I just love this Christmas song by Casting Crowns….enjoy!!! The lyrics are below.

The Lyrics:
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing
Like a choir they’re singing
In my heart I hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing
Like a choir singing
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men

Then ringing singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And the bells they’re ringing
Like a choir they’re singing
And with our hearts we’ll hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

Do you hear the bells they’re ringing?
The life the angels singing
Open up your heart and hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

Peace on earth, Peace on earth
Peace on earth, Good will to men

I have nothing particularly profound to say today, at least not yet. ….. Wait, I never really have anything profound to say..I just babble along. LOL. I just wanted to wish everyone the very best of Christmas seasons. I know it’s been a very difficult year for many, but regardless of the amount of money we have, what politics we ascribe to, how the weather is treating us, if our jobs are great; regardless of what is going on in this world. We have so much to be grateful for. The gift of a Savior. The promise being fullfilled in a small child. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and an amazing New Year filled with love, peace, and joy!

I’m a 39 yr old wife and mother of two. I am a Christian and I feel well established in my neighborhood, church, and office. I’m very happy in my marriage and family. The crucial things in my life are good: family, friends, faith. Yet this weekend I had to make a very important and difficult decision: What do I want to be when I “grow-up”?

Who would have thought that at the age of 39, with a daughter in high-school and a son in 2nd grade, I’d be making such a decision. Should I have already done that? In a few months I’ll be *****GASP***** 40!!!  I should already know who I am and what I’m going to be, shouldn’t I?????

Well, I’ve found that the answer to that is, Yes and No. Yes, I know I want to be a great wife to my fabulous husband. Yes, I know I want to be the best mom I can be for my kids. Yes, I know that I want to put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and follow Him as best I humanly can.  BUT—- No, I don’t know where I want to be professionally. And that is the decision that was suddenly and unexpectedly placed before me this weekend. Where do I want to be professionally in 2, 3, 5 years?

Quite frankly, in my ideal world, I’d be a stay-at-home mom still. But that was never to be for me. Even during the time I was able to stay home, I knew it was not to last. I’m very grateful for those years, but I’m also looking forward to what I can accomplish professionally. Eventually, the kids will be gone and then, what will I be doing?

My choice was this: stay with the company I’ve been with for 3 years, go to a full time schedule, and get licensed as a financial advisor OR take a new full time job and go back to school to get my bachelor’s degree. Both opportunities have their pro’s/con’s. Both are appealing in their own right.

Being a financial advisor would allow me to build my own business and make it my own. It would allow for an opportunity to work from home, have a great income, and be my own boss.

Getting my degree would allow me to find my own field and complete something that I was not able to complete that I have always wished I had. It would give me the chance to do whatever I wanted to do. That may or may not be my own business, who knows.

What is comes down to is this, do I want to be a financial advisor? If not, then I have to take the other opportunity and explore my degree options. If so, then I have to stay where I am, which is a very comfortable place to be.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to be a financial advisor. I love the potential for income and the potential of running my own business, but this isn’t the type of business for me. I’m not a numbers person. I’m not interested in exploring tax options to minimize capital gains. I don’t enjoy following the markets or reading financial articles. I’m sure I can do it, but I don’t think want to.

I made the very difficult decision to move away from a “known” opportunity and go for what I think better meets my personality and interests. I moved away from a very real chance at increased income in the next 5 years, to the “possibility” of increased income. This was not an easy choice!

I believe life is about much more than numbers. I believe God gives us opportunities for a reason. I believe in my God given ability to learn and grow. I’m banking on my faith that the Lord is leading me to new opportunities and I’m moving forward.

I’m scared, I’m excited, I’m nervous. But I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. All I have to do is lean on Him! He’s really teaching me how to do that!

So, I’m helping my daugther by proofreading her english paper and I find a couple of tweaks. I hand the paper back to her and encourage her by saying: “At least you only have to change a couple things and re-print, I used to have the re-type the entire thing.” Her response, “Why would you do that?”

DAH—I must have sounded like I was saying I walked 2 miles to school in 6 feet of snow, uphill both ways for the strange look in her eyes.

I had to explain that I used a typewriter, not a computer. TOOOOOOOOOO Funny!

As seen on her Facebook profile!

