Joy to the World!

Joy to the World, The Lord Has Come!

 I just wanted to take this opportunity to Wish Each of you a Merry Christmas! Jesus is God's Gift to us! I pray that each of you have accepted this Wonderful Gift! It really is the most ultimate Gift! There is nothing else that can compare in any way, shape or form! 

May He bring You great Joy as you focus on Him this Christmas Season!

Jesus Is The Reason for The Season!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:10-14

Merry Christmas,
Karen

 

Another Praise from the Pregnancy Prayer List

Another beautiful baby has been born! I have received word that Muffy has had a baby boy. Thaddaeus Hosea was born on December 8,2009 weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces. Let's Praise God together for a safe delivery! Congratulations Muffy!

The Pregnancy Prayer List is getting smaller. If you are pregnant or know someone who is, please send  me an email or leave me a comment so that I can add you to the list. There are other ladies that join in with me to pray for these Expectant Mommies.

I really believe that Expectant Moms need to be covered in prayer. There seems to be so many with problems or complications. This is something that is near and dear to my heart. Let's join in together and keep these ladies covered in prayer.

 

Busy, Oh So Busy!

First of all, let me say I am still here. I haven't felt much like blogging, but more than that I just haven't had the time.

Christmas is only 13 days away. I have done some of the shopping and have some more to do. For some of the children I haven't figured out what to buy them.

Each year we say that we are going to cut back on how much we spend for each of the children. This year we are finally following through with it. Finances are not great and truth be told, we do not need anymore toys at our house! The older children always want some expensive gadget, so we give money towards it and they have to put up the rest. Hubby is really good at finding some great deals on things so that helps a whole bunch!

Tim and Naomi's Wedding is in 3 weeks! I have been working on making sure everyone has something to wear. All of the kids are in the Wedding in some capacity.

Jeremy and Josh have to have Tuxes because they are a groomsman and usher. Rebekah is a Bridesmaid, so she has her dress. Victoria and Matthew are lighting the candles. I bought Victoria a pretty silver dress that was on clearance for a wonderful price. Matthew is wearing a suit. Samuel is the ring bearer, so he has to rent a tux. Anna is the flower girl, so her dress is bought and ready. Luke and Micah are like mini ushers. They both have a nice suit to wear.  Now I need to make sure they all have shoes to wear and the boys have a shirt and tie to wear with their suits.

An agonizing experience for me has been trying to find a dress to wear. I do not care for most of the styles out there. I also prefer for the dress to be tea length. I also like dark colors. It has been impossible to find a dress with these specifications. I found a teal colored dress that I do like, but not thrilled with the color.  I have an image of a dress etched in my mind and wonder if it exists somewhere.

On top of this agonizing experience, I have put on 10 pounds this year. I have battled with weight most of my life. I need to lose a lot of weight and now I have added 10 more pounds! I guess comfort foods have been too comforting!  I pray that this new year I can get my act together and lose this weight!

During all this hustle and bustle I would like to remember to keep my focus on the reason we are celebrating, Jesus!  Our children have been taught what Christmas is about. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ! Yes, they do receive presents, but I  would like the emphasis to be on giving instead of receiving. Jesus came to give His life for us and Oh how important it is for us to accept Him as our Savior. It really is a life or death decision.

So if you find yourself all caught up in the busyness of the season, I challenge you to stop and remember why we are celebrating . Let's remember what is really important. If you do not have all the decorations up that you wanted or didn't bake enough or didn't find just the most perfect present, just stop and think about the one who gave his life for you and give Him Thanks!

And if you think about it, pray for me to find the right dress for a great price and that I will not be totally stressed out. I really do want to enjoy this Season along with the first Wedding in our family!

 

Remembering At Christmas

Walking With You was created by Kelly at The Beauty of Sufficient Grace to help support those who have lost a child. Together we share our stories, helpful information, scriptures, encouraging words, prayer requests, and more.

If you are missing someone you love this Christmas, someone of ANY age who is spending Christmas with Jesus this year, I hope you will join us on this very special Walking With You. We are sharing our Christmas memories and the ways that we remember our loved ones who have gone home to heaven at Christmas time. To join Walking With You please visit Kelly's Blog.

