Joyfull Living

A New Year Blessing Based on Proverbs 2:1-8 May you: Receive and believe what God says Treasure with high value His commandments Listen attentively to His wisdom Draw your heart to understand Him Cry for discernment Raise your voice for understanding Seem Him more than silver or hidden treasures May this New Year draw you closer to the Lord and may His grace fill your heart, home and life.  Happy New Year!    

During the Christmas season, one of our festivities was held at an old hotel which was renovated into a restaurant.  They had several antique items arranged all around.  This one caught my eye, knowing it would be a great experience for photo editing! Straight Out of the Camera Shot: It wouldn’t take much editing to bring out the naturally vintage look: Here I cropped the photo some, gave it texture and a vintage edging: All edits were done in Photoshop Elements.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23 As the New Year approaches, it gets me anxious to evaluate how things are going in my life and to purpose to seek new qualities and characteristics.  Often it can be tempting to feel deflated when I see where I would like to be, but realize how far I am from that place.  A verse like this brings comfort and strength because any spiritual progress I make is from the Lord and His faithfulness.  He knows me, my strengths, my weaknesses and my failures.  He loves me and has compassion…always…that never run out.  Great is His faithfulness.  That’s worth waking up each day to!

Our family Christmas was a little bit different than in years past.  We enjoyed a wonderful time with my husband’s side of the family on Christmas Eve.  My poor husband had to work through much of the weekend.  He missed this dinner and one son had to work, but he did arrive late: Christmas morning to work around my husband’s work, we got up very early!  Here are our boys opening up some presents: Christmas night was a pretty quiet, rainy night at home.  Monday night my side of the family came over for a late Christmas dinner!  I can’t believe how few pictures that I took this year!  I did take several of my nieces and nephews this year: Girls are so easy to photograph!  His smile is a treat to catch! Isn’t she beautiful, all dressed up? These two got remote control cars and know how to use them! Isn’t this sweet?  There is just something so special about little children at Christmas! What a beautiful time of the year and some great memories were again made to

Wow!  Since writing my last blog post the flurry of Christmas activities has came and went.  What a great weekend of family, fellowship, food and celebrations.  The gifts are opened, the food devoured and all that remain are the memories of another Christmas past.  Sometimes it seems that it takes so long to prepare for Christmas and then 'poof', it is over. This week still is considered "Christmas break" where the kids are out of school and our days can still be more relaxed.  What a wonderful opportunity to 'ponder' .  I love the verse in Luke 2 , "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."   My plan for this week is to treasure and ponder.   To treasure the smiles of Christmas, the special feeling of getting together with family, the beauty of singing Christmas carols with the church family, to keep alive in my heart thankfulness to God for His wonderful Gift. To ponder or remember what was extra special about this C

Sending wishes for a very Merry Christmas, where the beauty and wonder of Christ's love fills each heart, home and family.   

For unto us a Child is born,       Unto us a Son is given;       And the government will be upon His shoulder.       And His name will be called       Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,  Isaiah 9:6,7 This week will probably find us thinking a lot about gifts.  Hopefully, most of our gifts have been purchased and are waiting to be opened.  We are probably hoping that the recipient will enjoy their gift and think fondly of our care in choosing it.  This verse is my favorite Christmas verse.  It reminds us of God’s Gift to us and gives us the name of not only who He is, but what He is…our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  This gifts continue on through the ages and will abide forever.  That is a gift that keeps on giving!  May we take some time this week to meditate on our wonderful Savior

Every year, our traditions are to enjoy a family dinner at my husband's family and then another night, we prepare a dinner for my family (much smaller!). Before dinner, I serve spiced apple cider.  My family looks forward to it as tradition. The weather can be fickle here, cold one Christmas, hot another, but no matter what the weather, they count on Apple Cider.  There isn't one single recipe I use, this is one of those things that you cannot mess up!  Here are a few recipes I found for hot Christmas cider and punch.  Perfect for a Christmas evening. Spiced Apple Cider •2 quarts apple juice or cider •1 tsp each, whole cloves and whole allspice •2 cups orange juice •½ cup brown sugar •1 cup lemon juice •1 cinnamon stick •18 oz pineapple juice Heat on HIGH in crock pot until hot. Remove cloves and cinnamon stick. Simmer in pot to keep warm. Christmas Punch •1 bottle (32 oz) cranberry juice •1 can (32 oz) pineapple juice •1/3 cup red hot candies •1 cinnamon stick

