so it is that time of year

Oh yes!! It is that time of year. the decorations are going up, people are shopping for presents, and the Christmas music is playing. Did I mention that the start of this post started happening the day after Halloween. UGH!!! What happened to Thanksgiving people? Are we starting to forget that holiday all together? Yes, I am ranting. I have officially decided that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The point of it is family get together, eating all together as a family at the table, and remembering what to be thankful for. That is why I love it. I proudly admit that I have turned into my Dad on this point. He loves Thanksgiving but could not give a hoot on Christmas. Here is why:





It has turned into this greed fest. It is all about gimme gimme gimme....mine mine mine...shop shop shop.....stress stress stress....credit cards maxed....i have to buy for this person, that person...go go go until you are ready to pull your hair out.....kids screaming with every commercial "Mommy I want that" or "Daddy I have got to have that"....more stress stress stress....the day comes and the kids wake up at the ungodly hour of dawn....becoming bratty because they can't open their presents until mom and dad get up...make the coffee (while ready to add the Bailey's to it at 6:00 in the morning to take the edge off the stress of the rest of the day)....have breakfast....watch the kids set the Guinness book of world records in how fast they can open all their presents without even paying attention to what they got....being grateful for some....scowling at the ones they did not get......make dinner.....I now understand why eggnog has alcohol in it.





What happened to the one person this season is about? No, it is not Santa Claus...It is Jesus. Christmas used to be my favorite time of year. It was always tradition to set up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. anticipating the radio station to start playing the 24 hour Christmas songs, making cookies and fudge for everybody, watch all the Christmas classics, lots of eggnog and hot cocoa, not caring about what I eat for the next month because it is the time of year of all my favorite foods, hoping that one day in this state of Florida there would be snow on Christmas day (hey when you dream, dream big) Taking my kids to the mall to sit on Santa's lap and ride the train, and drive around and look at Christmas lights, and most importantly instilling in my children why we celebrate CHRISTmas. We have a birthday cake for Jesus and sing happy birthday. I will still do all these things but the decorating will not be as much. It is more for my kids then me. We will decorate inside only nothing outside (this is more because we will be moving January....another blog on that to follow) I am not a complete cynic just tired of what it has turned into.





It seems to me it gets worse and worse every year. The Christmas music started playing in the stores Nov 1st... A certain radio station started playing it two weeks before Thanksgiving and what really set me off was when my sister told me that kids can register, yes register for everything they want at Toys R Us. I think my exact words were "SHUT UP" and "you have got to be kidding?" People also started decorating earlier...before Thanksgiving.





SO that is why I am grinchy. I also want to say that without Thanksgiving..there would not be all the Christmas traditions we have here in this wonderful country. The pilgrims thanked GOD that they were provided for during the cold hard months and had a harvest to celebrate it. SO to prevent me from being completely cynical..I will be reading happy holiday fun reads all this month. Anything from the classics to brand new stories. Your suggestions are appreciated in my comment box. I feel much better now....I think I will go read and decorate tomorrow.

snowman the kids made in North Carolina

Emma

Emma synopsis Yes, it is true I finally finished it. Normally I get through a book very fast. However, this book was written so long ago and the english language has evolved very much since then. It was just a fun happy read. I can actually identify myself with Emma and I am a lot like her. Some of our situations are very similar. Emma is full of life and humor. She,at times, does not realize how her actions will affect another person until she is told that it has done so. She also does not realize her romantic feelings for another until her friend expresses those same feelings for that person. There is no deep controversy in this book unlike the books I normally like to read. It is just fun and ends "happily ever after" Sometimes, you just need to read books like that. It is beautifully written. Language to me is beautiful and can be expressed in so many different ways and dialects. However, it does change over time. Words that mean one thing today will mean something completely different tomorrow. Also, words can be twisted and changed to mean something completely ugly and be considered what is now a "bad" word. There are words that are offensive to me that are not offensive to others. Likewise there are words that are no big deal to me but others find them to be offensive. My husband and I differ on words that our kids can say to express their displeasure on something. I have come to learn that words are just words and we are the ones who make them out to be something offensive. Yet, I digress. The reason it took me such a long time to finish is due to how the book was written. Not that it was hard to understand...I just had to take more time reading it to understand what Jane Austen was saying between the characters. This book i picked just for fun. It definitely excercised my brain. I believe that just like our bodies need excercise, The brain needs to be stimulated also. I do have one favorite quote out of this book. It is a conversation between Emma and her father about Emma going somewhere. Mr Wood house was not pleased. Here is Emma's plea to go :

"Oh! yes papa. I have no fears at all for myself and I should have no scruples of staying as late as Mrs. Weston, but on your account. I am only afraid of your suitting up for me. I am not afraid of your being exceedingly comfortable with Mrs Goodard. She loves piquet, you know but when she is gone home, I am afraid you will be sitting up by yourself, instead of going to bed at your usual time---and the idea of that would entirely destroy my comfort. you must promise me not to sit up."

