Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Have a blessed day :)

Luke 2:8-20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."

When the angles had eft them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Treasure

This verse was really laid on my heart a few months ago and it's resurfaced a number of times since then so I've done a lot of thinking about it:

Matthew 6:19-21

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What does my "treasure" consist of? That's simple: time and money. And where is my treasure? That one wasn't as easy to answer, and the answer didn't really make me feel very good. My time and money are mostly used for selfish purposes. For the most part, I spend my money on a bunch of things for myself that I don't need, and I spend my time doing a whole lot of nothing. When I really stopped to think about this, I felt awful inside. If I am hoarding all my treasure for myself does that mean that is where my heart is too? Am I really that self centered? Is that really the most important thing in my life? It shouldn't be.

What should my time and money be spent on then? Where do I ultimately want my heart to be? That's easy: with Jesus. If He is really the center of my life, and if I am really living my life for Him, then my treasure should be a representation of that. When I stopped to really think about this I discovered this disconnect between what I want my life focus to be, and what it was in reality. Something had to be done about this.

So, I started thinking. What were some things I could do to make sure that I am investing my treasure in places that put Jesus into the center of my life. The first was easy. I needed to start giving money to my church. I don't think it's necessary to talk much about this because it really isn't anyones business but mine what I give, but the point is, I made a conscious effort to start giving much more. It was a bit scary for me at first because I've never dropped more than a $20 in the offering plate, but when it came down to it, I decided that I would much rather use my money to further the kingdom of God, than to buy something stupid for myself. It was scary at first, but now, months later, I'm not even sure why. I have the money to give, I'm not scraping by. God has provided much for me and that is a pretty simple and straightforward way to give back to Him. I feel like my money is being used for a purpose now, and every week I smile when I drop that check into the offering plate.

Around Christmas it is SO easy to find ways to help others around you who are not as fortunate. I have had more fun picking out gifts for children to donate, through Toys for Tots at school and Gifts of Love at church, than anything! My heart is so full knowing that I am doing my part to help make some less fortunate children have a special Christmas. It started with just one gift, but I felt so good after buying that first one it sort of snowballed. Let's just say I've bought a lot of gifts at this point ... haha! It makes me very happy to think about some kids opening those things I purchased on Christmas, and smiling. That's what it's all about. This is the first Christmas I think I have the right kind of spirit. Sure I'm good at Christmas spirit, I love the lights, the music etc., but this year, more than anything, I feel like I've finally got the real point.

So, what about my time? I noticed recently that I have become very lazy. When I leave work, I don't want to do anything but lay on the couch and watch tv or read. What's the point of life if you aren't living it? So again I had to stop and think, what could I do with my time that would have a positive impact on those around me? I mean, isn't that what it's all about; showing God's love to others through our actions?

So, I started signing up to volunteer for whatever I could. Here's what I've got so far; it's not much, but it's only the beginning:

When a situation came up recently to give a little time to mentor a child who I absolutely adore, I jumped right on it. Why can't I give up some time every week to love on and encourage a kid who could benefit from it? There is no reason why I couldn't ... so now I am.

I volunteered at the Sugar Land Town Square Christmas tree lighting event a few weeks ago and spent 3 (freezing cold!) hours passing out jingle bell bracelets to children. I watched child after child's eyes light up and twinkle as I offered them a free bracelet. As cold as I was, it was worth every freezing cold minute to get to share God's love to those children in such a simple way.

Last weekend, I volunteered at the Second Mile Mission Gifts of Love Christmas Party at my church. Second Mile is an organization that provides food, clothing, etc to those who need it. At Christmas my church collects toys and gifts for the organization. Then, we sponsor a party where families get to come in and pick out gifts for each other so they leave with a gift for each person in the family. I enjoyed it so much! I was able to spend the morning with 2 adorable little boys (one who was about 3 years old who kept screaming "this is the best day of my life" over and over and over!), helping them pick out and wrap gifts for their mom and dad. Then we worked on some crafts, ate some cookies, and played on the moon walk. It was such a blessing to be able to minister to those families that way.

I've got something else in the works for this coming year as well, but you'll have to stay tuned for part two. There is SO much more to come!

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, because I can ... and I like to blog! haha. In all honesty, I am SO excited to see how God is going to use me in the coming months, now that I am making a conscious effort to invest my treasure in what really matters!

