Dirty Santa and a Thankful Heart

Hmmm… so it has been a while since I last wrote. I promise to try to do better.

Life has been busy with Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas.

A new tradition has been birthed at a few of our family Christmases.

Dirty Santa.

I must admit, in the past I have not been a big fan of dirty Santa. There just seemed to be something not very nice about stealing other people’s gifts. Guess how my dirty Santa experiences always ended… that’s right, I always ended up the proud owner of the worst gift brought to the game.

I was determined this year to fare better.

I drew awesome numbers 2 of 3 games. As we played the game my heart raced with excitement. I felt like the little girl so many years ago playing wahoo with my siblings determined to earn bragging rights, failure to do so would inevitably end in a stream of tears. Of course, not getting the desired gift wouldn’t make me cry at least not on the outside! :) I have grown some since I was a kid!

Once I got my eye on the prize I strategized and stole until the gifts were mine! I even stole from my mom a few times, is that wrong?! I ended up with really great gifts.

Now, I know that this isn’t what Christmas is really all about; however, it is really nice to get together with family to share in games, fellowship and life. I think we should do this more than once a year! God has given us so much! We should celebrate Him and His goodness on a daily basis and make special occasions for celebrating Him too. I think that God is pleased when we celebrate Him and share His goodness with others.

Thank you God for Your Son Jesus. Thank you for being the creator of everything good in our lives. I pray that we would live our lives sharing Your goodness with family, friends and strangers.

Fridge Monster

Gracie has been lurking around the refrigerator a-lot lately.

On several occasions I have joined her, stooping down on my hands and knees to see what is so fascinating under the fridge. Quick glances under the fridge revealed nothing spectacular.

However, desperation entered into Gracie today. I walked into the kitchen to find her trying to squeeze under the fridge. Now Gracie is a small cat. She squeezes into a-lot of tight spaces. An attempt to squeeze under the refrigerator, however, could result in a stuck situation.

Seeing her desperation, I once again joined her but this time for a more thorough look. Upon analyzing the situation, I saw that there were a few toy mice stuck under the fridge. With the help of my broom I began reach for the long lost mice. This is what I found.....

One mouse, two mice, three mice.... wait, eight mice and two rubber bands?! No wonder Gracie was going crazy, all of her toys had been eaten by the refrigerator. I guess we are going to have to make some kind of toy guard so that the fridge monster can no long feast on the cat toy delicacies.

At least for now Gracie is content having her toys back.

Closed Door

This is Gracie.

Gracie is good cat; however, her current stage in life seems comparable to that of a teenage girl.

While Gray Cat is personable and wants to be everywhere we are, Gracie loves us but only on her terms.

Lately, Gracie has been quite the isolationist. At the end of the day when my husband and I settle down in the the living room for the evening Gray cat settles down with us, usually in a box in the same room. Gracie, on the other hand, chooses night after night to settle down in the bedroom on the bed. She just doesn't seem to want to be around us.

Longing for Gracie's love and attention, one evening we decided to conduct an experiment. We calmly picked Gracie up from the bed, closed the bedroom door behind us and situated her in the living room with us. So far she has handled our tough love/forced interaction okay. 

Her ears and  eyes stay alert though, waiting for the first sign of an opening door. Maybe, just maybe, one day Gracie's love will for us will be a little more intentional and deliberate.

30 Posts 31 Days

Today is post 30 of my 30 day challenge to post a blog a day!

I almost met my goal, I think that in this case we will call almost 'good.'

30 posts in 31 days, not too bad.

Okay, I'm finished with bragging now.

The journey has been a good one. I've learned that if we really enjoy doing some type of hobby or activity and yet we seem to never have time or make time for it, then it is good to challenge yourself and make time for it.

All of a sudden when you make something a priority you realize how many things in your life (facebook, tv, netflix etc.) suck your time right out from underneath you. All of these things are ultimately empty. How much more worthwhile is it for us to spend time doing, creating, being who we were created to be?

Nonetheless, the past 30 days have been good but they haven't been a piece of cake. Towards the end of the 30 days I almost quit.  After all, sometimes if not most of the times, plopping down in front of a TV show is way easier than using the extra energy to be creative. Some of my days were going by with little if anything going that would be interesting to write about. My thought about this was 'why write if I have nothing really to say.' My husband then informed that it was my choice but.... True writers write even when they have nothing to write about. No guilt in that statement.

So, I pressed on and had some good posts and maybe some not so good ones too. The 30/31 days are up now. I am glad that I challenged myself, now to only keep up the hard work of keeping myself in line!

I still plan to blog some, maybe not on a daily basis, but a post here and there is highly likely.

Perspective

Ever feel like you are hanging on for dear life?

The first time I saw this squirrel balancing on this bird feeder holder there were two hungry cats hanging out underneath him.

I was surprised to look out the window one afternoon and see the squirrel out on that holder again but this time no cats. He was calm and looked like he was just taking it easy, enjoying the view from high up and way out.

I'm glad that this squirrel found peace with this holder and tree and isn't forever associating it with being chased by hungry cats.

Likewise, maybe it is good for us to occasionally view life from a new perspective, even if it means being pushed into it.

The Origin of Spaghetti

Throughout life lately I have noticed how God truly is the creator and originator of all things.

For example the mirror. Man created the mirror right? Well, God created the puddle or the water that reflects the object that it sees long before man figured out the manufacturing of glass.

My most recent realization of God as creator of all things was today. Today I made spaghetti squash for lunch.

As I was dishing out some deliciousness for my husband's lunch, I took time to observe this squash. Once fluffed up and left sitting in its shell it is the God created, original, healthy, good for you version of a bowl (that's right, God created the bowl too) of spaghetti!

There is nothing that we can create that He hasn't already created. God is so incredible and must take so much pleasure in creating. God in His love created us in His image. Part of His image is creator, so we too can partake in and enjoy the act of creating.

Although God holds the true patent on all creations, I'm sure that it brings Him so much joy to see His creation living life creatively and as  image bearers of Himself for the world to see.

Mind over Matter

Wim Hof, aka 'the iceman,' is known for his mastery of withstanding extreme cold.

Breaking the ice endurance record by staying immersed in ice for 1 hour and 44 min, attempting to climb Mount Everest in only his shorts ultimately falling short of his goal due to a foot injury and running a full marathon above the polar circle wearing only his shorts are just a few of Hof's astounding feats.

Hof claims he is able to control his body temperature by simply using his brain.

Amazing.

Our Brains are such incredible instruments that God has created us with. Our brains can either work for our good or cause destruction.

I once heard a mentor say 'whatever you focus on magnifies.'

It is so true. If we use our brains to focus on negative, worrisome things then negative, worrisome things will capture our mind and ultimately will affect our actions as our actions flow out of our thoughts.

The opposite is true as well. If we focus on positive, good things then our actions will produce fruit according to those thoughts.

Taking it a step further than positive or negative. If we as believers choose to focus on Christ, then He will be magnified. He will captivate our minds and attention and He will be who our actions flow from.

So, lesson for today: Mind over matter.... what you focus on magnifies so focus on the positive, the good. Focus on Christ.