Christmastime is here!

I know I complained about Christmas coming to early in November, but it's after Thanksgiving and it's time for Christmas now!

A talking snowman outside the door, a wooden snowman in the windowsill, a small Christmas tree, lights around the window and the door, a Christmas tree candle. I whipped out my Rubbermaid with all my holiday decorations in it and switched out my Christmas items for my fall decor.

I like seasonal decorations. It makes me excited for the changing seasons, even when I don't look forward to some of the outside changes like the cold weather and the drab landscape before snow falls.

Decorations especially make me happy when they have memories attached. The snowman outside my door reminds me of my mom, because she got it at Goodwill, holding on to it for me even when a woman followed her around waiting for my mom to put the stuffed piece back.

One ornament on the tree is a little piece that I made for my friends last year, and another is a reindeer that we used to make when I was a little girl.

This year, I decided to put front and center a dried starfish that has a surfboard and sunglasses. I got it on the trip Nate and I took to California this year, when we visited Catalina Island. I put the year on it too, because I figure someday we will look back and not be able to remember when we took that trip. Now we will always remember.

The Lord's Prayer

"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen."

I wrote this out and put it on a sticky note on my computer screen so that I would start to read this and pray it at least once every day.

In the Bible, Jesus taught us how to pray. We try to follow all of Jesus' teachings, but how often do we say the exact prayer that he taught us?

Kids go to sleep saying the same prayer every night - Mine was, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Now, the Lord's Prayer doesn't having any rhyming in it, but if a little kid can remember Veggie Tales songs they can memorize a prayer if they hear it often enough.

The Lord's Prayer really has everything in it. It addresses our sins, reminds us how to act toward others, asks for grace to get through the day and reminds us of God's power. I want to have this right in my face so that I am reminded of these things each day.

Let's see what kind of a difference this can make!

My "secret" dollar

"As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. [2] He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. [3] "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. [4] All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:1-4)

We read this in Sunday school yesterday, and I said, "Is it bad that every time I read this I think that's not very smart?" I mean, God calls us to be good stewards of our money. However, giving away everything leaving us nothing to live on doesn't seem like a good steward. Where's she going to get money for food or shelter - rely on someone else?

I don't know about the monetary part, but I started to think about this as life more than as money.

God blesses us all with lives to live. However, if we give only a little piece of our lives it's not worth very much. Even though our lives are small, if we give up everything it is all God asks for.

I want so much to give up my entire life for God, and I think that I do give a lot. When I look at the things in my life that need to change, I have seen some great improvements in recent years. However, in my life's wallet there's a little coin section.

My mom used to keep a "secret" dollar in her purse, to use when she needed cash and hadn't gone to the ATM recently.

I have a secret dollar, some secret coins. I have some of my life that I want just for me. I have given a lot to God, and I hang on so tightly to that last bill, those last few coins.

However, God's watching. He knows who's giving up their all and who's not. I need to release my grasp on that last secret dollar. But my fingers continue to grasp tightly.

Quick, I'm thankful for...

How many items can you name that you are thankful for in two minutes?

Family

Friends

My boyfriend

My job

Extra money for fun stuff like traveling and going out to eat

An apartment

Clothes in my closet

Technology

Favorite TV shows

Babies

Puppies

Nail polish

Both day and night, light and dark

A happy marriage for my parents and brother and sister-in-law

A safe country

My church

Make-up

Color

Breath

Life

Movement

Safety

Jesus is the reason for the season

If my memory serves me, my mom used to have a Christmas pin that said "Jesus is the reason for the season."

It's a common phrase around Christmas, when we think about Jesus' birth - the original reason for Christmas. However, I don't think that saying should be put to the back of our minds the rest of the year.

Jesus is the reason for every season. Jesus is the reason for life. Without God, we wouldn't even have seasons so the reason for the season is God, is celebrating our creator.

Jesus is especially the reason for Thanksgiving. Although God makes the sun shine on the faithful and unfaithful alike, Christians recognize that everything we have is a gift from God.

When you're sitting around your table on Thursday, going through the things in your life you're thankful for, don't just say it as a statement. Turn it into a conversation with God. Thank you God for...

Chances to serve

This season, we love to think about volunteering. From soup kitchens to donating presents to children in far-off lands through charities like Operation Christmas Child, many opportunities to give are presented to us.

In a magazine I write for, we did an entire edition revolving around service opportunities this time of year. However, in those stories I wanted to stress that opportunities to volunteer are available all year round.

I am thankful for opportunities to serve. Giving of yourself is great a variety of reasons - people are thankful, you are making a difference in someone's life, we are created to be in relationships with one another which also means helping one another, and it feel good. Knowing that you have helped someone in their time of need really satisfies something deep inside.

There are many ways to give of yourself. We can give financially, like giving to missionaries or purchasing gifts for the Angel Tree or Toys for Tots. We can give of our time, like helping a friend move or by baking cookies for a neighbor. We can give of our hearts, like giving a hug or sitting down to listen to someone's problems.

I think we often view service as an obligation or giving up something. However, when I take an opportunity to volunteer, I enjoy it. It makes me feel satisfied and content. Volunteering gives you something, just like you are giving something to someone else.

The aromas of life

This might sound silly, but I'm really thankful for the sense of smell.

I was going to write a post all about being thankful for candles, however, I decided that it even goes beyond that.

Candles are wonderful - the dim light, the warmth they can bring to a chilly room, the scents of the seasons. However, in general I think everyone would agree that the scents of candles are the best.

I just finished burning an autumn-spice candle and a coffee-scented candle my parents brought me back from Jamaica. My vanilla candle is almost out, and the lilac wax melter smells like springtime. I also just started burning a cranberry candle that is making it smell like Christmas, even though it's a little bit ahead of time.

They say that scent has the biggest tie to memory. That sounds interesting, because we normally think we use sight and hearing much more than smell. However, we smell things and create memories subconsciously, and I think that's why our sense of smell is tied so much to memory.

Smell is wonderful. Without smell, we can't taste - I know from the times I've been sick and have been unable to taste food because my nose is so clogged.

Smells can relax you immediately and make you think of good times - the smell of baking cookies, the scent of apple cinnamon on pinecones that remind you of the holidays, the smell of fresh-cut grass that immediately feels like the fun of summer.

Walking into a house that has a fresh scent makes you feel comfortable, but a bad smell can make you immediately tense up.

I'm so glad that I can experience life through so many different senses, including the sense of smell. It's a beautiful experience that we don't often think about, but I certainly appreciate the aromas of life.