Tis' The Season To Party...

Oh oh OH! The annual family Christmas party has arrived and left in what feels like a few minutes!  This year is flying by with only two days left til Christmas!  Everything needs to slow down because school will be starting back before we realize, and I am ill-prepared for school to come back.

Anyway, Annual T family Christmas Party! Woo! The Christmas party is basically where my family invites the WHOLE church over to our house where we eat, fellowship, read the Christmas Story, exchange gifts, and just love on one another before we don't see eachother until after Christmas.  It is all in great fun and love in Christ.  

These are just a few of the pictures I took...

The inside of the house was so packed during the reading of the Christmas story that people were standing and sitting on the floors. We even had a second Christmas story reading outside for the men who weren't able to squeeze into a spot to hear the first story.

A lot of people came to the party. Family, friends, and family of the friends all came as well.  We all learned new things at the party. I learned that hard wood floors hurt after sitting on them for 30 minutes, my niece Raine (Pictured above) learned that she could rock herself in the rocking chair. (How cute!)

The house was beautifully decorated inside, and out, by my parents. My mom put so much effort into the inside of the house and my father struggled with the outside lights, but in the end it looked amazing! Overall, the Lord truly blessed are get together that night :) It was a great set off to Christmas week.

Can You Feel the Season Yet?

Only thirteen days left til Christmas morning and I don't even have all of the gifts that I need to give! Is anyone else feeling the stress of Christmas yet or is it just me?

This past week Christmas has attacked my house, starting with the arrival of The Box from my Aunt Sharon

The Box is a reoccurring Christmas gift from my father's  Cool Aunt Sharon. It comes every year, just a few weeks before Christmas and it is a huge deal around my house. The Box arrives and every family member is called to be informed of its arrival...

...because it is filled with an incredibly large amount of chocolate, both cheap and expensive. This year my aunt surprised us with  an expensive cheese, sausage and cracker box. Very tasty indeed.

 A few days after the arrival of The Box, we transformed our living room into a magical present unwrapping area. This entire ritual of Christmas involved dragging the tree out of the attack, a chocolate war with the leftover candy from The Box (Started by my Over-fifty-father) and a game to see who could decorate the tree best by throwing the ornaments onto the tree from across the room.

Decorating the tree always starts with assembly and lights (Because who wants a real tree? Not us sickly people. Allergies, man).

Bethy was not amused by my lack of enthusiastic help while she put up the lights.

Though we managed to get all the lights on the tree, we appreciated when all the lights actually turned on.

 Finally, Rachael got home and that is when the real decorating began.

We like lace and white lights. We also like to get adventurous while decorating.

Which includes wrapping the lights around ourselves and dancing like we know how.

Yeah, we are adventurous.

Ah, beautiful. Don't you think?

So, we decorated and there are actually some presents under the tree! Wow, Christmas is almost here, not to mention New Years is right around the corner! Are you ready? All I can ask is...

Can you feel the season yet?

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Finals

Everyone knows what time of year it is, especially when they start to hear those lovely songs play on repeat on the radio station. Yes, Christmas is on it's way. Prepare yourselves for hectic shopping trips and the stress of whether the Duck Dynasty slippers you ordered for that one family member are going to arrive on time or get lost in the Christmas Present traffic jam that we call the Post Office. 

For most people, this time of the year means lots of shopping, spending, gift wrapping, and crying about how empty their wallets have become because they missed the Black Friday sales. But for us college and high-school students, this time of the year only means one thing...

Finals.

Late night study sessions, little sleep, lots of caffeine and large amounts of unneeded stress. Yes, Finals are coming. We procrastinate til the last second and then run around like chickens with our heads cut off, but hey, that's just what we do...

So, how to avoid the absolutely NOT needed stress of Finals?  Here's a few tips:

1. Don't procrastinate.
Waiting til the night before to finish a paper or study for that exam is a BAD idea. Try and plan out your study sessions at an appropriate time of the day when your brain is most alert and willing to absorb the knowledge needed. Remember to give yourself some rest, your mind needs a break as well.

2. Get lots of sleep.
In the movies you always see the college kid staying up and studying til the crack of dawn, and then getting a great grade because he or she 'Power Studied'. Let me tell you, it doesn't work. Your mind and body needs lots of rest to be able to function properly during test time. You definitely don't want to fall asleep in class and blow your whole exam, even if you know the answers.

3. Eat healthy.
Loading up on caffeine and sugared foods is not always a bad idea, but you don't want to feel sick on exam day. Try and balance a good, healthy breakfast with your sugary diet for finals week. Give your mind the ability to focus on your tests, and give your body the energy to move from one class to the next.

