Almost the middle of July

Wow, wow, wow, where has this year gone?       Time seems to be passing so quickly as one day runs into the next.       With the passing of time comes the contemplation of how one has spent that time.        We take each day as it comes and deal with each problem or item on the agenda and at the and of each day, we praise God for it.         The day may not have turned out as we would have liked.        We may not have gotten as much accomplished as we wanted to.           Some days, we even accomplish more than expected.           The simple fact of the matter is that if you or I got to participate in the day, we truly are blessed.         I try to remember that any day my feet hit the floor, it's a blessed day, it's a good day, it's a day to praise God.          So, I'd just like to thank God for His awesome presence in my life, with each breath I take.         He has authority over every second of my life.         And for that, I'm truly thankful.

The summer has turned off to be a hot one this year.           We finally got an inch of rain over the weekend.         It was desperately needed.          I truly pray that it helps our farmers and that they get more well needed rain.         The farmers are truly in the hands of God and I pray that He prospers them in spite of what the enemy is doing.         

During the dry spell, I have been watering my little deck garden and it is coming along pretty good.        I've go a bunch of strawberries.       They are doing pretty good.          They are an everbearing kind, so they will set fruit, and then after those come off, they set more fruit.         We're on the second set of fruit and I'm hoping for a 3 set.        I believe they will actually set that 3rd set of fruit this year.          I have several tomato plant and peppers, some okra, just saw some blooms on my fingerling eggplants, beans, cukes, zucchini, yellow squash, red beets and orange beets and I can't remember what else off the top of my head.        I have been harvesting steadily.           Not a whole lot of produce, but something is better than nothing.           And it's a delicious.         I think it's more delicious when you grew it yourself.         I may be a little biased on that opinion, but I still believe it.      hahahaha

What we don't use immediately, I will dehydrate and have for later use.           I have several zucchini and yellow squash dehydrated and ready to use for fried squash, like fried green tomatoes.        Speaking of fried green tomatoes, I have several pkgs of those in the freezer.          We went to a local farm store and got the green tomatoes and then I sliced them and done my usual dredge on them and froze individually and then wrapped 6 or 8, depending on size in freezer paper.           I will air fry them and they are so good!!!!           That's the only way I'll ever fix them again.           No grease is always the way to go, especially for us.   

Well, I don't have much more to write about right now.            I sure wish I did, but I don't.         I do want you to know that God loves you so much.         Enough so, that He provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him and that's thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ.          You'll have no better friend than Christ, ever!!!!           He is always with you, but you have to believe in Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior and repent of your sins.            Once you do that, instantly you are in the family of God thru Jesus Christ and you'll never spend another second alone or lonely.          All you have to do is call on Him and He will be with you.             I pray that if you haven't accepted Christ as your personal Savior that you will consider today the day of salvation.         You won't regret it.      

As I leave you, let me just that I love you all and Jesus loves you more!!!!   blessing and hugs, patty

  

Long time, no post

Good evening dear friends and loved ones.      I'll have to apologize right off the front end for being absent.      I truly have no real excuse.      Unless the hurting and longing in my heart can be an excuse.     It's about the best I can come up with.      But when the heart aches for things that will never ever be again, it's hard to soothe.        I've never known times to be quite like they are and have been for a while.       I've never seen the hearts of humanity as full of bitterness and evil as much as we're seeing now and have seen for quite a while.       I have remained silent, because I didn't feel I had anything to say that would be uplifting at all.       And to be honest, I may not now.      I'll just have to see how the Lord directs my heart and mind in this matter.      I pray that He will give me some clarity and if I can't get clarity, then I will trust Him for peace in the midst of the storm.

I don't have any say over anything.     All I can do is try to protect how I respond to everything.    Sometimes, I let the devil throw me for a loop.      I take my eyes off Jesus and see what the devil is doing.       That's all on me and that's why I said I try to protect how I respond to everything.    My reactions can be very damaging to my witness and walk in this life.      That's truly the only thing I have that's mine and the Lord's and I don't want to be an embarrassment to Him.    I also don't want my weakness to cause another person to sin or struggle.      And, I don't want my shame and weakness to be the thing that someone uses to judge Christ as unworthy, because of my actions, deeds or words.     I'm still just a struggling, sinning sack of flesh and bones.       I'm saved by the grace of God and the blood of my Savior, Jesus Christ, but I still sin.     I'm not proud of that.     I struggle with sin every day of my life.      Sometimes it's the thoughts I have.     Sometimes it's the things I say.      Sometimes it's lack of empathy for my fellow human being.      Sometimes it's the things I do.     Other times it's the things I don't do.      If I didn't put enough emphasis on the fact that I struggle with sin on a daily basis, well I do!!!!!       I'm very ashamed to admit that, but Jesus knows it, because we talk about daily and yet, I still struggle.

