GOD HATH NOT PROMISED

God hath not promised skies always blue;
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through.
God hath not promised sun without rain;
Joy without sorrow; peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day;
Rest for the labor; light for the way;
Grace for the trials; help from above;
Unfailing sympathy;
-undying love.

Here comes Christmas and we have only two days left to get it all "wrapped" up! I just want to wish all my wonderful blogger friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!

I think that we shall always see/God' gifts upon our Christmas Tree;

You cannot touch them with your hand/Yet they are there at your command.

There's joy and faith and hope renewed/There's laughter for a happy mood,

There's gratitude for each new day/A time to think a time to pray.

The Christ idea with holy light/Shines clear to make your pathway bright

These things are yours if you can see/God's gifts upon your Christmas Tree.

-g.c.gilmore

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING...TO OUR...STREET!

Every year, our volunteer fire department takes out a fire truck with Santa sitting in full view on top of the truck, and rides the neighborhoods to the delight of the children and so many of us "older" children as well. The kids and their parents rush outside when they hear the sirens and horn and know the fire truck is approaching. It can be heard blocks and blocks away and the excitement builds and builds as we all await seeing Santa in the spotlights on top of the big, red truck. Preceding Santa, and adding to the excitment, is a police car with siren wailing and an emergency vehicle making up a kind of Christmas parade.

As the parade was turning into our street, a lump formed in my throat as I thought, "These are just Dads who give up their time every year to give this Christmas present to the children of our community." How awesome and how lucky we are to have these volunteers in our midst!

How Eccentric are you?

Awhile back, I received a meme from dear friend, Eleanor of Thatchwick Cottage and what with all the comings and goings back and forth to see dear BeBe, well...I am just now getting to it! Since this is so late in coming I am not going to name any winners...anyone who is a reader and book lover can participate. Here is what you do:

1) Share random weird/eccentric book facts about yourself.

2) List at least 5 things about your reading habits that might be considered eccentric.

3) You may take my Ex Libris book plate home with you.

Okay, here are my eccentricities:

1) I ALWAYS have to take the book jacket off before I begin reading.

2) I will not finish a book if it does not capture me after a chapter or two. I don't want to waste time - I could be reading something more worthy! This is almost like judging a book by its cover, but hey, what can I tell you - I'm eccentric!

3) If I notice that some page corners have been turned down I have to go through the book and straighten all the pages before I start reading.

4) I have many, many bookmarkers that I have acquired over time but do I use these pretty and/or unusual bookmarkers? No. I will use anything that is handy when I am reading...a folded up (clean) tissue, a grocery list, a grocery receipt and then I will use this as a bookmarker until the book is finished!

5) When my girls were growing up and we would be in the mall, they would each take one of my arms and rush me past any bookstore we were passing - they knew that's where I would spend all of my time if I could!

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do and will want to pass along this fun meme to other book lovers!

Nehemiah's prayer

In the Book of Nehemiah we see how God works through a man who was held in high esteem by King Artaxerxes of Persia. Nehemiah heard about the new temple that had been built in Jerusalem after the Jews returned to their homeland, but nearly a century has passed and the walls still lie in crumbling ruins inviting attacks on the city. Nehemiah sets in motion a carefully laid out plan to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem with determination and prayer. Despite much opposition, Nehemiah encourages his countrymen to complete the task in only fifty-two days! Surely an attribute to God's power.

How Nehemiah prayed for Israel - -

- He confessed Israel's sins

- He reminds the Lord of His promises to the faithful

-He requested success for his plans to rebuild the city's wall

How WE can pray:

With adoration - praising God for who He is

With confession - asking God to forgive our sins

With thanksgiving - thanking God for what He has already done...and will do...

With supplication - bringing our requests to God.

I have been reading The Daily Walk Bible (NLT), published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. so I could read through the Bible in one year. I try to read the required chapters every morning, but I don't always succeed. However, by reading ahead when I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up I am almost up to date. Anyway, I realized that by the time Christmas rolled around I would be reading the book of Revelation. Now, as you know, that can be pretty heavy reading (I've been through Revelation with a Bible Study I attended a few years ago and as I said, pretty heavy reading). What would the reading be on Christmas Day, I wondered? Leafing ahead, I discovered that on December 25th, we would be reading from Matthew 1:18 - 2:12 and Luke 2:1-10! Right between Revelation chapters 4 - 9, is the story of Christmas they have titled, "The Original Christmas Present!" How neat is that? Bruce H. Wilkinson, Executive Editor of The Daily Walk and his staff had thought it through and decided to include the Nativity on Christmas Day.

I was given this Bible a few Christmas's ago and this is my second attempt to read it through in one year. Now I know it has been such a blessing to me that I wish I hadn't put if off so long.

Now the rush from Thanksgiving to Christmas is on...I keep thinking of all the things I have to do...buying presents, writing out Christmas cards, looking into getting my train tickets online, and all the rest.

Well, I did put up my outside lights and have gotten the base ready for my pre-lit tree! I'm doing better than I expected what with being at Jillian's of Jillians Pages (go here to see pictures of our Thanksgiving celebration) for the Thanksgiving Holiday and then helping with the O.E.S. Holiday thrift sale that was held on the Saturday I returned. I was pretty beat by the end of that day!

No matter what though, things always seem to fall into place even if it does get a little hectic at times. I do love this time of year...one of my favorite things to do is to drive around and see everyone's Christmas decorations and displays. Is that something that you enjoy also?