Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry CHRISTmas!!


One Solitary Life

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Friday, December 23, 2005

Christmas is coming....

The goose is getting fat! Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny a half-penny will do. If you haven't got a half-penny, God bless you!

Sorry, I just can't say "Christmas is coming!" without saying the rest of the song! We used to sing it in music class when I was a kid. Did you?

Anyways, I digress......Soon our Christmas festivities will be beginning. I feel like a little kid. I can hardly stand the wait. The problem with getting things like shopping and wrapping done early is that then you have to wait for everybody else to get done too! LOL!

This afternoon Mike's family will be coming over to celebrate Christmas together. Saturday we will be celebrating our own little Christmas here at home. We opted out of going to church on Christmas Eve and having our annual big Christmas Eve party this year. Since Christmas falls on Sunday this year, we felt there was no way we would make it to church on time if we also did "Christmas morning". So on Sunday, we will go to church and then to my Mom and Dad's.

So today we are cleaning and cooking and getting ready for this afternoon (Mike is off work). Thank goodness for PBS. They are playing all kid's Christmas specials today...Barney, Elmo, Angelina Ballerina, and much to our surprise this morning, Veggie Tales' "The Star of Christmas". So they've been entralled all morning and I've been able to get things done. (Just taking a break because I realized I never ate breakfast!)

Better get moving!

On the 12th day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me....

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Steven Curtis Chapman & family on CBS

"Millions of viewers will be able to experience the Chapman family's adoption story as the Chapmans will appear on the popular show "CBS Sunday Morning." The segment will offer never-before seen interviews with the family, a behind the scenes look at their home life, and hear touching stories from families impacted by the Shaohannah's Hope Foundation. Hosted by Charles Osgood, CBS Sunday Morning has over seven million viewers every week and has been on the air for over 26 years. The Chapman's story is set to air Christmas morning at 8:30am CST. Check local listings for airdate in your area or log onto www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday."

Yea!!!!!!

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that it bugs me when I post a link and it's so long that it makes the blog start way down low. (Did that make sense at all???) Well, I just think it doesn't look good and it's a major waste of space.

But today, DUT-DADA-DA, I have FINALLY figured out how to eliminate this pesky problem!!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!

All I had to do was make the type smaller in the link. How easy was that??? Wish I would've thought of that sooner!

So anyways.....problem solved! I'm happy!!

A blogger's Christmas wish list

Do you think Santa reads blogs?? Well, anyways.....here goes....

Dear Santa,

I don't know if you've been reading my new blog this year. I'm kind of new at this so I'm doing the best I can. Here is a small list of things I'm wishing for this year for my blog.

1. The ability to post all those cute little "smileys".

2. Fresh ideas for thought-provoking posts.

3. The ability to post audio files so I can share all my favorite songs.

4. Loyal readers who leave comments. (Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!)

5. The ability to block "spam comments".

6. New readers (YIKES! I can't believe I said that!)

Thanks Santa!

love,
Jill

P.S. - I've been very good this year!


On the 9th day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me....

Monday, December 19, 2005

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

I remember when I was a little girl, my Grandma would play I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day on the organ. She bought the sheet music so it must have been a song she liked. I now have that piece of sheet music.

As I grow older, many songs and hymns have come to have a deeper meaning to me than they did in my youth. One of those is this Christmas song . The words were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but the theme of right prevailing over wrong comes right out of Scripture.

I love the way this song builds up to the fourth verse, from despair to hope.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

I thought as now this day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rung so long unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, goodwill to men."

http://www.rienzihills.com/ChristmasSing/iheardthebells.htm

On the 8th day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me....

Friday, December 16, 2005

Gracie and Santa!

Santa came to preschool on Wednesday and I've forgotten to post a picture until today. I was a little unsure of how Grace would react since this is her first real encounter with Santa. But she loved it. When I walked in she was sitting on his lap and I was able to snap this photo quickly. He was a great Santa....very tall and impressive, yet very gentle with the children and not "over the top".

On the 5th day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me....

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Ziggy funny

Wednesday morning thoughts

Good morning!

I haven't posted much lately on the things going on in our life. I've purposely tried to keep this blog rather light-hearted and quite honestly, I don't like to talk about myself. Maybe it's a deep security thing of being vulnerable and not sharing too much. But mostly I think it's because I don't think it does any good to just throw your problems all out there for everyone to know. So I tend to wallow in them all by myself. [Picture me rolling my eyes at myself.]

