accept the gift.
Embrace the salvation offered by the world’s only Savior.
Forget about the sweater that doesn’t fit, the broken gadget that needs to be returned. Exchange your broken life for one that’s new, your sin for Christ’s sinlessness, your peace for His peace, your sorrow and pain for His joy.
All your disappointments, all your unfulfilled dreams, all your confusion and brain noise and heart achings, set them down.
Be still now. So very, very still.
“The effect of the righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever,” wrote the prophet Isaiah. “My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (32:17-18 ESV).
It’s Christmas and Chris has come to bring us into His quiet, to hush our fury, to still our rage and fear.
Christ is our gift. Jesus is our peace.
So, shhhh. It’s Christmas.
(Any typos or grammatical errors are all Cathy's.)
Posted by Unknown at 1:25 PM 3 comments
Labels: books, christianity, Christmas, crema, Nancy Kennedy
Booked for the Holidays: Talking Tips
(The following is from Linda's site.)
Vicki has done her homework and the book has many statistics regarding the culture our girls are facing. Yet it's not a dull listing of numbers and percentages or a doomsday prediction of dire warnings. And unless you live under a rock, your girl will not avoid being exposed to the "stuff that's out there." But just as we protect our children physically from diseases by immunizing them, this book provides information on how we can innoculate our daughters with the serum of God's truth so that they can recognize the lies the world feeds them.The 5 conversations, which have several chapters devoted to each of them, are:
1. You are more than the sum of your parts.
2. Sex is great . . . and worth the wait.
3. It’s OK to dream about marriage and motherhood.
4. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.
5. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen—dare to be different
And the book also gives guidelines on how to have these conversations according to your daughter's stage of development: ages 5 and under, 6-11, and 12 and up.
AND, if you also notice, there is a button over there on the right for a book club staring on 1/5/09 for this book!
So, head on over to Mocha with Linda for a chance to win this great book! Good luck!
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11
Posted by Unknown at 11:43 AM 1 comments
Labels: christianity, cool beans, daughters, froth, giveaway, mochawithlinda, vicki courtney
What would your testimony be?
I'm not sure how big my cardboard piece would be - do you think I could carry a billboard?
Sinner, Unbeliever, Addicted/Grateful Believer of Jesus Christ
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11
Posted by Unknown at 9:02 AM 1 comments
Labels: christianity, crema, ministry, testimony
The Patron Saint of Barbara...?
Posted by Unknown at 11:45 AM 0 comments
Labels: James, marriage, me, military, St. Barbara
Memory Monday!
I still have the goal of memorizing all of Jeremiah 29:11-13. Here's what I know for the first verse (which is below): I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you.
I realize that is not exactly what it says (and I could've looked down there for the exact answer, but that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?) but it's what I know :-).
I was also sent this nifty Scripture Bell but it won't stay a bell if I post it...*booooo*! Ok, wait, I've tried again...I looks like it's ok, but it might not post correctly. Let me know if you'd like it emailed to you by emailing me at cathy.m.davisatgmail.com
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
Who you are!?
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11
Posted by Unknown at 10:22 AM 2 comments
Labels: crema, faith, memory monday, scripture