Christmas pictures....a little after the fact...

I just have to post a few pictures of my adorable niece and nephew. I just love these two kids!!!

First here is a picture of Mike holding Maggie...it is so precious! He will make a great daddy one of these days ;)

Next up is Reagan, he has the cutest little face.

He was so cute Christmas morning. He was such a typical 3 year old! So impatient to get to the next present, and quite disappointed when someone else got to open one first. When he opened one of the presents we got him, his response was "oh! You got this for me!". It was so adorable! It made me want to buy him Toys R Us!

Below are just cute little pictures of Reagan opening presents.

I'm sure Peter, Allison, Alex, Grandma, and Grandad will thank me for posting these pictures of them.

The eternal Christ sustains His creation...

I am going to share with y'all an excerpt from John MacArthur's Strength for Today, but before I do that, let me tell you that there are so many things I just do not understand about God. I mean there are just some things that my little earthly head just cannot grasp. I believe everything that the Bible says is true, but that by no means equates to me having a full understanding. I am unable to comprehend things such as eternity, creation, angels, etc. I recognize they all exist, and I believe in them because the Bible says so. It hurts my brain to think about what events like the rapture will look like, and what a new Heaven and New Earth will look like. I decided long ago though that I don't have to understand. The existence and certainty of these things does not depend on my understanding. Here is the excerpt...

"Christ is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:17

When the universe began, Christ already existed. The apostle John spoke of Christ's eternal existence this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:1-3). Christ Himself testified of the same truth when He told the Jews, "Before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58). He was saying that He is Yahweh, the eternally existing God. The prophet Micah said of Him, "His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" (Mic. 5:2). Revelation 22:13 describes Him as "the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Christ has preeminence over all creation because He "is before all things" (Col. 1:17). He already existed when the universe began because He is the eternal God.

Having created the universe, Christ sustains all He has created (v. 17). He maintains the delicate balance necessary to life's existence. He is the power behind every consistency in the universe and the One who keeps all the entities in space in their motion. He is the energy behind the universe.

Christ, however, will not always sustain our present universe. One day in the future He will dissolve the heavens and earth. The apostle Peter describes that day, when "the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). Until that time, we can be thankful that Christ continues to sustain it.

How encouraging to know that the eternal God who sustains the entire universe is also watching over you! No detail of your life is too small for His concern; no circumstance is too big for His sovereign control.

Isn't that something?

I wasn't going to, but...

I am going to post New Year's Resolutions. I never have resolutions for the new year...well I guess never isn't true, but definitely not lately. But this year I am going to, and I am going to blog about it. Seems kind of cliche doesn't it? Add this to the billion other blogs that list the author's new year's resolutions. I caved.


So no laughing.


1) Clean House. I stopped by a friend's house before Christmas and it was so presentable. I literally called her 5 minutes before stopping by and there was no hint of panic in her voice. There was no mad dash to make it "visitor-ready". I would freak out. Literally. I would rush to pick up the clothes I threw on the sofa, or shove dirty dishes in the dishwasher. It would be chaos. So my desire is to have a visitor-ready house the whole year of 2010.


Remember, no laughing.


2) Be social. It is really no secret that Mike and I are homebodies. We have no issue hunkering down just the two of for days on end with no contact with the outside world. We are not really social people. I started thinking though that it is a pretty selfish way to live. Don't get me wrong, I still think it is very important for couples to have alone time. But I started wondering how we are furthering the Kingdom of God hunkering down all the time. It isn't happening. So I am going to make friends. I started getting a little better at the end of 2009...I even have friends in the town I live in. I can hardly contain my excitement!!! Seriously, I love it!


3) This is no stranger to anyone's list of New Year's resolutions, but LOSE WEIGHT. Okay so I was going through my closet and found all of my cute little size 8 pants and cried. Oh did I cry. And I cried before I tried a pair on and couldn't get them past my knee caps. I am hanging all of the size medium tops and size 8 pants up in my closet as a daily reminder of how cute my wardrobe will be if I lose weight. Jillian Michaels has been invited over to my house in the form of the 30 Day Shred and 2010 Fitness Ultimatum, and I know she is going to kick my behind. And I am ready. Bring it on, Jillian.


That is my list. I think I can, I think I can. The good thing about not having a full time job at the moment is that I actually have time to dedicate to this. That is if I would turn off Law and Order in the daytime, and limit my computer time all day long.


Just know that if I ever fit into my size 8 pants again, I will be wearing them inside out so everyone can see the size on the tag.

Green thumb, anyone?

