Joyfull Living

'Christmas' day has now past. In our home, we are blessed to have a few days off from work and are using that time to do a few household projects, rest and simply catch up from the busy Christmas season. In December, we were blessed to open our hearts and home to several 'families' that we cherish in our lives.  Open homes begin with open hearts and true hospitality comes from a heart that welcomes and makes the guest feel like part of the family.  Church Deacon Family - we serve in the church alongside these precious people. Work Family - What a blessing when your co-workers feel like family! Simply Family - The people God placed us with - a true gift. The time spent together was wonderful, the food fabulous, the gifts have been opened and now a New Year is right around the corner. As we count our blessings and ride the nostalgic wave of Christmas  a question to ponder could be “What difference will Christmas make today and for the next 363 days?

If your Christmas shopping isn't completed yet, you are running out of time!  But you are not alone, this weekend will find me scurrying around to finalize my shopping as well. I did get a good jump on shopping for the Christmas season. Knowing that there were many activities that would need 'small gifts', I found some items in a local chain store that would be perfect. The gifts I was looking for needed to be similar, so after finding a few perfect things, I cleared the shelf....and unashamedly went around town to the other stores of this chain to purchase more of these items.  Although shopping is not something I love to do, there was a feeling of great accomplishment when these packages were ready! Now it is days before Christmas and after a few gift items for Christmas morning, our family will be all set. In the stress of searching for the perfect gift, sometimes I ask myself why go to all this trouble? But, a gift is a representation of love, appreciation an

Happy December!  There is something so inspiring about a new month.  The fall months arrived with their glory, cooler weather and warm feelings of gratitude. Now we are embracing December!   Early December is the time to set the tone for the holidays. If we enter in the season frantic, that hectic pace will keep us in a spirit of panic, stress and quickly rob our holiday joy.  But, if our attention is turned to focus on the true spirit of Christmas, our hearts tend to be more joyful, caring, giving and loving.  Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year. There is an attitude (if you look for it) in others that binds our hearts together as we behold the wonder of the season.  This month I began a Christmas devotional "The First Songs of Christmas" . It is a 30 day advent devotional that focuses on meditations from Luke 1 and 2.  Some of the readings are just too good not to share.   Luke 1:43 is the account of the virgin Mary, having heard she