Happy Thanksgiving!

It is hard for me to believe that another year has almost come to an end. The months are going by so quickly. At our house this year, things have been a little hard but God has gotten us through and we anticipate a better 2019. I pray the same will be true for all of you. 

Being that today is Thanksgiving, I thought I would give you some facts about it that perhaps you did not know.

1.  The first Thanksgiving was a three-day celebration. Governor William Bradford organized the feast.
2.   It is unclear if the meal included turkey. However, they did have lobster, seal, and swan. 
3.   In Plymouth, Massachusets, you can order tickets as early as June to attend a Thanksgiving dinner as part of the town looks much the same as it did in the 17th Century.
4.  The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade made its debut in 1924, but it did not feature balloons. However, they did have animals from the Central Park Zoo. 
5.   German American Illustrator Tony Starg had an interest in puppetry and he was responsible for the amazing floats that came to life in the 1927 parade.  At the time, he was an illustrator for Good Housekeeping Magazine.
6.  About 46 million turkeys are cooked for Thanksgiving each year.
7.   Only male turkeys gobble
8.  The Butterball Talk Turkey Line answers almost 100,000 calls each season
9.  There are 4 places in the country named Turkey, another 4 named Cranberry and 34 named Plymouth.
10.  And would you believe that Black Friday is the busiest day for plumbers? It is due to all the food eaten, that kitchen drains, garbage disposals and toilets need more attention on Thanksgiving than at any other time during the year, reports Roto-Rooter. 

For more interesting facts about Thanksgiving, follow the link to:Best Thanksgiving Trivia - 20 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving

So what are you plans once your own Thanksgiving meal is over? Watching the football game?, Throwing a football around or playing it with other members of the family outside? Playing board or card games? I know one family that used to go to a movie theater each year. Or maybe you prefer watching them at home. 

Well, if that's you, watching movies at home, here is a few I found that will air on tv today.

1. National Lampoon's Holiday Reunion (2003)
2. .Free Birds (2013)
3.  You've Got Mail (1998)
4. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
5. The Blind Side (2009)

These are just a few and more are listed with trailers at 16 Best Thanksgiving Movies for 2018 - Thanksgiving Films to Watch This Year

Above all, when sitting around the table today, ready to enjoy a wonderful meal, don't forget to give thanks to God who has blessed us so abundantly. Not only for our food but for family, friends, this country we love. And most of all, for sending his son Jesus to die for our sin that we can have eternal life. Have a wonderful day and God bless you and yours!

Changing Topics For Today: Happy Fall! Recipes for Christmas

Hello Friends. I am going to switch gears for today with a couple easy Christmas Recipes since it is the day before Thanksgiving and you probably have your meals planned and shopping done for tomorrow. I decided to put my next lesson (Things God Hates) off until Friday. So I hope you enjoy what I have found for today's blog.

Maybe you have some kids at home that you need some easy cooking/baking ideas to help keep them busy for the days they will be off during Christmas break. So how about this cute idea that comes from Easy Rudolph Brownies - Your Cup of Cake



Rudolph the Reindeer Brownies

Prepare Brownies from any box mix or even from scratch. Frost the brownies to stick on the face or use melted chocolate to use as the glue. Using white M&Ms from a bag of the mint flavored, for the eye whites, a drop of melted chocolate (using a toothpick) for the pupils, and a red M&M for the nose, and pretzels for the antlers, you have a fun take along desert to a party or what child would not be happy to share Rudolph with their class at a school party?



One of my most loved Christmas Characters is The Grinch. Why? Because ' How The Grinch Stole Christmas' made its debut into my life and heart by way of that story being published in our local paper some 50 plus years ago one Christmas when my father read it to us on Christmas morning. The Grinch is still popular after all these years later and has his own new movie out this Christmas Season. simply called, 'The Grinch.' So when I found this recipe for the cake, named for this time-honored tradition,  I had to share it with you. I suggest first you go to her website  for suggestions and more pictures of just how she made it, please visit her at  Grinch Cake for Christmas | The Bearfoot Baker
           

ingredients:

2 boxes pound cake mix plus whatever the box calls for
heart cookie cutter
red and green food color
loaf pan
green and yellow frosting (Pillsbury Blue and Green Funfetti Frosting)
red heart sprinkles-optional

Instructions:

1. Make one box of cake mix following directions on the box. Add a few drops of red coloring until you get the color red you want.
2. Please note: Recipe on the website suggests using Wilton 'No Taste' red coloring because it doesn't have the taste of food coloring so is perfect for this cake.
3. After baking, cool cake and then slice into even pieces.
4. Then use heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut as many hearts as it takes to lay them face to face from one end of the pan to the other end. Make it a snug fit but leave the room at each end for the green cake mix.
5. Mix the second cake mix and add some green food coloring.
6. Pour the green batter around the heart cut outs.
7. Top the pan on the counter so that the batter will fall down around the hearts.
8. Bake according to package directions.
9. Frost the cake with some green frosting and add some red heart sprinkles

How about this cute treat for a child's school party. One that they themselves will have fun making to share with their class? From website: Milky Way Teddy Sleds for Class Party Treats this Christmas!