Can you imagine our kids pleading today like that? This made me laugh. Today kids are more likely to say "That is so unfair! You are ruining my life. Why can't you trust me and not wait up for me on the couch? I can't go out there and have any fun thinking of you waiting there for me wondering what I am doing? (ugh....I will now stomp to my room in utter disgust and slam my door. )

I will now be reading holiday fun stuff. The next book is The Christmas Shoes. I have a whole other blog I will be doing on my thoughts of the holiday season soon.

(leave comments...I love the email responses but would love comments on my blog better ;)

my very thoughtful 2 cents

The election is over. There were lots of prayers because I was really trusting that God would have mercy on us as a country for not being 100% devoted to him. I was supporting John McCain. There were many things that I do not agree with him on, however, there are many important issues to me such as pro- life, marriage, immigration, my choice to home school, taxes, and support of Israel that Obama does not support. I did my civil duty and voted. What is done is done and now, my duty, as a christian is to pray for the new president. Whether I like it or not, he is the president and that is a position that is to be respected. It is not a time to call names and disrespect him as a person.

Daniel 2:21 says He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding; "

This verse gives me comfort knowing He is in control. What amazes me is when is comes down to it, is the president is put there by God. Yes, we have the duty to vote but at the same time He is in control. He is sovereign. Believe me, it is hard for me to totally grasp it either. I just trust in him even when I don't understand it. He does not need to explain himself. Think about it, how many times as a parent do we do things that make no sense to our children but our reasoning is because of our love for them. I think it is like when the Israelites were not living the way they should have. I completely believe that God is trying to show us our need to depend on him and also believe that if we, that belong to Him, cry out to him that he will have mercy on us and give us a leader that loves and serves the Lord.

Judges 3:7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, [b] to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge [c] and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Ehud 12 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. [d] 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite.

I do not agree with his views and I personally have nothing against him . I am sure he is a pretty nice guy. However, there are two main issues that really are on my heart to pray for. well actually three:

1st that he would above all else seek God's face and repent and realize his need for him as his savior. Yes, he says he is a "christian" but there are many issues that he believes in that go completely against God. Just because you go to church does not make you a "christian" christian means "little Christ" There is only one thing that makes you a christian and that is by God's grace, realizing that you are a sinner and that there is nothing that you can do or not to do to make God love you. You need to know and believe that Jesus died for you on the cross not only for your sins but the entire worlds. That you will make him your Lord and live for him. (In case you don't agree..the issue is not with me...it is with God. He created this world, He wrote the bible and he can make the decisions of how people come to him and get to heaven. Don't shoot the messenger.) I just know that when I look at who I am without Jesus and it is not pretty. Sure, to those around me I am a pretty good person. But seriously, that is what you see on the outside. I know me on the inside. Being a pretty good person and doing lots of good things does not please God. It is what I do through Him that does.

2ND I pray for his stance on life. He is the most liberal when it comes to abortions. He is very supportive of partial birth abortion. Which is the most disgusting cruel thing ever put into practice. Let me tell you what that is, in case you don't know. The technician uses a sonogram to find the baby's leg, pulls it out and delivers everything but the head. Then a pair of scissors is jammed in to the skull where it followed by having the baby's brains sucked out until the head collapses. this can be done up until a woman goes into labor. Can somebody please explain how you can honestly support this and call it a choice? How would it feel to be pulled out of your nice warm bed in the morning, held down while a pair of scissors was jammed into your head and then have your brains sucked out. Don't dare tell me that baby does not feel pain when this is happening. I also don't want to be told "what if the mother's life is in danger? " doing this procedure is not going to save a woman's life. That is a lie straight from the depths of hell.

3rd I pray that he will support Israel and not go the other way. Israel is the country of God's chosen people. I completely believe that God has blessed this country since it began not only because of the beliefs this country was founded on (which by the way are christian principles) but also because of our support of Israel. If we stop doing that , I can see our hedge of protection going "bye bye." You can see it in the bible all over what happened to countries that tried to destroy Israel. God was, let's just say, not too happy and showed it. Just because we don't go in to Israel and try to destroy it does not mean that we are not accomplices to that by taking our support away. Yes, we serve a loving God but also a just God. Like I said he created this world. He can do what he wants with it. It is like a quote from the Cosby show. Cliff says to Theo " I brought you into this world and I can take you out."

Yes, I am very passionate about my beliefs. However, I will pray for him. I serve an amazing God that does amazing things. He can change people's lives and change people. He does it all the time. He does it even with people we believe will never change. That is what I love about God. He never gives up on us even when we mess up over and over again. even when we do things that are just downright evil and most people would never forgive somebody for ever. I believe Obama can lead this country the way God wants it to be . The question is: Is he willing?