Please Christmas Don't be late!!

Today I find myself searching for things to do that will keep me busy. I'll be totally transparent with you, I left church today feeling totally lonely. It is not very often that I come home straight away after church. Usually, I am off to have lunch with friends or family, or both. Today, it seemed that everyone had somewhere to be, except for me. So, knowing that my doggies would really enjoy running around in the sun, I headed home. I can't even remember now if I ate anything for lunch, which would explain the ache in my stomach. I'll attend to that later.

For now, I'll tell you how grateful Anthony and I are to be seeing this semester of our lives coming to an end. After next week, we will both be done with school for a few weeks. We are mainly grateful that his semester is over and tremendouslly thankful that in the Spring he will only be taking one class on campus. And that it is over at 7:45. Gone are the 3 days a week of classes - 2 of which he didn't get home until almost 11 pm. Which makes it difficult for us to spend anytime together whatsoever, since my day begins by 6:30 the next morning.

Oh, I am praying peace over this Christmas season - both for us and for all of you! That this Christmas we would know Christ more, love Him more and serve Him with more joy in our hearts than ever before. That this Christmas God would reveal Himself to be Almighty in our lives and in yours. I think we all need to be reminded of His strength and sovereignty. I pray that we are all reminded in a new and refreshing way of the Savior who was born in a manger, so that we would have eternal life.

Love you all!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

One of the best parts of Christmas for me is being able to buy gifts for the people that I love. I am beginning to wonder if somewhere inside of me is the spiritual gift of giving just dying to get out. My husband would say that is just me trying to find a godly way to say that I like to shop. There is just something about getting something incredible for my loved ones, it makes me feel such great joy. And the best part is that it really doesn't matter to me whether they can get me something equally as surprising....for me it really is about the giving.

Speaking of giving, I can't even think of Christmas without knowing that because of Christmas I have been given the most incredible free gift of all time, a relationship with my Savior. It gives me great hope to think of the night that all of heaven watched as Christ the Savior was born. To think about the look on Mary and Joseph's face, on the faces of the Wise Men and the Shepherds, as they worshipped the baby who would become the great Lamb of God. I am filled with joy everytime I remember the gift that God has given me, that He loved me so much that even though I am a sinner, Christ died for me.

What a wonderful Savior! It is my hope that this Christmas season we would all remember that Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, that He is head over heels in love with us, and that each day is a humbling reminder of our need for a Savior.

It delights God to give us this gift of salvation, just like it delights me to give gifts to the people that I love. We love because He first loved us. We give because He first gave to us. Have you accepted His gift? He is waiting just for you, He cares just for you. He is pursuing a relationship with you. I'm so grateful God that you pursue me, and that you have forgiven me.