I wish I had answers for all my heart aches.       I know as I type this that I'm not the only person in this dilemma.      And I'm sorry that I don't have the answers.      But, I believe Jesus does have all the answers.      I'll probably never talk to any one who reads this in person, so this will probably be as close as it gets for us to communicate, so let me just say that if you don't know Him, now would be a good time to draw near to Him.      There have been several times in my life that I've asked God to break my heart for the things that break His heart.      When I'm serious about it, He shows me what breaks His heart.    And it's very painful to look at what He shows me knowing "this breaks God's heart".       There is a lot of stuff going on that is breaking His heart.       I see it, but there's not a lot that I can do about, other than give it back to Him and that's what I do.       You see, we live in a time in which the battle is between darkness against light.      Darkness doesn't want it's sin exposed to light.      Light brings clarity of eyes and minds.      Darkness allows us to stumble around and sin and wallow in it and sin more.       Light exposes sin and filth and rancor and rot.      Every time we turn the tv or or listen to the news, we see darkness and when someone wants to expose that darkness to light and truth, then war rages on.      To be honest, I've seen about all I can stand.       I've lost all hope in humanity.       I see continually how people are sold out to the devil.       They willfully do his work.      They happily serve their evil master.       Thankfully, my hope is in the Lord.      So, I keep leaning in to Him closer and closer every day.

I have decided that this world is not my home, I'm just passing thru.      And with each passing day, I long for Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah Land.      While I long for heaven, I realize I still have to live in this life that God has blessed me with.     So, to the best of my ability I will keep relying on Jesus to help me make thru each day.       Study His word and lean in to Him.      Those are the two things that I would suggest to you to help you make in this world too.       We have to keep serving Him till He brings us home.       And He will bring us home, be rest assured in that.

I love watching the Gaither Homecoming Videos and this afternoon I watched the latest one that came out this weekend.       It was on youtube and it was about Heaven and the longing that Christians have for home.      I wept like a baby because it was what I needed.        I needed to see people that love the Lord singing about going home to Him someday and how joyful that  event will be, if we know Him.   The bible says that every tear is counted.      I shed a bucket full at least and there's still 3 or 4 buckets to go.     I can't stop crying.     I've reached my breaking point and something broke.     I don't really think it needs to be fixed.      I think I need to let Jesus get me thru this and not look back on for a long time.      I'll never be the same.        But hopefully I will be a better me than I've ever been.       If I'm not, don't blame Jesus, blame me.       Don't hold anything about me against my Savior.      He's righteous, He's worthy, He's honorable.       I'm none of those things, so blame me, not Him.

I don't know what else to say.      I don't know if I should have even said what I did, but it's here, for better or worse.      I will say that Jesus loves you and wants to be in a right relationship with you.     It's the best relationship you'll ever be in.      I can promise you that.

One of the things that was said in the Gaither Homecoming Video that I seen today was, "I'll see you at the House".       I loved that so much.       So, as I leave you this evening, let me say that God loves you and so do I.  love, hugs, and blessings and "I'll see you at the House y'all!"  patty

Reminiscing

Happy Monday Y'all!!    I hope and pray that wherever y'all are that you are enjoying the blessings of this most beautiful day.    I have been reminiscing and written it down and thought I would share it here so as not to forget it.   I hope you enjoy reading this.    As much as anything else, I hope it makes you think about the loved ones who have recently gone on.  Maybe think about your generation a little more.   For me, my generation is "old" generation now.  Funny how when it's us, we don't consider ourselves old.  In reality we are.   It hits home hard some days.   But don't stress out on that.   Focus on the good and fun times and share those time with the younger generations.    And any real history, share that too.   Events that are important, share those if you can at all.   I may be adding more to this in the future, I don't know.    But this is a start for now.

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The older I get, the more I think about my generation of the family.    My precious Momma is the last one standing for her generation on my Momma and my Daddys side of the family.    Daddy and all my Aunts and Uncles have done left us.   With so many long gone, it makes you start thinking about your own generation and the family left standing.

