This pic is of my sister and her daughters. My sister is the one with the baby. My other two neice's are growing up fast. The oldest Brittney is already taller then me. I like the other pic of Brittney and Dixie.

These are some pic's from Christmas in Arkansas. This is at my Aunt and Uncle's house. I enjoy going here. This is where I can go to get away from it all. We always end up on the front porch. My Aunt always decorates the house so nice for Christmas. She makes everything herself. All the quilts are made by her. They have recently built a new house next to the old house my grandpa built in the 1940's. We got to stay in the new house. I got a chance just to sit on the back porch to read and just spend some time with God. It was cold and raining but it felt good since we don't get much cold weather here. I wish I had more time to spend there. This is where I got my christian background from my grandparents.

This is the lyrics to a song called His love is Reaching by David Meece.
This is such an awesome song. It is very personal to me. It really sums up my life. I did not realize it but God was with me along when I thought he was not. It just amazes that he loved me so much to get me where I am now. He knew where I needed to live and he knew the people I needed in my life. He knew me that well. And his timing was perfect. It was his Hand that was reaching for me and I grabbed on and I am still holding on with no intentions of letting go.

HIS LOVE IS REACHING ( Odyssey)

Lyrics by Gino Vannelli and David Meece
Music by David Meece
Copyright, 1987 Meece Music (admin by) Word Music/Black Keys Music

Where should I begin to tell my thoughts
What can I say that would do
Where are the words when I need them most
To show my gratitude

Though the times I was burdened
Yet I did not fall
Though the times I was certain
There was no one at all

His love was reaching
An invisible hand pulling me through
His love was reaching
Touching my life in more ways than I ever knew

As I lay beneath the southern cross
The stars tell more than I could
And if the words don’t say want I really mean
I pray I’m understood

When I thought I had nothing
Yet I had so much
Though the years when it seemed
We were out of touch

His love was reaching
An invisible hand pulling me through
Touching my life in more ways than I ever knew

How could I think I was living alone
How could a man be so blind
How could I have come so far
Without His hand in mine

His love was reaching
An invisible hand pulling me through
His love was reaching
Touching my life in more ways than I ever knew

"The mystery of the Holy Night, which historically happened two thousand years ago, must be lived as a spiritual event in the ‘today’ of the Liturgy," the Pope clarified. "The Word who found a dwelling in Mary’s womb comes to knock on the heart of every person with singular intensity this Christmas."
Pope John Paul II

Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado

This was the devotional I read this morning from my Grace for the Moment daily devotional.This verse has a very special meaning to me.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20

Jesus goes from heart to heart, asking if he might enter....Every so often he is welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise...."In my father's house are many rooms"....What a delightful promise he makes us! We make room for him in our hearts, and he makes room for us in his house.

Sharon’s Microwave Fudge

I am making this fudge for gifts this year. This is my sister's recipe. This is the best fudge I have ever had. It melts in your mouth. I like it without the nuts. Enjoy!

1 lb powdered sugar

½ cup cocoa (I used nestle's cocoa)

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup evaporated milk

½ cup butter (1 stick) (I used unsalted real butter not margarine)

1 tbsp vanilla (I like the imitation vanilla better than pure vanilla)

1 cup chopped nuts

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and milk in a microwavable bowl. Stir together and place the butter on top. Place in the microwave on high for 2 minutes(I had to do 4 minutes until the butter melted). Stir together add vanilla and nuts stir again(it will be somewhat stiff). Spread on wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for one hour or freezer.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

This is one of my favorite passages in the bible. It is so powerful to me.

1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

16He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

17"I have no husband," she replied.

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ^[b]?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Many Samaritans Believe

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.

42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

This psalm means so much to me. For the last several months it keeps finding it's way back to me. It seems everywhere I turn there it is. So I thought I would share this tonight.

Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

Yesterday we went to go see the nativity story. I enjoyed this movie. It made me feel at peace. The story of Christ is so awesome.

I pray that you will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is.
Ephesians 3:18

But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. Deuteronomy 4:29

This picture was taken in Heidelberg, Germany at the Heidelberg Castle

Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado

Praise the Lord, God our Savior, who helps us everyday. Psalm 68:19

Christ will not turn away from you. He came first and foremost to those who have no hope. He goes to those no one else would go to and says, "I'll give you eternity." Only you can surrender your concerns to the Father. No one else can take those away and give them to God. Only you can cast all your anxieties on the one who cares for you. What better way to start the day than by laying your cares at his feet?

I have so many pictures from Germany. I took about 700. Every moment was a picture perfect moment there. So here are a few more of the trains and train station we took.

The Bridge to God is Free. The Bridge to God is Hope. All you have to do is walk across. Walk into his arms. He is waiting for you to experience his peace.

This picture was taken in Southern Germany near Austria.

More Germany Pic's

I liked this garfield cartoon. Thought it was cute. This actually sounds like me when I try to fix things I see on the Food Network. Sometimes they don't turn out quite right and Doug will let me know.

This is another pic from Germany. This bridge is across from the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. I thought this was beautiful. I also thought of this verse when I saw this picture.

Ephesians 3:14-19

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

It has been a busy week. A lot has been going on. But even though it has been busy he has reminded me that He is near even in the middle of my busy day. I read several devotionals everyday and last night I read this verse in my devotional. It was Philippians 4:5-6 The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing.

When I read that I just felt his presence and peace. The title of that devotional was "The Lord is Near". It is awesome that he lets you know that he is near and that he can handle everything you encounter. That he is going to be there and take care of you. I was comforted when I read that verse.

This past weekend my Dad and step-mom came to visit her are some pic's of some of the things we did. We did go to progreso. My step mom wanted to go there to shop but I had never been there and was a little afraid to go but for the most part we had fun. It was very crowded there. We found a good restaurant to eat at called Agulars I think. All the waiters were dressed up in tuxedo's and there was nothing but American's eating there. The food was good and none of us got sick. It rained on us at first but then it stopped. I am glad because it was pretty miserable while it was raining. It seems to flood really bad in Mexico went it rains. Then we just took them to the beach and the downtown where all the ships are.