My Word For The New Year!

 



As others tend to celebrate with a party to bring in the new year, I tend to become a bit more pensive, and reflective.

In the beginning of each New Year I reflect on what word God would have me hold in my heart.

When I was decorating this year, I nonchalantly said, “I wonder what my word for this year will be?” 

Immediately the word PEACE came to mind. 

I actually sloughed it off as a sort of Type-o that God had made!

With each passing day the word PEACE continued to come to me. 

This felt somewhat of an odd word to me since I had no thought, or feeling about this particular word. It was a word that I associated with conflict between people and nations. 

I am not having any conflict with anyone, that I know of, so how would I apply the word PEACE in this upcoming New Year?

The reality was, it was not that kind of PEACE I was to think about, it was the inner peace that comes with giving it ALL to God.

Yes, it boiled back to the Control issue!! You all know what I am talking about. If you are a human being you have probably had some control issues in your life.

True PEACE can only come from God, and I know this in my heart, it is my mind that I struggle with. 

It is a way of thinking, and living that PEACE will come to us.

Personally I am just like any other person, and I struggle with wanting to control, and fix what I deem as a problem in my life.

 I am learning it is NOT mine to fix, but it is mine to learn from, and God will fix it once I learn the lesson I am suppose to learn.

Since the true meaning of PEACE in my life has not been at the forefront of my mind in the past, I guess this year it will be. 

I think I am going to learn some very important lessons along the way.

I copied a few quotes about PEACE that really spoke to me that I would like to share with you all……

I need to change the way I think and process!

My soul is where God resides. I must go there instead of into my own mind.

I think this year is going to be a retraining of my mind!

Fear will always rob me of PEACE!

A beautiful prayer that I need to say during those moments of despair, and fear.

My prayer for YOU, my dear readers, as well as for myself……

REMEMBER

 

 

My New Years Gift To YOU!!

 

"TIME!"

It is almost here!! 2015! It hardly seems possible.  We all have been given the gift of another year.

Some of you will read the words I have written here, others will just skim over the images.

For those of you that have taken the time to come by my blog today I hope you will take the “TIME!” to read what I have written.

My gift to you, my dear reader is I am about to share with you a lesson that I learned, that you might benefit from it in some small manner....

.....I look at my upcoming year a bit differently than I use to when I was younger. 

It is not so much about how much I will get done this year, or how much stuff I will get, but I look at the time I have been given as a gift.

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I choose to use my time as a precious gift, and when I get the opportunity to spend time with my loved ones, or friends, I am going to use my time wisely.

Most of us feel as if time goes by faster these days, but trust me we have  the same 24 hours in a day as our ancestors.

What is different, is how we choose to spend our time.

Life has taught me a couple of really good, and meaningful lessons about how I use my time, some were hard lessons, and some were wonderfully pleasant lessons, but I did learn from them……..

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One lesson, and the hardest lesson in my life, was taught to me at the age of twenty four when my Dad at the age of 47 died of a heart attack.

My world crumbled at that very moment. You see I was a Daddy’s girl, through, and through. I basically thought this man could walk on water.

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Through losing him I realized at a very young age, that it was the sweet moments, the time I could never get back. 

I might have pictures, or gifts he had given me, but I never could get back the time, that precious gift of time to spend with him.

If only I could just have 30 more seconds back to tell him once again how much I loved him, and  how much I appreciated him.

As hard as it was to no longer have my Dad in my life, I did learn a very important lesson about time, and how you should spend it with the people you love, and care about.

My other lesson was a happier lesson, and it came in the form of a little 6 year old boy.

We had our boys, and their families here for some occasion, and all of the girls were in the living room talking about, design, hair, make-up and the latest fashions. 

I was in the middle of  telling a story when my 6 year old grandson came up to me, and asked me if I would play beach ball volley ball with him. I told him, "sure, just give me a few minutes to finish my story."

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A few minutes to a little guy is an eternity, so of course he came back in a very short period of time.

I stopped my story, and looked into those blue eyes and said, “Sure, Grammy will play with you!”

We went down the hall, got the beach ball, and started tossing it back, and forth down my almost thirty foot hallway.

All of the sudden, that little guy came running down the hall, hugged me around the waist, and ran back to his end of the hall, and we continued our play. 

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Not a word was spoken, but I knew! He was telling me how much he loved me, as only a small child could with such a heartfelt demonstration of love.

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It did not take hours, truly it was maybe 10-15 minutes, but the point had been made.

I took the time to put him, and spending time with him above everything else, and he knew without a doubt how much his Grammy loved him.

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You see it is not the amount of time, it is the quality of time, and how you choose to spend your time that matters.

So with that my dear readers, I leave you with this……..

.....Time is a gift! We all get to choose how we will spend it, and who we will spend it with.

I pray that this year you all spend your time wisely and lovingly with the special people in your lives……….

Happy New Year, and May God bless each and everyone of you with precious, precious “TIME!”!