Momma had a brother, Uncle Robert.  He was a few years older than Momma.  He served his country well by serving in WW2 and also Korea.   He married my Daddy's sister, Aunt Wanda.   They had 3 children, Lynn, David and Carol.   Lynn was a sweetheart if ever there was one.   She was their oldest child.  She was actually between my oldest brother and next oldest brother in age.   One of my most favorite memories of Lynn is when we was all younger, they came down for a visit and she was sitting by one of my brothers and he stuck his thumb up and she put hers up beside his and it was so funny to see that.  My brother has these massive hands, even as a teenager and Lynn was a very petite young lady and it looked like matchstick beside a tree and she laughed and laughed.  She thought that was the funniest thing ever, and it really was.  We all did and I still laugh when I think of Lynn.  She got sick a few years ago and passed away and that left a huge hole in their family.  We all have missed Lynn terribly.   David was the middle child.  He was in the military and he served his country well.  I remember when they came in one time when we was all young, David and one of my brothers was messing with a knife.  One of my other brothers had killed a squirrel and and was cleaning it to put in the freezer.  When he got it skinned David and Wally was messing with their knives and trying to cut the squirrel tail with it.  Just holding it out in the air, one hand on each end of the tail.  David took a really hard swing with the knife towards the tail and missed the tail, but almost cut Wally's finger off.  There was a big chunk of hide that just sliced down that finger.  Oh my gosh, you talking about some "hot under the collar parents"!!   They all were.   But Momma the miracle worker to the rescue and she got the situation taken care of.  Recently, David got sick.  He had worked in granite all his life and that work had all but destroyed his lungs.   He went to the hospital, hoping for treatment.   Treatment didn't help him and left us on Feb 16th 2022.  He fought hard to stay with his family, but it wasn't meant to be.  His sister Carol and her children was by his side during this battle.  The battle was too great for him to overcome.   Now Carol is carrying on with her family.   She has had a few major struggles in her life and has fought hard to be where she is now.   She is the same age as my youngest brother, well actually a month younger.   When we was all younger they used to come in, I remember one time Carol went to the back of my grandparents house and opened the back door and shooed all the chickens from the back of the house all the thru the house and out the front door!!  She done that.  hahaha   Everyone was out front sitting on blankets and chair under the big silver poplar in the front yard and she had gone missing.  All of a sudden, we heard a ruckus coming from the front door and looked around and here comes about 50 chickens thru the house and out the front door.   I laugh every time I think of that episode.

Momma also had a sister, Aunt Dovie.   She had 2 children, Edith and Donald.   I was very young, maybe even too young to have real memories of Edith, but she got killed in a car wreck when she was a teenager.  Her brother Donald, served his country well in Vietnam and came home and lived a quiet life until he left us a few years ago.  He was a fantastic artist and the world missed out on his talents.   She also had 2 other daughters, Martha and Thressa, who are alive and well with children and grand children of their own, living in different areas of the US.  

Daddy's oldest sister, Aunt Mildred had moved away and didn't come home very often.  I remember seeing her only 3 or 4 times at best.   She had one child.   I never seen her when I was a child, that I remember.  When she grew up and married, she lived in Nevada.  So we never seen her much at all.  I think I remember her coming home sometime after I was married.   I know my Momma, Daddy, and another aunt and uncle made the drive out west to see her a few years ago.   Aunt Mildred passed away when I was in my early teens.   When we went to Ohio, we would go see her and I always enjoyed visiting with her.

Daddy had an older brother, Harding and he served his country well during WW2.  Uncle Harding and Aunt Nellie had several children.  They had a son but he passed shortly after his birth and so did another baby girl.  Melba, Nelda, Wilda and Hilda are the ones who survived.   They grew up living closest to us, so we seen them more often.   Every one of them could sing like angels and I loved to hear them use their talent.  I always loved being around all of them.   Aunt Nellie played the piano like nobody's business and NO ONE could ever play the great old hymns of faith as well as Aunt Nellie.  She could make the piano sing.  Melba and Nelda were older than me and older than my oldest brother.  So they were both married when I was a kid.  Melba got sick a few years ago, maybe 10 or so, and went home to be with Lord.  The other 3 sisters are still with us.  I rode the school bus for many years with Wilda and Hilda.  Hilda was the same age as my youngest brother.  Since I didn't have a sister, Hilda was the sister that I never had.

