New Years Day

After being away for two days (that's all I can handle), I came home and was happy to be home.  I just wanted to be still and enjoy my home.  No more gifts to wrap. No more meals to cook. No more worrying about the events we would be doing.  Christmas came and it came too soon. Months of preparations are now left only pieces of torn up wrappings left under the tree.  But what about the reason for this joyous celebration?  What happened to Jesus?  Did we leave him under the Christmas tree with those torn up wrappings?  Or did we, as some of us did, hold him in our arms and praised God for his son?  Did we welcome the Savior of the World with hymns and praises?  

As I tried to get back on track from being away and not having time to run, I met a young man named Daniel.  I've always been a people person, but when it comes to talking to complete strangers while they are walking, it's weird.  How would you like it if someone comes jogging up to you out of the blue and tells you that Jesus loves you.  Well, that's me.  I wasn't always as bold as I am today.  In fact there were times where God had a message for someone and I just ignored it and ran.  I ran until I felt this heaviness in my heart.  God had a message for that person.  It's not easy.  The older you get the more you feel that you have to be accepted by everyone.  Of course I don't want to be labeled as some crazy nut.  But the more I listened to God, the more I knew that the person he had a message for really needed him at that time. 

I don't know you. You are a stranger, but God knows you.  

This is my motto now.   Jesus for me wasn't left under the Christmas tree.  He can't even be explained.  The people of his time despised him. People were afraid of him.  Jesus.  A man who came as a gift from God for all man kind.  Jesus is alive.  If we look inside our hearts and see that Jesus loves us no matter who we are, no matter what we do or what we have done.  He just wants you.  So, as I reflect on everything this Jesus has done in my life, I've come up with 10 things I (YOU TOO) should focus on this year.

1. Be You.  Yup. Just you.  Don't try to compare yourself with others.  We didn't come from the same genes, the same mother or father, so sometimes we are stuck with those characteristics that make us unique.
2. Give More.  Time. Money.  I don't know which one is easier to give up so I listed them both.  Money is a gift and we are always short on time.  Give Both.
3. It's okay to not be Perfect.  I've always thought that being perfect or having the perfect job or home would make me happy.  It's when things are messed up and out of whack that I can see God working in me.  
4. Stand up for what you believe in.  That for me meant quitting my job.  2 weeks before Christmas in fact.  Wise?  No.  But I was bold enough to stand up in what I couldn't do.  I couldn't work nights and it was causing me grief and stress.  
5. If you make a decision, stick to it and don't go back.  That was me in response to #4.  Fear. But, if we make a decision and go back and forth on it, we are not only hurting ourselves, but those around us.  When I made my decision to quit my job, I told my boss that it wasn't fair for the patients or the nurses that I continue to work nights and call in when I couldn't physically make it to work.  In nursing the patients rely on you.  Your coworker can't take the load of your patients too.
6. Laugh.  And if you already laugh, laugh more.  I was on my couch today laughing for no reason. Although the kids gave me dirty looks, it was okay, I needed to laugh.  Believe me, there will be a time to cry. 
7. Cry.  Yes, it's okay to cry. I cry all the time. I'm emotional.  I cry when I read a sad story, I cry during a touching movie.  I cry.  Jesus wept. 
8. Run. Walk.  And if you can't do either one, do Yoga.  Yoga is a great way to relax.  It's good for the body, great for the soul.  Thank you, Veronica Armstrong for your awesome classes. 
9. Find a Hobby.  Do you like to draw?  Read?  Crotchet? Knit? Sew? Don't know how?  There are many books out there that can teach you. Go to YouTube and you can find just about every video made by human hands to help guide you with your endeavors.  And reading has opened up a new world for me.  A new world without having to cook meals and wash dishes or homeschool the kids. I just read until my heart is content. 
10. Don't wait to use your talents for that perfect job.  God wants to use you right now.  Right where you are.  You don't have to wait another year or two to do exactly what you think God wants you to do.  Just Do Something.  Sometimes we just need to live life!!!

My excuse to run. I get to see this beautiful scene.  

Until Next Time, 

Eat Organic, 

Eat Gluten-Free, 

Jennifer

Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come, 

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way, 

The world revolved from night to day, 

A voice, a chime, 

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South, 

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stone of a continent, 

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said, 

"For hate is strong, 

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail, 

The Right prevail, 

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Merry Christmas!!

Until Next Time, 

Eat Organic, 

Eat Gluten-Free, 

Jennifer