Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and Holiday season for those who do not celebrate Christmas.:)

Best wishes and God Bless each of you!:)~Bekka

Snow Patrol...not the group(but I like them)...I am watching for the snow that the weather predicted..uhm..haven't seen a flake(let me rephrase that:o)...haven't seen a Snow flake yet...It's cold..about 28 degrees..I see a few greyish clouds...Nope..nada..no snow yet...Will keep ya updated...(looks towards the sky).

Those are just a few blinkie/pictures to remind me what to look for...okay..gonna get me some coffee and a warm throw and wait for it.....and wait for it....and wait for it....:roll:

Today is the anniversary of my Uncle's death. He died on December 15, 1991. He was doing what he had come to love on this date, he had been playing golf, something my ex-husband had gotten him interested in just a few short years before. He had his first heart attack at a young age, 39 and had open-heart later that same year. He did everything right, he ate right, he quit smoking, he exercised but the truth be told genetics weren't on his side, his father died at age 50 backing the car out of the driveway. My uncle was 52 when he passed away. My aunt has never truly gotten over it, it took her 15 years to go through his golf bag and to discard and give away some of his things. I hurt for her on this day. My aunt and uncle were there for my sister and I when things went from bad to worse and took us in when we were teenagers, saving us from physical,mental and emotional abuse. My uncle was quiet, some say moody, but he said what he meant when he said it and he was a man of few but meaningful words, he taught sunday school for the newlyweds when I was a newlywed, he never did anything half way, when he became a christian, he was in every sense of the word. I hated to ever disappoint him in any way, even if it was trivial. Today I am missing him, my aunt and my family alot. I don't know if I will last here because I think it is taking a toll on my own health and well-being. I just hope and pray my aunt has a day full of love and lovely memories though they be bitter sweet. Uncle Don, miss you, love you and keep a seat saved for us at the concert of the ages.(maybe I will have a lovely voice then;)) I also want to thank God for my uncle and aunt and my family, they are precious.~Bekka

PS. Don't feel obligated to comment, I know grief is hard for some people, but actually I am not grieving, I am celebrating a person, I loved completely. Thanks for enduring my ramblings.:)

Sorry Little Darlins....it's me again...with my sweet but sad stories...but I always feel better after a cry usually...Just consider this your "Frog" for the day...as in...Eat a Live Frog Every Morning and Nothing Else Will Bother You the Rest of the Day! XOXOXO~Bekka:lol::shock::D

  Gold Wrapping Paper

I received this from a friend who had a choice to make. It said that I had a choice to make too.
I've chosen. Now it's your turn to choose.
The story goes that some time ago a mother punished her five year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when the child used the gold p aper to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her mother the next morning and then said,
"This is for you, Momma."
The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner.
"Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?"
She had tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Momma, it's not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full."
The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness for her thoughtless anger.
An accident took the life of the child only a short time later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by her bed for all the years of her life.
Whenever she was discouraged or  faced difficult problems she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been given a Golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends
and GOD. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

:D:D:D

Roses for a Dime
  by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown

 
Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold.

Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend."

Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far.

What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother's absence.

All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to.

Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime.

Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime.

He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you."

As Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers.

The sound of the door closing as the last customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid.

Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box.

"That will be ten cents young man." the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?"

This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."

As he returned inside, the shop keepers wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?"

Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.

"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars.

"When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses."

The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all.

“I Need Someone to Look After Me”
by Max Lucado

“Good, I’m glad you’re sitting by me. Sometimes I throw up.”

Not exactly what you like to hear from the airline passenger in the next seat. Before I had time to store my bag in the overhead compartment, I knew his name, age, and itinerary. “I’m Billy Jack. I’m fourteen, and I’m going home to see my daddy.” I started to tell him my name, but he spoke first.

“I need someone to look after me. I get confused a lot.”

He told me about the special school he attended and the medication he took. “Can you remind me to take my pill in a few minutes?” Before we buckled up he stopped the airline attendant. “Don’t forget about me,” he told her. “I get confused.”

Billy Jack was a little boy in a big body. “Can clouds hit the ground?” he asked me. I started to answer, but he looked back out the window like he’d never asked. Unashamed of his needs, he didn’t let a flight attendant pass without a reminder: “Don’t forget to look after me.”

When they brought the food: “Don’t forget to look after me.”

When they brought more drinks: “Don’t forget to look after me.”

When any attendant would pass, Billy Jack would urge: “Don’t forget to look after me.”

I honestly can’t think of one time Billy Jack didn’t remind the crew that he needed attention. The rest of us didn’t. We never asked for help. We were grownups. Sophisticated. Self-reliant. Seasoned travelers. Most of us didn’t even listen to the emergency landing instructions. (Billy Jack asked me to explain them to him.)

 Billy Jack would have understood the idea of grace.

Have you?

 Many haven’t. We are sophisticated, mature. An epistle to challenge the self-sufficient, Romans was written for folks like us. Confession of need is admission of weakness, something we are slow to do. That’s why I think Billy Jack would have understood grace. It occurred to me that he was the safest person on the flight. Had the plane encountered trouble, he would have received primary assistance. The flight attendants would have bypassed me and gone to him. Why? He had placed himself in the care of someone stronger.
***
One last thought. Billy Jack spent the final hour of the flight with his head on my shoulder, his hands folded between his knees. Just when I thought he was asleep, his head popped up and he said, “My dad is going to meet me at the airport. I can’t wait to see him because he watches after me.”

I read Max Lucado's upwords almost daily and he relays the message of God so eloquently and touches me so much. I guess I am just an old softie and some people think it's a sign of weakness but I don't think so. I know there are people who don't believe as I do and I am not trying to influence your choice as to how you believe. I do say a short prayer for everyone on here every day because I would rather err on the safe side and if there is no hereafter then I will have lost nothing but since I believe there is then so much I will have gained. So laugh at me if ya must, or shake ya head with my ramblings, yes I know yeserday I was aggravated, but I am human as well and get aggravated too, like the old saying says..I am a christian...I am not perfect...just forgiven.

Two blogs in one day...I must be thinking too much!:)

Have a great evening everyone!!! God Bless and Hugzzz to all!:D~Bekka