Daddy also had another older sister, Aunt Nell.   She and Uncle Bud had 4 children.  Susie, Maxine, Michelle and Bobby.  Susie may be my oldest cousin on my Daddy's side.   I just can't remember for sure.  She was always fun to be around.  She was married when I was little so I don't have a lot of younger memories of her.  Maxine and Michelle and Bobby are the ones I remember so well.   Maxine and Michelle would always play beauty shop with me and I loved it.   They always experimented with my hair and gave new hairdos about every 15 minutes.  They was into dancing and pantomiming, if anyone remembers that.  They would put on shows for all of us from time to time.  They were true entertainers.  Sadly Michelle left us just shortly after her high school graduation when she and some friends went on a cross country trip.  She actually drowned in the Colorado River in the early 1970's.   It's hard to think of her being gone this long but it's true.  Bobby always loved coming to visit.  He got to hang out with a bunch of guys and he loved it.  He got to romp the hills and hollers and go hunting and fishing and do stuff that he didn't get to do with his sisters.  Bobby actually came down stayed with our Grandmother for a few months after he graduated school. 

I will add here that my Daddy also served his country well.  He joined the army and was getting ready to be shipped over seas when WW2 ended.  He had already been sent to California and was awaiting the next ship out when they got word that it was over.  Daddy served 4 years in the army and came home married my Momma.  Momma and Daddy had 6 "chidlers".   5 boys and 1 girl.   They will always have at least one fan, because I have always been their number 1 cheerleader.  Momma had 6 babies in 7 years and she grew up with us.  No parents has ever worked any harder than mine has to rear their family.  There are lots of stories that could be told.  The greatest story that I can tell right now is how, by the grace of God, all my brothers and I are still together in this life.  Only by His grace and we don't take that lightly.  We know that at some point in time, death will take one of us.  And I guess that's why I have started thinking about our generation more than ever before.   I laughed and told my Momma on her birthday that all of her children had caught up with age wise.  We are all just a bunch of old geezers with young hearts and young memories.   We pray that the memories of those we have lost way too soon of this generation and those of my Mommas generation will continue to live on in the generations coming up thru the stories and memories that we can pass on to them.  While we still have time and while we still can, share the fun stuff.  Share the good stuff.  Share the hard days.  Share the old ways.  Share what you know with the next generation so that we all can live on in the lives and the memories of these we leave behind.  I dedicate this brief history of what I remember to those in my family who have gone on before us and may we remember you all with love and joy and know that our lives would have been quite different without having you in our lives.  You made a difference to all of us.  We love you all!!  Edith, Donald, Lynn, David, Michelle, Jerry Otis, Martha Marguerite and Melba, you may be gone from us, but you are not forgotten.  

Blessings on one and all today and everyday.  Remember that God has made a way for you to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.  He loves you that much.   This too, needs to be a part of the legacy that we pass on from one generation to the next.  Knowing that God has made it all possible and that we have made Him a priority in our lives by choosing to accept Christ as out personal Lord and Savior.    love and hugs and blessings be yours till the next appointed time, patty

Welcome 2022, Power and Strength

Good morning Blessed Ones of Christ.     January 3rd of 2022 has found us with some snow this morning and freezing temps.      It finally feels like winter here in my neck of the woods.       But I'm not  complaining about that at all.       Now, it feels like winter and I'm not complaining about that either.      I was actually thinking about getting some seeds started on Saturday, so I'm happy that was just a fleeting thought.      I knew winter was around the corner.      I will start some seeds around the middle to the end of January.      I can't wait to get my hands dirty again.       And see some green life starting to grow again.      I'm honestly not much of a gardener, but I do love seeing how God helps me and blesses my efforts.       So, I'm looking forward to another year of trying to grow more.       As usual, I plant and pray, and I pray for God to bless my efforts.       He is faithful!!!       I can count on that.

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The new year is here.       I quit making resolutions years ago, because no sooner than I made one, I broke it.      So I felt like I was lying to myself and to God.      So what I have been doing is letting God show me what He wants me to focus on for the year.       Sometimes I share with others what my focus word for the year is, and sometimes I don't.       It just depends on how personal it is.      As I was praying before going to sleep last night, God gave me the words.       They kept being the words that was just coming from my mouth about Him.      That's when I knew what my words for the year would be.

Power and Strength.      Those are the words that kept coming over and over last night while praying.  His power and strength, not mine.      If you want a good Bible Study, just do a quick search on "the power and strength of God".      You will find out just how awesome our God is.    

As I was praying, I kept seeing my weakness in everything.      But I also kept seeing how God goes before me.      If I put my faith and trust in Him, then He is my power and strength.       I think the last 2 years have shown me just how miserable the human race is and can be.      It has shown me that not everyone who professes Christ, really know Him.       It has shown me that we can fool some of the some of the time, but we can't fool God at all.      A lot of people have fooled a lot of us, but they haven't fooled God.       I ask God to help me keep my eyes open and stay focused on Him.       And to let Him be the filter in which I view things.       If someone says things and then acts differently to what they say, I want God to show me what I need to see.      I need to view the world around me thru the filter of God's view.       If I don't do that, I will fall victim to the wolves in sheep's clothing.      

