From Snowflakes to Being Taken for Granted!

Do you ever consider snow flakes?  They are really lovely. And they are all different...our God is so amazing and loving towards us.  Aren't we blessed?
I know that my snow flakes aren't anything compared to the ones that God makes, but they bring pleasure to me  and to most of the people that see them. So I will continue to make them.
God is the maker of us all...not just snowflakes but all of us and all the critters that roam this earth as well as the ones in pastures and the ones that swim under the water and the birds and insects that fly in the air.  Every living thing!  And it doesn't stop there!  Our God has not only created all of us but he has also created us with the ability to build and make things from the products and materials that are here on this earth like cars and computers and roadways and buildings and everything that we take for granted.

Have you ever been taken for granted?  If you are a parent I would have to say you probably have been taken for granted, perhaps it wasn't for very long, but I am sure that it has happened.  How did it make you feel?  I can bet it didn't feel very good.  I think that when we take someone for granted, not only do we make them feel poorly, but we also end up feeling terrible ourselves. Perhaps not right away...but we will feel terrible eventually.

We can allow this to become a bad, a horrible, a nasty habit if we don't deal with and resolve this unpleasant behavior as soon as it is recognized.

Are you married?  Then it is possible that you have been taken for granted by your spouse or that you yourself are the culprit and the one taking your spouse for granted.  Anyway you look at it, this is a very unkind behavior.  And one that hurts our loved one terribly.  God has made us for relationships, however it is up to us what kind of relationship that it turns out to be.  Will it be a kind and loving relationship or will it be one that is full of strife and discord?  When we are dealing adult to adult; that is one thing, however if it is adult and child, especially if it is one of your own children or a grandchild this can be very interesting.

A child will generally not take anyone for granted, unless, they have learned how to do it.  So if your spouse takes you for granted, then there is a good chance you children will learn this behavior...and welcome to the wonderful cycle that someone will have to develop a very firm backbone to break.  It won't be a fun process but with the help of a good counselor (my choice would be the Lord), it can be done.  The really hard part is to get the people who are the ones taking others for granted to realize that this is what they are doing. You may need to get some help with proving this out, but once the culprit has taken responsibility for their behavior that will be more than half the battle!

When someone does take someone else for granted, there is great sadness in the heart of the person who is being taken for granted.  And please realize that this can be very quiet and insidious.  You may not even realize that you are doing it.  What I would really like for all of us to do is to think about this...do you take Jesus, or God, or the Holy Spirit for granted.  Do you go to church on Sunday at which point you behave as a Christian should.  But then you go home or out to eat with your family.  And slowly the mask comes off and you start to behave as you do on Monday thru Saturday.  If this describes you then you are totally taking our Savior for granted...If you feel like maybe you are a different person on Sundays, perhaps you need to ask the Lord to show Himself to you in a more active way during the days other than Sunday.  And maybe you should spend more time looking for Him and talking to Him.  If God knows that you are actively seeking Him, He will show Himself to you in great and wonderous ways.

So it is one thing to take your spouse and or your children for granted, but remember this, the tables will slowly be turned on you and you will soon be the one on the receiving end.  Not necessarily from your spouse but from your children, because you have been their teacher.  This won't be fun being on the receiving end.  But perhaps you will open your eyes and correct the problem. 

God will not be taken for granted in the long run, He will get your attention some how and my guess would be that you are not going to like it!  So if this does describe you, just remember that God is the Father of us all, and all that we have is on loan from Him, it is not ours, we are only care-takers and we had better do things right...just read the story of the talents...Matthew 25:13-30

Which would you rather have said to you, "Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master."  Or, "Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. 29 For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’”

So are you investing yourself in the things of God or in the things of man?  Do not take either for granted, because if you take one for granted, you will surly take both for granted.

So go and be a blessing to someone, anyone today, and you may find that the person that you bless today may be a person who has been severely taken for granted.  What a awesome blessing you just might be....

Grace for All

This morning I would like to write to you all about grace.  What it is and what it can do for us.

When I googled this word I came up with a lot of information.