The last time I took some time to blog, I was telling everyone about Phil being laid off and the turmoil associated with that. It’s been a few weeks now and things are still difficult for us. We have lived in fear of not being able to provide for our family, fear of not being able to pay the basic bills. We have cried and we have been depressed. We have felt like we were on a roller coaster; on the upside we were doing ok and truly trusting in God and a moment later we are on the down slope and our stomachs are churning and our eyes are watering. It has been very hard to find a balance of emotion. In the process, we have lost almost 25 lbs combined and we aren’t dieting. (Personally, this is an upside for me.)

In the past few weeks, even when we’ve been our most terrified, we have seen God in our troubled times. Leaning on Him is not always easy. In fact, leaning on Him takes considerable effort at times. It’s not an easy thing to give all your fears to God and just let them go. It’s not our human nature to do that. We try. We know we should. We want to trust in Him. We want the peace which transcends all understanding (Phil 4:6-7), but how do we actually implement our desire to trust and lean on Him. How do we actually give our worries to Him and find that peace?

The answer, for me recently has been: one second at a time. Yes, every single second of fear I’ve felt, I’ve had to make a conscious effort to give that second to God. I’ve had to make a decided effort to pray and trust in Him. Did I immediately feel complete peace wash over me: not really. The fear and the upset stomach, they were still there, but there was also a real sense that I logically knew God was in control.

Implementing faith and seeing God:
We have strived to give back to God what He has given to us, even in these tough times. That means still writing a check for offering every Sunday even if I don’t know if I can pay the credit card bill. I’ve sat at my desk the past few Sunday mornings writing my offering checks and praying as I do. My prayer: “Lord, I give back to you just a portion of what you have given to me. I know that things are tough right now, but I’m trusting in you Father. Please continue to provide for our family. May these funds be used to glorify you Lord.” At the end of the prayer, I seal the envelope and I try to feel peace. Not so easy to do!

But you know, praying and tithing and just trying hard to do what God would want us to do in this rough situation has shown us God’s love! He has answered our prayers in small ways. He has shown us that He is indeed with us.

Last Friday, I was blessed with two unexpected events when we really needed them. I received my paycheck and I am a salaried employee. On the paycheck, my boss had placed a $100 bonus because I had done some extra work. He didn’t need to do that at all and I certainly wasn’t expecting it….his business is feeling the effects of the stock market crisis. God was caring for me and it was beautiful. But even more than that one blessing, the same day, I arrived home and found an unexpected check for $150 in our mailbox. What a huge blessing! God was speaking to us!

Sunday morning at church, I asked in the Sunday school office if they had any needs that I could help with. They were fully staffed, so Phil and I started cleaning up a spot on the mural in the hall that was driving me nuts. Ten minutes in and I get the call to head to the 3rd grade classroom to fill in for a teacher who hadn’t arrived. This is a great group of kids and the co-teacher giving the lesson is a fabulous guy. So I dig in to help and realize that God had put me here for a specific reason. The lesson was on coveting and contentment. The last portion of the class dealt with Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11-13 11I’m not saying that because I need anything. I have learned to be content no matter what happens to me. 12I know what it’s like not to have what I need. I also know what it’s like to have more than I need. I have learned the secret of being content no matter what happens. I am content whether I am well fed or hungry. I am content whether I have more than enough or not enough. 13I can do everything by the power of Christ. He gives me strength.

Wow, contentment in any and all situations! I wasn’t supposed to be in this class, but God brought me there at the last minute to tell me to be content! To tell me that I can do everything by the power of Christ and to tell me that He gives me strength.

The final blessing I’ll mention here came Sunday night when I sat down to see what credit bills I could pay and which companies I might have to call and explain our current situation too. Amazingly, somehow, by the Grace of God, I was able to pay every bill due this month, take out gas and food budget money, and have $73 left over. That may not sound like a lot, but that’s a gold mine to us right now! I don’t know if the basic bills will be paid next month, but I know God has provided thus far! He is good! Praise HIM! For He is truly awesome! He truly cares for us. We just have to look for Him in everything. He is there! He is good! He is!

How many times in your life have you heard of something terrible happening to someone you know and you’ve felt heartbroken for their situation? How many times have you sat back and thanked God it wasn’t you? Does the problems of a friend seem a bit distant? How about world issues…do they touch you, but not affect your day to day life? I think most of us would say that we feel for others during a hard time, but we are glad that “it’s not me” (thought subconsciously.)

