Friday, November 25, 2011

Fast Tip Friday {and the Chocolate Winners - Finally!}...

So, we spent the last few days preparing for hosting Thanksgiving, - then the big day - then sending our 3rd oldest off to Chile on a mission trip - and finally the annual "D-day" as my kiddos call it, which means Decorating Day {for Christmas, that is}!

Anyway, last year I came across this poem about Christmas that is a great reminder as we are heading into the Christmas Season!  Remember "The Reason for The Season" and everything else will fall into place!

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime: I’m just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity; but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love does not envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return; but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

--Author Unknown

And now for the moment you all have been waiting for...

The Chocolate Winners!

Marsha Van Eaton                     Tristen Haertel                       Annika Manchester

Congratulations!  Send me your addresses ladies, and I will send you some chocolate!  {Well, Tristen, I will give you yours on Tuesday! }

Thanks for stopping by!  Be Refreshed!

4 comments:

  1. Can not believe I let a chocolate give away get by me! Ha! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    T. Wedell

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  2. I love the Christmas verses....we all need to realize what the season is about and sometimes that is difficult with all the hoopla, just like it says...love is the very most important thing and the Holy Spirit in us shining..I love my family more than words can say. I also love my friends and the people that I meet, ect,ect, ect....Thanks for the post, Lora. I love,love, love you!!!!!

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  3. What?! I won?! Gahhh!!! I saw that poem framed in your home yesterday, it's very inspirational, and being that it's placed on the mantel above the kitchen sink, it serves as a great reminder!
    I confess that I find it easier to follow if the love is directed towards my daughter, but my husband I am more likely to lend a listening ear while I'm in the middle of something, attending to him only AFTER my "important" task is finished.
    There is always more to work on... :)

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  4. So I am some random 16 ye old... I am thankful for also of things -that consist of the following- 1. that I have woken up each day without dying due to breath halts. 2. I am thankful that each day now I have someone to look forward to having life. 2b explained- that I have a wonderful girlfriend who is my life's tie to god and everything else good and gracious, that she and I going through hell and knowing the other will be there for each., that I will be able to see her smile truly and solidly like mother mary someday given enough effort on my part. That her mother would except me for me and allow me the privilege of her daughters heart...I am thankful for a woman who understands me like no other, not even my mother. That everyday I can expect to be able to love her in some way that helps her function and stay healthy etc. I am thankful that I have no nightmares anymore. I am thankful that I have a roof over my head and that I am who I am do without being me I wouldn't have who I have today...I am thankful that I am schizophrenic because I am able to appreciate what a normal life is like when I have it which is rare. I am thankful that I am late in response to your post on chocolate because chocolate would not be good for me..xD...I am thankful that I have the strength to be with a woman who loves me more and who I can not even deserve but since she thinks I deserve her that I do act like it..xD...I am thankful that I am not in palastine rub now and ever because it is not even known except to those who live there or those who want to nuke it and blow it up into flames (I know of it because my friend lives there and is in pain of dying everyday due to nukes and bombs and helicopters shooting fighting etc)..I am thankful for my best friend Levi and his life being stil here because without him my life would be reduced in causality majorly.......................can we all just pleeeeassse be thankful and understand that there are worse plights the. What we are dealing with going on!!! Can we be thankful that we are alive atleast and that god chose you and I to be here for a reason?!--------thank you Lora soooo much I appreciate what you do for people all over!!!you should be proud.

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