12/31/08

A New Year - 2009!

Some thoughts for the new year.
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Always be honest (Proverbs 12:22)
Count your blessings (Psalms 34:1-3)
Bear each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Forgive and forget (Micah 7:18)
Be kind and tenderhearted (Ephesians 4:32)
Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
Keep your promises (Romans 4:21)
Be supportive of one another (Acts 20:35)
Be true to each other (Revelations 15:3)
Look after each other (Deuteronomy 15:11)
Treat each other like you treat your friends (Matthew 7:12)
Love One Another deeply from the heart (1 Peter 1:22)

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Quote from Ann Landers: Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you've always wanted to do but couldn't find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you don't think you can keep. Walk tall. Smile more; you'll look ten years younger. Don't be afraid to say, 'I love you'. They are the sweetest words in the world.
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A New Year's Prayer
Holy Father, God of our yesterdays, our today, and our tomorrows.
We praise You for Your unequaled greatness.
Thank You for the year behind us and for the year ahead.
Help us in Your new year, Father, to fret less and laugh more.
To teach our children to laugh by laughing with them; To teach others to love by loving them.
Knowing, when Jesus came to the stable in Bethlehem, He came for us.
So that He could be with us, and we could know You. That we could share His love with others.
Help us, Father, to hear Your song in every sunrise, in the chriping of sparrows in our backyards, in the stories of our old folks, and the fantasies of our children. Help us to stop and listen to Your songs,
so that we may know You better and better.
We rejoice in the world You created. Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.
We pray for peace, for light, and for hope, that we might spread them to others.
Forgive us for falling short this past year.
We leave the irreparable past in Your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing You will go with us.
We accept Your gift of a new year and we rejoice in what's ahead, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want..
I say it again, we rejoice!
In Jesus name,
Amen.

12/26/08

Some pictures from Christmas Day

Some photos from Christmas Eve at Tony and Patti's new home.

12/22/08

New Great-Niece!

Congratulations to Jordan, Erin, and Noah on the birth of Sydney Jade Sanders born yesterday. Sydney weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. (A granddaughter for Tony and Patti!) I haven't gotten to see her yet, but here is a quote from Patti's blog: "She has really dark hair and is soooooo pretty and tiny! Big brother Noah is adoring her. Last night when we talked to Jordan, he said that Noah kept sitting down and patting his little lap, letting them know he wanted to hold her again. She is the best little Christmas gift!"

12/21/08

Happy Birthday, Brenda, December 22!

In the black/white photo, Brenda is a little girl (4th from the right)




December Birthday Celebration honoring Julinda, Tony, Brenda, and Barbara held 12-21-08










A Christmas Wish

What do I wish you this Christmas? Above all, I wish you peace.
A peace of heart and soul and mind that with each day will increase.
I wish you a calmness of purpose, a steady and sure resolve
That brings a quiet amibition around which all things revolve.
I wish you a tranquil spirit, dependence on God above,
A warmth inside exceeded only by deep, abiding love.
I wish you a still composure, serenity unsurpassed,
I wish you harmonious friendships; the kind that really last.

May these be yours this joyous Christmas season and may your heart sing JOY TO THE WORLD!

It isn't always easy to accept change. There have been many changes in our lives in 2008 and I offer this prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I know I often want things to remain the same, to resist change, to cling to the old ways because they are comfortable. Please help me face the changes You have brought into my life with joyous expectation, trusting in Your unchanging love. Amen
Christmas is not a time or a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think o'er these things, there will be born in us a Savious and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world. - Calvin Coolidge

12/17/08

The Christmas Feeling
from The Satruday Evening Post
Christmas is a certain feeling. It is timeless, never quite absent any day of the year; but it quickens as the holly wreaths are hung and the gifts are prepared in the symbolism of love. At length it rises to the climax of the silent night, holy night. Then people gather in sacred places, where their mood is tender with candlelight and prayers and gentle hymns about the One who came upon a midnight clear. And in this openhearted moment He comes again, and people are flooded with a feeling He has always had about them. The feeling that no matter how imperfect people may be, deep inside their weeknesses and their errors is a yearning for perfection, an unquenchable brotherhood of goodness. What a hopeful, joyful, merry feeling it is!