Goodbye 2010 - Hello 2011

Out with the old and in with the new. I think. A couple of years ago I quit drinking Diet Coke. Whew. That was HARD! I actually gave up anything with aspartame. I'm so glad I did. The first two weeks were sheer torture, however. I had horrific headaches - tried to ease them with regular soda but hated the super sweet taste. I took up coffee when I couldn't stand the headaches combined with sugar mouth syndrome. I drink coffee once or twice a day now and rarely touch a soda. I can't say that I never drink a regular pop now and then, though. I can, however, say that I don't touch diet pop whatsoever.

For about 8 years now, I've read the Bible through in a year. That's one "resolution" I've completely stuck with. I am not bored with the Bible. God's word is "new every morning." I can't get enough. For years I've used the plan included in Our Daily Bread devotionals. This year, I'm using something new. Read more about that in tomorrow's post.

In 2011 I plan to spend more time in prayer. It's the best stress reliever I've found. If you want to pursue a relationship with God, you have to talk to Him. Then listen. God isn't silent.

So.....do you have a New Year's Resolution for 2011?

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Aloha Friday - December 17

Happy Friday! The "busy" week is nearly upon us. The Christmas/New Year season is a busy one for many people. Others find it just stressful and commercial. And still others find it to be a time of peace and goodwill. I find it to be a combination of all of the above. You know what it really is? It's an agreed upon date to spend in remembrance of our Lord and Savior's birth.

My question is: What does Christmas mean to you?

Luke chapter 2 in the old Kings James Version says this:


 ¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
 ²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
 ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
 ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
 ⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
 ⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
 ⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
 ⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
 ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
 ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
 ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
 ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
 ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
 ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
 ¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
 ¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
 ¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
 ¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
 ¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
 ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
 ²¹And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
 ²²And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
 ²³(As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
 ²⁴And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
 ²⁵And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
 ²⁶And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
 ²⁷And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
 ²⁸Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
 ²⁹Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
 ³⁰For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
 ³¹Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
 ³²A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
 ³³And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
 ³⁴And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
 ³⁵(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
 ³⁶And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
 ³⁷And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
 ³⁸And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
 ³⁹And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
 ⁴⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
 ⁴¹Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
 ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
 ⁴³And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
 ⁴⁴But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
 ⁴⁵And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
 ⁴⁶And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
 ⁴⁷And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
 ⁴⁸And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
 ⁴⁹And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
 ⁵⁰And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
 ⁵¹And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
 ⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

The Naughty or Nice Christmas List - What do you Think?

The American Family Association has published its Naughty or Nice Christmas List for 2010. This list highlights companies that: Use the word "Christmas" on a regular basis, use the word "Christmas" infrequently, or sparingly (or not at all.) After reading over the list, I was a little surprised by the companies that are more "Christmas" friendly than others. Home Depot didn't make any of the lists. I suppose that's because a large number of Christians are boycotting them. I knew that Hobby Lobby would be on the nice list because they play Christian music in the store most of the time.

Personally, I don't like to celebrate Christmas much. Don't jump at me yet. I don't like to celebrate the worldly holiday that Christmas is all around the world. I DO celebrate Christ - the fact that he was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and died on a cross for the sins of mankind. I celebrate the fact that He rose on the third day and appeared to His disciples and many others. I celebrate the fact that He ascended to Heaven and is now preparing a place for those who believe and trust in Him. I celebrate the fact that He's coming again to take His bride home.

I DON'T celebrate Santa. I don't celebrate giving gifts at this time too well, but I'm trying for my family's sake. I loathe putting up a Christmas tree each year. I appreciate only a handful of Christmas movies.

I'm a scrooge! Really, though, I don't think that using or not using the word "Christmas" by the world is a big deal. The big deal is that many, many people are perishing and don't know it. Their souls are dying because they don't know the Savior of the world, Christ Himself. His name isn't "Christmas." It's "Emmanual" - God with us. That's what we should celebrate. And that's a Name we should never be ashamed to say. If we do, He says He'll be ashamed of us before His Father in Heaven.

What I'd like to know is: Do you really care whether stores use the word "Christmas" in their Christmas advertising and in the physical stores?

Aloha Friday - July 23

I haven't done an Aloha Friday in a while, so I decided that today might be the time to bring it back to this blog.

This has been a hard week for me and I've neglected to do much here - even worse on my other blog - but I'm going to try to change that. The operative word here is try. 