Not the least of which was another word that, now that I think about this, I should have realized it would come up as well.  That word is unmerited.  Now I think that most of us know what this word means, but just incase you may be reading this to your children, unmerited means - we do not deserve it.  And IT can be anything.  You are doing what your Mother asks you to do and you get to looking at something that you are supposed to be cleaning up, and your cleaning up comes to a stand-still.  Your Mother calls you to the kitchen and asks you if you would like to try a cookie that she just put on the cooling rack after taking the cookies from the oven.  Of course you want a cookie, fresh cookies are the best!  “Here you go!” says Mother.  You enjoy your cookie and a little chit-chat with Mother and then head back to your room to finish your straightening up of your room.

Okay, Mother didn’t ask how your cleaning was coming; she didn’t know that you had gotten side tracked.  She simply called you to the kitchen and asked you if you would like a fresh, warm cookie.  Mother didn’t know that you had allowed yourself to get side-tracked; she just gave you a cookie. 

This cookie was unmerited. And Mother was giving you grace along with the cookie.

Another part of the definition states that this undeserved help is for us for regeneration.   Now we know that this word means to grow back.  Like you had your little finger cut off in an accident.  It heals but you go to bed one night and wake up the next morning and your little finger has re-grown and you now have five fingers again, how awesome is that?  That is an example of regeneration. 

When we speak of grace and regeneration, I would like you to consider a little seed.  I have lots of seeds because I like to grow things.  Now I want you to consider that the name of this particular seed is grace.  And I am going to plant this seed.  I think you could safely say that God gives each of us this little seed of grace and this little seed is going to need to be watered, this is the regeneration and it will need to be feed, which is the sanctified life, in other words we are going to live the way that God wants us to live.  We are going to regenerate our grace and we are going to be sanctified by being what Christ wants us to be. We are not going to steal, in any way, we are not going to lie, and we are not going to kill (as in being murderers).  

We are going to be little Jesus’ after all we are told to model ourselves after Jesus aren’t we?

Well I know that I have really simplified this amazing word, but in doing so I am hoping that there will be some out there that have their light bulbs going on all around the world as they come to realize that grace isn’t complicated.  God has made us with the ability to understand.  And this little exercise has helped me to have a better understanding of what grace is, and what it means to live a sanctified life.

Okay…time to find some one to bless…who will it be today?

Buy Back the Baby!

Luke 2: 23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord , Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

According to the Bible, we are to buy back our baby boys, which are first born, from the Lord.  And the way that this was done in BC times was the parents took their child to the temple with a gift, and the gift was established according to the parents
ability to pay.  For Mary and Joseph they took two turtle doves, or two pigeons.

Just as an aside do you remember the song "The Twelve days of Christmas?"  One of the gifts is two turtle doves.

This first picture is of my son Samuel at about two days old, and now in our time, AD, we now participate in Baby Dedication.   This is our way as parents to promise our Savior that we will rear our child in the ways of the Lord.  And the congregation of the church is to also help to do this.

This picture is of little Levi on the day of his dedication, right at the moment that these pictures were being taken, he wasn't the happiest of campers, he wanted some private time with his mommy.  This little child is in the process of being raised in the admonition of the Lord.  It is our job as parents to do this. 

This is what we are told by the Bible to do.  Is your life difficult at the moment?  Well perhaps you need to be walking more closely with the Lord.  I have found over the years that when I have strayed from the path that I know I should be on, my life in general seems to go down hill and sometimes it has been at an accelerated pace.  Not fun!  But when I came back to the Lord and walk in the direction that He wants me to go and I abide by His rules, rather than by my rules....ah life get's so much better.  Hm...I just got a little message..."Thank you Kirsten!" Yes I do believe that my Father in heaven speaks to me...remember this is my red letter version.  Now I do believe that God has told me Thank You for reinforcing this information to all of you. 

Our God is so good, and the way that we can see this is by living as He would have us to live.  When we live according to the ways that the Lord would have us to live our life can be so sweet.

This is some of my grandchildren, blowing out the candle as we celebrated Jesus' birthday.  I think they look happy and as thought they are enjoying themselves.  Don't you think so?



These children's parents sometimes comment on how their children don't listen,  I don't know, they always listen to their Pap and me whenever they are at our house...Do you or have you ever considered why this is that children frequently listen better to others rather than to their parents?  I will tell you in all honestly that there have been times I would like to say. let us handle this, and you all just sit back and enjoy your brothers and sisters in law and Pap and I will deal with the children.  Haven't done this yet, I am not 100% sure how this would go over...Have to think upon this...

