I love new beginnings! The New Year is a perfect opportunity to evaluate the past year and make goals for the upcoming one. Proverbs says that man makes his plans but the Lord directs his steps. Our plans should always be made with the faith and knowledge that God’s plan will ultimate prevail.

I’ve found in my life that if I aim for nothing I normally reach it. I may not always obtain the goals that I set each year but I find that it’s so helpful to evaluate different areas of my life to see if my actions are lining up with God’s Word. God’s Word is the standard. God’s Word needs to be the standard that we evaluate our life by and thereby set our goals.

So, I’m prayerfully and thoughtfully evaluating what I’d like to see changed in my life this coming year. I’m pondering where I’d like to be in 10 years. I’ll be nearly 60 years old in 10 years. How can I live today and the coming days to fulfill the Titus 2 mandates of the older woman?  I’m considering areas of  my health, spiritual life, my home and my relationships. I’m nearing 50 years old and the reality that most of my life is behind me with fewer years ahead looms over my thoughts. I want my days and time left to be used for God’s glory. I don’t want to haphazardly live my last days with no thought of my future destination when I stand before the throne of my Creator.

I have quite a few areas already defined but hope to add a few more before the end of this year.

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It’s easy with the daily hustle and bustle to forget where our true home is… where our final destination remains. I was reading in Revelations 5 this morning. What a way to start the morning!

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousands times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the Elders. In a loud voice they sang:

” Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

Image….one hundred million and twenty-eight beings are circling God’s throne and singing their songs of praise for the Lamb and his salvation. One hundred million and twenty eight beings!  What a glorious visual! Can you picture it? Then all creation joins in with the song!

This is where we are headed. Heaven is our home. How often I forget that and set up permanent camp here among the passing away of the things that will rust and decay. My citizenship is not of this world.  Each day brings me closer to the reality that I will not be here for long. My  body is aging quickly… my mind is weakened… my strength is fading. Each of the days left in my life need to count for eternity. Our days need to be redeemed for God’s glory. Each day needs to be lived according to His Word and purposefully! 

 I want to live biblically and on PURPOSE this year.

We had an unexpected Christmas present this year! Our new dog, BB, gave birth to a litter of puppies. She was a stray that a neighbor had taken in to try and find a home for. She was headed for the pound so we adopted her. She was so thin when we first brought her. I had her scheduled to be ‘fixed’ but when I took her in for surgery they said she was expecting puppies within a few weeks. We thought she was just ‘filling’ out from eating so much! Ha! So… we brought her back home to wait. Christmas morning, as we started to get ready for church, I let her outside and she wouldn’t come back in. I went looking for her and she was in her ‘igloo’ hiding. I had a feeling that the time was close. I hated leaving her home while we went to church but my family was planning on meeting us and my husband was scheduled to sing so off we went. By the time we got home she had given birth to 4 puppies. I changed her blankets and got her settled down and then went to the kitchen to pull together our Christmas meal. We had a houseful of people so I wasn’t able to check on her for the next 30 minutes. My husband went back in about a half an hour and came back saying that she had given birth to one more and another one was on the way. By the time she was done she had given birth to EIGHT puppies! Oh, my! What in the world am I going to do with EIGHT puppies!? All I can say is that God knew even if I didn’t. So, I’m praying very hard that the Lord will find GOOD homes for these precious little critters and that He will give me grace NOT to get too attached. My grandson is already trying to talk his Mama into taking one (they have 2 dogs already). He keeps saying, “Gwammy, would you put the puppies in a box and bring them to my house?” My husband will probably want to keep one. They are so adorable!

It so amazes me how the Lord places in these animals the instinct to know just how to care for their babies while giving birth and after. How can man say there is no God when they look at creation! Yet, Scripture is clear that without God’s grace none of us would ever come to God! He is truly amazing!

Merry Christmas to all! We’re heading to church in just a bit. My son and his family came over for cinnamon rolls and we’re all getting ready for church. It will be wonderful to have some of my family in church today. They all attend their own churches but today a few of them are coming to ours to hear their Daddy sing. Afterwards we’ll be coming back to our home for our Christmas dinner and to open gifts.

I pray that everyone will have a safe and blessed day!

In Christ’s Love,

Georgene

It was a full house today at Grammy’s!   I had 4 of my grandchildren along with 2 neighbor children from our old neighborhood and my niece. What a fun day! The older girls really went to town on creating extravagant domains while the younger children seemed to be more interested in tasting the goodies. My youngest granddaughter stayed right in step with the older girls, though. (“bboop’s’ recipe for the frosting worked perfectly! A big thank you!)