I posed the following question to my Facebook friends this week. I got some good answers but would love to hear yours. 

If you knew for certain that today was your last day, what would you do?

Aloha Friday - School Subjects

Today is another Aloha Friday - in other words, my question of the week. You can find more questions at Island Life.

I am in a rush to get to our homeschool co-op today. This year we have an art teacher - she graduated with an art degree from Pensacola Christian - and she is good! Art would have been somewhere at the bottom of my list of favorite school subjects. When I was in school, my favorite subjects were a tie between history and English grammar/composition.

My question for you this week is:

What was or is your favorite school subject?

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

Aloha Friday - Art

It's time for Aloha Friday once again. This has been a bad week for me in terms of getting things done in a timely manner. I'm not sure what my problem is - busyness or a lack of organization. Whatever the case may be, I'm in another rush today. We are going to homeschool co-op to have gym time and art lessons. This year, we have an art teacher with a degree in art doing the lessons. I'm thinking it'll be a good thing.

This brings me to our question of the week. I stink in drawing and painting. I have children who excel in art. Go figure.

Do you consider yourself to be an artist - or at the very least, good at art?

Please visit  Island Life for other easy to answer questions.

Aloha Friday - Life

A friend of mine on Facebook posed the question, "If you could go back to any point in time and live it again, what period of your life would it be and why?"

I thought about that question for some time and finally decided that I would relive my teen years. I didn't have a particularly happy teen life and that's why I would do it over again. I would want to be less shy and talk to people more. I realize now that I cheated myself out of good friendships simply because I was too afraid to talk to the "popular" kids. I was afraid they wouldn't like me if they got to know me. I had low self-esteem, I guess.

Today, I'm friends with a lot of those very people of whom I was afraid some 30 years ago. They were just ordinary people, like me. They had those same fears that I did.

My question to you is the same as my friend's:

"If you could go back to any point in time and live it again, what period of your life would it be and why?"

Be sure to visit Island Life for other questions.

Aloha Friday - Shopping

"Take it easy and look forward to the weekend" is Kailani's motto on Aloha Fridays.

I am sorting through coupons, grocery ads and Meijer Mealbox and then heading to town today. Our Meijer is new - it opened this past April. It's a beautiful, large store with the best produce in town after the local farmer's market and personal gardens. Wal-Mart is located more conveniently and matches anyone's advertised sale prices, but I've had a lot of trouble with them in the past - coupons not scanned correctly and the clerk adamantly says they did, charged the wrong prices, rude sales people, etc.

Because I have to be price conscious I split my shopping between those two stores as much as I can (even though I personally hate to go to Wal-Mart.)

My question today is:

What store is your favorite shopping center?

Aloha Friday - Cars

We're planning to visit our extended family in the next state south next week. While we're excited about having another graduation party for Jonathon and having the chance to visit loved ones, we're a bit nervous too. Our old van is the same age as this son who just graduated but it's not a healthy youthful teenager. It's falling apart and it's no longer very reliable. There's a leak in the gas tank that we keep patching. The engine light stays on and nobody knows why. The brakes have gone out on us three times since we bought it four years ago. Now it has some rattles and other noises that cause us to question whether the U joints are bad.

We will not be able to buy another car for at least another year, even with that "Cash for Clunkers" program the government has put into effect. Even if we we could buy something else, it wouldn't be with that program - we don't agree that it's a good thing for a number of reasons that I won't detail for you now.

So...

How old is the car you're driving now?

Aloha Friday - Groceries

I just finished shopping for the week's groceries - to feed a family of 7. Because of the week's bills, though, I was very limited. I spent $62.

This week's Aloha Friday question for you is:

How much, on average, do you spend on groceries to feed your family?

Aloha Friday - Pet Peeves

I completely forgot Aloha Friday! Better a little late in the day than never, right?

This week I spent some time thinking, praying, and counseling (receiving) about some issues involving my pet peeve - Satan and his attacks upon families. His number one goal is to take glory from God and deceive as many people as he can so that God "loses."

When he can cause friction within families, Satan thinks he's won. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death." Mark 13:12 (emphasis is mine)

Satan hasn't won. He will never win. The Bible "tells me so" in the book of Revelation and throughout the entire Bible. Still, it's difficult to stand up for Jesus and then watch families tear into each other because they don't agree.