Milky Way Teddy Sleds

Ingredients:

Mini candy canes (2 for each sled)

1 Milky Way miniature candy bar (cut in half for each sled)

1 Teddy Graham

small amount of chocolate frosting per sled

Spread frosting on mini candy canes. Add milky way bar and sandwich teddy graham in between bar Let dry overnight before transporting them. 

Now how easy and fun is that! The above website also suggests it would be a great treat for a class treat party station as well!

Well, friends that is it for today. I apologize for being a bit later today on this blog. I will be here briefly tomorrow but it in the meantime, I leave you with the following scripture. 

For all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many rebound to the glory of God. 2 Corthianians 4:15.

Have a blessed day!

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God Hates A Lying Tongue

Lying goes all the way back to the Garden of Evil when the devil told Eve that despite what God had told her which was not to eat from a certain tree, that indeed it was ok to eat from it and that she would not die if she did. From that day forward, the devil has continued to lie to us and we have picked up the habit ourselves. A habit called sin. 

It was a commandment of God, the ninth one in fact that we are not to bear false witness against our neighbor. It was apart of the early church in a lie that Ananias and Sapphira told about a donation they had made.

God is a not a man that he should lie. Numbers 23:19

Jesus Christ called himself The Way, The Truth, and The Life in John 14:6.

Other scripture about lying can be found in Colossians 3:9, Ephesians 4:15,  Hebrews 6:18 and others. Lying is such a sin that this is what Revelation 21:8 has to say about it.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for the murders, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolators, and all liars their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur that is the second death. 

Ummm. Isn't that pretty harsh since we all have a tendency to lie at times? To cover up something we have done or maybe haven't done that we should have. And yet that is what it says.

And for many many people, that will be their end.

Thank God we do not have to end up in a lake that burns with fire and sulfur. We have only to accept God's gift of eternal life and at that point, when we do lie, we have him to go to, to ask his forgiveness.

Granted, it is better to not get caught up in any kind of lying. Sometimes a lie will end up in a tangled web of lies, each one building on the one before and before we know it we have created a problem that we don't know how to get out of. Lies are never pretty. They are devised of the devil and used by us to do us and those around us damage.

God wants better for us. He wants us to live in the truth. But when we fall into that sin, we have only to confess it to him and he forgives us. He is our way of escape out of the sin that leads us to the end that those that don't know him will find themselves someday. Or those that have already.

Thank God for his free gift. Because in him, we do have his word to count on when all else fails, for he is Truth.

Up tomorrow: God Hates Hands That Shed Innocent Blood

Thanks for coming by to spend a few minutes with me. I hope you will come back tomorrow. In the meantime, have a blessed day as you prepare for Thanksgiving.  

God Hates A haughty Look

Haughty: arrogant, full of pride, superior to others, disdainful, overbearing, and obnoxious.

Have you ever known anyone that you could call haughty? We probably all have at one time or another. If not personally, maybe someone that we just know of. It is in contrast to what the Bible teaches us about being humble. And in Proverbs 21:4, to have haughty eyes or to be prideful is called sin. It is saying, "Look at me. I am better than you. I am above you. You are nothing in comparison."

I think that there are those that want nothing to do with God, that would have this attitude. They are too good for him. They have no need for a Savior. They are above anyone that does. And he is only for weak people. And in fact, I have been told that. And yet, it is that exact attitude, that is exactly why they need God. And why they need a Savior. Because in the end, when it comes their time to face him, they are going to find out why they did need him and are going to be sorry that they didn't realize that sooner.

The wrong kind of pride can not only be sin, but it can also be sad.

I know of a man that thinks that the world revolves around himself. He doesn't care what anyone else has to say. He always is the important one in any conversation he has with anyone all the time. It is almost so ridiculous that if you were to talk to him on a Monday and you said it was Monday, he would argue with you that no, it is Tuesday. He is in his 80s now, and most everyone that knows him cannot stand to be around him. He will die a lonely old man and face an eternity that he never believed in or needed unless he finds Jesus before that time comes. What a sad way to live and  worse yet to die

Scripture is very clear about it being sin and how God hates it. There are many instances where God has had to deal with it in people. Both in the Old and New Testament. Just a couple examples of each are in Psalm 18:27, Isaiah 2;11, 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6

But wait, just because we are born again does not mean we are exempt from becoming prideful. God had to deal with it in his own people such as 2 Chronicles 26:16 with King Uzziah for example. It is something we need to watch in our own lives because those that are not Christians are watching us. We are the only word of God that some people will ever see. And if they see us as being anything other than humble as God wants us to be, why would they want to accept Christ.

