One Week Left, #1 Liner Wednesday

Below is some fun I ran across that I thought I would share to help you get perspective for the coming year.

It’s almost 2019, and I still have so many unanswered questions!!!!

I still don’t know who let the dogs out…or where’s the beef is…or how to get to Sesame Street. Why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps…Why do all flavors of fruit loops taste exactly the same, or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? So many important questions.

Then there is other confusing thoughts like …Why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton, but batteries are secured in plastic that’s tough as nails…why “abbreviated” is such a long word; or why is there a D in ‘fridge’ but not in refrigerator… why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons.

Why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts” where does that extra penny go… why does The Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune.

Why did you just try to sing those two previous songs to verify what I just said… and just what exactly is Victoria’s secret? and where is Waldo? and of course can you hear me now?

And do you really think I am this witty?? Alas, but no…I actually got this from a FB friend, who stole it from his brother’s girlfriend’s, uncle’s cousin’s who lived next door to an old class mate’s mailman from a previous town.

As Linda G Hill reminds us of #1Liner Wed fun, come join in in the experience all year long.

As we chuckle over the never answered questions from last year, let us look forward to the possible answers of questions for the coming year.

And remember for the coming year to spread the kindness still surrounding us all from this wonderful season of sharing love.

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Hope, Joy and Love

The fear and wonder the shepherds must have felt to see the heavens open with bright light and creatures they had only heard stories of but have never really seen. They knew from the prophets that He would come as a child from the lowly town of Bethlehem.

I wish you all the joy, wonder and love this season can bring us. A reminder of what did come and a foreshadowing of what is still to come. May you feel His love, peace and comfort and carry it with you to share with others as you go.

Have a very Merry Christmas.

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Eyes, Windows to the Soul, A Photo a Week Challenge

Matthew 6:22 – The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be filled with light.

Nothing is quite as precious as the sparkle of a child’s eyes or the giggle of their laugh. These are my children and grandchildren. Yes all boys. But they are precious.

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Nancy Merrill photo a week challenge is eyes. Come join in on the fun and enjoy each others photos.

Remember the joy of laughter of a child and carry that joy and smile with you as you go sharing that love with kindness freely. It make bring the same joy and smile to one who needs it.

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Ornaments, Photo A Day Challenge

A new site I have found, City Sonnets, has daily photo challenges for December. Now that I am getting more ambulatory I can play with pictures. Come join in on December’s Challenges.

The star of David which shines forth in truth

Lights the tops of steeples and even the church roof

Expressing His cares on the wings of a dove

To show us His light and His endearing love.

-Anita Neal-

And as always remember the value of kindness and how it may not change the whole world, but for one person, it may make their world whole.

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Anticipation, First Day Out

Well its been and interesting 6 weeks since my last surgery but today I was given permission to get out by myself and maybe go driving. How marvelous since I have been house bound other that my daughter taking me to Dr. visits.

IMG_20181218_123330 — Watch that first step!

Intellectually I knew this was short term and having gone through it before in August I knew the drill. But it is still nice to know you are healing enough to get out again and today is a pretty day. The sun is bright against a clear sky but there is still the residual snow linger from 2 weeks ago, but roads have been clear since the Monday after the 14″ Saturday.

IMG_20181218_123949 — Due some more possibly over the weekend and maybe white for Christmas.

So where to go on my first day of freedom. Hmmm. Looks like the birds are telling me I need to go back to the store, so I guess I will go to Lowes after lunch.

IMG_20181218_130504 — Yard entertainment

The kitties next door watch the birds as they feed. Mimi watches the birds, the squirrels and the cats in the window. I watch Mimi and the birds. So I guess its a community watch of sorts.

Enjoy the beauty around you. There is always something in nature and life worth watching, you may just have to look for it. And remember to show kindness in all things, whether it be a kind word, a gentle touch, or even a bright smile. That may be just the thing someone needs to lighten their day. May the end of this post make you smile and remember all of natures smiles with you.

It has been proven that a smile can turn a frown totally upside down. Smile often. To some it makes then smile back at you and to some it makes them wonder what you are smiling about, which makes them smile because then they think of thing that make them smile. It’s fully contagious.

To The Top for The Bottom

One of the most enjoyable things about blogging is the amazing photographers, professional and non-professional that share their photographs for all to enjoy. A lot of the photographs that are shared are due to various challenges as the one I will be sharing with you today, well technically it’s night (2:30)but I couldn’t sleep so I am writing.