Does anyone have any advice on what to do with frozen, seemingly dead plants? After our wonderful snow on December 4th, my poor plants just aren't the same. I have trimmed them down to where they appear to be green, but I am not sure if they will grow. Should I remove them and start over, or wait till Spring to see if they will grow? My shrubs are fine, but my flowers, crotons, and caladiums have bit the dust. It is so dead looking in our flower bed that we couldn't even put lights there. So sad. I do not want to draw attention to the deadness though. Any ideas??

What is up with...

Peace signs???

I don't get it! They are everywhere! Including elementary schools. So maybe I am just being sensitive, and feel free to tell me if I am, but I don't like them. I am sure that most people who draw or wear them don't have a hidden message to share, but growing up I remember hearing all sorts of negative things about them. I subbed at an elementary school on Friday that was covered in them....they even had a tree decorated with peace sign ornaments hand-made by the students. I don't like them. Maybe it is the hippie lifestyle connotation, or that everyone calls it an upside down broken cross, or whatever, I just don't like them.

I do not believe a symbol brings peace. The only true peace comes from Jesus Christ. Without Him no one will ever have the kind of peace people long for. If you are searching for peace, please know that until you surrender your life to the Lord and accept Christ as your Savior, you will never have peace. There is no political party, president, therapy, pills, or any sort of self-help book that will bring peace to your life. Only the saving power of Jesus can comfort you and bring you true joy.

I had to write about this because it seems to me that the peace sign revolution has taken over elementary schools. I mentioned the one I subbed at on Friday, and I went another school's website and saw peace and love everywhere. Pardon my asking, but what does this have to do with education?? It seems to me that there could be many other topics to focus on! I mean whatever happened to classic literature characters or historical figures being the focus of classrooms?

Any thoughts?

Where does the time go?

I have a confession to make:


We have not decorated outside yet.


It is true! The weather has been horrible, and Mike's job has been crazy busy so he hasn't even been getting home until dark. There is just no time! On top of it all I feel like we have something scheduled till the New Year!


They call me Mrs. Krank.


Mike's company's Christmas party is this weekend. It is at a seafood place in downtown Houston and I cannot find a single thing to wear. Okay, well I found one really cute dress at Penneys, but might have to sport some Spanx to make it okay to wear out in public. I tell you what...things are not what they used to be on this body of mine. For the sake of my ego I am going to say it is age...surely it has nothing to do with my lack of motivation to eat right and work out. Surely.


Sad news....in my blogging time tonight I somehow missed the timer on my lemon bars and will not be able to share the goodies with the world. Darn.


This weekend we are going to head to Moody Gardens to see the Festival of Lights. I am so excited! I love Christmas lights!! I remember when I was younger, maybe elementary/middle school age, we drove out to the Boerne area and drove through a neighborhood and got hot chocolate. It was so much fun! I can't wait to make those sorts of memories with Mike...and then later, with our children.


I cannot believe it is almost Christmas...and this season will be over before we know it. I hope all of y'all are enjoying this Christmas season...

The many joys of Christmas...

I love this time of year! I love Christmas lights, ornaments, shopping, hot chocolate, food, cookies, santas, elves, and presents. Oh I love it ALL!!!! I love It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, White Christmas, and the rest of them. I love being with family. And now that I am "working" at a school, I love seeing the excitement through the eyes of a 6 year old. How fun!

BUT most of all, I love celebrating the Savior. I still cannot fathom what a miracle it all is. God chose Mary to give birth to His Son. I cannot imagine what Mary must have thought....or felt. Can you imagine? How scary! As incredible as that part of the story is, the fact that God sent His Son at all is amazing...and undeserved. Why us? What did He find about us worth saving? How could He look down at all of the sinful people that were living at the time...and knowing the ones to come (Christie Bergeron, to name one) and want to offer us The Gift. The only gift that ever matters: the gift of salvation. I do not deserve it. Nothing in my life warrants this saving grace. Yet He CHOSE me! Isn't that something?? He chose to call me out of darkness, He forgave my sin (and continues to forgive my sins), and has prepared a room for me in Glory. It is only by His grace I am saved!

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is CHRIST the LORD.
-Luke 2: 10-11

I love that verse. "Born for you a Savior"....how can people miss it? A SAVIOR! The Enemy does not have to win....he does not have to have control over your lives! We have a SAVIOR! Messiah! Christ the Lord!

As I said, I love this season. The sweet reminder of the Gift that has given me eternal life is like the star at the top of the tree. It makes it all perfect!