Happy New Year...

Yesterday the New Year started for me - Yes it was news to me to.

As I sat in Church listening to my Pastor explain that we were going into the Season of Advent starting yesterday, I sat there thinking "What the heck is going on"?

Being raised a Southern Baptist is different from being a practicing member of an AME Church and I am still very new therefore still learning.

So as I said - My New Year started yesterday - Happy New Year to me :)

The only thing I knew about Advent is the calender with chocolates behind each date...

So what is Advent you ask?

Advent is a season of preparation...

What are we preparing for?

We take this time to give Thanks for His first coming and prepare for His final coming.

It begins the 4th Sunday before Christmas (yesterday) and ends on Christmas Eve.

There is an Advent wreath (no idea where I get one but I am looking) and the wreath holds 5 candles (one for each Sunday in Advent as well as Christmas Day)...

3 of them are Purple. (signifying solemnity & royalty)

1 is Pink. (signifying Joy)

The center one is White. (signifying the Birth of Christ)

The first Sunday of Advent one of the Purple candles is lit - To remind us that we are waiting for our Good Sheppard.

The second Sunday of Advent - Purple is lit again - To remind us we wait for Forgiveness.

The third Sunday of Advent finds us waiting for Joy so the Pink candle is lit.

The fourth Sunday of Advent we light the last Purple candle and we focus on the coming of the Son.

The fifth candle is lit on Christmas Eve - It is the White one and it is to celebrate the Birth of Jesus.

I love this - Absolutely love this...

Celebrating what the true meaning of Christmas is and not by how many presents are under the tree -

Now if I could get my kids to go along with this lol.

I will be back tomorrow and let you all know how court went (last Wednesday).

In the meantime, hug someone next to you.

MICHAEL W. SMITH
I Can Hear Your Voice As You Sing Over Me
It's Your Song Of Hope Breathing Life Into Me
I Can Feel Your Touch As I Come Close To You
And It Heals My Heart, You Restore & Renew

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday period....

I don't like how commercial Christmas has become (though I do enjoy the meaning of Christmas), I don't like Halloween and I have no use for Valentine's Day (never have).

I have always loved Thanksgiving...The sights, the smells, the food, the togetherness of families.

It marks the beginning of the holiday season to me.


My Dad always makes turkey on the grill along with all the fixings - Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, baked mac-n-cheese, green beans, squash, rolls, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce etc...

I don't work on Thanksgiving and normally don't work the day after because my Mom, Sister and I do the Black Friday shopping....

Yes we are those people who get up and are out of the house by 3:30am to shop...

I love Black Friday Shopping.

These past few months, I have been dreading the holiday season.

I have been thinking I want to just crawl in a hole until January because quite frankly I was thinking I didn't have much to be thankful for.

However I have been thinking the last few days and I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have wonderful friends, wonderful family, a wonderful Church family, a roof over my head, food on the table and clothes on my back.

I am Thankful for the situation God has placed me in because He has introduced me to things within myself that I never knew existed.

I am Thankful for all my bloggy friends who keep coming back, keep sending me encouraging messages and who are just there for me...

I love each and every one of you and I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Be Safe.

JOSH GROBAN
So Tonight We Pray For
What We Know Can Be.
And On This Day We Hope For
What We Still Can't See.
It's Up To Us To Be The Change
And Even Though We All Can Still Do More
There's So Much To Be Thankful For.

A Birthday & A Fight

Today is my niece's birthday ~ She is 7 and very girly, girly...

She loves makeup and frilly crap...

I love her to pieces and I most especially love to torment her...

She doesn't like to be teased and me being me, well I like to push her buttons...

It doesn't normally take long before I set her off and before you say I am evil, you should see her when she goes off...

If I ever need a laugh, I know where to get one.

She is the epitome of a drama queen...

Once she gets going man there is no stopping her and well I find it funny.

This morning my niece and Tigger ran to the car (we drive them to school).

These 2 are 6 months apart and you would think they were brother and sister the way they fight and argue sometimes -

This morning being no exception.

They both got to the truck, grabbed the same door handle and the proceeded to scream at one another (it is 8:15 am so you know the neighbors love that).

"I get in on this side"

"Let go of the door"

"Get in on the other side"

"MOMMY!!"

