Fandango’s Friday Flashback, 11/22/19

I find it kind of interesting as this is only my second year at blogging and while I have learned better what to do, I am still green as a gourd with blogging skills. I do find it encouraging that even at the beginning of blogging, my closing theme is still the same…Be Kind.

If you have been reading me lately, then you know I am all about Christmas at this time of year and this date 1 year ago was about…you guessed it, Christmas.

And Startup for Christmas Begins 11/22/18

Christmas is filled with religious meanings and family traditions that echo our love toward the season and mankind. There are many stories or ideals we all share that originally came from myth or folklore and then get sprinkled with embellishments that make us love the story or the tradition even more. One of these for me is the candy cane.

There are so many stories about the origin of this coming from a Christian perspective but they always seem to get debunked as untruths. Lets go through a few of these myths and at least enjoy them for the tale that they are.

In Germany over 250 years ago a white straight stick of candy was created for the supposed holiday season. There was some stories that were told the the white symbolized the purity of Christ but that evidently can not be substantiated. Then in 1670, in the USA, in the state of Indiana, a choirmaster made similar candy using the same symbol of white for purity but he added a “J” shape to the cane to represent the staff of a shepherd and the “J” of Jesus’ name. His thought was to give the children something to remember about Christ and to help keep them quiet during the nativity play.

It was not until the 1900’s that the stripes and the peppermint were added and the Christian meanings/myths were increased and are believed as true.

The white represents the purity of Christ. The “J” still represents the shepherd staff for us lost lambs and for his name as well. There are two types of stripes on the candy cane, a large thick stripe and three small thin stripes. The small stripes represent His scourging for by His stripes we are healed. I have also heard they represent the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The large stripe represents His blood that was shed on the cross for us. The peppermint represents hyssop which was used as purity in biblical times.

I don’t understand why someone wants to worry so much about proving the factual truth of a wonderful story concerning Christmas instead of enjoying the beauty it represents today. At the end of the day it is a candy cane. Especially when people use this to look for extra reason to show their love of Christ or find ways to energize the imagination of a child to help them understand the intricate details on the meaning of Christmas. It a joyous time of year. Have a candy cane.

And remember this season of thankfulness as it springboards us in the joyous season of Christmas. Its a time of year where we can share extra doses of kindness to all creation. Remember that no act of kindness is ever wasted but can create a ripple effect that spread across the world.

Monday Windows, My Favorite

Ludwig created a fun and interesting post for Mondays similar to Norm’s Thursday Doors – Monday Windows. Do go by and check both sites out for some beautiful photographs.

I have not posted on this in a bit as I have been busy but I had been showing you the beautiful windows from my church. The church was built in the 1800’s and the windows were dedicated to founding members in the late 1800’s. My favorite one I am posting today as it symbolizes who we are and who Jesus is. We are the sheep, sometime lost, and he is the shepherd, always ready to pull us out of harms way.

IMG_20191117_095121 — The Lord is My Shepherd

For all the blessing he has done for us, he always did them kindly, therefore we must turn in like and always be kind.

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Morning Light for your Path

I enjoy sharing the peace I feel when studying Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. She has a wonderful way in telling God’s story that really connects with me each morning to help me get ready for the day. Today she reminds us of the peace we have in Christ.

Come to Me and rest in my peace. My face is shining upon you in rays of peace. What a wonderful way to start the day realizing and feeling his peace envelope us as we begin the challenges of the day. We all have challenges, some small some large. So lean on Christ and let his peace comfort and shine all around you.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. Psalm 67:1

Make your face shine upon your servant; save me by your loving devotion. Psalm 31:16

My personal favorite – The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. Numbers 6:25

As Philippians say in 4:7, May the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I hope this day brings you the brightest of His light and the comfort of His peace. And as stated often in scripture, greet each other in love and kindness and reflect the love of Christ.

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Busy November

As I am literally waiting for the paint containers(face paints) to dry as I needed to clean them before heading to the church for another face painting party, I am reflecting on how busy I have been thus far for November. Not even much time to write and post here.

October was busy as well as we had to get ready for the fall parties, give the yard a last once over before it got cold not counting the ridiculous snow on Halloween which cancelled outdoor fun due to the extreme cold. Snow you can deal with but temps in the 20’s is too cold for little ones to be out begging for candy.

