This is the dining room decorations.   I have a total of 5 trees.  More pictures to come.

Lesson in Lights

I learn lessons in the strangest of places but I thought I would share what I learned last night.  I started decorating the house for Christmas a couple of days ago.  As I put garlands on mantles and trees in their places, I found that so many of the lights were no longer working.  After several years of them glowing, I was not really surprised.  I decided to run to the discount store in our town last night to get more lights to replace the ones not working.  I came home with five boxes of lights.  Each box had the same thing written on the outside and, in fact,they all appeared to be identical.  As I took the lights out of the boxes they too appeared to be the same exact thing.  I asked my daughter to check the first strand to make certain that they worked.  To my surprise, they did not work.  We checked all of the others and they all worked just fine.  It was at that moment that I heard a still small voice teaching me a lesson.

We call ourselves Christians.  We all look the same and act the same at church.  We are packaged the same yet do we all let our lights shine once we are "checked".  Can the world see our light?  Are we just "acting like Christians" or are we really Christians?  I could have put those lights on that tree but what good would they have been since they did not glow?  There is something wrong on the inside of the strand of lights so they are not glowing.  We are the same way.  We are no good unless we are glowing with the love  of Christ for all the world to see.  My Christmas lights are put in storage for 10 months of the year.  They are not regularly checked or used so I do not know if they are working or not.  Our Christianity cannot be treated the same way.  We cannot "store" or ignore our Christain life.  It is a daily walk and constant relationship with the Lord that keeps our lights working for His kingdom.  If there is something on the inside that is causing my light to not shine, I pray that the Lord reveals it to me so I can deal with it.  I want to be effective in His kingdom and not just look the part.

"This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine."

Decorations and Memories

I usually wait until Thanksgiving weekend to decorate for Christmas, but after going to the mountains and seeing all the Christmas lights, I came home ready to fill the house with the sights and sounds of Christmas. I have all my decorations out and in the process of being placed where they go. I love getting out ornaments and remembering where they came from and when I got them. I have old decorations from my childhood that cause me to think back to when they hung on the tree at my parent's home. As I decorate one of our trees with the older ornaments, I think about all the years my daddy and I would decorate a tree together. I have a ceramic tree that my 90+ year old aunt gave me that she originally purchased while shopping with my grandmother. It makes me think back to when my grandmother was still living and we would go to her home for Christmas. Decorating for Christmas is more than just getting things out and plugging in lights. It is a real stroll down memory lane that makes those that are still with me seem closer and those that have passed away feel near. I love nothing more than plugging all the lights in, lighting the logs in the fireplace, and making a pot of coffee. I spend time listening to Christmas music and thinking about how blessed I am to have the Lord in my heart and memories of the Godly people from my life that have gone on to be with Him.

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Give Me Mountain Air

I was invited to go to the mountains with several friends for a weekend away.  I have never done anything like this, but after the last 9 months, I felt I really needed to go.  We are leaving tomorrow morning and I am really looking forward to it.  I think a time of refreshing is exactly what I need.  A time to relax is certainly what I long for.  In preparing for my trip, I have really felt God speak to me directly through His Word.  Several verses have spoken to me lately that I would like to share:

"When life is heavy and hard to take,
   go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
   Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
   The "worst" is never the worst."

Lamentations 3:28-30

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"I'm hurt and in pain;
   Give me space for healing, and mountain air."

Psalm 69:29

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"I called out your name, O God,
   called from the bottom of the pit.
You listened when I called out, 'Don't shut your ears!
   Get me out of here! Save me!'
You came close when I called out.
   You said, 'It's going to be all right.' "

Lamentations 3:57-58

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