"MOMMY!!"

My sister and I are just standing there watching it all unfold because quite frankly we are sick of their bickering...

Next thing you know they are in the middle of the lawn FIGHTING.

You would think we were living in a trailer park the way they were going at it, looked like midget wrestling right there on the front lawn.

My son has my niece in a headlock, she is trying to punch him, arms are flailing about, legs are being thrown all over trying to land some kicks in...

My sister and I just stood there watching them...

She looked up and we locked eyes and then....

We both just started laughing our butts off.

Happy Birthday Monster Princess -

Regardless of how the morning started, I hope you have a wonderful day today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MONSTER PRINCESS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
XOXO

All Things

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In Everything Give Thanks: For This Is The Will Of God In Christ Jesus Concerning You.


Read it again - In all things give thanks. The good, the bad, the indifferent.

You should thank Him for it all.

It has taken me a long time to "get" this statement.

Those that go to Church or who pray, know what I am about to say is true...

We thank Him when all is going good however the minute something isn't going our way, He is the first we lash out at.

We cry out "Why me" or "Why now" or "What did I do to deserve this"?

I admit I am one of those that did this as well however now I stop and I thank Him for whatever is happening be it good, bad or indifferent.

Do you know why?

If you do consider yourself lucky, if you don't then read on.

I give thanks in the bad things because that is where my strength comes from.

"What the heck is she talking about" may be what is going through your head right now however read on...

Strength comes from the hard times.

When we suffer, all the while being thankful, we are taking the attitude of Christ and people can see that.

Sometime later down the road, we will be able to help others because of the strength God gave to us during the hard times.

You also need to remember this - One of the reasons to be thankful during hard times is because of the enemy...

God may allow hard times to come, however it is the enemy that brings them.

God allows the hard times to make us stronger however the enemy will use this so you curse God and turn away from Him.

However by thanking God during the hard times, you are defeating the enemy.



I thank you all for your kind comments to me on my post yesterday...

I am thankful I can be as honest as I am here with no one jumping all over me for saying what I feel.

I have had some time to reflect since that night and while I am not proud of what I did, I am thankful that I stopped when I did...

I am thankful to be given the chance to reflect on how I fell so far down once again and I am thankful He was there to pick me up once again.

I am thankful for my wonderful bloggy friends who care so much...

I am thankful my arm is healing and I am thankful I was given another chance to get "it" right.

I am thankful of how far I have come since this journey started because looking back on it, I could have just given up and ended it all.

JOSH GROBAN
It's Up To Us To Be The Change
And Even Though We Can All Do More
There's So Much To Be Thankful For

William Shakesphere...

Hamlet Act I Scene III...

Personally I have never scene the play nor read the book however I do know that a sentence came from this play that speaks to me - "This Above All: To Thine Own Self Be True".

How many of you can sit, think and honestly say you are true to yourselves above all others?

I will admit I can't...

I will admit I have not been true to myself however I didn't know it until I started this journey...

Being true to yourself means:

Not compromising your values, principals, beliefs etc...

Doing the right thing for you not what others tell you to do...

You allow your individuality and uniqueness to shine through...

I have learned that if you know & love yourself, you will then find it effortless to be true to yourself...

I thought I lost my self-respect when my husband left however I have learned that self-respect comes from being true to who you really are.

When you respect yourself, others will respect you because they know you are strong and able to stand up for yourself and for your beliefs.

I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I have had to defend my beliefs since this journey started...

I admit I was getting very sick of people telling me what a fool I am or how stupid I was etc...

However I realized today that these same people who challenged my beliefs made me stop and really search to make sure this was a belief and not a fear masked as a belief...

I have made changes on my journey, I have dropped some things that were weighing me down and picked up new things that make me happier...

To those that have challenged me here (and those that never read this) I thank you...

Thank you for making me really think and search for my true beliefs...

Thank you for still hanging around even though my posting has been very sporadic lately... :)

This far into the journey, I have learned something very important - Being true to yourself means I will not allow others to define me or make decisions for me that I need to make on my own.

AUDIOSLAVE
Don't Lose Any Sleep Tonight
I'm Sure Everything Will End Up Alright
You May Win Or Lose
But To Be Yourself Is All That You Can Do