This time last year our grief was so very raw. I believe we were in survivor mode. We just did not have the energy to want to do much. Hubby and I knew we needed to do something for the children. We did manage to get up the tree and eventually a few simple decorations outside.

We were incredibly blessed by the Hospital where Faith was born. One of the units there adopted our family and bought us some amazing presents. We were asked for a list of things that the children wanted for Christmas. I told the children to pick something that was $25 or less. Well, they each got what they asked for and whole lot more!

It was so much fun and the children had the times of their lives. The older children just asked for a gift certificate so they could buy clothes. They got a generous gift certificate to Kohls and a few other things. Mike and I also received gifts too. We were overly Blessed!

This year I have wanting to enjoy all the sight and sounds of Christmas! I love Christmas music, the lights and decorations, and pretty much anything else that has to do with Christmas.

Our tree is up and finally decorated! We have put up lights out front. I have a few other things I would like to do, but not sure that I will get to it. We have hardly gotten any shopping done yet. I guess we need to get busy!

The TBQ group from our Church gave us this beautiful ornament last year in Memory of Faith.

The children were so thrilled to see it when we pulled it out this year. They each have their own ornament and they were glad that Faith had one too! I love how they seem to like to remember her.

The past couple of weeks I have been missing Faith a bit more. She should be here to celebrate with us. She would be 14 months old and probably wanting to pull the ornaments off of the tree. Wrapping paper would have kept her entertained and might have become a little snack too. I will miss the sparkle that would have been in her eyes looking at the Christmas lights!

Yes, I miss her and wish that she were here with us, but I am thrilled that she is with the One whom we are celebrating! What better place could anyone be?

I have many people who I will miss this Christmas, and I have two that I want to share with you.

My brother Doug died in 1993. He enjoyed Christmas and he always helped my parents decorate. Doug played the piano very well. He would play for our listening pleasure or we would sing along. If he wasn't playing the piano he usually had some other music playing. Doug always made sure that we listened to Handel's Messiah every year.

Doug was good at giving fun and unique presents. It was always fun to see what he selected for each person. He seemed to know how to pick out just the right gift for each one. Whether the gift was to meet a need in a person's life or a gift that was for enjoyment, he always seemed to get it right!

My Dad passed away in 2004. Dad loved Christmas! He was so thankful for every present. He was a person that never expected much but was thrilled with each gift. He always wore his red sweater on Christmas.

My Dad collected penguins. We always tried to find him a new one each year. Now we are a bit partial to penguins. Whenever we see a penguin we are always reminded of my Dad.

Dad loved his family, so Christmastime was always special to him because that meant family would gather together. Nothing in this World would have made my Dad any happier than having my Mom by his side and the rest of his family there also.

Since I have been married, I haven't always been there with my family for Christmas. Those times that I didn't make it there, my Dad always called me on Christmas and then passed the phone around to everyone else. I miss my Dad and how he truly enjoyed the simple things in life. It did not take much to make him happy.

As we celebrate the Birth of Our Savior, I will draw close to Him to bring me "Comfort and Joy!" I need for Him to Comfort me as I am missing Faith and I want to be full of Joy as I celebrate His Birth!

I love this old Christmas Carol as it brings Good Tidings of Great Joy as it shares about the Birth of our Savior and that He came to save us!

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember, Christ, our Saviour

Was born on Christmas day

To save us all from Satan's power

When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel,

This blessed Babe was born

And laid within a manger

Upon this blessed morn

The which His Mother Mary

Did nothing take in scorn

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father

A blessed Angel came;

And unto certain Shepherds

Brought tidings of the same:

How that in Bethlehem was born

The Son of God by Name.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

"Fear not then," said the Angel,

"Let nothing you affright,

This day is born a Saviour

Of a pure Virgin bright,

To free all those who trust in Him

From Satan's power and might."