We were hit hard with a bad storm so it took me twice as long to drive the older children home as normal. Amazingly, the Lord provided more strength this evening so I was able to finish up all the grands pajama’s along with wrappings and bows. Most of the presents are wrapped except for the cookbooks which I hope to work on tomorrow night.

Tomorrow begins a two day stretch of baking and cooking. We’re gathering with my family on Christmas Eve so I’ll be getting food ready to take to my parents home. How thankful I am to have parents that are still alive and in good health. I thank the Lord for this often. Christmas Day will be spent at our home with most of our children and grands. My son will not be able to make it home from Missouri with his family or our ’adopted’ boy from Idaho. But, we are thankful for those who will be here.

I pray each of you will have a most blessed and joyous Christmas!

Remembering HIM…

Georgene

I was reading an article this evening on saving money. There was a long list of questions that were designed to help change a bad habit. A light bulb went on when I read this! (Okay, my light bulbs are more like ‘flickers’ these days but nonetheless it was enlightening!) *S*

Ephesians 4:22-24 is a biblical pattern for changing ungodly habits. If you want to change a habit scripturally, you must PUT OFF (stop the ungodly habit), RENEW your mind, and PUT ON a new godly habit. I’ve been thinking about making some changes in areas of our finances but had not thought about applying the principles of Eph. 4 to make those changes. I’m excited the more I think about this!

So, I’ve decided to pray about which habits need to be changed.  Once I make my list I will pinpoint the habit that effects my budget the most. Then I’ll work at stopping that habit, renewing my mind in what Scripture has to say about it and putting on the new habit. I hope to use the questions below to help. Most of all I want to be specific in each area.

Here are a few of the questions to give you an idea. These questions are from the Simple Savings Newsletter.

– What is one bad habit you would like to change?
– What is the new habit you will replace it with?
– What will you gain?
– How will you remind yourself to change the habit?
– How will you reward yourself for progress?
– How will you make your old habit hard to do?
– How will you make your new habit easy to do?

Grocery Habits:

– What is one bad habit you would like to change?
– What is the new habit you will replace it with?
– What will you gain?
– How will you remind yourself to change the habit?
– How will you reward yourself for progress?
– How will you make your old habit hard to do?
– How will you make your new habit easy to do?

To find out more visit Simple Savings:

http://www.simplesavings.com.au/wealthyhabits/

What do you gals think? Are there some habits concerning your finances that you’d like to change? Would it help if we shared just one habit we want to change this next year to save money? We wouldn’t have to do it until after the holidays. What think ye?

Merry Christmas!
Georgene

What are you ladies making for Christmas dinner? I’m looking for something different to make for our vegetable dish. Does anyone make anything different than green bean casserole or  broccoli casserole? I’m thinking about making a recipe my friend makes with hash browns. Still looking for something different. I get tired of fixing the same thing every year. I have a new recipe for our jello salad this year and also the recipe for homemade rolls is new. My sister in love made them for Thanksgiving and they were wonderful.

Here is our Christmas day menu (as of today)

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast

Prime rib

Homemade tamales for my Son in Love (my Spanish neighbor is making them)

Orange Sherbet Jello Salad

Homemade rolls

Veggie

Pumpkin pie, Peanutty Smores Dessert, Raspberry Delight, Homemade Chocolate Pie, Chocolate chip cookies (for my grandson who won’t eat any other dessert) and Rice Krispie treats for my daughter and possibly Baby Ruth Bars.

I’m going to eat in moderation and allow myself a small treat. My blood sugar has come way down and so I don’t want it to get out of control again.

I sewed on the grandchildren’s pajama’s tonight. I completely finished one set for my younger grandson. I just have hemming left to do. The flannel is great quality. They are so soft. It makes me feel good to think of my grandbabies cuddling up in bed wearing these warm pajama’s.

Our new dog (we’ve only had her 2 weeks) looks like she may be getting close to having her pups. She didn’t look like she was pregnant when we got her but she hadn’t been taken care of. She has BALLOONED! I’m praying that she will have an easy delivery.

Last night there was a program on TV on consumer waste. A study was done on American’s and it showed that the average household throws away $600.00 worth of groceries a year. They said it’s mostly due to over buying and not using food before the expiration date. One of my goals for January is to work on my food budget. Can you imagine what could be done with $600.00? I know that I waste more food than I should. I have been trying to freeze food instead of leaving it for leftovers. I can always pull it out the next day if we plan on using it. So many times it goes to waste if I don’t. I remember reading about this trick in The Tightwad Gazette. I also want to set aside a cooking/baking day. I used to do this years ago but since the children are grown I have stopped. I’d like to get some meals in the freezer.