To anyone that thinks that God is for just the weak, I  do say I have to agree. He is for me because without him, I am otherwise weak. I do have a need for him. I do have a need for a Savior. Without him, I am nothing. And I am so thankful that he died for me!

Being humble is an attitude of the heart that we really do need to strive for because otherwise, God does resist those that are haughty and full of pride. Full of no one but themselves. And that is a sad place to be.

(Tomorrow: A Lying Tongue)

Have a blessed day and new week Friends. Thanks for coming!

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God is Love. So What Does He Hate?

We know that God is Love. The Bible tells us just how much he loves us in that he sent his Son Jesus into our world to save us from the sin that would lead us to destruction. But what are the things that God hates?

Actually, there are 7 things listed in the bible that he hates. They are: (1) Haughty Eyes (2) A Lying Tougne (3) Hands That Shed Innocent Blood (4) A Heart That Devises Wicked Plans (5) Feet That Make Haste To Run To Evil (6) A False Witness That Breaths Out Lies (7) One That Sows Discord Among the Brethren    Proverbs 6:16-19

And so what do those things mean to us today, if anything? Well, starting tomorrow and for the next few days, we will take a look at each one to see if we can find something out about what they mean in today's world. I hope you will join me.

As for today, I am going to take it off from my usual blog. But in the meantime, I leave you with this  promise from  Isaiah 26:3.


You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you. 

May God bless you and yours this Lords Day!

It Is Not Funny!

Have you ever done anything that you were ashamed of? Of course, you have. We all have. We disobey God, causing us to sin which then causes us shame. There are different kinds of shame. Shame for something we have done that isn't right. Shame for something done to us in our past. Shame for sinning against God. And worse yet, being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have all sinned. For all have sinned and come short of God's glory. Romans 3:23. However,  sometimes, we want or try to hang on to it even when we need to let it go.

Sometimes we feel so ashamed that we can't even forgive ourselves.

For some, there are things that haunt them from the past. Things that were out of their control. Things that someone did to them and made them believe that it was all their fault when it wasn't at all. But take heart. God can take that shame away. Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed., neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame: for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. Isahia 54:4

We should never be ashamed of our Lord Jesus Christ. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone that believes, for the Jew first and then the Greek. Romans 1:16  He is not ashamed of us (Hebrews 2:1)  and therefore we should not be ashamed of him.

So what are we to do with the shame we feel? First, putting our faith in Christ is the first step and that is essential. Then we need to understand that he loves us, and once we have asked his forgiveness, he no longer holds us responsible for those things we have done that have caused the shame. Being in his word and learning to forgive ourselves goes a long way in getting past the shame we feel. And also, forgiving those that have wronged us, will help us as well.

God promises this in Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison doors to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all those that mourn, to console those that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for morning, the spirit of praise for the garment of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified. 

Shame is not funny. Ask anyone that has ever been made to feel it. We all have. But guess what.....

.....Jesus took our shame when he died on the cross for us. Hebrews 12:2, so when we put our trust in him, we no longer have to live our lives in it, if we let him take it from us.  He allowed his death to happen so that you and I can have a home with him in heaven. And he is there, sitting at the right hand of the Father, waiting for you and I. And while we are waiting to get there, we can be free from it. Yes, we can. And for us, it is all good news!

Thanks for coming for a visit today Friends. Have a blessed Day!

Happy Fall!/ Recipes

Burrrr. For some of the country at least, winter has hit. Earlier this week, my husband and I had gone on our usual grocery trip. It was soooo cold! But it was so nice to get back home to a warm house. Then yesterday we got snow flurries. Quite a few of them really. But they didn't stick. Just left everything wet.

But, all said and done, winter is definitely on its way. And with that in mind, I decided to look up some non-alcoholic drinks that could help warm us up when we need that extra bit of help.



Vegan Pumpkin Spice Bedtime Drink

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 tbsp pumpkin puree

2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
optional: vegan whipped cream and walnuts for garnish

1.Whisk ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat until smooth
2. Serve hot and enjoy!



Who doesn't like salted caramel? Here's a new twist (at least to me) on that in a hot drink.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups apple cider

1/2 tsp sea salt

whipped cream, caramel syrup, and cinnamon for garnish

Combine brown sugar and heavy cream over medium-high

heat in a medium heavy bottom pan. Stir until sugar is

dissolved in the cream and the mixture bubbles, about 3

minutes. Add vanilla, salt, and cider and stir well. Simmer

for 10 minutes or until heated through. 

Yum! 

      These recipes and more can be found on (50) Pinterest should you want to check them out. 

Thanks for coming by today Friends. Have a wonderful fall day and please come back tomorrow!(By the way, I apologize for the mistake on yesterdays blog about it being Friday. I was trying to get ahead to the weekend I guess.)