The past couple of weeks, Phil and I have been hit hard by the “IT’S ME”. We’ve heard stories before about people being laid off from work due to company cut backs, but hey…it’s not me. We’ve heard about people losing their homes because they just can’t make the mortgage, but hey…it’s not me. We’ve heard about serious depression that sometimes leads to suicide because of job loss, but hey…it’s not me.

How strange it is when it is you. When you are faced with the situations you’ve heard others have gone through but never imagined it would be you. How completely horrifying and deeply painful it is when it is you. It’s not that you don’t truly feel for and want to help others in their time of need. It’s not that you are disassociated from their trials. It’s just that when it does happen to you, you have a truer/deeper understanding of how hard it is. You can appreciate it so much more. You can actually feel it like others have felt it. That makes a difference.

But here’s the question: Once you feel it, once it’s YOU, what do you do? How do you handle it? Where will you draw your strength from?

I will admit, it’s very hard to lean on the Lord when you are scared to death, but who else can you truly lean on? I sat on our sofa the other night watching TV with the family and trying not to focus on our current financial challenges for at least an hour, but I found myself sitting there and literally shaking for fear and concern. I looked around and kept thinking…what if we lose our home! We’ve never been late on a single payment, but if a job isn’t found….what if we lose our home?!?!?! The more I stared blankly at the screen, the more I shook. So what did I do…..got up….walked into the bathroom…closed the door….and I prayed hard. Then I sat back down on the sofa. Did I stop shaking? No, not really. Did I feel peace wash over me? No, not really. But I knew in that moment that the only thing I could do was give it to God, so I did.

What am I praying? I’m praying that the Lord will ease my anxiety and give me wisdom. That He will show us where Phil’s next job is. That the job he will receive will meet our needs and be glorifying to God. I’m asking for forgiveness in my previous financial decisions and for not being more prepared for times of trouble and for wisdom going forward. I’m thanking Him for the family and friends He has given me and for the faith in which I stand.

For now, all I can say is this: the initial shock of being told that Phil is being laid off is over. We are in the process of looking for another job for him and we are leaning on God. We’re still scared and we’re still having a hard time sleeping, but God is in control. He is far better equipped to handle this than we are and He already knows that no matter what, he will be glorified in this situation. We are giving it all to Him in prayer and we are praying for all those who are going through this too. We now truly understand what it means to be laid off!

Luke 12:22-25  Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

James 5:11 We count them blessed who endure.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Romans 5:3-4 We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope.

Hebrew 11:26 [Moses believed] the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.

First and foremost….”Bailout” is such an inappropriate term. This bill was not just to “Bailout” Wall Street! This is/was a bill that had the potential to ease our nations (and the world wide) economic crisis and possibly pay down our national debt. What was the cost to taxpayers? Essentially, in the long run, little to nothing. This was not a bill that would have just thrown $700 billion dollars at those who screwed things up. The money wasn’t going to be thrown down the drain. The government was buying something for that money at a discounted rate. At that discounted rate, they were getting a bargain that had the very real probability of paying itself back plus trillions more dollars. Dollars which would have gone to pay down our national deficit, not gone to benefit the CEO’s who messed things up to begin with. Was this bill perfect, NO! Was it acceptable,YES! Was it needed and necessary, YES YES YES!

I know that there is anger out there because the economy should have never gotten to this point, but here’s an analogy for you: you’re a paramedic and you are driving down the street. You see a man on the side of the road who is in obvious distress. He is overweight and unkempt. You go over, ascertain that he is in cardiac arrest, but you think…”it’s his fault. He should have lost weight and taken care of himself. Man, if I tried to pick him up, it might hurt me a bit”. Because of your disgust for his lack of care for himself and your concern for some minor, temporary pain, and despite your ability to help, you simply walk away and do nothing: leaving the man to die. After the man dies, you realize he was actually a single father of 5 with no surviving adult family, no assets, and no insurance. Those 5 children, through no fault of their own, are now wards of the state….foster children! You could have help the man during his crisis and anaylised how he became overweight after his heart started ticking again!

This is essentially what our elected officials in the house did yesterday. They took a look at the state of our economy, determined that bad decisions by some politicians, CEO’s and financial executives caused the mess. They were angered by the stupidity and neglect of those officials and were concerned about what their vote could do to their individual career in a few weeks, so they walked away. They walked away leaving our economy to die.

What happened…the biggest lose in the history of the Dow. What could happen going forward: your credit card use could be stopped by your credit card companies because they can’t foot the bill, mortgages could falter, small business could go under, retirement plans could dwindle to next nothing, jobs could lost because people do not have funds to support local business, etc.