There is no power or strength in me at all.      This is what God keeps showing me.       All power and strength comes from Him alone.        There is no other source.      There are lots of self help gurus and some even claim to be preachers that tell you, you are the bees knees, you are your own strength, you have the power to overcome, you have the power to achieve, you have to power to change your life, you have the power to achieve great things, you are special, you are in charge of your destiny.      It's all about you you you you you and nothing about God.      When we take God out of the mix of our lives, that's when we fall for the lies of the enemy.       We easily succumb to the enemy.       When we live for self, we are living in dangerous territory.        God has shown me thru the study of His word, that my life is not mine.        It's His.      I can't live this life of mine without Him at the forefront.       Life has changed a lot over the last 2 years.        People that I thought were life long friends, are no longer in my life.       But God is there.       He hasn't waivered one little bit.       Scripture tells me that there is no shadow of turning in God.       He's the same yesterday, today and forever.        He's not going anywhere.

So, while I face 2022 on what I call shaky ground, God is here.       He goes before me.        He opens my eyes to see and ears to hear.       In my powerlessness and weakness, God is my power and strength.   I can't make it one breath without Him sustaining me.       

So, as I face 2022, I pray that God will show me more of His power and strength.         I believe He will.      And I hope He allows me to share about some the ways He does this in the year ahead.       Even if He doesn't show me anything, even if He doesn't provide, even if He doesn't meet my needs, He is still great and greatly to be praised.        I will praise Him.      I will praise Him.      I will praise Him.      That is my goal for 2022.       I will praise my Redeemer.        I will lift His name high.       Lord help me in this endeavor, to allow you to be my complete power and strength.       I submit to Your power and authority over my life.       I also live with great anticipation of seeing Your Hand in all that I do.      I pray that each day reflects You in my life.        Thank You Father for what You are doing right now and for what You are going to do in the days ahead.  

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So, I just wanted to share an experiment with y'all.       My  husband had  mentioned "banana pudding".    Well, I got to thinking about that.      I knew I didn't have any bananas, or did I?   No fresh bananas, but I did have some dehydrated bananas.         Challenge on.         How do you make a banana pudding with dehydrated bananas?       I set out to find out how to do it my way.      I had a box of mini vanilla wafers, 4 vanilla pudding cups and a box of cool whip.       I got my jar of dehydrated bananas and got about 25 or 30 slices of dehydrated bananas and broke them up in bowl and poured boiling water over them and let them set for a while, then added a little more water.     I wanted them to have a little extra liquid so they would thin the pudding down some.        I popped them in the fridge to cool them down.         I then mixed the pudding cups with rehydrated bananas and then added some cool whip, next I added in the vanilla wafers. got it all mixed up and put it in the bowl, put the rest of the cool whip on top and crumbled a few of the vanilla wafers on top. let me just say this.       No, it's not a banana pudding made from scratch, but it is VERY good.      No more of the banana slices than I used, it is very banana tasting.       It's good and it won't be the last time I make this. I see more dehydrated bananas in the near future.     I'm always thinking about ways to use my dehydrated goodies and I hope y'all are always thinking about how to use your goodies too.        Sometimes we have to think outside the box.         It was better the next day, as the flavors had more time to really come out of the bananas into the rest of the mixture.        

This is a jar of my dehydrated bananas.  they are so good.

This is what my finished banana pudding looked like. 

This is a side view of the banana pudding.

If you dehydrate produce, look for more ways of incorporating your bounty into your every day life.    We need to use it.      We need to look for ways to add those lovely nutrients to food and let our bodies be the benefactor of all that goodness.        Granted, a banana pudding wasn't the best use of my dehydrated bananas, but it still was a way of using what I had.      I don't make a lot of desserts just because we don't need them.        But a little bit, every once in a while, hopefully it won't hurt too much.

