Oh by gosh by golly, it's time for mistletoe and holly!

Countdown continues to Christmas!  Hamilton Elf and I are reporting that the skies in North Texas are overcast and brrr it's rather chilly outside!  Hard to believe that it almost hit 85 degrees yesterday.  I love being outside and decided that a fire in the chiminea was just what the doctor ordered!  The pinion wood from New Mexico smells so wonderful!  The leaves continue to fall and I continue to rake!  Soon the trees with take on a new beauty with the branches being so visible!

Time for holly and mistletoe!

One of my favorite crooners is Frank Sinatra.  As I was sitting here at my computer this morning, my mind took me to a Christmas Special when he sang "oh by gosh, by golly, it's time for mistletoe and holly..."  My granddaughter posted on Facebook last week that she couldn't get certain songs out of her mind ... totally understood.  Guess that's why we are to be so careful about what we feast our eyes upon and listen to.

I love the traditional Christmas Carols don't you?  I realize that the old must make way for the new but sometimes I'm just not getting the rap carols and the new morality where anything goes...

40 days of 40 minutes of prayer:  It's been a challenge not so much that I haven't prayed but this morning when I opened my journal, I realized that I didn't give God that first 40 minutes of my day yesterday.  Since I had made that covenant with God, I felt really sad that I hadn't lived up to my part of the covenant.  I decided to read Day 7 and keep on going.  By the time I finished, I still felt a little down on myself.  I flipped the page to Day 8 and guess what it said?  "Satan will try to steal your time with God."  I had a good excuse; however, the enemy was trying to keep me from moving forward.  I was allowing Satan to attack me with condemnation and the temptation to just quit and do my study at a time when I was less busy.  Freeda Bowers reminded me that not only had God invited me to participate in this 40 day encounter with Him but that He would give me the grace to complete it.  I needed to confidently trust Him to navigate me through every obstacle and distraction that came my way.  I think the thing that touched me the most was that He was answering my prayers ... two people verified this without my asking!  Now that's confirmation at it's best!!

It's getting close to the end of the year and my Daily Walk Bible reading has me to the last 2 books of the Bible.  Today, I read Jude ... fight for the faith.  I love these short books that have so much meat in them.  The book ends with this verse:

"And now -- all glory to him who alone is God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord; yes, splendor and majesty, all power and authority are his from the beginning; his they are and his they evermore shall be.  And he is able to keep you from slipping and falling away, and to bring you sinless and perfect, into his glorious presence with mighty shouts of everlasting joy.  Amen" ~~Jude 1:24-25

The wood pot is empty and it's time to go inside!

As you celebrate Christmas with your families and loved ones, I pray that you will steal a little kiss under the mistletoe and embrace the beauty of the red berried hollies!  You take care now ... and, remember you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!