Well, here we are at the week before Christmas!  Everyone I meet asks "Are you ready for Christmas?"  In my heart, I am ready ,but otherwise...still getting there!  During this week which is full of Christmas preparations anyway, my family will throw into the mix a doctor's appointment, soccer practice and a baking day for a caroling festivity.  Lots of fun, lots going on. So to make my home sing this week, I will be neglecting it!  Now that doesn't mean that I will be lounging around on the couch all day, letting dishes pile up and laundry overtake us.  It means for my family I will not be: obsessed over neatness constantly nagging the family to pick up spend way too much time cleaning and missing out on other things making myself crazy over details - is the bathroom spotless, floors mopped etc. By letting go of perfectionist expectations, I hope this week to be more relaxed, fun and "get ready" for Christmas with peace, love and joy permeating from m

Last weekend we gathered at an aunt’s home with my husband’s side of the family.  It was a great time of fellowship and fun and we enjoyed visits with those we don’t see very often.  It was also a rare time when all my family was in one place, even though we had to drive three separate vehicles to be there!  Since we needed a Christmas family picture, I snagged a sister in law to take a few photos.  After (much) grumbling, here is what we came up with: This is just practice, plus we are missing one! Now, that really wasn’t so bad was it guys?

Good health is a blessing never to be taken for granted.  My family for the most part, is a healthy family, but many factors greatly contribute to a healthy home.  God's blessing, good eating habits, exercise and being pro-active to keep germs away are some ways we try to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  During this time of the year, germs seem to multiply and abound all around us.  The opportunity came to review a product which went along with my mission to keep my family and home healthy.  Purely Products is a company made up of curious and discerning consumers looking for products for cleaner, healthier living. Their mission is to develop the kind of products they would want to use. They excel at translating proven technology (technology too cool to ignore, actually) into every day applications that make life better for everyone.  One of their products was the Purely Product Healthy Night Light. Curious to find out how a night light could be healthy, I found out how it works. 

I recently came across a recipe for Christmas Bread from Gooseberry Patch.  Their website is adorable and filled with free recipes, cookbooks, organizers, and loads of super cute things! This recipe was very easy and made two loaves.  On a whim I decided to use this for a 4-H Holiday Bake-Off my son participated in.  I should have known that a Gooseberry Patch Recipe is always a winner!  With this, he won first place in the bread category, complete with a blue ribbon and a 'golden spoon' as a reward.  Here is the recipe: Christmas Bread 1-8-1/2 oz. pkg. yellow cake mix 3-1/2 oz. pkg. instant pistachio pudding mix 4 eggs, beaten 1/2 c. oil 1/4 c. water 1 c. sour cream 1/4 c. sugar 1 t. cinnamon Combine dry cake and pudding mixes, eggs, oil, water and sour cream. Pour into 2 greased 9"x5" loaf pans. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of bread mixture; press firmly into bread before baking. Bake at 350 degre

Now that the Christmas season is in full swing and we even have some cold Christmas weather here in the deep south, I am now totally "in the Christmas spirit"!  Each year as Christmas approaches, there comes this little 'click' in my spirit that allows me to fully embrace the joys and excitement of Christmas.  I eagerly look forward to reading Christmas devotions and books, doing some Christmas baking, wrapping presents and attending festive gatherings. But in the midst of all these festivities, a close eye needs to be kept on my heart.  When too many activities and things that need to be done come at once, stress tries to enter in also.  If I allow my mind to think on the list of things to be done, people to buy gifts for, food to prepare, creating a Christmas atmosphere for the home etc., insecurity, indecisiveness and a harried state of mind begin to attempt to steal the Christmas joy.  Questions like "Is my gift good enough?", "How does my food dis

You may not believe this, but I have never made a gingerbread house, until this week. I honestly inherited an un-creative nature!  Artsy, hands-on activities can turn into complete flops for me…really!  But my youngest son has been asking to make gingerbread houses.  A quick Google search sent shivers down my spine as I looked up how to bake the foundations, prepare the icing and then decorate them.  Then he remembered making them at school with graham crackers and using canned frosting as ‘glue’.  This…may be do-able!  So we gave it a try. First we assembled the ‘frame’: Then we built up: And added the decoration: Then…it fell, I told you… But it ended well with an edible treat: And some cozy time by the fire: And some great memories to cherish!