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And of course football(college) was beginning to get interesting across the country. Unknowns rising with the foam of the Heisman search, expected candidates dropping to the wayside. Fall can really a fun time of year. Today will be a nail bitter for us as it has championship possibilities. Go Dawgs.

UGA Dawg

November brought on the usual for me of getting the plan together for decorating for Christmas, my favorite time of year. Plus my book is in process of getting printed. I received the initial press run copies so the reality of this happening is kind of overwhelming. Hopefully it will be available in stores in a few weeks. My church is throwing me a book signing party on Dec 1 so I am getting excited.

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Its a story of a dog’s journey when he gets to heaven with people and other dogs friends. Its different because I want all the dogs I lived with growing up to be with me in heaven so I wrote a book making it so. LOL. I am not telling you all this to get you to go buy my book, I just want you to come along and enjoy the fun I am having. The sequel is about 3/4 written, so maybe next summer it will come out.

And as I promised when I posted the pictures of the entire village, I am periodically including a highlighted section so you can see the details.

IMG_20191116_093327 — The Mountain Cottage

This is one of the first pieces I painted. Over the years I added the trees, the pump, the well and the wood pile and this year I added the horse and the bears after the honey. I told my daughter it is spreading everywhere like Peyton Manning’s on the insurance commercial. LOL

I think it would be cool to have one warehouse size to bring in all the kids at Christmas with Santa and cookies and fun activities. That would be a fun dream. So as you smile at my fun dreams, share that smile during the season and spread the kindness it reflects.

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Morning Strength

As our feet sweep from the bed and hit the floor, our minds begin racing to deal with our task or worries for the day.

early bed

If we would be still and quiet just for a moment and and feel His presence,we would also feel His joy. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that “the Joy of the Lord is your strength.” And this strength can help you deal with all of those worries and tasks. Isaiah 42:6 reminds us he is always beside us “I will take hold of your hand”. Remember how comforting it was when your mom or dad held your hand, well our father in heaven always has our hand, we just have to believe it and trust it.

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Sarah Young’s devotion in Jesus Calling today reminds us of the joy of God’s strength. “I, the God of hope, fill you with all Joy and Peace as you trust in Me, so that you may bubble over with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

So, bubble over with joy and happiness today as you feel His strength to carry you through anything you may face.

bubbling joy

Bubbling joy makes you smile, smiling makes you kind, so let your joy spill on others today and be kind.

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The Oldest but Always the First

Our lives are generally setup by our priorities, our goals and things that move our hearts. For me Christmas moves my heart as I watch people be more loving, more compassionate and overall kinder to each other. So I push it’s envelope a bit by decorating early but I know the average person wants to get through Thanksgiving first before throwing all the Christmas out. I kind of do that as well, but since I have so much stuff that moves my heart over the years, it takes me awhile to get it all up so that the week of Thanksgiving, all lights go on. I have less than 2 weeks and so much still to do as I have added outside features this year.

So this post features old much loved traditions involving how we decorated our (only) tree when the children were very young.

The very first item that got put on the tree, even before lights, is the Christmas Nail.

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The Christmas nail is placed on the tree near the trunk where is really is not seen. It is not meant to be seen. It is meant to be felt, honored and remembered for what it symbolizes…one of the nails that pierced our Lord when he was hung on a tree(cross made of wood). I put it on my large 7.5′ tree.

The hidden nail is lost in the bright lights of the tree, representing that as Christ died for us, His light shines on us and we in turn should reflects his light to anyone needing the light of hope to shine in their darkness.

The other old but another first is the angel for the bedroom tree.It is an irreplaceable angel made by my oldest child when he was 3 in 1981. This one is a true heart ornament and until he left home to create his own life, he made sure it was the first thing on the tree, after the nail. The nail was always first.

Sometimes the most valuable things we have are made with wooden clothes pins and wrapping paper. As you start off the beginnings of the holiday seasons, remember the reason for the season. After all, its a marvelous birthday party. Spread the love and the cheer to all. And as always, be kind, it more important now than ever as so many people are hurting.

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Footprints in the Snow, SMM

Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine has a fun Monday post of macros which usually in my mind goes to tiny flowers and insects. Today with 3 inches of snow on the ground, I was not going to find that but I did see these on the steps going down to the garage.

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To me they stated, “We know it snowed but we are still here.” Nature has a marvelous way of survival even in hard natural disasters, which of course this is not.

But we can learn from nature in more ways than this. We are stronger and more resilient that we realize. And as the quote says that I have seen several times… “Sometimes God calms the storms and sometimes he calms us and lets the storm rage.”