Irene from Heaven’s Sunshine was following the challenge for stairs from Pic And A Word by Patrick Jennings. Her picture was so inspiring to me, I told her I was going to write about it, so I did. I hope you enjoy it and do stop by Irene’s blog for some wonderful pictures.

Steps to the Cross — Bailly Cemetery – Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

THE CLIMB

I see and maintain it still is not fair,

I have nothing to lay at the top of the stair.

It’s not my fault, I did nothing wrong,

Well, maybe I did, it’s just been so long.

How long has it been since I climbed to the top,

I remember it’s relief, Why did I stop?

How can a symbol of such astounding grief,

Be given to us to bring so much relief?

With love so amazing, to the cross did He die,

To flood us with gratitude that still makes us cry.

The burdens we carry don’t always seem fair,

Always we can lay them at the top of the stair.

The first step looks brittle, can it carry my weight?

This burden is heavy and may seal my dire fate.

As I touch each step and climb ever higher,

Is this what I should do, is this really my desire?

As I clear the last step, the cross is before me,

I question my worth, did He also die for me?

As my knees get bent, I am smothered by His grace,

And I lay all my burdens at the accepting cross base.

– Anita Tillman Neal –

Always remember there is a burden carrier and it isn’t you. Scripture tells us repeatedly that He is there to carry our burden for us, we just have to be willing to give them to Him.

And as always I remind everyone the much loaded value of kindness. Carry it with you where ever you go and share as much as possible.

Heaven’s Peace

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Christmas is right around the corner. A lot of us are still zipping around and getting ready with gifts, food preparations and house readiness for family and visitors. Sometimes we forget this time of year is a time for quiet reflections on the past year, the coming year, what is happening in the world, in my country, in my town, in our individual lives. Nathanpatrickroach made a profound statement in his blog The reason for the Season and why Jesus had to come in the first place. Its worth the read if you have not seen it. Gives you a different perspective.

This morning we sang O Come, O Come Emanuel, which is one of my favorite songs this time of year. The Piano Guys version of this song will put chills down your spine, at lease it does for me. I could not figure out how to post it here.

The last verse really resonated with me this morning and I thought I would share it with you.

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heartfelt mind.

Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease,

Fill all the world with heavens peace,

Rejoice, Rejoice!

Emanuel shall come to thee O Israel. Amen

For all of mankind to come together in one heartfelt mind with heavens peace. May we all come together this season in love, peace and kindness.

Advent Continues, Weekly Prompts

GC and Sue W have created a prompt that is so up my alley. The joys and traditions surrounding Christmas are my most favorite of the year. See their prompt below to join in on the fun and share your photos.

http://weeklyprompts.com/2018/12/14/advent-continues

For me and my daughter, we start preparing the week before Thanksgiving but this year we started the 1st week on November as I was due for surgery the second week and I was not going to miss out on my decorating. We are also major college football fans, so every year there is an off weekend where our team does not play. That is the designated day for Christmas decoration shopping day. Sometimes we find something and sometime we don’t but it has become a yearly tradition we look forward to with love and fond memories.

When I decided to move from the deep south to the midwest for a new job, my daughter wanted to come. He job was going nowhere and her last relationship had crashed and burned. So we moved together. We were fortunate to find the perfect house with a walk out basement and a kitchen on both floors. So she is downstairs where it stays cooler to her liking and I am upstairs. Close to each other but separated as well.

My daughter and I are both suffers of the same…”illness?!?” – YCHTMC – An acronym for “You Can’t Have Too Much Christmas”.

Upstairs I have are 3 full size trees and 3 table trees. Down stairs my daughter has 3 smaller full size trees and 1 table tree.

IMG_20181107_085732 — Dining Room Tree / Village

IMG_20181108_154144 — Bedroom Tree with Santa and Chris Moose

Below are the downstairs trees in her large living area.

I have 6 multiple pieced nativity sets in various styles, colors and sizes with many single unit nativity scenes.

My biggest set has individual lights for each house and my smallest is actually a fountain.

My daughter has 2 multiple pieced nativity sets and several single unit scenes.The reason I have more is I have been doing it longer. It is a sickness I inherited from my mother and I have several ornaments that were hers. It is a family affair. With my sons, their wives keep them in check.