 

 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

During the Holidays when our home is full of family we like to set up a game table in the living room.

I set up a 6ft long table, and put out games for anyone who likes to play, or sometimes we bring in the games to the dining table in the kitchen.

I find if the games are out and available they will play them more readily.

The kiddos all have their phones and/or electronic devices to play games on these days so I like to give them some hands-on games to play. It is amazing to me how much they seem to enjoy this family time.

This year I purchased some new games since all of my kiddos are now getting into the teen and pre-teen years. In my searching for new fun games I came across a few winners that were a hit with young and old.

(Papa and my youngest Grandson playing battleship)

I think he just sunk one of Papa’s ships, and is very proud of himself!!

Tenzi was probably the favorite by all. It is a fast moving dice game that can be played by up to 8 players. We all had so much fun playing this game!!

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We all played this and had so much fun and laughed a lot!!

The next game is a real challenge to the individual player and has been around since the 1940’s

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The object of the game is to get the steel ball to Saturn without dropping the ball. Since it is going up-hill it is all about control and gravity. Very challenging and fun. It is a lot harder than it looks.

SUSPEND is a really fun game that takes patience and finesse. No rushing in this game, it is all about being able to balance the pieces without making them all fall down. 

 

It reminded me of Cirque du soleil at times. A game of concentration and strategy!

     It looks like Papa is checking out the rules!

This last game appeared to be easy, but in reality it was a bit tricky, and it really showed us all how our minds could be fooled by what we were looking at….

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If you want to stay alert and keep your mind busy and active this game is for you. We all had fun playing this game.

You will notice below each picture of the game there is the word via, just click on that and it will take you to the link where you can purchase them on Amazon!!

  

 

 

Merry Christmas

IT'S HERE!!

Time to  be with family, and friends to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.

Thank all of you out there in blogland that continue to support me by reading, and commenting on my blog.

It is an honor that you take time out of your day to read about what is going on around here, or think I can add any value to your lives by what I have to say.

I am wishing you a very, very Merry Christmas, and thank you for following along with my Falalaing this year!!

You will find me here enjoying my family!

Merry Christmas

What Has Happened To The Falalala Spirit?

   

Yesterday was our annual Falalala day! You might be wondering what a Falalala day is??? 

It is a day that Dougie, and I take to absorb the Christmas sights, sounds and smells. 

We are done with any pressure type shopping so we just take our time, and enjoy the sights and people.

As always we enjoyed each other, but to our surprise there was not a whole lot of Christmas spirit going on out there. 

Not the usual lights, or sounds. It made me feel a bit sad inside. I am trying very hard to hold onto my Falalala spirit, but I am finding that so many around me are just not feeling it this year.

I am not sure if it is age related, or just the condition of our world. Either way I am sad inside by it all. Even certain friends of mine are not enjoying this beautiful season like they use too.

There are more excuses of WHY they are not doing, or more complaining about what they are doing than ever before.

I struggle with the don’t want too’s just like everyone. However I will  absolutely fight  against not enjoying a Holiday that is all about the greatest gift of love that mankind has ever been given.

There are so many emotions, and memories attached to this time of year, some are better than others, but to be honest we all have to really put forth an effort to remain in the spirit of this Holiday, and to not cave to the way of the world.

It does not have to be a Hallmark movie to be wonderful. It just had to be made a little special with your very own touches.

Whether it is a small tree, or  a wreath, a beautifully wrapped present, or a gift of generosity, it can all be wonderful.

Please don’t cave into the feelings of bah humbug, find what your own WONDERFUL is and celebrate that!!!

We all have choices, and I for one am choosing to remain in the spirit of my Christmas past, present and future. 

A spirit of thankfulness for God sending his son to be born so that we all might be free from our sins by believing in him.

 A spirit of sweet family memories of smiling surprised faces on Christmas morning. A spirit of delight in my family’s eyes when they see the tree full of the memories of Christmas past.

Will you join me in maintaining your Christmas Spirit, it does not have to be big, grand, colorful, or even lively. It just has to be an attitude of gratefulness and love. Love yourself enough to do something special for you, and your loved ones. 

Think about who and what you HAVE in your life NOW!!

It doesn’t have to be grand or extravagant, it just needs to feel a little special. Try some of the things I listed below:

Simple things like :

• Candles lit  throughout the day

• A fire in the fireplace.

• A wreath on the door ( they are everywhere, even the grocery stores)

• Christmas music playing (Free on the radio)

• Something hot to drink ( Hot milk and coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon)

• A warm bowl of soup ( choose your favorite or a store bought butternut squash with croutons)

• A fun Christmas movie ( Hallmark is always available this time of year)

• Buy your favorite candy for yourself (Mine is new this year to me, but definitely a favorite, Trader Joes Brittle, All decked out)

• Drive to look at lights (If you go online you can find what are the best light shows in your area)

I am sending you all a great big Christmas Hug and wishing you a very Merry Christmas.