Thus, my pet peeve, Satan, remains.

My question for this week is,

What is your pet peeve?

Aloha Friday - Gardens

It's Friday already. I don't know about you, but it seems as if this summer is flying right on by. Winters, in comparison, drag on and on for me. With summer comes gardening. This year I have three of them - one is fairly large and the other two are not quite so big. All of them keep me quite busy with weeding and all of that fun stuff. It's really a chore, especially as I get older and find I don't have the ability to bend and move quite so easily....and I'm only 46! Makes me wonder how it'll go when I'm 66...

Anyway, I wonder -

Do you have a garden and, if so, what do you find is your greatest challenge with it?

Visit other Aloha Friday questions here.

Aloha Friday - Music

The Big Ticket Festival is going on in Gaylord. Every year I want to go. Every year I can't because we can't afford the tickets. My husband and two of my sons work security for what is, in our area of the north, the biggest thing in Christian music each year. My favorite music groups are Fernando Ortega, Third Day, and Mercy Me. Third Day is one of the groups performing at the Big Ticket. Also on tap is Joe Stowell, president of Cornerstone University. Wow, how I'd love to be there!

Who is your favorite singer/musician?

Aloha Friday - Technical Inventions

I just posted about a VOIP service - something that is sort of new to me. I'm not so much into technological inventions as some other people are, but I do find some of them to be a big help, like telephones, computers and writing software. I could do without television easily.

Other big inventions that I rely upon are cars and electricity.

This week I'm wondering -

Is there a technological invention that you just "can't do without" and why?

Visit Island Life if you want to find a plethora of bloggers asking a simple question.

Aloha Friday - Food

Hop over to Island Life for a TON of frivolous questions!

I am about tapped out of cooking these days. Everyone has their favorite menus and they beg me to fix theirs. The problem is that it gets hot in here in the summer. We will grill more this summer to keep the heat outside. I like hamburgers best.

What is your favorite grilled item? (or do you even like to grill at all?)

Aloha Friday - Summer

Summer is nearly upon us here in the United States. We're a homeschooling family that takes summers off from schoolwork. That means I can have some time to myself- sort of. I'm free to garden, which is something that I really enjoy.

Today, I'm wondering how YOU spend the summer months?

Visit Aloha Fridays to find lots more blogs with questions.

Aloha Friday - Games

It's already Friday - and a long weekend for some people. For us, though it's actually a shorter one. My husband is busiest in the summer and especially over holidays. So he only had one day off this week - yesterday. Overtime is good, though.

Today I'm going to plant some more things in my garden. Jeff got some tomato plants as well as some others that I haven't even checked out yet. It'll be a surprise to me, I guess :)

Now, will I have the time to get things done today? Ha! I've become addicted to an online game called Farmtown (Facebook application) and I play that now and again instead of doing things I should be doing.

My question today is:

Do you play games and, if so, what game(s) do you enjoy?

Aloha Friday - May 15

My brother, Steve, his wife, Christy, and their children are here visiting for a few days. It's been a challenge to come up with meals for a large crowd - we have 7 just in our own family - especially since my nephew is gluten intolerant. But we're doing it. Today we're going to take the family to see lighthouses (we live in Michigan where lighthouses abound) and we're going to have a cookout with hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst. There's a little something for everyone, I think.

My question for you today is:

What is your favorite food?

Maybe your answers will give me ideas for future menu plans!

If you like to answer random questions and/or you'd like to link up your own Aloha Friday, visit An Island Life.

Aloha Friday - Elk Antlers

I almost forgot that this is Friday! Jeff and Ryan headed to the woods with a couple of Jeff's co-workers in pursuit of the ever popular morel mushroom today. They found 63 mushrooms. I had thought they'd find more because we had a whole lot of snow last winter. Maybe if we get more rain and warmer weather.

Here's something else they found:


It's an elk antler and Jeff found it on one of the trails out in the Pigeon River State Forest, just a hop, skip and a jump from our home.

My question is, what would you do with this antler?

Aloha Friday - May 1

It's May 1 - May Day! The April showers were supposed to bring May flowers, so I'm wondering the following:

What is your favorite flower?

Mine is a rose, any color.

If you'd like to participate with Aloha Friday, visit An Island Life and link up.