Happy 2009!

For Christmas this year Doug's folks sent us a book "In Search of...The Real Spirit of Christmas" by Dan Schaeffer. I sat down to read it shortly after.

"Christmas seasons come and go, often leaving us with vague pangs of regret. Why does the Christmas spirit seem so elusive? What is the real Christmas spirit anyway? Even those who know the Reason for the season can find themselves wondering if they've missed something."

Last night I read this and the glory of Christmas is the fact that because of Christmas we are so blessed!

We have fallen into favor. And the Christmas spirit will fill our hearts when we realize that each of us receives the gift of Christmas the same way Mary did. Our faith is not an accomplishment; it is a "gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The grace we have received is not payment for good behavior, but an act of mercy.

As Jesus was born physically in Mary, so we have been born spiritually into Him. Gabriel's announcement echoes in us as well. We have been highly favored. The Lord is with us!"

That is just incredible!

We are in a deep freeze up here. BLEAH! Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what we are enduring right now. haha

Many blessings to your and yours - my fellow Believers. May our God comfort you too in this sin-sick world; may He prove His never-ending love in your lives daily; may He strengthen you; may He make aware each minute of 2009 that He will soon return as the victorious King and Lord of all that He is! Stand firm in His righteousness to the end.

Happy New Year from us up here in cold, cold Alaska. (I'm looking or maybe I should say LONGING for spring already!)

P.S.!!!! Not to worry - all dogs pictured are indoors and toasty warm!

Whirrrs and Brrrrs!

whirrrr-rrrr, slow, speed up, whirr-RRRR-rrrr

The new noise on my laptop the last few days has me concerned. Last time that happened on my desktop computer... the hard drive fried. So I am kind of concerned.

So while I sat out this awful cold spell up here in Alaska I opened the laptop the other morning just to see if I can get to the fans easily. No, not without some instructions to back me up, so I have been reading online and have printed out a lot of information. I have ordered parts from Parts-People.COM and now I am anxiously waiting for them! I've never ordered from this company before so I hope my experience is good. (They are in Austin, TX)

HOPEFULLY... my laptop won't klunk out on me before I change some things. ha

IF it does... I have a new iPhone! So no worries. Little bit slower, little bit harder to type on the screen but I won't be totally cut off from the internet, haha.

The iPhone is so much fun! I love it. Doug gave it to me for Christmas and I've been sitting around in the living room looking at this small gadget like my son and his wife did before me. I have downloaded Mahjong and a pirate game called Booty Blocks and even a book, Pilgrim's Progress so I can read when I am stuck waiting somewhere! It is an incredible little gadget! I was looking for a good Bible to download to it too, but there are so many to choose from, I could not decide.

I let Moto out the front door a few minutes ago and just standing in the doorway, my nose got nipped! That is just crazy cold. It's blowing pretty good in Wasilla I hear (gusts to 70 mph), no wind here at home... just cold, cold, cold!

We drove to Wasilla last evening to have dinner with Kris before he left for Arizona, and it was twenty degrees warmer than it was here (12 miles away)! That is what wind does there... brings up the temp for them. But the high winds get irritating afer awhile. I think I might rather have extreme cold than strong winds.

Nothing Traditional but Devotion!

"Roam," "ramble," and "meander" all mean to move about from place to place without a plan or definite purpose, but each suggests wandering in a unique way. "Roam" refers to carefree wandering over a wide area often for pleasure (as in, "I roamed over the hills for hours"). "Ramble" stresses carelessness and indifference to one’s course or objective (for instance, "the speaker rambled on without ever coming to the point"). "Meander," which comes from Greek "Maiandros," an old name for a river in Asia Minor, implies a winding course and lazy movement, and it is still sometimes associated with rivers (as in, "the river meandered through the town"). "Meander" can also be used as a noun meaning "a winding path."

For Christmas we (me, Doug, Kris and my Mom) did something so foreign to my family. We had a lazy day absent of the usual cooking and baking for a robust Christmas dinner for a whole army! Instead, we got up late, ate fresh baked cinnamon rolls (I prepared the night before) with broiled ham and boiled eggs, Doug read a Christmas devotional to us by Margaret Manning (A Slice of Infinity), we opened gifts, and enjoyed each others company. Later in the afternoon Kris drove us in a super, duper snowstorm to Anchorage where we MEANDERED through Anchorage looking for a place to eat (Sicily's Pizza), for homes dressed in holiday style and a movie that we all would like to watch together!

(I caught my happy Mom with her hair a mess after she took off her knitted cap! hehehe)

Even though we left so much of our Christmas day to chance, we had fun! After we ate, we went to see Seven Pounds (I give it my thumbs up, but it is a tear jerker) with Will Smith (great actor!) at Century 16. We got home late that night! We did not realize how many people go watch movies on Christmas day! That is most people I've seen at the theater - EVER!

This was a very different Christmas for us all...but we enjoyed it a lot! One can celebrate the birth of Christ no matter what is done together.

Why? Why didn't we do the usual? Because of conflicts in the family - family plans were changed - and to keep the peace. Sometimes we as loving family members have to do things like this. It's all good. At first I tried to be depressed about it all, but that is no way to REJOICE over my salvation through the birth of Jesus Christ!

"O, Come Let Us Adore Him"

Our horizons have been exposed to the possibility of perhaps, maybe next year... meandering around a different town, maybe even in the Lower 48 for Christmas! I am open to change! It can be fun, if you keep your heart where it should be - adoring Christ Jesus --- my LORD Jesus!

It's been two years today since my sister Millie was hospitalized. I sure miss you Sis, Ahka, Chamai, ... Mil.

Mary & Women & Christ's Love

I was overdue a week, and as Doug and I were attending a friends wedding I could feel that contractions were beginning. I ignored them for a while thinking that these things take time anyway. Besides, we were poor Bible students at the time and my husband was so looking forward to the reception where there was going to be a feast fit for a king!

As the ceremony progressed I knew the contractions were leveling out and becoming very regular! So I asked Doug for his watch. He looked at me in horror and whispered to me "No!" But yes, Kim was on her way and she was not going to be considerate for anyone's wishes but her own!

It turned out that this birth was very hard. Not hard because it took long but that it happened way too fast! The doctor did not make it to the hospital in time. Kim was born as I cried out in pain while being pushed through the swinging delivery room doors by two night nurses! They held Kim and then looked at each other and one said, "Now what?"

I always recall that night and say that she was the worst pain and delivery I ever went through of all five deliveries!

The hard trouble that came on women in childbirth is a curse that came with death at the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. Mary also suffered in childbearing.

I watched a movie (can't remember the title, sorry), a movie on TBN about the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. I could imagine the fear of Mary, the pregnant young girl, living in a culture where she would be stoned for being in this condition outside of marriage. Joseph was going to put her away for having become pregnant when he knew that they had not been together. I would have to guess that both Mary and Joseph had many sleepless nights!

Listen to Ravi as he answers a question a lady asked about a friend who chose not to believe the Bible/Christianity because she had read the curse to women. Pain in childbearing. "I can't believe in something that does not believe in me."

What a great response from Ravi - speaking of the great value that Jesus Christ placed on womanhood.

"Go and sin no more."

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends.