Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

At this Thanksgiving time this year I have really tried to focus on praising God for who He is and not just for what He does. I feel that the two are sometimes very intertwined, but sometimes very different. I think one of my favorite attributes of God is; He never changes. I am all about stability, knowing I can count on things to be a certain way, but life has taught me that the only thing that doesn't change and can always be counted on is God.

A time of giving thanks is so refreshing to my soul and spirit. I tend to be negative so this is such a positive experience. I am thankful for so many things, one of which is my family. For the past few days I have been enjoying Robyn, Clare and the four grandbabies being home again.

It is such a blessing to see how the grandchildren are growing, changing and becoming little "mini" copies of their parents. I have derived great delight in watching the two now adult children displaying character traits of their Dad. I am really seeing how we influenced them. It is interesting watching them parent their children. They do a great job.

It will get even more exciting tomorrow when the great grandparents arrive and the great aunt and uncle. When the family that will gather this year all arrives we will have a full house with 19 of us present.

So let the fun begin! Have a very blessed Thanksgiving! Always remember, the Father is watching to see if we display character traits of His Son.

Storing Up Treasures

With so many worried about the state of the economy I have been reflecting on financial things (but certainly trying to not look at our ever decreasing retirement funds:)


When Rob and I first married we could pay our bills, buy groceries and had a little money in savings. I felt happy to have those things. Sometimes as a child such was not the case. I knew my parents loved me, I never went hungry, but I also know that sometimes there was no money to pay the bills.

Rob and I would talk, hope and dream. My dream (ok, I am not a big dreamer) was to just have enough money to be able to go to McDonald's without balancing the checkbook, then I would consider us rich. His dream (more a drive than a dream) was to go to med school. We far surpassed both dreams a long time ago. We have been rich for many years. I have tried to never forget. I, to this day, derive great pleasure from a trip to the Big M. In today's economy, with changing times, I may need to return to this dream.

God was so faithful teaching me then. May I be willing to learn some new lessons now? I really want to store my treasures in Heaven. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, wehre neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also." Matthew 6:19-20 (KJV)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I was in the store today, imagine that? I nearly walked into a large Christmas tree, which of course brought my thoughts to Christmas. I am very excited about this Holy Day this year. I have been studying the book of Esther. In my studies I was reminded that this celebrating of the feast days was such a way of remembering. It was such a part of the heritage of the Jews. Even though they were in exile they still celebrated! How wonderful for me to be studying this right now. I was so uplifted by thinking about how we can pass this heritage on to our children. How wonderful that Esther had people in her life that raised up Godly seed so she in time could obey and do the will of the Father and "save" the people from death.

What an important task we moms have to do the same for our children. Let's make sure that our "celebrations" are special and our children understand the cause of much rejoicing! "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. "