Me, your average American citizen, who works for a living and tries to do the best for my family, will be hurt by the inaction of our House of Representatives to get past their idiocy, stubbornness, partisinism, and selfishness. Shame on them! And shame on those Americans who can’t be bothered to take the time to learn what’s really going on instead of buying into the political mumbo jumbo on the media today!

I’m no expert, but I do have an opinion!

I had a very surreal experience last night. It was Amanda’s back to school night. This is her first year in high school, and her high school was my high school. I’ve been in the building many times over the past 21 years. (Did I just type a number there????? Ignore that number!!!) But this was my first time in those classrooms since graduation. The halls and decorations have changed a bit. All of the administration and teachers have changed. But the most dramatic change that I was struck with came when I saw several posters on the walls around school. The first time I saw the poster, I actually stopped in my tracks. I had known that the organization advertised in the poster existed. In fact, I had discussed such things with my daughter over the years. Yet, walking through my old high school halls, now as a parent, and looking up at that poster, really made me understand the changes the years since I’d been in high school had brought.

So what was this terrible, horrible thing that shocked me so? Well, it was a very colorful, 8.5 X 11 poster for the Gay-Straight Alliance club meeting. Hum, I thought to myself. Now, I’m not naive. I’ve know that this club has been a part of the public schools for years. I also understand that the intention of the club is to promote homosexual awareness similar to an African American club might promote awareness to oppression, but is that really what it’s doing? Is high school really the place for this club?

I’m not writing to debate the writes or wrongs of homosexuality. That is not my intention in this post at all. But what struck me about this group is that it is a group designed around sexual orientation. Did you read that???? SEXUAL ORIENTATION! The entire reason (or perhaps need) for this group is because of an individuals sexual orientation! Our public school system is actually promoting sexuality by allowing a group in it’s system that is about sexual orientation! Is high school the place for such a group? Should this be supported by the school system with posters around every corner of the school? I don’t think so!

Homosexuality is a part of our society today. It is a hot topic in the political world. It is a painful reality for many (and even most homosexuals will admit that homosexuality is painful). But should we be supporting this group as a school sponsored organization? I think we are only promoting and encouraging sex (straight or gay) by allow such a group to exist. It sends a message that sexuality and sexual exploration is ok at the high school age. And I think that is wrong.

I strongly believe that NO ONE should be teased, oppressed, or treated differently because of their sexual orientation and I support discussions of that in the existing sexual education program that we are almost forced to put our children through in the public school system, but I do not believe we should be accepting sexuality at the high school level so boldly that we have a group designed strictly because of sexual orientation.

WOW! You may not agree with the positions of the republican party. You may hate everything they stand for. I personally am a conservative and I stand for the following: Pro-life, for amendments to define marriage as between a man and a women because civil marriage is not a civil right, open debate/curriculum showing both evolution and creationism in the public school system, for full support of our soldiers overseas and whatever timeframe it takes to secure the work being done and not leave a power vaccumm in Iraq, etc. So, with my positions in mind, how could I not like Sarah Palin??? I know not everyone agrees with my positions, but who can deny the charge, the spark she brings to this campaign. She was articulate, direct, truthful (perhaps to the point of making the opposition feel hurt), and she was smart. Yes, it was a prepared speech, but so are all political speeches. She help write it, in fact, some say she wrote most of it! She stands for what she says, she speaks from her heart, she speaks for her family and for our families! I think John McCain made an excellent choice for his VP McCain was not my choice for the Republican nomination. I believe him to be a much better candidate than Obama by far! But Sarah..and the combination….woooooo neilly! I’m much more on board now!

As for her experience: Here’s a link to an article I found online that is very insightful:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13809

As for her 17 year old daugther Bristol’s pregnancy.  I have to say that I’m more interested in  seeing how a candidate handles adversity than I am in not seeing the adversity they face. The true measure of a person’s character comes out in times of trials.  What do we see in the Palin’s? We see a daughter who made a mistake, but is accepting the responsibilities for her actions and valuing life. We see a father and mother who have admitted that they believe their daughter made a mistake and have expressed pride in Bristol’s response to her actions. We see them supporting her while standing firm in the fact that this was not the best path for their daugther at this age. We see  consequences, forgiveness, love, and support. We see a picture of mercy. I am impressed!