Christmas is not about spending!

Don't end up with a big debt after Christmas! Shop wisely! That's a tip  from Thrifty Barbie! 

I like the word but and I cannot lie!

This morning, as I listened to the wind howling and the water pit against the window pane, winter seemed to be taking it's last breath before releasing it's hold on it's season. You know when you are on your computer and it says  "power 10%, recharge now"? Well it was as if winter had gotten that message and there was no recharging so it was letting go.

 My battery was deplete as well, since last week was a busy one, so I decided to stay in this morning and huddled under the covers trying to get my battery back from 10%, ( my body's battery, not my computer's :) . So I was worshipping with others online via my tv.  We were studying Ephesians 2: 1-9. When we got to 2:2 I was so excited, I know my pastor always says "when you see the word therefore in the Bible see what it's there for." Today I read:

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2

I had read it so many time before but suddenly...the BUT jumped out! There is nothing I can offer God but myself.  He, on the other hand, gave His all for me! I am a sinner, not was, not will be, but am..because I am in human flesh. BUT God in His great love sent Jesus to reconcile me to Himself when I trust in Christ. Perfection cannot dwell with imperfection of which I am. But God made a way for me to be reconciled to Him so that we may abide together (believe me, I have not forgotten how lonely it is without Him)! That way is Jesus. I am not deserving, nor entitled nor able to earn it, BUT because of His great love for you and for me, I may lay it all at Jesus feet and trust in Him and be reconciled with my Father.

We are quick to use attention getting, even shocking words in our tv shows, movies, songs and lives as if they were the word but.  Obviously I used that ploy in the title of this post.  I remember the old saying "you will do it, no buts about it!" That was not particularly a but I wanted to hear.  Today...it was a joy to hear the word, it reminds me that, while I am to be as much like Christ in my behavior as I can be, I am OK with God because of that word.

We hear this word so often today, but in a different context. For instance:

or how about..

There are so many places in scripture where the word but is an encouragement, such as: Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans
and 

24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

...But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, … to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).

Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee (Deuteronomy 23:5).

...but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever (Psalm 73:26).

http://www.mwtb.org/site/moments-for-you/back-issues/third-quarter-2000/but-god-verses.html

I could go on forever, but will instead say that I hope you know how much you are loved and cared about, but if you don't, trust Him, He is worthy! God bless you and yours.

Because He first loved us!

 

Debbie

In Memory of Coach Dick Birmingham...we miss you already!

KSPR just announced that Coach Dick Birmingham has passed. His service will be Sat. at 10. These photos were taken at our 2010 reunion where he and his beautiful wife attended. I had put under the caption for the second photo " I remember this same hand position from high school! Of course I thought maybe you wanted to choke a couple of us!" We were, after all, high school students! He was a wonderful teacher, friend and coach! He still cared about us after all these years!  I had Coach Birmingham as a teacher in high school and he actually made learning fun with his sense of humor so he was a wonderful teacher as well as coach.  I remember one time (when he was getting follicle-ly challenged) :) a classmate went up to his desk to "ask a question" and when Coach was looking down at the student's paper, the student was pretending to use coach's head for a mirror to comb his hair.  Coach looked up and saw it, then just as quickly burst out laughing! That is the sense of humor he used to encourage awkward,unsure kids to see that life could be good and to make us feel that we could trust him and we could!  Thank you for all you did for us! God bless you Coach! Prayers for his beautiful wife Rosemary and his family.

Coach Birmingham is in several Halls of Fame, including those for the American Baseball Coaches Association, the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association, the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association and the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame.  The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002.

Fifteen of his Hillcrest players were drafted by Major League Baseball.

Coach we will remember you will gratitude and smiles, thank you.

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/hall-of-fame-baseball-coach-dick-birmingham-dies/21048998_24806450

http://blogs.news-leader.com/hssports/2014/03/04/ozarks-baseball-coaching-icon-birmingham-dies/

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/d/story/wednesday-march-5-morning-sports-report/32573/1qFeSnlkiky6RexuEw0w4g

BYOPizza? :)

Want it the way you want it? You've found it with Build your own pizza! They have your expected pizza choices but to the max and beyond and even people with gluten issues can now dine out! (They use new gloves, utensils and a separate oven!  You can have your pizza cooked in 90 secs! Gluten free crusts come only in the 10" size so I had enough for supper too!  First you pick your crust, (yep, lots of different kinds and you can even get garlic butter on top of it with parm BEFORE you even add the sauce! Then you pick a sauce, are you daring or traditional? Third add toppings, crazy number of choices! Ok I forgot, you even choose your cheese and they even have vegan mozzarella!  The food tasted wonderful, and do you remember the old fountain drinks where you can mix everything together? They have 101 different choices! The selection of salad ingredients are amazing!  A daily special offers a 6 inch pizza, salad and drink for  $8.49.  We did have to wait a bit, but it was well worth the wait!  We got to speak with the head manager who helps set up the new stores they are opening and trains them and helps the new owner see a return on their investment and during the conversation he mentioned that when the minimum wage goes up his people will be so well trained and good at their jobs that they will be worth it!  He was friendly and really did want to make you enjoy your experience and hear what you had to say. Great food, friendly people, fair price, where else would you want to go?! See how many stars I gave them at this link!
http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=-Z1ubgtxVF7ktHes2KOZnA

It's beginning to look a lot like ... a wedding!

Ok this post it late but I had it in draft! Maybe you will like it anyway! I sure hope so!

A Christmas wedding!  Beautiful, fluffy white snowflakes, a crackling fire, a cozy gathering of friends and family.... what a beautiful month to have a wedding! Two of the sweetest, kindest people I know are starting their lives as husband and wife within the next week.  Teej and Ben go together like sugar and spice!

