"Life" Books
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A New Year, Really?
Can we really say, “Happy New Year?” When just three hours into this supposedly new year innocent lives are plowed down and brutally killed? When others witness the horror and cannot do anything to help aid those lying in the streets? Daughters. Sons. Moms. Dads. Grandchildren. Grandparents. Sisters. Brothers. Cousins. Nieces. Nephews. Aunts. Uncles. Neighbors. Friends. How much will be too much? How far is too far? How many casualties and injuries are too many? Who will answer these questions? Local Government? Federal Government? Citizens? Get angry. Cry. Pray. But don’t stay there. Let it get under your skin. Aggravate you to take action. Write to the lawmakers. Write your…
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Simple Christmas
Simple: not complicated; not demanding; manageable. I can say, with a grateful heart, that my Christmas this year was simple. Simple in the ways listed above. On this side of heaven it will never be “simple” in the way of easy; painless; or absent of grief. I will always long for that first Christmas morning with my own little girl. And all the other times I will continue to grieve this side of heaven. However, her name, Lucy, was spoken. Her name was written on packages, in the “From” and “To” spots along with mine. Her ornaments were hung along with all the others. She was remembered and held close.…
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Christmas Babies
For me there is nothing that can touch the feeling of watching the watching the wonder of Christmas in a little child’s eyes! They embody the joy we are to embrace, the excitement of anticipation, the awe of the simplicity and humbleness of the true meaning of Christmas. I may be a little bias to “Christmas babies,” or December babies, because I am one and so is my nephew. But there is something so special about a newborn baby at Christmas. Holding a Miracle. Embracing and studying their tiny attributes. I believe is holy. And of course, as the picture today shows, every year there is more and more twinkle…
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Music… one of my favorite things
“We teach our children how to behave by: 1. What we allow. 2. What we stop. 3. What we ignore. 4. What we reinforce.” Take a minute to think about this quote. It is really an indicator of what habits and boundaries we allow and don’t allow in our daily lives, also. But today, let’s talk discuss music and videos/dvds that are exciting gifts! I will give you a disclaimer, when kids are exploring and discovering music, this is one of those kid sounds that doesn’t phase me. Now a car thumping past my window or obnoxiously loud and vibrating my insides, I can lose my cool. So we all…
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Paints, Pens, and Paper…
“Sometimes the best learning environment for students isn’t a bunch of devices powered by wi-fi. Sometimes it’s a huge pile of cardboard powered by PURE IMAGINATION.” Krissy Venosdale Oh the smell of new play-doh or a fresh box of crayons! These make my heart smile. A little fact about something that I have a hard time resisting, any craft supply on sale! Hobby Lobby is literally a money pit for me, but of course supporting a great store 😂 I could place the blame on my grandparents who always liked taking us to five and dime stores, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. I just love having craft supplies ready…
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Some May Call it Hullabaloo
As the gathering season is approaching, there is a lot of talk about how to avoid certain topics of conversations with family and friends. Allow me to make another suggestion, that has nothing to do with those adult talking topics… rather something, hopefully, light hearted. Unless you get too competitive and need to dial back some relatives. Which can happen, so be prepared to have a cool down spot for children as well as adults who get too competitive 😂 Games. Now, I was the kid and now the adult that does not have the patience for monopoly or any game like it, to those who can play these games-…
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Christmas is Always
“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. Christmas is ALWAYS!” Dale Evans Rogers Two weeks. That’s when I last wrote. There has been a lot of head spinning life decisions in the in between. Needless to say, we may agree or disagree, like or dislike the leaders that won the elections, but most importantly we must respect the good work all presidents have done. Every president has done at least one thing to better our country, and this is something we must focus on in this transition. We can be excited or disappointed/discouraged at the outcome, but we are still…
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Peaceful Rest
“You can eat all the kale. Buy all the things. Lift all the weights. Take all the trips. Eliminate all negativity. Wash your face. Be productive. But if you don’t rest your soul in Jesus, you’ll never find peace and purpose.” – Unknown We can vote, and yes, we should. We CAN. I’ve had what my Paw-Paw would call the “creeping crud” this week. Covid tests are negative. And I am proudly fully vaccinated. So resting and weathering this one out. But today’s post is short and sweet. And with a little help from some of my favorite YouTube/podcast/Patreon people, I hope this video will encourage you as it did…
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All You had to do was Ask
“God kept me close and gave me space all at the same time: to ask the questions, to express my anger, to tell him I didn’t understand. He didn’t, and doesn’t, hold it against me or use it to manipulate me into belief. God used this horrific, awful, inexcusable thing that happened to me to replace my shallow faith with one that could, and did, persist through anything. It doesn’t mean the pain hurts less, or that my disability doesn’t still affect my life every single day. It doesn’t even mean the PTSD and the anxiety and fear come any less often. It does mean when those things come and…
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Listen. Hear. Speak.
Hurting someone can be as easy as throwing a stone in the sea. But do you have any idea how deep that stone can go? Do we really realize the profound effect of our words and actions? This question has been on my mind repeatedly over the last couple of weeks. The election is closing in and here in North Carolina the commercials and campaigning is like never before! The seemingly eagerness to spread lies and misinformation is downright despicable! I cringe and my hands tremble as I write this sentence. A few weeks ago I wrote about we are in a crisis for truth. Then I wrote about Word…
