Here it is December already! Holy Mackerel! (Have you ever wondered what a holy mackerel was? Hmmmm....)

Time is slipping through my hands! I have to get on the ball! Christmas is coming quickly and I've got to get crackin'! (Now here we go again... what ball? What does it mean "to get crackin'?) I've got family and friends coming over for Christmas and I haven't even gotten down my decorations! My newsletter is still in the rough draft format and my Christmas shopping is only half done.

OK, I've got to get on the stick (now wherever that one came from... it sure sounds like it was painful!) and get to gettin'. LOL! Enough already!

Well, my middle son moved out yesterday. My older sons have moved in and out a few times. Each time it is a painful relief. It is painful because I have to say goodbye over and over (yes, even when they are not moving very far away) and it is a relief because it lightens my financial and my work burden around the house. Plus, it is easier on me when they are going through rough times to not see them on a daily basis. When they are hurting it hurts me even more.

That's why I think a mother's heart is the closest thing to God's heart. It makes God sad when we hurt. As a mother I want to protect my children. I want to make decisions for them when I know they are making a wrong one. God, too wants to protect us. He wants us to ask Him for advice because He knows what decisions we should make, even more than a mother knows the right one. He can actually see the end result already happening where a mother can only give her best guess.

I am climbing back up out of the spiritual desert I slid into. Every once in a while I begin to feel disconnected from the Lord. That's what I call my spiritual deserts. Most of the time it is probably the fault of having too many things going on in my life and, as a result, my mind is distracted from what is most important.

I find my mind wandering during my devotional times. It got so bad that there were mornings I didn't even want to get up early to spend time with the Lord because it just felt like He wasn't there to meet me. The longer it lasted, the farther I withdrew.

NO MORE! It is time for me to fight my way back. I am going to persist and I am going to do whatever it takes to get back into God's will. I will RESIST the devil and he will flee!! (James 4:7) I'm not going to just sit and wait until the refreshing oasis comes to me out in this spiritual desert. I am going to seek and I shall find! I am going to knock and knock and knock until it is opened. (Matthew 7:7)

There is work to be done in the Kingdom of God and I need to be doing my share. I'm coming, Lord! Thank you for being so patient with me!)

I have to get moving. I have to go to the grocery store. The iguana is out of food and our cupboards need stocking as well. I find that it is so much easier to do my shopping in the morning. Traffic is lighter on the road and in the store. See you next week!

Link to the 12/3/01 Bible study.

I sure got a lot done around here yesterday! I found the top of my computer desk! I had been piling things up here. I had guestbook entries that need to be added, good prophetic words I had printed out for my self and for my prayer partner, and lots of other stuff.

I got so inspired I went and found the top of my big desk! That one was much worse than the computer desk. It is the catch-all for just about anything. I filled up my recycling can with all the junk mail that had accumulated! I have a kind of rule for myself. Once I have to go through a pile of stuff the third time looking for something it is time to put the pile away. Well, I had been breaking that rule, but no more!

Oh dear. As I read this over I wonder if you are imagining me living in the midst of piles of junk. LOL! No, not that bad. I just have a few "collection spots" that get a bit messy. Just let me know a little bit before you come visit and I will clean things up for you! :-)

I sure have a lot of things going on this December. I'm not any closer to mailing out my Christmas newsletter or putting Christmas presents in the mail than I was last week. Those will have to be my priority items.

Does anybody else find that there needs to be about four more hours in every day? Or, we could bank hours that we aren't using on other days. Days that we aren't feeling well and are not getting anything done could be shortened and those extra hours could be put in an account to be drawn upon when we need them. Let's see, how do I go about implementing this? Hmmmm.... do I need to notify my state representative so he can start proceedings to make a new law? Anyone else with me on this?

My middle son, who recently moved out, has left his cat, Bug, behind. He will come back to get him, but wants to wait until he has at least a couple of days in a row where he doesn't have to go anywhere. Bug is kind of a spooky cat and might not take to the move very well. My son wants to make sure that he can spend time helping him to adjust.

Sometimes in our lives things go topsy turvy. We find that, all of a sudden, we are in the midst of confusion and chaos. In cases of that kind we often are unable to think straight. We are unable to make wise decisions as we are in an emotional condition. At times like that it is comforting to have a companion that is clear-headed and able to rise above the chaos.

God is constantly with us. He is always clear-headed and is never confused or dismayed by any type of chaos. It is He who can direct us and give us wisdom. He can create bridges when we can see nothing but churning water. It is He who can place sunshine in the midst of a raging storm.

Yesterday I was blessed by a good report given to me by someone who had no hope two weeks ago. She made a decision to allow God to work in her life. She laid all her problems in His lap and told Him that she had no answers and was in desperate need of His intervention.