But if you are reading this and going through a really difficult time, I don't want you to think that I'm sitting here posting cute little things on this blog and don't have a care in the world. I struggle...A LOT! One of our children brings me to tears almost on a daily basis. But thankfully, this child also brings me to my knees in prayer every day too. I get frustrated because God doesn't give me all the answers now. It seems to me that it would make things so much easier if we understood "why?" But God, in His infinite wisdom knows the answers and in His time he will make it known to me....or maybe not. And that is where faith comes in. More and more I realize that our lives require so much faith.

Anyways....I'm rambling. But I didn't want anyone to think for a moment that I have everything together. Most days I'm a mess actually!

If you are struggling, I pray that you would experience God's strength today.

And for some reason, this little "talk" reminded me of the essay "Footprints". So here it is:

Footprints in the Sand
by Mary Stevenson

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The Lord replied,"My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial andsuffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."

And of course, I couldn't leave you without a song! Here are two, actually, that have meant a lot to me lately.

He Will Carry Me, by Mark Schultz
http://markschultzmusic.com/album.asp
[To listen to a clip, look under the album
Stories and Songs and click on #9]

I call, You hear me
I've lost it all
And it's more then I can bear
I feel so empty
Your strong, I'm weary
I'm holding on
But I feel like giving in
But still You're with me

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Who's love will comfort me
And when my hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me

I know I'm broken
But You alone
Can mend this heart of mine
Your always with me

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Who's love will comfort me
And when my hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me
He will carry me

And even though I feel so lonely
Like I have never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said You'd see me through the storm

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Who's love will comfort me
And when my hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me
He will carry me
He will carry me


and Take My Hand , sung by The Kry
http://www.thekry.com/2003/standardsite.html
[To hear a clip, click on "music", then "you", then
"listen to clips", then "take my hand"]

I know there are times
your dreams turn to dust
you wonder as you cry
why it has to hurt so much
give Me all your sadness
someday you will know the reason why
with a child-like heart
simply put your trust in Me

CHORUS:
Take My hand and walk where I lead
keep your eyes on Me alone
don't you say why were the old days better
just because you're scared of the unknown
take My hand and walk

Don't live in the past
cause yesterday's gone
wishing memories would last
you're afraid to carry on
you don't know what's comin'
but you know the one who holds tomorrow
I will be your guide
take you through the night
if you keep your eyes on Me

Take my hand and walk where I lead
keep your eyes on me alone
don't you say why were the old days better
just because you're afraid of the unknown
take my hand and walk where I lead
you will never be alone
faith is to be sure of what you hope for
and the evidence of things unseen
so take my hand and walk

Just like a child holding daddy's hand
don't let go of mine
you know you can't stand on your own
(repeat chorus)

Words by Jean-Luc Lajoie and Yves LajoieMusic by Jean-Luc Lajoie

Have a great day!!!

On the 3rd day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me....

Monday, December 12, 2005

The 12 Days of Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Happy belated birthday Samuel!!



Our sweet Samuel turned 7 yesterday!!! Hard to believe! I was busy getting ready for his big party and didn't have time to post yesterday, but here are some pictures.

Samuel chose to have a Thomas the Train party....we've been talking about it for about 6 months now!!! He was BEYOND excited by the time his birthday finally came. We got him a Thomas cake from Giant Eagle that had a little Thomas that you could wind up and it would run around a little oval track on the cake. It was too cute. Samuel had the BEST time!

[ Don't be confused by the photo. We decided to get more money out of his Halloween costume so we put the train back on his wheelchair.]

Monday, December 05, 2005

A good reminder!

In the hustle and bustle of the Holidays, this is a great reminder of how important our attitude is....and especially of who we represent at this Christmas time.

Gotta love those "girltalk girls!"

http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/

Have a CHEERFUL Monday everybody!!!!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Happy Birthday Mike!!!!!

Love you Babe!!!!!

File this under "Who'd Have Thought...?"

I don't usually post stuff like this but I read this and just thought it was amazing! God's creation surely is awesome!!

Wasps Could Replace Bomb, Drug Dogs
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051203/ap_on_sc/bomb_sniffing_wasps