And while I do.  Try to find someone to bless today,  I am going to not only try, but I am going to do!







These verses are often overlooked in the Christmas story, but they say so much about Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Mary and Joseph were followers of the Law, the teaching found in Genesis through Deuteronomy, so they brought their newborn son to the temple. Jesus was about six weeks old, and it was time for him to be consecrated to the Lord. Every firstborn male, according to Jewish law, belonged to God. A baby was consecrated at the temple, an act of dedication to God. The parents would then offer their sacrifice to "buy the baby back."
Scripture says that Jesus was "bought" with a pair of doves or two young pigeons. The price was based on a family's ability to pay-so we know that Mary and Joseph were considered poor, otherwise the price would have been a larger animal.
We no longer live under the requirements of the Old Testament Law. But we should consider this moment in the New Testament Christmas story. Jesus would be raised by parents who were obedient to God. Mary and Joseph took their most valuable possession, their newborn son, and dedicated him to God.
A lot of time is spent each Christmas in choosing, buying and wrapping gifts to give others. What gift will you dedicate to God this Christmas, in honor of his Son? You can follow Mary and Joseph's example. As they consecrated their son to God, you can promise to raise your children with godly priorities.
What gifts would God ask you to bring to his temple this year? Is there a sacrificial gift that he would lead you to give? Pray, consecrate yourself to the Lord and, in obedience to his call, offer him your gifts, "for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Christmas 2012

What a truly lovely Christmas we had.   I sincerely hope that you as well had a wonderful Christmas.  I know why we had such amazing time, was because we spent time keeping Jesus in our Christmas and that made it all the better because we did this.  I am not saying that you can't have a nice Christmas otherwise, but I would find it difficult, because what would you really be celebrating?
Let's take a look at Wikipedia and find out the definition for Christmas.....

"Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ's Mass") is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ^[6][7] and a widely observed holiday, celebrated generally on December 25^[3][4][5] by millions of people around the world.^[8][2] A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide.^[9] Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations,^[10][11][12] is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians,^[1][13][14] and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season," cut and pasted from Wikipedia.

Now let's take a look at what Merriam has to say about the definition of Christmas:

Definition of CHRISTMAS

: a Christian feast on December 25 or among some Eastern Orthodox Christians on January 7 that commemorates the birth of Christ and is usually observed as a legal holiday

So frankly how can you have Christmas without Christ?  You can't!  I think if everyone would just agree to disagree all would be a whole lot better...and I also think that if everyone would just accept that this is a Christian celebration and just let it alone things would be so much better.  I am surprised that some of the other holidays we celebrate haven't also come under attack.  I am sure someone some where can find a reason for them to be biased somewhere. Oh and I am still waiting for the family photographer to get her pictures posted, as soon as I see them you will see them!

Now we seem to be heading for an interesting weather pattern:

Now isn't this pretty?  Well it would be if it wasn't effecting so many people.  This kind of weather is really nice if you don't have to go out, but if you must go out, it can cause havoc.  Well we have to accept the good with the bad and realize that God doesn't allow anything to happen without there being a purpose.

Well after this wondrous weekend, I received an email from my boss stating that due to the impending storm we will only be working a half day today, to get our payroll done and then everyone home to stay safe from the bad weather.  That is fine by me!  I will be able to help out my sick husband, who is still asleep and I hope wakes feeling better than when he went to bed last night.  I think he may have the flu, poor thing.  Time for me to use the Zicam!  I am not sick and I will not be getting sick!

I know I am a little bit short today, but I have a few things to accomplish before I am out the door to work.  So God's blessings on all of you and please share those blessings.

Smith Family Christmas

First of all let me introduce you to the amazing Jen.  She was the photographer of the day, and I am also blessed to have her as one of my covenant daughters.  Let me tell you a little bit about her...Jen is a wonderful wife and mother, she has three children, but many more have been blessed by just knowing her.  Jen is married to our son Michael, who loves her so much it is inspiring to see.  Jen has three boys and they are great children, but of course I would say that since they are part of our clan!

And what an amazing photographer.  Jen spent the whole day, pretty much, behind her camera.  I said to my husband that Jen reminds me of me a few years back, and now I am so glad to have a new family photographer, her eye for photos is awesome...she see a great shot and she captures it. 