I am also an angel collector and most of those stay out year round; they just get located in a different location allowing other and numerous table decorations. Plus there is the village that grew this year and now has a section located in a different spots which houses the country scenes and the Christmas tree village.

There are traditional decorations, whimsical decorations and some just silly decorations but laughter and the love of Christ is what Christmas is to me. Through November I have displayed some of my pictures so I will repost a few but you are interested you can review my other post from November.

I sincerely hope you all have a marvelous Christmas regardless of your religious affiliation. It is a season of love hope and caring and we must always be considerate and kind to each other, especially at this season. There are many hurting during this time of year and will need and extra hand of kindness shared with them so please share kindness when you can.

Enjoy my love and fun of the season.

It Ain’t Over Til Its Over, #SoCS

For those of us who love football are generally either lovers college teams or Pro teams. While we may watch both, there is usually a stronger pull towards one or the other. For me it is college and the playoffs are just around the corner. I enjoy all the bowl games and then there is the fight for No.1 team of the nation.

mascots 1 — Only a few of the many mascots

When Linda G Hill posted her prompt for this weeks fun she chose a difficult word for some but for us from the SEC, it was a no brainier to find a use for “hairy”. For the University of Georgia it is the name of the cheerleader mascot – Hairy Dawg. The actual bulldog’s name is Uga. Kind of fitting, don’t ‘cha think.

uga mascot 1 — Uga and Hairy, Hairy is the taller one.

The college season ends with the championship in January giving one school bragging rights for the year. Although for the past few years its been an handful of teams with 2 prominent choices, Ala and Clemson. They again are the top 2 so we will see who actually ends on top when it is all said and done. For me I am pulling for Ala. but only because they are from the SEC. For the SEC conference, teams pull for themselves first but then they pull for the conference and since we lost to Ala, we will be pulling for them in the playoff.

As these game bring pout the fighting spirit in all of us, we must make an extra effort to be kind. Win or lose, its a game. There will be next year. Take a clue from the players on the field after the game, they shake hands and encourage each other.

Life itself can be played like on a ball field with respect and encouragement for each other. Even though you may be fighting for the golden ball, remember to fight with kindness. You can fight together and share the final victory.

I Saw Mama Kissing Santa

IMG_20181214_115826 — Santa and the Mrs. by the tree

I have Christmas all over my house, even in the bathroom. No room left undecorated.

The woodland forest in the bathroom with it’s pine cone hedgehogs cuties.

While Christmas giving has gone way overboard in some cases and in my belief the true meaning for Christmas revolves around Christ’s love for us, there is the fun side and history surrounding the fat guy in the red suit. So today’s fun story is about good ole Santa.

According to history, in 280 AD they was a young man born to a well off family. They lived in Patara, Asia Minor now known as Turkey. His name was Nicholas. While he was still a young man, his parents died and left him quite rich. But Nicholas was a gentle soul and was aware of those less fortunate than he. So he would secretly give gifts to those in need. Now in research I was uncertain if he was a monk or later became a monk but regardless he was christened as St. Nicholas and was favored by children and sailors. Not sure how all that happened but he was prayed to for safe journeys on the seas with many legends and stories of his help and appearances.

During the 16th century in Northern Europe the stories, legends and traditions became unpopular but they still wanted a deliverer by which presents came at Christmas. So the UK came up with Father Christmas or Old man Christmas and France had Pere Noel. Other countries like Austria and Germany had Christkind which was a baby with golden hair and wings that represented the baby Jesus. Early settlers in the US used the Christkind idea but revised the name to Kris Kringle. Later Dutch settlers in the US combined the old stories of St. Nick with Kris Kringle and he became Sinter Klaas which later became what we now use as Santa Claus.

In the 19th century the poem The Night Before Christmas was written making him an elf with 8 tiny reindeer. Coca Cola has always had wonderful pictures of full size Santa on their cans. asanta coke

This is a very special time of year where good laughter, great love and cheer is spread to all. So in the Ho Ho Ho laughter of Santa I wish you the very happiest Christmas. And in the love of Christ of this wondrous season I wish you peace and good will. I have an ornament on my tree that shows even Santa shows a love and gentleness to baby Jesus.

IMG_20181118_144005 — Gentleness of Santa, Love of Christ

May you share the gentleness and love of both of these Christmas joys and share them with others through the gift of kindness, the best gift of all.

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