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

The shepherds at those tidings

Rejoiced much in mind,

And left their flocks a-feeding

In tempest, storm and wind:

And went to Bethlehem straightway

The Son of God to find.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

And when they came to Bethlehem

Where our dear Saviour lay,

They found Him in a manger,

Where oxen feed on hay;

His Mother Mary kneeling down,

Unto the Lord did pray.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood

Each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas

All other doth deface.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Luke 2:10

 

Give Thanks

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! God is so good and we have so much to be Thankful for!

We are at home with all of our children except for Tim. He and Naomi went to Wisconsin to visit with her sister and family.

I cook a turkey, (not really my favorite thing to do) along with dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and we have pickles and olives. We also have various desserts which usually includes pies (thanks to Sara Lee).This year our bird weighs 21 pounds. He is currently cooking and I pray he tastes really good!

We usually just spend a quiet laid back day at home. We usually have our Thanksgiving Meal in the evening. Growing up we usually ate about 2:00, but I do not like the stress of having to get up early and getting everything together by then. I like to be able to enjoy my family instead of being Stressed Out, so it works out better to eat later.

We spend the day just having a lot of fun! We play lots of board games,card games and Wii. Tonight we will have to get out the Wii Fit! I haven't been on there for a while so my trainer is going to let me have it! Why do I put up with this electronic person who tells me how fat I am?

I want to say Hi to all my Family in Virginia. I miss you all and wish we were there to share Thanksgiving with you! G-Ma(my mom), Thanks for all you do and for what a Blessing you are to all! Corrie(my niece), you are the absolute best! How could we continue on with family traditions without you? Hi to all my brothers and sisters and their spouses and all my nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephew! Yep, I have a whole lot of relatives back in Virginia!

I hope you and your families have a Blessed Day!


I love this song and thought it is appropriate for today!


Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

 

The Word of Our God Shall Stand Forever

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isaiah 40:8

 

Birthday Season

Life is definitely starting to get a bit more busy around here. With the Holidays approaching and a Wedding in early January, I am starting to feel a bit stressed. Also while trying to prepare for all of that, we have several birthdays to celebrate. I need to start making a list of all the things I need to accomplish, so that  I can keep track of what I am doing. I would like to do all of this with great joy, but right now I am feeling stressed!  I really need to get better organized.

Birthday Season is in full swing here at our house!  November is a big month here! Four of my boys have November Birthdays and Faith also had a November due date.

We probably should just have one great big birthday party in November, but it is so hard to do, since all of the other children have their own Birthday Month. They all get their own cake. I have usually let each child pick out a cake from Walmart or Sam's Club. As they get older many of them have decided that they would rather have me bake the cake.

Matthew starts off the birthdays for November. Matthew is now 12! Wow! That is really hard for me to believe.One more year and we will have another teenager around here!

Matthew is one our Artsy children. He has always enjoyed drawing and also making crafts. He is the kind of kid that you need to save paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls for his many creations. He has recently become interested in making Videos.  He uses his younger brothers and sisters as his actors. They are so cute and imaginative! He has also made neat videos featuring each of the children. He picks out some great pictures of the kids and adds music to them,  He also adds credits at the end. It is really cute!

Next up is Timothy. Tim is now 21!  Tim is the one who I have shared before, was healed from Leukemia. God has truly touched his life and I look forward to all that is in store for Tim.

Tim is getting married at the beginning of January. He is the first of my children to get married! Naomi is his Fiance, and we are thrilled to be adding her to our family!

Tim is in his second year at Eastern Kentucky University. He also works a full time schedule at DQ. He is a really busy person right now. Naomi is graduating from Eastern in December. She is hoping to get a job after that and help Tim get through school.

This is Banana Cake that Tim requested. Not very pretty, but very Yummy!  Don't they make a beautiful couple?

Did you notice that we used the same candles for Matthew and Tim? We just reversed them! That doesn't happen very often.

Please pray that I can prioritize and get organized. I really want to enjoy these next several weeks. I do not want to be stressed, but be filled with Joy!

The LORD is my strength and my shield; 

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. 

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

                                         Psalm 28:7