I am asking for prayer for my father. He is 86 having eyelid surgery tomorrow, Monday, May 21. Some of his eyelashes will have to be removed also. He is a real trooper having had major surgery in 2010 and 2 other surgeries after that. He is a walking miracle. He has already been through so much physically but God has been good to him.
Please pray the surgery will go well, that God will be the surgeon’s hands and the recovery will be quick and the pain manageable.
Thank you.
Please enjoy a few photos I took at our family reunion this weekend in Lancaster, SC. The above Header is a picture of the Craig Farm. The back pavilion is where we always enjoy this annual event. Family totaled around 50.
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Here it is 3 days before Christmas and it is almost 80 degrees outside. This is my kind of weather! Love it! After living for 17 years in freezing temps for many months out of the year, this is wonderful. Doesn’t bother me in the least that it is December 22nd.
My Christmas this year is like none other that I have ever experienced. It is very warm as I said, my husband and daughter have left on a trip to visit his other daughter and family in Louisiana.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! I GET TO SPEND CHRISTMAS ALONE WITH JESUS! and my cat.
Now I am sure some of you are going, “What did you say?” yep, you got it. I get to spend Christmas just with Jesus.
Let me clarify. I did not say “I will be all alone on Christmas this year. Poor, poor pitiful me. So sad and lonely.” NO!
I said, “I get to spend Christmas alone with Jesus.”
It is wonderful. I am tired after a great visit with my family. So glad I had the time with them I did, but some rest is on my agenda.
Our house needs attention. (my husband and daughter are, well, MESSY!) So I will clean some, rest some, and of course spend time alone with God. I truly thank him for this opportunity. Don’t spread this around, but my mother was actually jealous!
For those of you who are thinking who knows what about now, I am not bothered by it at all. This is like a dream come true. Instead of the hustle and bustle of Christmas day, I will enjoy my coffee with Jesus on his birthday, and I will be rested. For once.
Most of my Christmas’s as a child were wonderful. As an adult, they became hectic, frantic, full of too much to do and exhausting. Living away from my family, I always had to drive home. This was on top of getting presents, making cookies, food, etc., attending more parties than the Queen, working and trying to survive the Christmas rush. 12 of my adult years were spent as a single mother. I can’t begin to tell you how hard that is and especially at Christmas time.
The last 18 months have been also a time of hardship with my dad recovering from 3 surgeries. Even with him doing so well, the toll of driving back and forth not to mention the stress of it all, has wearied my soul.
My daughter is a miracle and one of the best things I ever did, but one of the happiest days of my life was the day she graduated from High School. All you mothers out there dreading the “Empty Nest Syndrome?” Call me and I will enlighten you.
So for me to have a Christmas alone, is a relief, joy, peace and quiet.
A Candle Light Service at church always sets the mood for me in knowing the Christ child is born.
I will have time to reflect on the past year to help me get my priorities in order for the next one.
When you become “content” with Jesus, loneliness walks out and he walks in.
I hope and pray that all of you will enjoy Christmas however it is spent.
Now, I have to go. The couch is calling.
Copyright December 2011 Did Jesus Have a Facebook Page
They are at it again. In fact they have been for quite some time. I am talking about the Thanksgiving and Christmas Police.
They raid the stores the day after Halloween filling them up with turkeys, stuffing mix, cranberries, pumpkin pies, and Horn of Plenty tablecloths. Walk down another aisle and you will find Santa Claus talking to you through a microphone. Beside him are some elves, shirts with Frosty drinking coffee and holiday decorations for as far as you can see. THEY MUST BE STOPPED. IT IS TOO EARLY.
Growing up we managed to get through Thanksgiving before doing anything about Christmas. Now it is as if they are compiled together for the sake of funding the vast majority of shops, stores and their owners. Again, it is all about competition with the almighty dollar as the referee.
My husband thinks I am a cynic and has accused me of not liking Christmas. He just said to me “are you watching a Christmas movie before Thanksgiving?” Maybe if there was something else worth watching like James Bond I would.
If it makes me a cynic that Thanksgiving and Christmas are not about money, giving presents to each other when we don’t need them and dining around the clock with food that is unhealthy and fattening, then I claim that attitude with anger, frustration and a sense of sadness to boot. If I am a cynic because most people don’t celebrate Christmas for what it truly is, then call me a cynic twice.
I have to ask God, “what do you think of the way we have ruined your son’s birthday?” “God, have we completely lost our way with you that we have pushed him aside so that he celebrates it alone and unnoticed?”
Forgive me if I am sounding as if I have no Christmas spirit. It has been hitting me about this time for the last few years.
I am not going to involve myself in the giving of presents. Instead I will donate money to the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews in honor of those I love to help God’s chosen to know the Messiah.
I will not stress myself over not being able to be with family due to living away from them, schedules and a myriad of other reasons I can’t control.
I will not allow myself to join in one celebration after another in the name of food or join in the Mutual Admiration Society of Christmas decorations.
I will not appease those around me for the sake of traditions they refuse to change and yet mine were changed for me without my consent.
I will not pretend to be sociable if my heart is not in it or because everyone else is doing it.
I will not allow myself to be swallowed up in the untrue meaning of Christmas for the sake of not offending someone else, or it is not politically correct.
I dare to be different. I vow to allow Jesus to show up on Christmas morning in my house because he never left to start with.
Thanksgiving without the turkey. Maple Dijon Pork Loin instead.
Cooked Candied Apples instead of Cranberry sauce.
Broccoli Casserole instead of Green Bean Casserole.
Sweet Potato Souffle instead of Sweet Potato Casserole.
Crescent Rolls instead of Brown and Serve Rolls.
No rice or giblet gravy.
No corn casserole.
No stuffing.
No mashed potatoes.
No macaroni and cheese.
None of Bob’s Cranberry-Apple casserole.
No turkey napkins or turkey tablecloths.
No pilgrims.
None of Sara’s home made lemonade.
No perked coffee.
No military neighbors.
No relatives.
No German boys.
No friends.
No Horn of Plenty.
WHY BOTHER?
Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.
~Robert Caspar Lintner
◊What room in your house is your favorite and why? Is it the kitchen because that is where the food is? or is it the den where the big screen TV is located? How does it make you feel when you are in this favorite room?
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GET PERMISSION! NO! lol, just kidding. If you ask me nicely and tell me what you want to use it for I might just let you! In return you could tell people about my blog!