I’m also writing down some goals for the coming year. Proverbs 16:9 says that man makes his plans but God directs His steps.  I’ll be making my plans for the coming year, with my eyes on the Lord, trusting that He will direct my steps to fulfill His perfect will.

I’ve been thinking about the exhortation in 1 Peter 2 this week…

“Dear friends, I urge you, as ALIENS and STRANGERS in this world..”

Peter refers to us as ALIENS and STRANGERS. I’ve been wondering how an Americanized Christian would live if they truly saw themselves as an alien here? How do we ,as Christians living in America, live as if we were strangers here?

One interpretation said we should think of our life as one long camping trip.  Now, I have a little bit of experience in camping so I can relate, somewhat, to that visual picture. The children and I spent many a day during their younger years at a nearby lake camping during the summer months. Also, this past year when we moved on our new property, we had to live in a SMALL motor home until our house was finished. The first couple of weeks were fun and freeing. I enjoyed the freedom of very little housework and the increased available time for studying and reading. But, somewhere around the 3-4 week mark I began to get antsy. I missed my bed, I missed cooking in a real kitchen, I was tired of the dirt. I just wanted to go home.

I’ve wondered if this is how a stranger feels in our land when they know they are just visiting? After a long visit do they long for their home? Is there that temporary feeling because in the back of their mind they know their Visa will run out soon and they will be leaving?  I can’t imagine they would collect a lot of STUFF since they know they would be leaving soon and they wouldn’t be able to take it with them. They certainly would be on their best behavior since they know that other people are watching them more closely than those who live here permanently.

So, that is what I’ve been thinking about this week as I enter into the busiest season of THIS WORLD.  Am I longing for heaven or just perfectly content to build my own little families kingdom right here on earth?

Our home is in heaven… our citizenship is not of this world…

One thing that I wish I had done more with my children is play games. Our family was not a ‘board playing’ family. I didn’t come from a game playing family so it wasn’t something I was used to doing, either.  

I can see now that it would have benefited our family to play games together. My children were used to watching TV for an hour in the evenings so now that is how they spend their time with their own families. TV watching does not encourage a lot of communication between families. Plus, a person is hard-pressed to find much of value to even watch these days.

So, in God’s wisdom, he has given Grandmother’s a second opportunity to encourage their grandchildren in things that they wish they had done with their own children.

I’m not sure why things are so different with our grandchildren. The days were so busy and packed full when I was raising my family. There was so much work to do each day that I found it difficulty to stop and play with them. Of course, there were those times that we did take off and play. There were times we went camping, to the park, skating,etc. But, I’m talking about the every day routine of just spending time in the evenings playing a board game or cards. I really wish that I would have made it more of priority so that they would have established the habit of doing something in the evenings other than watching TV.

So, I’m trying to encourage this habit in my grandchildren. In our family room I have puzzles, checkers and a Geo Trak available. I slid a plastic mat under one of the couches so that it’s available at all times to use for the puzzles. I remember my Grandma, who is no longer living, always had a puzzle going. I have fond memories of us ‘working’ her puzzle together when I’d spend the night. My Dad always has a puzzle going in the winter time at the end of their kitchen table.

One of the first things my grandchildren say when they walk through the door is , “Gwammy, will you pway a game wit me?” My granddaughter LOVES to put together puzzles. Today she put together 4 puzzles in less than 30 minutes. “Grammy’ worked the outside edges and she worked on the inside of the puzzle. So much fun!

I had a plan. I tried to follow that plan. But, I didn’t follow the plan afterall! I had posted a few days ago that I wasn’t going to make goody plates this year because of some health issues and the need to stay away from sugar. I really had planned on sticking with that plan.

Yesterday, my granddaughter spent the day with me. I thought I would make her some caramel popcorn. One thing led to another and by the end of the day I had baked pumpkin bread, caramel corn, peanut brittle, Cherry Wink cookies, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pinwheels, Peanut Butter balls, fudge and Mounds balls. I’m worn out but I enjoyed handing out all the platters to our drivers and our neighbors and family. I snacked way too much yesterday but was very controlled today. I finished up the plates today so by tomorrow there will be no more sweets in the house until Christmas.

My feet and back hurt! Too tired to write anything else. I need to get back in the kitchen and finish cleaning. I have to say I did enjoy the baking!

God bless!