So stand strong and be kind. You may just be the hope someone else is looking for and together your are even stronger that alone.

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Christmas Craft Project Done

For some of us, getting ready to decorate for Christmas is almost as fun as the actual decorating, especially if you are into making the decorations or making gifts to give to family and friends.

Today we are in snow #4. While they have not been big snows, its still too early for my liking but we pull up out boot straps and deal with it. I only work 3 days a week now, so I was able to swap out today with tomorrow which allows for me not to have to go out in it.

If you remember I told you about the dog, the tree and the snowman ceramics I bought to paint and that they light up. The snowman turned out the cutest. They are about 7″ tall.

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The biggest Christmas craft project I have ever was done back in 2000. That is when the ceramic houses that you could paint yourself first started being a hot item. My friends and I started a village at the beginning of summer and by Christmas, we both had well over 50 items each. I place it out every year and last year I added a couple of items. I have to monitor sizes as my houses/business were in the middle of the scale of houses they make today. This year I added a cathedral and an observatory along with some enhancement items like bears in a tree for the mountain cabin and the coffee stand at the tree farm. The new items were already painted so I just got to add them to the collection, but still it is fun.

The layout is broken down into 3 separate sections, one due to the size and one because of it’s theme and location.

First you have “up town” with the government buildings and the large shops. There is the City Hall, the Lawyer office/Police department, the Post Office, the Fire Station, the Bank, the Library, the Theatre and of course a church are located.

IMG_20191109_175010 — This is an alcove above the fireplace for a TV/Entertainment center

Suburbia is located on an adjacent table next to the fireplace with many favorite shops, homes and added novelties. Throughout the season, I will feature a few of these at the end of each post so you can see the details like the car at the burger stand shaped like a burger.

IMG_20191109_174945 — Homes, businesses, the mountain house, the Christmas tree farm, Railroad, Antiques, the stream with the covered bridge and the feed store.

The last section is the observatory way out in the country(the other side of the fireplace) on a mountain(a bucket on a snow covered file cabinet) by itself, however there is a hotel and a church close by. And yes, the tree for that room is reflected in the window. Not fully decorated yet though.

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The fun in doing this always brings back good memories, plus that fact that one year I gave some houses away as gifts and still have lots left.

Yes it is a lot of work getting all of this out but I still enjoy it and lay it out different each year.

What are some of your favorite crafts to do at this time of year or some of your favorite decorations. I always enjoy looking at everyone’s as much as I like sharing mine, so share away and lets have fun together.

And in closing you know I always stress the value of kindness. It is a true reflection of Christ and how he wants us to try to always be kind.

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A Morning Giggle

We all need a giggle sometimes and when I saw this picture of facebook, I had to share. There are days when this is a real thing…

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But try to look at the bright side of how very strong you are and the wise old saying we share in the clowning world…”Growing old ain’t fir sissies!”

Have a blessed and pain free day and try to laugh and remember to always be kind.

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This is What Happens as Fun

Sometimes when you don’t get everything picked up as you should…things you don’t think could possibly happen…do.

IMG_20191107_092435 — A most wonderful toy

The yarn bin did not get picked up out of puppy reach so…no crocheting will be done from this skein.

IMG_20191107_092432 — It is lite and easy to shake the life out of

Yes I know it has no life in it but to her….yarn monster must die. The funny things puppies do. She is a toy hoarder and the only toy she was ever given is the white bear behind Mimi, which is her favorite toy. Her other toys were Mimi’s who doesn’t play with them anymore.

IMG_20191103_203201 — I cant decide which to play with so I will play with both.

They are all my toys, all mine.

IMG_20191029_073430 — My pillow, my bear, my shoe, my rope, the yarn monster, my bone and currently in my mouth is my tennis ball. All in my playhouse under the chair.

And Mimi just looks at her like “whatever” and goes to lay on the bed. If we could all go through life like a happy puppy wouldn’t that be great.

We tend to get so caught up in the everyday stress of life we forget how to be happy. We let our well being depend on our circumstances and the events of the day instead of closing off the world and being at one with our creator. Try to take time for yourself each day and spend time with God. He will surround you with his peace and ease the worries of the day off of your shoulders. But it takes purposeful quietness of the day. Find it. I promise it will be worth it. And when you find that peace, use it to spread kindness…a true reflection of Christ himself.

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