Lights

Christmas = Love

With Us

With Christmas coming up, at church we have been talking about the reason we celebrate (imagine that, a church talking about the birth of Jesus around Christmas lol). In my ABF, Kathy had a really great message yesterday that sort of sunk in a little deeper than what I had heard or thought about before.
We've all heard the story of the star, the three wise men, and the baby born in the manger. Every year we celebrate His birth on Christmas, but why? It's not that I haven't thought about it before, but I always thought about it in the sense that I love Jesus, and He is my Savior, so I'm going to celebrate the day He was born. Nothing wrong with that, it's all true, it's just there's more.
What really sunk in to me this weekend was the reason I am celebrating Jesus' birth is that this is the day He came to be with me. God, who placed every star in the sky and knows them each by name (Psalm 147:4), left Heaven (would you ever want to leave there, I sure wouldn't!), and came to this world to physically be with us. He left his perfect home to come to an imperfect world, be mocked, tormented, laughed at, hurt, and abused ... all to be with us. Let that sink in. He knows what the world is like, He lived it! He understands what we are going through, because He lived it. The God of the world walked here on this earth because He loved us so much He wanted to physically be with us. And when it was time for Him to leave, He didn't leave us alone. He left us with a piece of him. He left us with the Holy Spirit, who is still, to this day, physically with us. God is with us. Got that?
So on Christmas we celebrate the day our Savior was born. We celebrate the day he came to be with us. We celebrate, for because of Him, we are NEVER alone. NEVER!
Kathy made a really good point I want to share here: We are celebrating a day that our Savior came into this world to be with us so we are never alone, so feeling lonely around the holiday sort of defeats the whole purpose of the celebration.
This year I am spending Christmas with two people in my life who I love dearly. But, there are others who I am so used to spending the holiday with that won't be able to be here this year. For one reason or another they can't make it and aren't coming. I've spent a good deal of time moping around about this. I told my mom it seems depressing, it seems lonely. Feeling lonely defeats the purpose, so I'm done with that. I am celebrating that I am NEVER alone by choosing not to feel lonely. And, I know am blessed to have my mom and brother to spend the holiday with, even if it is just the three of us.
We listened to this song in my ABF. It is mesmerizingly beautiful... if you have a few minutes to sit still and let it sink in, please do. It really is beautiful, and is exactly the message we need to remember at Christmas.

Fall Leaves

Seriously, has anyone else been amazed by how beautiful it has been this fall?!? Texas is definitely not known for having a fall season; and the leaves definitely do not usually change to beautiful colors. They go from green to brown, and that's about it. I don't know what it was about this year, but it's been different. Everywhere I go, I am drawn to the beautiful colors of the trees. I snapped this picture this morning. Who knew Texas could look like this?!?

leaves as bright as fire

Mint Chocolate Puddles

I may have just made the best cookies in the entire world! I am not even kidding here ... if you like Andes mints, even half as much as I do, then you need to run, not walk, to the nearest store and get the ingredients to make these. Seriously, do it, you won't be disappointed.

Mint Chocolate Puddles

Oh my gosh these cookies are delicious! Quite possibly the best thing I have ever baked in my entire life. But of course, I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate mint! I think the best way to describe these is like a thin mint girl scout cookie, but more thick and chewy. WAY better than a thin mint if you ask me (and thin mints are delicious!)

Ingredients:

12 T butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 T water

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 packages (4.5 oz) Andes Mints

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter, and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted, set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Pour chocolate mixture into large bowl and beat in eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut size balls and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. When cookies come out of oven press one mint on top of each cookie, let sit for one minute, then use the back of a spoon to swirl the melted chocolate around. Let cool, and enjoy!

(makes about 40 cookies)

So, go make these ... right now!

Clutter

So far my plan to stop being a hoarder is going quite well! I have cleaned out my entire bathroom of all the stuff I don't need or use (really, when will I EVER use a hair crimper again?!?! Actually, why did I even use one in the first place haha!!), as well as my desk area, one huge tub under my bed, and half my closet. I've thrown away six 30 gallon garbage bags of stuff so far. If I haven't seen it or used it in the past year, it's gone. Seriously ... WAY too much stuff! If I lived in a house this would be a good time for a garage sale, but alas I have nowhere to have a sale, so it's all just going in the trash. I feel a little wasteful, but I'm taking some clothes and stuff to Goodwill, so I guess it's okay.

Also, if you don't read the above blog, you should. That is all.