4. Be prepared.
The worst thing to do is wake up on exam morning and realize that you're missing your Scantron, or your lucky #2 pencil. Be sure to go through your backpack the night before and double check that you have everything you need. Better to be over-prepared than missing an important piece of exam day.

5. Pray and trust the Lord.
Definitely want to do this before, during, and after your exams. God knows what you're going through, and asking him to get you through your exams and putting your complete trust in Him is a good way to start off the end of your semester and a good way to prepare for the next one.

 "May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!" Psalms 20:1.

 "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright."  Psalms 20:7-8.

 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13.

I pray that every High-school and College student has a great finals week and that they will put their trust in God during this rough last week of school :)

Just remember; do your best, and God will bless :)

Thankfulness.

A few people will come to you and ask you the following questions:

"How was your thanksgiving?"

"Did you eat a lot of thanksgiving food?"

"How many of your nutty relatives showed up?"

"What are you thankful for?"

Well, my answers are: Great, yes, and all of them, but for the last question, I will be giving you a bit of a longer answer.......

Firstly, I'm definitely thankful for all the amazing food the Lord has blessed my family with this year's Thanksgiving. It was more than enough for the 18 family members that showed up. My mum ended up with a cold this Thanksgiving (Just like last year); my two sisters, my sisters boyfriend and I ended up cooking quite a bit of the food (I made the stuffing!).

The Lord is truly amazing. He helped us through a bit of a rocky beginning to Thanksgiving and He had it turn out to be one of my favorites :) ( I also consumed way too much pie.)

Secondly, I'm so very thankful for the family and friends that God has blessed me with!  Including the little booger munchkins that make up my nieces ;)
(This is Raine.)

Raine got to eat a ton of pie this year, and she enjoyed every bite.

More beautiful, caught-off-guard family photos ;)
My lovely sister-in-law, Blair (Right) and her equally as beautiful sister, Brett (Left.)
I claim them both as true sisters, in family and in Christ :)

My snarky eldest sister, Rachael. Beautiful and brilliant, she's my role model and one of my true friends. I love her and I'm so thankful to God for blessing me with such a caring, Christian sister.
My sarcastic, but incredibly sweet sister Bethany (Who I could not get a picture of...), is also one of my role models. She has the courage of a lion, and hair to match ;) I'm so thankful for her, for the both of my sisters, so very much.
Cheesing so cheerily next to Rachael is her boyfriend Trent :) Such a sweetheart, and it's true he really adores her. I praise God for sending him my sister's way, he's a great christian young man with a pure heart. I love all three of them.

Family is one of the most important things to me. I know I never really can express it, but I love all of my family members, and my Christian family members.
(Right to left: My father, Rachael holding baby Scarlet, Blair, Baby Raine and my sister Bethany. My mother was, and still is, too sick to actually enjoy thanksgiving with us. I ask for prayer for her.)

I love my family so much, and if given the chance, I wouldn't ask for any other family. (Right to left: Baby Raine, Bethany (My sister), Trent, Austin, and Josh (My two older brothers).

Though nutty, crazy even, I love them with all my heart. I'm so very glad I could spend my Thanksgiving with them, and I praise God every day for blessing me with such a wonderful, Christian family. I am truly blessed. (Right to Left: Papa, Uncle George, Uncle Jeff, and Gamma)

I'm glad to see the younger generation of my family start to grow up...
(Baby Scarlet, nomming on her flower.)

Playing together, and teaching eachother...(Though it may be mischievous).

These are the booger munchkins I love s very much :) Mischievous little things (Right to left: Scarlet, Raine, and Anna Snow).

They  definitely love to play together, I cannot wait til they are older :)

I hope to be a good role model to my lovely nieces, and to teach them what Thanksgiving is truly about.  About how God gave up His Son for us, so that we may be able to celebrate this day...

....and that brings me to my final answer about what I am thankful for today. I am thankful for what God did for me.  He sent his son to die on the cross for me, my family, my friends, and every person that was born into this world, and every person that will be born into this world. I praise God for his sacrifice for us. I thank Him for giving up his Beloved Son, for us. I thank him for my salvation, and I will praise him every day, be thankful every day, for what He has given me.  I give Him all my thanksgiving and Praise because He has blessed me so wonderfully. 

I hope everyone has had a really wonderful thanksgiving :) I hope you have been blessed on this day just like the Lord has blessed me.

"Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also.  The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.  Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."

Psalms 95:2-7- ESV translation.

These Hands.