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Well, that's about all I have today.        I pray that your New Year will be a wonderful time to start fresh with a new commitment in living your life with God being the determining factor in all that you say and do.       I hope and pray as the year rolls on that He shows me more and more about His power and strength in my life.       He is faithful.      I hope you seen something here that makes you think about Him a little more.       I hope you seen that there are different ways of using our dehydrated goodies and that if your aren't a dehydrator yet, maybe this sparked an interest.       If you seen something here that you liked, tell a friend.      Also tell that friend that God loves them and would love to be in a relationship with them thru the shed blood of Christ.     That is the only way to the Father, is thru the Son.      Blessings of a prosperous year in the Lord.        hugs and love to all, patty 

Merry Christmas, a day late

Good morning Y'all. I'm a little late with my Merry Christmas wishes, but late is better than never. hahaha I'm going with that anyway. I do hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas. I hope you got to spend Christmas with someone you love. I know that the holidays are tough for a lot of people, with me being one of those people. Melancholy is that old friend that always shows up and stays till it wears out it's welcome, much too long. If you are one of those people that would rather have the holidays slip on past, just know that you are not alone. I love Jesus and I love celebrating His birth, whenever that happens to be. But I'm not excited about the commercialism associated with my Savior. Some people don't even want to say the word "Christmas", but they'll rake in all the money associated with the commercialism of Christmas. Some people don't want anything to do with Christmas, but they'll take the paid holiday money associated with it at their place of employment. Ah, it don't make any difference. The bible tells me that "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord"!!!! amen and amen!!!!!! I want my knees to bow and my tongue to confess Him as Lord and Savior because I have lived my life believing and knowing it to be true. But, the thing about this is that even if you have lived you life denying it, fighting against it, running from Him, and spewing filth about Him, guess what???? Your knees will bow and your tongue will that Jesus Christ is Lord, just before being cast into the pit with the enemy. So, I hope your knees bow willingly and that tongue confesses easily because you love Him today. Every word in the Bible is true. They are the Words of God, God does NOT lie. God cannot lie. What scripture says He will do, trust it, He will do it. Have your knees bow and your tongue confess because you love Him, not because God forces your knees to bow and your tongue to confess. Do you love Him? Do you have a relationship with Him. I could care less if you are a religious person. I could care less if you think you're a spiritual person. Those are 2 words that most people don't even understand. What I am concerned about is your relationship with HIM. When people say they are religious, what they are saying is that they "do" this, this, this and more of this this and this to hopefully stay in good graces with God. Trying to earn something that they don't even deserve, when it's actually the free gift of salvation. When people say they are spiritual people, then they are trying to put themselves equal with God in all things. We'll, I'll take a relationship with Jesus any day, knowing that He is the one that has given me freely, the gift of salvation. No, I don't deserve it. No, I don't try to earn it. There is no way I could ever earn it or be good enough or jump thru all the man made hoops that a lot of people base their religion and spiritual whatever on. You can't earn it either. Accept it as the free gift of salvation that it is or walk away from. Stop trying to earn it, stop trying to add something to it. Because you'll never earn and you'll never add to it. Either accept it as it is or walk away. Who is this for??? As usual, it's a reminder for me. I see so many professing Christians that try to make it something that it's not and I want to shake them till their teeth rattles in their head. Because what they are doing is WRONG!!!!!! So, if you fall into this category, stop it. If I fall into this category, I've got to stop it!! You will not be getting any NEW revelation from God. All revelation has already been revealed in His Word.

"Christ alone,

thru Faith alone,

by Grace alone,

in the Bible alone!"

This is it.

"Nothing more,

Nothing less,

Nothing else!"

*********************************************

Just wanted to share a 3-d card that I made a couple or so years ago. I love it and I hope you do too.

This is long, but I hope you will take the time to read it sometime over the next day or so. I wrote it back in 2015 and I share it every chance I get. It describes my "mental image" of the perfect Christmas tree for me!! I hope you enjoy it.

My Christmas Tree

What if I asked you to decorate a Christmas Tree and put only things on it that would describe you, your relationship with Jesus and your relationship with others. Could you do it? Would you do it? Do any of y'all ever get that mental picture that you just can't get out of your head? I do. Sometimes mine is an all out comedy skit. I just have say that I know God has a very good sense of humor, because He gave me a pretty good one, if I do say so myself. So, I can actually blame it on Him, right. hehehe I kept seeing a Christmas Tree in my mind. I finally just had to ask God what that was. Well, it was a Christmas Tree that was decorated with things that represented my relationship with Jesus and the people in my life. I didn't get a really clear image of it though. I was so intrigued by the idea that I thought I would try to mentally decorate a Christmas Tree for y'all and describe it as I go.

So, first off it would have to be a Cedar Tree. A Cedar tree never looses it branches and it stays green all the time. It will grow in places that a lot of other trees can't. It has a smell that only the cedar tree has. I love the smell of cedar. As a small child, I would pick up cedar shavings and smell them. I would actually rub them on my nose and sleep with them and get them tangled in my hair. Anyway, that's what we always had growing up and I remember all the fun I had when I got to help decorate it. Sometimes, I would get to decorate it more than once if it fell over. hehehe Redecorating is not as fun as it was to decorate it the first time. So, Cedar Tree it is.

