Winter Sky--- Simply Beautiful

This was the view this afternoon in Car pool line. Absolutely beautiful. Thick white puffy clouds that were long and tubular (that word cracks me up, ha ha). Stretched acrossed the sky, with only a slight opening and the amazingly bright sun breaking through the opening, and backlighting the clouds. It is so cold and dry air, I think it is going to snow, a prayer request for some but, a dread for others. Most will enjoy today's "cloudy sky" and be in awe of the specialness and think of the one who made it.

The Meaning of Christmas

This was our tree in our Townhouse in Virginia 1998. We called it the "Gumby Tree" because it was huge and we had to bend it to get it in the house. It took up the entire window area, which was pretty big, and we had to go buy more decorations just to be able to decorate 3 sides of the tree. Charles is 2 and was so much fun this year. 1998 was my favorite Christmas.


Christmas is my favorite time of year. In the last few years the Christmas excitement has dwindle some, not because of the economy or because of schedules not permitting us to go home, but because the meaning has changed. Christmas is one of the most symbolic seasons, full of meaning, reference to God, and to love.

I had heard a story similar to this one , with all the colors and their meanings and it really inspired me. I have always tried to think about the colors and their meanings and felt very encouraged to make sure my gifts included the colors and symbols. Many of these things are in my house through the year, and everytime I see them I think about the meaning.

Here is a link for a cute story, that reveals all the symbols and their meanings in a great way.
http://www.neloo.com/Christmas/Christmas1.html

The meaning of the Colors of Christmas

The Evergreen tree and wreath we enjoy, is to remind us of unchanging color. It represents the eternal life in Jesus, its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thought should turn heavenward as well.

The Shining Star- Heavenly sign of promise. God promised a savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fullfillment of that promise on the night Jesus was born. (I think of heaven when I see the star, also, another promise God has given us).

Red, the first color of Christmas. It is deep, intense, and vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our viens. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift, Christ, who gave his life and shed his blood for us that we might have eternal life.

Silver Bells-"just as sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold". (the most awesome sound is the bell ringing service, " O come all ye Faithful" is awesome with the bells).


Candle light- "The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's son that Christmas Eve long ago. "Let your light shine for Jesus".

Candy Cane, "The original white with two stripes with a thick Red stripe in the middle": The white symbolizes the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus. (White as Snow). The hardness to symbolize the solid rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of God's promises. The shape of "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. Also, the Shepherd's hook, as Christ is the Good Shepard (Psalms 23). Red stripes, 3 for the stripes that Jesus received, the Large red stripe is for the blood that Jesus shed to give us life.

Red Bow- bond of perfection, which is love.

Merry CHRISTmas and a Joyful New year!!!! 2009 will be FINE!!!!

Stress Management- Solutions in the Word

STRESSED is a frazzled feeling of being at ones overload point. It can include feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety, depression, and confusion/inability to concentrate.
God is not the author of confusion, but of peace 1 Corinthians 14:33


Stress is an end result of many processes (thoughts and feelings). Some people are aware of all their processes and the effects and others are not or "CHOOSE" to not acknowledge them.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22


Stress is not a result of either choice, it is because of the reactions to situations, thoughts and feelings.
Be not grieved and depressed, for the Joy of the Lord is your strength and Stronghold. Nehemiah 8:10


Some stress is helpful and healthy, like an energy or adreniline rush, but too much of anything or things handled in a negative way can be damaging.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4


80% of stress is unmet expectations. We are expecting all the time. We are stress more than if we are more "unexpectant". Flexibility is a great thing to help reduce stress. Planning and preparation are good things but, they must not be used like insurance policies or to become the thing we expect.



Make plans but hold them loosely.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:6

Prayer, helps clue us in as to what God's plan is... if we "submit" to God's plan everything seems to go alot easier. When we sync our thoughts will God and delete conflicts, and reset our expectations we are able to "renew our mind" and become better equipped to handle things that will come today. We gain the wisdom to plan and prepare for today and allow tomorrow to be another plan.



Getting in the Word, is a great stress plan. It helps us think differently, we reset priorities and goals which changes our expectations and behaviors.