My daughter Danielle and I got a little something for them and I wanted to do something special for the wrapping so I thought I would share it with you.  I think it turned out ok, you know...you learn after the first time! :)

I go to Bible Study with Teej (love that name!) and Ben and so I had asked them to let me take a photo of them after one of the studies.  Being the sweethearts they are, they said sure!

I took the photo and switched it up a bit and made it into a gift wrap.  Maybe it can inspire you to think of new ways to wrap!

I made their photo into a silhouette and left the shoes and part of her headband (can't really see it) in white and black.
They loved it, she thought it looked like something from Disney land princess!  I was glad, they are so special! I also added some sparkle on top!

These roses are just computer paper, cut into rounds the size of margin lids for the large, full rose and smaller lids for the buds.  Then cut a spiral from the outer edge in leaving about 1-2" in the center. Roll from the outer edge to the middle and hot glue to the 1-2" base! It's that EZ! If you need more instructions just let me know, it is one of the prettiest, fastest and available decorations for a package you could ask for and it will work for any occasion!

The reason for the season  

Then of course I had to try a few of the pinterest ideas, no sense collecting them if you are not going to use them!  This is an edible tray made from $1 store candies, you know the kind and at Christmas they have green ones too!  Just snip off the top of the wrappers and place them next to each other in a desired pattern.  It could be a Christmas tree, a Cross, or a random design like mine!  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes.  I suggest you put it into a pan as close to the size you want the tray to be, as the candy that is on the outside "thins" out a bit. Let cool and....

 You have a great serving platter!  I have been told you can seal it with a spray and keep it from year to year but it was so inexpensive I didn't want to try that. (Plus you can break off pieces from it and put into your hot tea for a mint tea taste, yummmm!  It doesn't make the food taste like mint and it is studier than you might think!

Another idea I had seen floating around on Pinterest were snowmen tealights! How cute are they! You can purchase 2/$1 tealights at the Dollar Store and I just used a template for the hat I had searched the internet for, printed it off and mounted it with adhesive to black foam core board so it would be sturdy. The backs are just poster board and then ribbon of your choice tied around the neck for a "scarf"! A package of plastic snowflakes to add to the hat, a single sheet of glitter paper for the heart and the hat band. For the arms I just found a printable snowflake online and printed it and cut it apart.  The pieces looked like "twig" arms!  A fun afternoon project!  Tip: Have all your supplies laying out before you start, it will go a lot quicker and be more fun! 
Also be sure on the back white poster board and the blue back poster board to cut out the place for the on/off switch if you want his nose to glow!  Oh yes and I did put a bit of orange marker on his nose, it was just too light.  But it would be really cute with a darker orange!  Add a piece of self sticking magnet to the back and you are done! 

They light up really well! A fun refrigerator magnet for the season! (Not to mention a great night light in case you get the munchies!)

Well, here I am posting Christmas things and it is almost Valentine's.  I need to get with it!
Remember, it's all fun and games until someone comes up with an idea!
then it is ez4u2do!
Hugs!
Debbie

Audi 2014 Big Game Commercial - Doberhuahua

I knew you when...and you were just a baby!

Sometimes things coming full circle feels more like a steamroller.  Time really does have a way of sneaking up on us, one day you look in your back yard and you see an adorable little blonde-haired boy face down blowing bubbles in the kiddie pool with your little girls and his baby sister all giggling with glee and egging him on in his shenanigans.  The next second they are all munching down triangle shaped pb&j, and baloney sandwiches with kool aid looking like soaked rats. Next you are reading the book he has written.  What happened?!  Time, that's what.  It didn't just happen to him you realize while the pride swells up in you at his accomplishment, it happened to you too.

Maybe because it happened to you too you can relate and enjoy the experiences this little blonde-haired boy turned kind-hearted man has written about in his book "Meat In A Seat" The kind young man that will hopefully understand that while you were reading it, you were getting steamrolled a bit and forgive you for taking over a year to write a review on it!

Take the journey of this teenager as he discovers the perils and treasures of driving a big rig along life's highway.  You may be shocked to find that there is a life of crying, laughing and wonderment even inside a truck's cab, because the trip is really in your mind.

Download it now from:  http://www.amazon.com/Meat-Seat-My-Trucking-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00EWPST84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390703979&sr=8-1&keywords=meat+in+a+seat


His mom has been my bud for more years than I am willing to tell you! But I will tell you how very proud she is of him and should be.  All of his family along with friends eagerly wait to see where the journey called life will take him next and will he include us on his trip? I so hope he does.

 His use of adjectives can transport you to the very feelings and places he occupies.  I feel like I know Al and all the characters in the book. I have seen the vast plains and I have stood side by side with Chris as he marveled at the majesty of the waterfall.  I too have wondered if the only imprint I will leave in this world is my backside on a chair.  Well done Chris! Thanks for the journey....I am packed and ready for another!
Loved you then, love ya now!

Mom was reading us the words, but you were taking us on the journey!

Remember, it's all fun and games until somebody gets an idea! Great idea Chris! ...and you're right, machismo can be harsh sometimes, even to ladies!
It is ez4u2do! Love till later,
Debbie

Ziglar Legacy Series with Chris Widener | Ziglar

Ziglar Legacy Series with Chris Widener | Ziglar Zig Ziglar was a great farmer...sowed positive seeds into everyone he touched!
Thanks to Tom Ziglar and everyone for keeping the seed planting going! Sign up and tune in on the 28th for the next free motivating talk!