No More Resolutions

Last year I gave up New Years Resolutions.  Instead I chose to do One Word.  I saw great growth doing this.  So this year I am going to do the same thing.  For more information on my One Word for 2013, please visit my other blog http://thepuresacrifice.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-word-2013.html.

Progress Report

Sorry I have been spending more of my time lately away from the computer with the holidays and all.  But I did want to say that I have not forgotten you.

I am also going to be spending the next few days trying to finish cleaning my room.  My goal is to be finished by January 1st.  I am making great progress.

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and that everyone has a Happy New Year.

My Thoughts on Sandy Hook Tragedy

For my thoughts on Sandy Hook, please visit my other blog.  http://thepuresacrifice.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-step-away-from-evil.html

Meaning of the Christmas Tree

Green is the second color of Christmas.  The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus.  It's needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well.

The star was the heavenly sign of promise.  God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born.  God always fulfills his promises and, wise men still seek him.

Red is the first color of Christmas.  Red is deep, intense, vivid.  It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins.  It is the symbol of God's greatest gift.  Christ gave His life and shed His blood for us that we might have eternal life. When we see the color red, it should remind us of the most wonderful gift.

Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold.

The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's Son that Christmas Eve long ago.

Twinkling lights symbolize, each one representing one of God's precious children, their light shining for all to see.  Let your light so shine before people that all may see it and glorify God.

The Candy cane is a stick of hard white candy: white to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God's promises.  The candy cane is in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth.  It also represents the Good Shepard's crook, which he uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.  The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life.

Wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow.  The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love.  The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand.  It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen.  The bow tells the story of good will towards all and it's color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice.  Even it's shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love.  It is a circle, without beginning and without end.

The Tradition of the Pretzel

Pretzels began in the 6th century at an Italian monastery.  A Monk was preparing unleavened bread for Lent and twisted the scraps of bread dough to resemble arms in prayer.  He named his creation Pretiola, a word meaning little reward, and gave it as a treat to the children who recited their prayers.

Making Progress

I believe that I mentioned that this month I was making it my goal to work on my room.  I have made great progress.  Oh there is still plenty to be done.  But I am so incredibly impressed with the progress that I have made recently.

Just to show you what I mean 2 samples:

 

The stack in the beginning

Didn't flip this one, but the stack after doing some work awhile back

 

What is left from that stack after working in there lately.  Most of which I hope to have a home for soon.  I just need to go through some of it and then assign it a home.  The rest of the room is also improving greatly.

Also 1 week Soda free!!!!

The Holly Wreath

The holly wreath symbolizes the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at Calvary.

Its red berries represent the blood He shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

The endless circle is eternal life obtained through Him.

Realizations

So last night/early this morning while trying to get to sleep I was thinking/praying/reflecting and I realized 2 things.  One thing is that I am making small progress working on cleaning up my room each day, and I will be able to finish it!!!!  My room is a total disaster area and has frustrated me to no end for a long time now.  I have just recently begun working on it to get anything accomplished.

The other may sound simple to you, but for me it was huge, and this is that my desire to move and cut the family off is diminishing.  Those that have read this for any length of time know that my relationship with my mom is rocky at best and I can't remember but I may have mentioned here before that my biggest desire was to be able  to move and get my own place.  I usually followed that up with saying that I would be cutting off all contact with my family for my own self preservation.  I realized that the urge to do that is much less these days.  In fact, I'm beginning to wonder whether that would be as beneficial to me as I once thought it would.

The Legend of the Poinsettia

On Christmas Eve a small child had no gifts to give the Baby Jesus.  When she prayed an angel appeared and said, "Whatever you give from your heart will make Jesus happy."  So the girl picked some weeds and as she took them to church they changed into a brilliant red bouquet of poinsettia flowers.

Christmas in 50 Words

Christmas Season

There is so much to the Christmas season.  Shopping, family gatherings, music and movies.  Sometimes it can weigh heavy on a person, and I have honestly spent many Christmases kind of down in the dumps.  I hope that this year will be different.  But in the past I would get disgusted at Christmas time because I would look  at my life, and feel like it wasn't where it should be.  I am 34, still single and no kids.  This was not how I pictured life.  In fact, I thought I would have been married and at least have had someone I loved to spend the holidays with.  That has not been the case.

But more and more I am looking at what I do have to be thankful for and the real reason for Christmas.  I am hoping that intentional focus this year, and the fact that depression isn't prominent, will keep me from not enjoying my holiday.