Christmas message

"And there were in the same country shepherds living in the fields keeping watch over their flocks...and the Glory of the Lord shone all around them..."

The angels did not take their message to Caesar's court or to the religious leaders or to key influential people. Instead, they went to the lowest of the low on the cultural ladder of the day. Shepherds were despised – so much so that the testimony of a shepherd was not even allowed in a court of law. The only people lower than the shepherds at this particular time in Jewish history were those with leprosy. Yet the shepherds were the people to whom the angels delivered their message of joy.

"Do not be afraid! I bring you joyful news that you have not imagined. God Himself has come to dwell among men."

Let us end the year full of Gratitude that "Unto us is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord."

Love to all

countering myth with truth

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell122308.php3

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWJjYzgzNjIwMGU
wNzdmNTJkYjcyYmYyNzIzMTY4ZTY=

Tis the season to Come Home

FOUND

you were lost

wandered away

into the luring night

without Me

you chose to stay

alone and out of sight

anguishing

in pain to find

I knew what I must do

leave My other 99

to run and rescue you

This Christmas, let's remember who we are

Excellent article by Star Parker, one of my favorites. And I would add to the title, Let's remember Whose we are.

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.
php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84057

Vegas turned Winter Wonderland

It snowed more than three inches in Las Vegas today! Aaron and I celebrated the cold weather with chili, corn bread and by making a rather attractive snow-woman. The weather man said, “This is the most snow we’ve had in Las Vegas in almost 30 years. It’s a significant historical event.”
If you want to see the Las Vegas Strip under snow, visit www.lvrj.com.

worth reading

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell111108.php3

Everyone remembers their First Christmas as a newlywed. Glorious...

And the kids at the Monterey Aquarium over Thanksgiving.

My wife's a world record holder

Aaron is telling everyone that his wife is a world record holder and when they ask, "What's the record," he says, "It was a running event." It is a major record: 8000 santas running in full regalia down the Vegas strip! Danielle participated and here are her comments:

The first photos are of me before the Santa Run. I was one of 8,000 Santas to do the run. The high was 70 degrees on Saturday so the suits and beard got toasty by mile three. But we broke the Guinness Book of World Records. I 'spose there are not many places that can convince 8,000 people to fight for parking just to run through downtown. The run benefited Opportunity Village, a nonprofit that provides paid work for developmentally disabled adults ... so it was all worth it.

short but sweet

The centerpiece of Danielle's Thanksgiving was a 40 mile ride before feasting.
Lucky girl to live where one can work it off before devouring. Although I can't complain, I did get a ride in Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Danielle is helping Aaron's mama, Debbie, take the photo. Just hearing Dan0's voice is exhilarating!

See you two lovebirds in 3 weeks!!!!!

pic 1 ~ At the Kinney's but not sure what the occasion was
pic 2 ~ Ellie the GrandDog wanting to be a part of the ThanksGiving Festivites
pic 3 ~ Thanksgiving weekend in Watertown
pic 4 ~ Jenny's wedding, Nov 1 in Lincoln, Neb

wheat things

Is it just me, or are there more choices in the grocery store than a sane person can fathom? CALL ME CRAZY! While Thanksgiving shopping this eve, I noticed a thousand Wheat Thin options! Are we nuts? tomoto shamato, salt-free, heavy-on-the-sodium, garlic pressed, chives with cream, et al.

Just because we're a nation that adores Choice - dare we say, worships it - must we add another 45 minutes in the grocers pondering scented or unscented pantyliners? PLEASE ~ I can't take it.

Hankerin' for the simple days. I wanted Original. Original always-been-my-favorite wheat thins. After scanning the shelf for several precious moments, I feared that the Originals were obsolete. No more.

Alas, I spied them. Oh happy day.

the new Guest Room awaits...

These home photos dedicated to Danielle and Aaron who will not be with us up close and personal over the Thanksgiving holiday. Goodness, we will miss you.

See you at Christmas. Love

Note to new leaders

You can't have both my money and my trust ~ which is it going to be?

Thomas Sowell article: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell111808.php3

QOD

"...while we are free to do whatever we wish, we are not free to have the consequences be whatever we want them to be." --Thomas Sowell

And while we're at it, may I recommend a foreshadowing article by Professor Sowell. This cogent thinker is a national treasure in the economic and historical memory dept. He remembers.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell110208.php3

It's a dog's life, but it doesn't have to be

"To a man, the greatest blessing is individual liberty. To a dog, it is the last word in despair." – William Lyon Phelps (1865-1943)

I think I'm becoming a happy Libertarian.

See Patrice Lewis' article, "Sit. Stay. Roll over. Beg" http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=79627

Simplify

Patrice Lewis is an author, homeschooler, businesswoman and homesteader on 40 acres with her family in Idaho. The excerpt below describing their scaled-down lifestyle is the best thing I've read in a long while:

"There is nothing really remarkable about our life except that it’s simple. We have no emotional drama with fighting spouses or out-of-control kids. We try to be frugal and responsible. Because of the decisions and choices we’ve made throughout our lives, we have achieved a level of stability that allows us to raise our children in a calm and peaceful home.

Today we do what I jokingly call the three H’s: homesteading, homeschooling, and home business-ing. Can’t get much better – or simpler - than that."

Patrice's website: patricelewis.com

Since Confession is good for the soul, I'll feel like a million bucks when this is over: I confess that I have been ungrateful. The venting I allow myself over the wholesale ingratitude in our land is notorious. Malcontents grieve and irritate me no end. But I am one.

I have forgotten to be grateful for the Father's oversight. He watches over us because we honor Him. He honors us with His abiding Presence. Lately it has eluded me how fortunate we are in America to freely worship the King. We are the freest nation in the world. One nation under God's Lordship. I am thankful.

All is well with my soul. Yours too

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (1939-1975) said, "The right to be left alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom."

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate and tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Samuel Adams

trick or treat

Let's go with trick: This is NOT Ellie, the GrandDog. But it could be.