A very dear friend received this from Africa last night.  I wanted to both share it with you and proclaim it over all of you as well.  Such incredible blessings ! !  Hugs and Merry Christmas,  Holly (thanks, Ellie, for letting me use your words)

Its Christmas day in Africa already. When He resurrected, those who were dead were seen walking in the streets. HE IS BORN. Let new things be birthed in your life. I speak new Ideas. I speak open doors and opportunities. I speak healing to relationships, to marriages, to sick bodies etc. I speak restoration. I speak promotion. I speak increase and expansion, growth and establishment. receive it all child of God in Jesus mighty name. Hallelujah.
Blessings and Merry Christmas,

Meet Miss Abby

One of the marvelous things about blog land are the wonderful people that you meet.  To think that someday we will meet and say, "Thank you for praying for me", or "Your words meant so much to me."  We have been given such a wonderful opportunity to be connected with each other.  Well, I found Abby's blog because I saw a picture on The Writer's Reverie(another wonderful blog), clicked on it, you know how it goes.....you go to the next wonderful site and start looking around and love what you see.  Abby creates beautiful downloads which she shares with us today, as well as is a speaker for women's retreats.  Abby, thank you so much for sharing this post with us.  It is wonderful!!
Hi, my name is Abby from Little Birdie Blessings.  Holly discovered my blog and then I in turn discovered hers, and you know how that goes.  At any rate, we’re glad we found each other.  She has asked me to share a guest post on the subject of prayer and I’m very happy to do so.   In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.
Psalm 5:3  The morning is my favorite time of day. It’s peaceful, the phone isn’t ringing, there is minimal noise outside except the birds, and there are no interruptions. It’s a quiet time. A time this scripture takes meaning for me.  God calls us to pray through the many references in the Bible such as… ask and ye shall receive,pray so that you will not fall into temptation,pray without ceasing,brethren pray for us,is any afflicted let him pray,the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. These are just a few of the examples. 

I know with certainty, God hears and answers our prayers. At a particularly low point in my life God revealed that he had not forgotten me in ways that were beyond coincidence. I have countless examples but this one stands out, perhaps because it’s small but mighty. It was my birthday and I wanted to make shredded wheat bread but didn’t have the ingredients or the money to buy them. Feeling defeated, I sat at my kitchen table and began to pray. I was interrupted by a knock at my door, it was my neighbor with a loaf of warm homemade….that’s right….shredded wheat bread.   It brings tears to my eyes, just to retell this story. It’s SO powerful to me. God ALWAYS answers our prayers, it may not be as we want Him to, but remember he is ALL knowing, He knows what is best for us. If God answers your prayer right away, be thankful; if it’s denied, be patient; if we are to wait, then wait with expectation as the scripture says.  I found this among the many notes of my husband’s grandmother:
P – Praise
R – Remembering
A – Asking
Y – Yielding
E – Expecting
R – Receiving 
I enjoyed making a 12x12 scrapbook page that reflects Psalm 5:3 and what it means to me.   

The image at the top of the post is a vintage postcard from my collection, which I added this scripture to.  It is free to you for personal use. Thank you so much Holly for inviting me to share on your blog.   It’s been a blessing for me, and I pray that your readers would be encouraged by it.

Blessings,

Christmas Present

I'm so far behind on my posts. I'll make this one brief and then try to play catch up later this week. Oh yeah....I forgot....it's the week of Christmas....prob'ly not....have church tomorrow morning, open house in the afternoon and cantata that night....I have something to do Monday but I can't remember. But, I do remember that it is my oldest son's birthday and we will be Skyping that day to hug him via Skype. I am so blessed with wonderful children! Tuesday I go to a dear friend and fellow dollmaker's home to learn a new way to paint eyes - can't wait! Wednesday I am having an open house at our house....somewhere between now and Wednesday I need to decide the menu and what I am cooking AND clean....that's kind of a biggy. On Thursday I go to Denver to pick up my other son who is flying in from Montana and then driving home. On Friday we will have a Christmas eve service and Saturday is Christmas.

How about you? How is your week looking? Oh, and I learned something today...I thought I would share....holidays have been difficult for me for the last several years because of life's circumstances. However, I learned something today from my monthly study that was most helpful. Jesus is going to show up that day and I have a choice whether or not I will show up....I get to decide what my attitude is...I get to decide whether or not I am going to live in the past or in the present. I have decided to live in the present. I have decided that I will embrace today, this week, the people that come and go across my path. How about you?