It may be a few days until the pictures are up but as soon as they are I will share with all of you.

So now we will get back to the way that the Smith's celebrated their Christmas...All were here except for Jonquil and her five children, and they were missed.  We had Ruth, Samuel and Mary with Baby Levi, Scotty and Andrea with Trenton, Michael and Jen with Mikie (Michael), Jacob, and Shea, Tim and Celeste with Madie (Madison) and Ryan, my husband Tim and I, and next year there will be another.  Scott and Andrea are expecting another wonderful little baby boy in May!

It was probably about 2:30 till everyone got there, but once all were there we opened presents and once again the boys were so good about only opening their presents so far as to see what they received and then no further...Lego's can be left far and wide, and we didn't want them to lose pieces.  Madie was delighted with her wonderful pink princess dress ups from the Disney closet.  And I think Levi was pleased with his O balls and his noisy blocks.

After the children and adults opened their gifts...and oh by the way, Michael, I think had the best gifts for some of the men in the family.  He figured out how to put a very meaningful picture for them into a cutting board.  Those gifts, where I think, and not to down play anyone else in the family, the best.  I know that the recipient's were very touched as was I for my husband and Michael's father. 

After we had a yummy dinner of Turkey and gravy, carrots, corn and mashed potatoes, we all relaxed for a bit before we all gathered around and lit a candle and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  We finished up our dinner with desert of Crunchy Munchy Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and the traditional Pumpkin Pie.  All seemed to be satisfied.  I know I was full and happy.

All in all I would say the day was a success.  But I must say one thing, when there is a new baby in our midst we don't spend enough time playing games...everyone and I mean everyone (except son Timmy) held Levi, who at three months finially got to meet his other aunts and uncles and cousins.  We had a truly pleasant day.

Since it seems that we have only been meeting up as a large group twice a year, my husband and I decided this wasn't enough.  So I took a little time and came up with a little Smith Family itinerary.  We now, in the coming year will also meet up around Easter, and Fathers Day and then Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And we don't have any of these gatherings on the actual day; they are usually on the Saturday following the event or maybe before, just depend how they fall.  I gave a copy to each of the mothers since they are usually the keepers of the schedules and I told them that we didn't, as parents and grandparents feel that we were gathering often enough.  I don't think that four times a year is too often for the the whole group to gather. And I think that they were pleased that I did this.  So girls, don't forget to mark these on your calendars.

When all had left on their ways, my husband and I decided, that the day was a success and that everyone was happy with their gifts.  We really had another very pleasant gathering.  Thank you Lord Jesus for that.

On Sunday the 23rd, Tim and I went to church and what an amazing sermon once again.  Something that I wrote down that I will expound on tomorrow, but probably not till a little later in the day was the following..."Is the grasp of tradition, tighter than the grasp of truth?" as spoken by Pastor Don Wolabaugh.

Yes it is that time of day, and it is Christmas Eve.  Thank you Daddy for what you have done for me and for everyone else as well, I only hope they all come to this realazation.  Now please be a blessing!

Christmas is Drawing Nigh

This little guy is wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  I make these little snowmen and I have been making them since my Ruthee was about six years old and brought one home from either kindergarten or daycare.  Ruth's looked a little different, but inspired me none the less.
So I guess you could say I like to make these as a tradition.  I think maybe this year if I can get it together quickly enough I will make some of these with the grandchildren, when they are here.  That would be fun and a pleasant little project.  If any of you out there would like to know how to make these, just let me know and I will post the recipe!  And remember they are amazingly simple!

Well this Saturday we will have all the children and grandchildren here for our family Christmas.  (And that will be when I make these with the grand's.)  We, meaning Tim and I, like to have our Christmas celebration on a day other than Christmas, because that way we don't have to share the families with their other families.  However, this year, because of the way Christmas falls we will have to share a portion of our group a little bit, because they have a long drive.
 
We normally only get together only twice a year as a large family group, and by that I mean everyone....do you think that, that is often enough?  I don't! So I took a few moments and wrote out a sheet with four dates, all are on Saturdays for all of us to get together thru out the year.  I do believe that all the children and grandchildren enjoy being together and this will inspire Tim and me as well to get some additional things arranged both inside and out!