Yesterday she was telling me how a whole string of events took place this past week that could only have been orchestrated by God, Himself. Where there was no way there are now solutions. Where there was despair there is now hope. God can solve the unsolvable problems in your life. He can! Give them to Him and let Him find the solutions.

God sees the big picture. We see only small portions. What seems impossible to us is not even a tiny problem to God. Our portion is to allow Him to be God. Our portion is to not focus on the problem but to focus on Him. It is no disgrace to get on our knees and cry out from the very depths of our being, "HELP ME!" That is the first step in allowing God to begin working on the solution.

Well, I have two tons of things I need to get done today. If I don't get to the store and get tomatoes my husband will be really disappointed in me. I told him he would get BLT sandwiches last night and I didn't have any tomatoes. (Yes, he is still on his de-tox diet. He will have turkey bacon and the bread will be rice bread, but it will be a BLT all the same!)

Link to the 12/11/01 Bible study.

Good grief! I had finished this week's welcome message and my computer froze up and now I get to start all over. Well, we'll just make it better then, won't we???

The last two days got away from me. I was multi-tasking and my brain went on overload. I was finishing up my Christmas newsletters, making copies of some important things, wrapping presents to get them to the post office, going to appointments for necessary things, and I can't even remember what else. I did get them all done, but didn't get this finished.

I ended up being at the post office on Monday on the busiest day of the year. How was I supposed to know? Fortunately I got there before they opened. I didn't have a very long wait. The people who had lined up behind me had a much longer wait. When I left there were probably 50 people in line!

I just want to warn you that I might not update this for the next week or two. Next week I'll be getting ready to have family over for Christmas. Then the following week I will be coming back from Arizona. The high school band is performing at the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championships. My husband and I are going along. We'll see what happens. I'll try to get this done on the next two Tuesdays. Mondays will definitely be out.

I have to hurry and start baking Christmas cookies. My husband takes them to school and gives them to teachers and staff. This has become a Christmas tradition. Unfortunately, he got the easy job of passing them out. I got the job of baking them and wrapping them. He gets all the thanks and I get all the work. What is wrong with that picture???

I still have more Christmas shopping to do. I also have a lot of cleaning to do to get ready for company. Everywhere I look I see things that need to be done. I think I will close my eyes. Oops, that doesn't work either!

I had to finally break down and make a list so I could quit thinking about what I needed to do and concentrate on what I was actually doing. Things are pretty bad when I have to make a list. That means my brain is beginning to short out. Phzzzzzzt! Now, what was I saying? Phzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

Link to the 12/19/01 Bible study.

Happy birthday, Jesus!

I'm trying to hurry to get this online before the family comes pouring through the door. Amazingly enough, nobody is staying here at our house. We weren't sure who would and wouldn't come, so it turned out that the ones that did come a long distance ended up getting motel rooms.

I decided to have Christmas here at our house because of our busy schedule with our youngest being involved in band and football. Last year it was too hard to figure out what day we would be able to visit what relatives and friends. I've got the turkey finishing thawing in the sink. I have to get out my serving bowls and plates. I've already replaced the burned down candles from last night. Oh, yes, I have to get dressed as soon as my husband wakes up. This is a pretty ratty looking robe I have.... but it sure is warm!

I read something in my daily devotional book this morning that made me think. What if Jesus never came? What if evolutionists were right and we evolved from a fish or a monkey? We wouldn't be celebrating Christmas. We would have no encouraging words to give to someone whose close relative just died. We would be at the mercy of the weather and of fate. We would have no hope of help other than what we could provide for ourselves.

Oh no no no.... I don't want to think about it any more! Those are the things facing people who proclaim themselves to be atheists. I think that even atheists have a spot deep down inside themselves that does admit there is a God. I imagine there have been quite a few atheists over the years that, when they faced huge overwhelming overpowering disaster, cried out to God. God does make Himself felt in all of the world. People can't escape Him and can't escape evidence of His existence, no matter how hard they try.

Christmas is a day when a lot of people are thinking about Jesus. Many of those people will go back to life as usual tomorrow and He will no longer be in the front of their minds. Let them see Him in your eyes. Be an ambassador for Jesus. Get close enough to Him by reading the Word and by spending time with Him in prayer so that you become inseparable from Him. People will see Him when they look at you. It really does work!

As the new year of 2002 approaches don't make a resolution to develop a closer relationship with the Lord. What???? Has she lost her mind??? No, my mind is perfectly fine, thank you for asking. Don't make a resolution.... a resolution is for later. Start right now... RIGHT NOW.... this very minute. As you are sitting there begin to tell Him that you want to know Him better. Tell Him you want to get to the point where you feel His presence every minute of every day. Begin NOW!

Link to the 12/25/01 Bible study.