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phillippians 4:7



Stress is not the problem, it is what you do with it. If you do not deal with stress it grows and can become other issues, like anger, depressive mood, and other bad judgments and behaviors that become the problem.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself--it tends only to evildoing. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:8-9



Stress is a foothold, which we are warned against allowing, because they will cause us to fall.
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

Joy is a Gift from God and a choice- Jeremiah 8:10..for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Jesus is the only real source of our Joy. (1 Peter 1:8-9) Luke 1:47; 10:20
Obedience to Him-having a relationship with God. Pouring over the word, praising, praying.
Your Choice!!!!!!!!!!!! Choose feeling stressed, anger, loney or Choose CHRIST, COMFORT, HEALING, JOY, PEACE,

Phil 1:18, Hab 3:18 "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation"


Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20

It is ALMOST OVER!!!! Lessons Learned

Oh, it is crazy.. time is finally winding down, the semester is almost over!!! They say the first one is always the hardest, well that was an understatement. I think this semester was hard too, because having been in school before, I "thought" I would have the basic skills down to be able to work through things without too much trouble. {HA HA HA HA!! oh no...} The other saying came into play, "If you do not use it, you loose it". Well, learning is the goal and I finally got it, took 2 1/2 months but, the important thing is I got it. :)

Well, the good stuff first; Abnormal Psychology is done!! (for me anyway :), no exam needed much to my excitement and probably the professors relief, I got my "A".. it was down to the wire, but I got it with 2 points to spare and one assignment still left to grade.
(WHOA HOOO!!!!, 1 down 4 to go).

First Stressful thing is the FINAL!!!! paper for Intro to Human Services. UGhhhhh. Well, it is almost done... it has been like childbirth all over again :....<, why does it have to be such a difficult process to communicate in my native and only "controlled" language????? Why.....Why....Why! Well, luckily I found an awesome grammer corrector, Stylewriter, that works and that I can learn from, it is awesome!!! it runs through word (PRAISE!!!!), as I do everything written, even my grocery list in word. {LOL). I love this thing. Hopefully, it will really pay off with and increase my grade on this paper. This class is the only one that I am concerned about.. it will go down to the wire and hopefully come out good. however, worse case senerio is a "C", which I know is not the end of the world but, I had enough of that in High School, "A" work but because of all the junk, it was deemed "C" mediocre.. :0(UGGGGHHHHH!) Oh well.... what are you going to do, get out the Serenity prayer and turn up the volume on the IPOD!!!

Then the only other stressor, (ha ha) is the Group Presentation in Group Processing. Well that at least I feel more in control about. I have worked and tweeked and tweeked until I am pretty satisfied (miracle!!!). I still have feelers out for feedback from some friends and that is not due until D (demo) day, December 10th..

Other than that things are pretty easy in the other classes. A take home exam in Ethics, (Yeah!!! my notes are almost verbatem this should be easy!!). I think one more Exam in Working with Diversity, and it is open notebook too.. (SWEET!!!!)

I will have made it through the first of my 4 semesters, collected my credits and am a little closer to the PRIZE, my diploma!!! I love it when a plan works. If only we could speed this up a bit, that would be great!!! But, Rome was not built in a day. I will have to be Patient... not really in my nature, but you can teach a dog new tricks, so I am learning to be patient.

A few other lessons from this semester:

All the planning in the world will not change an accident or predict human responses, therefore trying to predict everything is a waste of time and energy and just stresses you out.

Problem solving is best done, when a problem is identified. It does not really work before something is a "problem".

Less than expected (or hoped for) results does not reflect on your ability as much as it does the execution of the ability. Limitations are real and must be considered when setting your expectations.

Goals and expectations are two very different things. Goals are positive and motivate. Expectations are not a good idea and usually just irritate.

There is life after a major blunder or bad debate or paper.

Perfection (100%) all the time is quite an illusion even with all the effort. Humans are only capable of some perfection. True success is how you deal with the lower percentages.

Focus, determination, and perserverance are more than words, they are mindsets! (PON intended).

Good thoughts proceed Good deeds. When a thought goes wrong it is never to late to change it and savage the deed.