HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010

Today is New Year's Eve Day, and as I get ready to ring out the old year and welcome in the new, I am busy filling in calendars with important dates, putting away decorations, figuring out the 2010 budget, and setting up new planners and journals. It has become a tradition that I thoroughly enjoy.

As I go about my preparations, hope, anticipation, and excitement. start to build. It's the same magical feeling I experience every time I get ready to write something in a brand new notebook full of fresh, blank pages just waiting to be filled.

2009's slate will soon be wiped clean. What does 2010 hold in store? My wish for you is that it will be a year of peace, health, joy, prosperity, blessings, and many awesome surprises.

Happy New Year, dear bloggy friends!

OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING -- A CHUCKLE FOR YOU

A few months ago, one of my virtual jobs got what promised to be a fantastic contract that would ensure plenty of work for all on an ongoing versus temporary basis They even hired a bunch of new agents to help with the expected overflow. We had to take a special training to qualify, and were excited to see there really was a flood of work coming in. Quite a contrast to the previous drought we had been experiencing.

We all contentedly settled in to a work schedule soon taken for granted. Our fortunes had taken a turn for the better, and 2010 was looking good as far as our pocketbooks were concerned. Little did anyone suspect that this was all about to change.

When I turned on my computer yesterday morning, all ready for a full day's work, I was greeted by a most apologetic e-mail from our manager, telling us we had lost the contract.

Surprisingly, I felt a perfect peace in the face of this potentially devastating news. I even got a second chuckle out of this video clip one of the other agents had posted on our Bulletin Board a while back, and that immediately came to mind. It seemed so appropriate, I dug it out of my saved favorites and have posted it here for you to enjoy too (just click on the link, and then on the play button arrow at the bottom of the screen).


Offshore Outsourcing

THE WAY IT WAS

IN GOD WE STILL TRUST



The words to this song used to ring true, but these days they seem less and less so. How tragic!

Post edited on 12/30/09

BEYOND THE PARTY

This excerpt from one of Ron Hutchcraft's Christmas Moments says it so much better than I ever could.

They called it a Christmas miracle. A California dad drove into a Sierra forest, parked his truck and went looking for a Christmas tree with his three teenage children. Then the snowstorms came. They were lost and they were unprepared. After searchers looked for three days, two pilots finally saw the word “HELP” stamped in the snow and a man waving. For that lost family, Christmas meant rescue.

And that is really what Christmas is about for every one of us. Behind the big party called Christmas is a mission as serious as life-or-death—yours and mine. That first Christmas, God announced Jesus was coming to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). He didn’t come to start a religion or be a good example. He came here to rescue people who would die otherwise forever, because our sin carries a forever death penalty that He paid with His life on the cross.

This Christmas season, He wants to make you a Christmas miracle, if you’ll grab His outstretched hand as your Rescuer from your sin. Don’t miss what He came for. If you’re ready for His rescue, call us at 888-NEED HIM.

WHERE'S THE LINE TO SEE JESUS?

"Where's the Line to See Jesus?"

An original song performed by father and daughter, Steve Haupt and Becky Kelley
Recorded at Shock City Studios, Saint Louis, MO
Produced by Chris Loesch
Video by Robbie Haupt and Greg Haupt

The story behind the song, as told by Steve Haupt, is as follows:

"While at the mall last year, my 4 year old grandson saw kids lined up excitedly to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of God's son, with the innocence of a child, he asked his mom, 'Where's the line to see Jesus? If Christmas is Jesus' birthday, why don't we see Him more?'

As his grandpa, I was so happy that little Spencer understood the meaning of Christmas at such a tender age, and then the words for a song were jotted down in just a few minutes. The song was inspired by my grandson, and the message was inspired by my Savior.

Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation and our song will cause people to reflect on the love of Jesus, and the certainty that one day we will all stand in line to see Jesus."

Wishing you all a beautiful Christmas and a very blessed New Year!

Great-Granny Grandma

AFTERMATH OF THE STORM

It never ceases to amaze me how one day we can be in the midst of a blustery storm, and then the next day the wind has quieted down and the sun is shining. Same thing with the ocean, whose angry waves can wreak havoc of tsunami proportions, only to be followed by stillness and calm.

Yesterday we experienced the worst blizzard in this neck of the woods since the 1990's. Accumulation was close to 24 inches. Today the sun is shining. Nevertheless, I did have to wear my boots just to go out on my balcony to take these photos.

SOME ENCOURAGING THOUGHTS

Here's another e-mail I'd like to share. Hope it blesses you as much as it did me.