The times of the year that I choose for family gatherings are an Easter gathering, a Father's Day gathering, and our usual Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I do not think that getting the whole family together four times in a year is to much...do you?  We may even have to add one more, but we will have to think about this and come up with something. 

My husband and I enjoy being around our family, however, when you are not wealthy you are limited to what you are capable of doing.  Tim and I are capable of giving of ourselves, and quite frankly I like it that way, and that is not to say that I wouldn't enjoy being able to take all of our family to Disney.  But that is not something we are capable of doing.  So our family will have to settle for us.  I think they are content with just us, anyway I hope they are! 

Well back to this Saturday, we will be having a fairly traditional Christmas dinner.  And I hope everyone will be hungry.  When we had our Thanksgiving, we a ham instead of turkey and I think everyone had plenty to eat, but I must have picked the right size Ham, because there was hardly any left, which was good.  I am taking the day off from work tomorrow and I don't think I will be writing to all of you tomorrow, I have a ton of stuff to get accomplished, any body want to help?  No just kidding!  I do enjoy the preparation.  It is a great part of the whole Christmas celebration.  Tomorrow I plan on baking cookies and pies, and I have to go and get the Turkey, which I had better call the butcher shop today, I like to have fresh turkey rather than frozen, the frozen turkeys can have things in them that I don't like to eat and that I don't want my family to eat either, so I will stick with a fresh bird!

Perhaps I will be able to touch base with all of you on Sunday afternoon…we will have to wait and see how things work out. Now it is time for the morning rituals, and I will have to try to find someone to bless today.  Not sure who will cross my path this day, but I will find someone.  Will you?

Perspective Part III

Well I am pretty sure that I have introduced you to my Mary but just in case I haven't, here she is with my Samuel...well he's not really my Samuel anymore, he is now Mary's Samuel, but he is still my son.  And I have gained a daughter.  This picture was taken about 12 hours or so before little Levi was born.  And I am sure that this Mary wouldn't have wanted to deliver her baby in a stable.  Mary of the bible had some difficult things to deal with.  I am not sure, but I would think that giving birth in bible times...there was probably a midwife in attendance and the not the father.  Mary had a stable, now all you out there, just think about the birth of your child, or just think about this particular incidence, I am sure that you can close your eyes and just envision this.  You are in a stable...were the animals live...everyone that works for the innkeepper has been really busy because of the census...therefore the stable's probably not as clean as it may normally be...hence it smells.  But you know what, your nose does get used to things, even very unpleasant things.

So Joseph being the Godly man that he is, I am sure that he put down a pile of fresh straw for Mary to rest on while he prepared for the impending birth of our Savior.  What an awesome responsibility, Joseph actually helped to deliver Jesus.  Think about this dad's could you have done this? 

A lot of women, when they go to the hospital to deliver their child have
family around, to help out, even at home there seems to constantly be people around.  And what did Mary use for diapers, she didn't have pampers.  Those first days, which were probably the more difficult days, it was just Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus.  I would really like to see an accurate time line of events for the birth but I think in the research that I have done, that I will have to wait until I get to heaven to find this out.  It appears that the Baby Jesus was close to two months old when the wise men got to the stable, so it also appears that Mary and Joseph may have been long term guests.  I am sure they would much rather have been someplace else, but we all have to bloom were ever we are planted, even if it is for just a two months stay. 

What do you think Mary's perspective is on stables now?  She has probably gotten too really like the animals and Joseph probably does also.  What would you perspective be?  I believe that for the most part I would be enjoying my stay, although I do believe I would tire of it more quickly than did Mary.  All I can say is Mary was quite a woman!

We can have a positive perspective when ever we choose to have a positive perspective, we can also have a negative perspective...this is a choice that we make.  Believe me you are much more pleasant to be around when you are positive rather than negative.  And this can also become a bad, bad habit.  So if you are a negative person with a generally negative attitude and perspective on everything around you, you can choose to change.  And if you have children, you should especially change because you are teaching your children to be the same way.  Do you really want to create another negative person wouldn't you rather create a positive person with a positive attitude and positive
perspective on life? 

Please consider these things carefully...the best Christmas present you may be giving to your family is a new you!  Now you know what?  It's really hard to be a blessing to someone else if your outlook is negative.  So if you are going to be a blessing you really need to be positive in your outlook.  So do it...just do it!