Next I would put lots of colored lights on it. I do love the clear lights, but I am a colorful person and I love lots of color, so colored lights it is. God didn't say anything about colored lights or clear, He just said to let our light so shine for others to see. And we are not to put our light under a bushel, but to have it out and shining bright. So, I do believe a lot of colored lights on my tree would be seen. So, colored lights, it is.

Next, for garland, I might string some popcorn and put that on my tree. Most everyone likes or loves popcorn. It does smell wonderful when it's popping. What is the first thing you smell when you go to the movie theater? Yeah, popcorn. The smell of it is inviting and pleasing. Have you every thought about popcorn? It takes a lot of heat, to make that kernel of corn transform into something that is so delicious. It has to "go thru the fire", so to speak, for it to be transformed into something that we love so much. Guess what, we have to "go thru the fire" also, to be transformed into something useful for God's purpose. Notice I said "go" thru the fire to be made into useful. If popcorn stays in the fire too long, it goes from delectable to detestable in just a matter of seconds. Sometimes we take our eyes off the popcorn and it burns. God will never take His eyes off us , He never leaves us in the fire to long and He always goes thru the fire with us. We are never alone. So, popcorn it is.

Next comes the decorations. First, I think I would want a box of crayons. They represent the big box of 64 that I had as a child. I loved those crayons and the many hours of pleasure they brought me. They also represent the fact that it's ok to color outside the lines. Our artistic skill, love and abilities come from God, so I will embrace my artistic side with the crayons. Next, I think there would be some big beautiful colorful buttons scattered about on my tree. I have always loved buttons. I learned to count with buttons. I always loved to play with buttons while Mom was sewing. Buttons are very useful. They hold stuff together. They can be plain and be useful. They can be very ornate and still be just as useful. So, a few buttons goes on my tree, just to make sure I stay buttoned up and together. Next, I would want at least eight different cookie cutters hanging on my tree. Six to represent the guys in our house; dad and five brothers. Then two to represent mom and me. Cookies was always a special treat. I would want them all to be different, because we are all different. God made all His children different, so mine would have to be different too.

Next I would want some glass ornaments. Glass ornaments of all different shapes colors and sizes. God made us in His image in all different shapes colors and sizes, but none the less, all still in His image. The glass represents how fragile we are. If not handled correctly, the ornaments shatter. So do we, when we are not handled correctly.

Next, I would have 38 small gold wedding rings hanging on my tree for all to see. Those would be as a reminder of the all the Christmases my husband and I have spent together. Representing all the good times and the bad, knowing that God was in the midst of it all. With the hopes of adding many more as each year rolls around. The circle also represents the un-ending love that God has for His children. Yes, a few gold wedding bands it is.

Next, I would want a few beautifully decorated acorns. Those remind me of times when my husband and I have gone on acorn hunts and found some really big acorns. I bake them in a low temp oven (to kill any insects or eggs that may be in them) for a couple hours, and turn the oven off, leave them over night and the next day they are ready to decorate. From a small acorn comes the mighty oak. They grow tall above ground. Below ground, where we can't see, they put down really deep roots! So, I want to represent Jesus Christ well when you see me, but I also want to know that I am firmly rooted in Christ. The roots are very important when the storms of life come thru, they determine whether you survive it. Everything above ground can be damaged, but as long as the root system is ok, the tree can come out of it. I may be shaken, but if I'm rooted in Christ, I can survive any storm.

Next, I think I would like to have some trumpets on my Christmas Tree. I have a few now, and when I do decorate, I love using them. I love the sound of the trumpet. Of course, I couldn't make a sound come out of one if my life depended on it. But, I do enjoy the sound of them. And I do keep my ear pealed, listening for the great trumpet blast that will take place when Jesus comes again. So, yes I will have a few trumpets. Next, I would have to have one small broken ornament on my tree. Why that, you ask? If we are honest with ourselves and with God, we are all broken, in some way. That's what sin does, it causes brokenness, and "we" can't fix it. God can and does when we come to Him with our sin. So, that one small broken ornament would be a reminder to me, that although it is broken, it is still loved and useful. God can use each and every one of us, even with our brokenness, to His benefit and glory.