* * * * * * *

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember:

• Noah was a drunk
• Abraham was too old
• Isaac was a daydreamer
• Jacob was a liar
• Leah was ugly
• Joseph was abused
• Moses had a stuttering problem
• Gideon was afraid
• Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
• Rahab was a prostitute
• Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
• David had an affair and was a murderer
• Elijah was suicidal
• Isaiah preached naked
• Jonah ran from God
• Naomi was a widow
• Job went bankrupt
• Peter denied Christ (3 times)
• The Disciples fell asleep while praying
• Martha worried about everything
• Mary Magdalene was promiscuous
• The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
• Zaccheus was too short
• Paul was too religious
• Timothy had an ulcer
• AND, Lazarus was dead!

Now, no more excuses! God can use you to your full potential. Besides, you aren't the message. You are just the messenger.

And one more thing:

• God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.
• When you have a problem, God has the solution.
• Growing old is inevitable, growing UP is optional.
• There is no key to happiness; the door is always open.
• Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.
• Do some math--count your blessings.
• Faith is the ability to not panic.
• Laugh every day; it's like inner jogging.
• If you worry, you didn't pray; if you pray, don't worry.
• As a child of God , prayer is kind of like calling home every day.
• Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
• The most important things in your house are the people.
• When you get tangled up in your problems, be still so God can untangle the knot.
• A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
• Carrying a grudge is allowing someone to live rent free in your mind.
• He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

Have a great day!!! The SON is shining and He can certainly use you!

INVITATION TO THE GREATEST PARTY OF ALL

Am just loving this invitation I found in my e-mail the other day, and would like to pass it along to all of you too. Don't miss out on the greatest party of all.

Beloved;

As you know, it's time for my birthday again. Last year they had a real big party for me and it seems like they will again this year. After all, they've been shopping and preparing for it for months now, and there have been announcements and advertisements almost every day about how soon it's coming! They really do go overboard about it, but it's nice to know that at least on one day of the year some people are thinking about me a little.

You know, it's been many years now since they first started celebrating my birthday. Back then they seemed to realize and appreciate how much fun it was for the little children. Just the same, it seems that most folks are missing the point of it all.

Like last year, for example, when my birthday came around they threw a big party, but can you believe it, I wasn't invited? Imagine! The guest of honor, and they forgot all about me. Here they had begun preparing for the festivities two months in advance, but when the big day came I was left out in the cold. And it has happened so many times in recent years, I wasn't even surprised.

Even though I wasn't invited, I thought I'd just quietly slip in anyway. So I came in and stood off to the side. Everyone was drinking, laughing and having a grand time, when all of a sudden, in came this fellow in a bright red suit wearing a phony white beard and shouting "Ho Ho Ho." Everyone cheered. All the children came running over to him, excitedly yelling, "Santa!" You would have thought that he was the guest of honor. Then he began telling them the most ridiculous stories you've ever heard. Finally I had to leave, and walked out the door, but no one even noticed that I had gone.

I'm planning on holding my own party. How about that? It's going to be the biggest, most fantastic feast, you could possibly imagine. I'm not saying the date yet, but I'm sending out invitations now because I hope you'll want to come. There's going to be room for everyone. So hold on to your hat, because when everything is ready, I'm going to spring it as a big surprise and a lot of people are going to be left out in the cold because they didn't respond to my invitation.

Let me know right away if you'd like to come* so I can reserve you a place and write your name in large golden letters in my BIG GUEST BOOK, the LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE!!

Much Love,

JESUS

*To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit Yours for Life or call 1-888-966-7325.

THE BIG 7-O

It wasn't so long ago that I joyfully celebrated the big 7-O. At the time, I didn't give it much thought and enjoyed the festivities. I even felt proud of having reached that milestone. But what was I thinking?

It didn't take long for that bubble to burst. When asked on a survey if I was the 70-year-old female in my household, it came as a shock to realize they were referring to me. It's a shock I still feel every time I see a document with my name and age on it.

True as it may be, I'm having a real problem acknowledging it. Why, I don't know. I have no problem speaking my age out of my mouth, but seeing it with my eyes is another story altogether. Can anybody relate to that, or am I just weird?

I don't feel old and have never really thought about my age. I guess I must have been living in a fantasy world where we stay young forever, because I act as though I were the same age as everyone else I'm with at the time, even if I'm really old enough to be their mother or grandmother.

How did the seasons pass by so fast? I feel like the evergreen in my winter photo, with no age to label me, but a glance in the mirror can quickly dispel that thought. Oh woe is me. Can anyone relate? Or am I truly the most ancient of all my bloggie friends too?

WINTER

As I balk at accepting the winter of my life, may this view remind me that every season has a beauty of its own.

CREATE YOUR OWN SNOWFLAKE - 2

Now that it's that time of year again, here's something fun to do. Just click on the picture, and create your own snowflake.



Enjoy!