One of God's most beautiful creations is the human body.  So many intricate parts of one whole that were created to do their own job. These intricate parts: the eyes, the nose, the tongue, feet, the brain, blood cells, pinky toes, etc.... There are so many little parts of the human body that make up one human being. Sure, we have all of our parts in the right places, but we cannot move on our own, or breathe without help. That is how God created us, we are to always rely on Him physically, mentally and spiritually; He gave us the breath of life and a soul to make us who were are...

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them"    
Genesis 1:27-ESV translation.

God created us. That is a big deal! He could have decided to just leave the world for plants and animals to inhabit, but he didn't. He created us.

A particular part of the human body I wanted to focus on were hands. 
"Why hands?" You may ask.
Think about them; hands are two separate parts, on two separate arms, on opposite sides of the body, yet they can function at exactly the same time. Eight fingers and two thumbs, doing exactly the same thing as its counterpart, or doing entirely the opposite! 

Think of the most talented musician you have ever known/met/seen or heard. Got them? Okay, imagine how they play the instrument they have managed to master. Watch their hands, their fingers, how they can be holding down multiple chords with one hand and fiddling with strings, keys, or petals with the other hand, or playing a symbol and smashing down on a Tom drum, all at the same time or with a different rhythm. 

Is that not the coolest thing you have ever known?

Don't get me wrong, hands are used for everything.
Sometimes it feels like we take them for granted because, well, they are just hands, right? So, take what you are doing right now, and realize that your hands are doing something: typing, bringing your coffee/tea cup to your mouth, petting your cat, holding your pencil, picking your nose, or playing your instrument, without you even thinking about making them do that. Crazy right? No. Beautiful, amazing, wondrous, absolutely without a doubt the most incredibly thing! My God, your God, created the hands we have.

Now, the question that I have for you is:

What are you doing with those hands?

Maybe it is a silly question to ask.
Maybe it isn't.
I want you to think about it though.
You can use your hands for amazing things, but what are you doing with them?

"For the Lord God has blessed you in all the work of your hands..."
Deuteronomy 2:7-ESV translation.

What ever you do with your hands,  could be writing a blog post, or making a pie, just make sure it is something worth doing. 
For me, it would be using my hands to carry out God's will.

I do not want to use my hands to tear someone down, because you can do that as well. 
I want to use my hands to lift someone up towards God, figuratively, even physically if necessary (hehe). 

God has blessed me with my hands, and I wish to use them to build up others around me, and to use my God given talents to bless others.

So, just take a moment to think about your hands. 

What are you doing, and what can you be doing, with your hands? 

Answer in the comments below :)  

Hey Look! A Prompttortunity!

"What on Earth is a Prompttortunity?"

That is probably what you are thinking right now, and I will give you the answer:

A Prompttortunity is an opportunity to write a story from a given prompt.

Prompt- Idiom- Take a prompt, (in acting, or in this case, in writing.) to move or speak in response to a cue.

Opportunity- noun- A good position, chance, or prospect, as for advancement or success.

Now you have them together, and this is how it works:

I'm going to create a prompt, or find one online to borrow (with credit to the author), and I will be writing my own fictional story with that prompt. My challenge to you, my blog viewers, will be to take the same prompt and write your own version of the prompt; I want you to write your own fictional adventure with the prompt I give and either: A) post it in the comments as a 'short story', or B) send me your story through the email I give you. 

A prompttortunity is not a challenge in where one wins a prize if their story is the most creative. A prompttortunity is a chance to write a short story for other people to read, and a chance to see how everyone else wrote their stories all from the exact same prompt.  

I hope you guys have some fun with this idea of mine, I know I will :)

Prompt: 

He felt entirely underdressed...

Now, start the story with the prompt, or finish the story with the prompt. The prompt can even be somewhere in the middle, Just have fun with it :) 

My story:

The Birthday.

The situation was indeed quite unusual.  The crowd of people dancing made him shy away, with their brightly colored outfits and well done hair, He stood out like a rock among the roses in the midst of all the beautiful party goers, but he was not there for those people, though he felt entirely underdressed standing by them in his denim jeans and patched jacket. He was there only for her, and he could not help but smile when he saw her. 

She was simply elegant, like royalty, standing alone on the outskirts of the dance floor in her powdered pink dress.  Her dark brown hair was in perfect ringlets against her shoulders, they bounced as she turned her head to look at the dancers. Her beauty took his breath away and he made his way across the floor to her, even though his heart threatened to burst from his chest with every step he made.  She looked up as he approached.  Her light pink lips parted in a smile at the sight of him and she ran to meet him the rest of the way.  They embraced, and he held her close. "I'm so glad you came, John!" she pulled back to smile up at him, he was so much taller than her petite self.  He laughed softly "How could I miss this? Happy Birthday, Alice."

                                                                    The End.

A bit rough for a quick short story, but that is the fun part.

Your turn :)