Next, y'all know I love me some purple! If you don't, it's not because I haven't told ya! hahaha Yeah, I think I would have some purple scraps of fabric on my Christmas Tree. Why just scraps of fabric? I am reminded of Lydia. The lady from the Bible. She was a seller of purple cloth and she also loved the Lord. Purple is a symbol of royalty. Since I am a daughter of the Most High God, I think just a few purple scraps would do me well on my tree. Next, I think I would have to have me some pearls on my tree. Pearl is my birthstone and fittingly so. Pearls are the result of an irritation that takes place in the oyster. Think about how bad an ulcer hurts, that's about similar to the kind of irritation that produces a pearl. The Bible speaks of pearls as having great value. The gates of Heaven will be made from pearls. Each gate will be made from one large pearl. That's one large source of irritation for each pearl!!! One of my very dear friends and I have special names for each other. She is Pearl Love, because she is the epitome of Love, Gods love!!!! I am Pearl Joy. My Joy comes from the Lord. There is also scripture that says not to cast your pearls before swine. So, pearls it is.

Next I would have to have to have a ladybug on my tree. The red one, that is. Who doesn't love a ladybug. Scientists done an experiment on ladybugs a few years ago and found out they are possibly the strongest creature on earth. They can pick up over 600 times their own body weight with those little suction feet of theirs. Pretty amazing, huh! They are very strong little buggers. The ladybug would represent my mom, one of the strongest people I have ever known. That's what I call my mom sometimes too. Next, I would have to have a little sweet pea flower on my Christmas Tree. They are a small, dainty flower; everything that I ain't! hahaha The wild ones found in nature are usually purple, woohoo. They do smell good. They are considered to be a good gift. They represent "good fortune", so I say that my good fortune can be found only in what Jesus Christ has done for me. This is what my mom calls me sometimes too. So, sweet pea it is.

Next, I love to have candy canes shaped like a shepherds staff. The shepherds staff reminds me that the shepherd looks after his sheep. Shepherds were the lowest of the low, but God chose them to announce His plans to that night in the fields while watching their sheep. Wow, talk about a chosen group of men that night! The shepherds staff was a useful tool to. Sometimes he has to use his staff to get one of the sheep that may have fallen in a crevice or something like that. He would also use his staff to fight off any wolves or other animal that tried to get to the sheep. He can just reach out and pull a sheep back to where it belongs. But the shepherd always has his sheep's best interest at heart. The sheep knows the shepherds voice, the shepherd knows the voice of his sheep. So it is with Christ as our Shepherd, He always has our best interests at heart.

Next, I think I would need a few heart shaped ornaments on my tree. The heart represents great love. We see the heart of Christ form the beginning to end of the Bible. We also have learned to love, because Christ loved us first. Sometimes it is hard for us to love as Christ loves. But He has taught us to love others, even our enemies. So, I will have a few hearts on my tree as a reminder to love others.

When I get it all decorated with all the different ornaments and items I want on my tree, there's just a couple of things left. I would take a few hands full of glitter and toss it on my tree. Why glitter? It sparkles, it shines, and it shimmers!!!! It makes you smile when you see it. If you get close enough to someones glitter, you get it on you. It's a reminder that you was with that person and enjoyed time spent with them. I can just imagine how the streets of gold are gonna glimmer, sparkle and shimmer. So glitter, it is.

Last but not least, by any means is the tree topper. My tree topper would be a Cross. The symbol of what Christ has done for me and who I am in Him. It would not have to be the finest Cross ever made. I'll gladly take a rough cut, precariously nailed cross for my tree topper. The Cross was not ever meant to be a thing of beauty. The only way the Cross becomes a symbol of beauty is when it represents the transformation that has taken place in my life as a result of the finished work of Christ on the cross. If you see someone wearing a cross, ask them what it means to them. See if it means the same thing to them that it means to you. If not, share with them what the cross represents to you. So, a Cross it is for my topper.

There you have it. A Cedar Tree, colored lights, popcorn, crayons, buttons, cookie cutters, glass ornaments, acorns, gold wedding rings, small broken ornament, trumpets, purple fabric scraps, pearls, a lady bug, a sweet pea flower, shepherd staff, candy canes, hearts, glitter and a cross. These are the things that would make up my Christmas Tree to describe who I am.

What would you use to describe who you are? Think about it. When I got done putting everything down to describe my tree, then it all came into focus and this is exactly what I had seen in my mind. I do have to say that I am quite pleased with my Christmas Tree. I hope you will do the same thing this Christmas season and share your Christmas Tree with those around you.

Merry Christmas!!!!! God Bless each and every one of y'all!!! hugs and love, patty

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