Birthday

Last Saturday we celebrated my beautiful wife's birthday (I'm not telling her age, even though she is 6 weeks older than me), and per Lee household custom, the celebration will last at least one week.  When I announced to Mary that we were going shopping for mommy's birthday, she was totally excited.  In her mind, she started the details of how this was going to go down.  She wanted a birthday cake, actually she wanted to bake it at home, but we really did not have time for all that, so she settled for a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  She announced to the DQ staff the occasion for the cake, and started to peer through the cases for the right one.  In my mind, I was looking for a small cake since there were only 3 of us going to eat this, but I was overruled by the midget.  She just HAD to have the 3 princesses on the cake, and they would only fit on the large cake.  See where this is going????  So after carefully negotiating, I chose to listen to Mary with her choice of this cake.  And Mary was right, Lisa LOVED having the cake decorated with Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella.  (Yes, I know my princesses, you would too after watching those movies a zillion times, but I loved every moment of it!)

It does look very nice, and Mary selected all the color scheme's.  Plus, we have ALL enjoyed eating this treasure throughout the week.  Wait, I believe there is still a little left in the freezer.  Note to self: check freezer after tonight's supper.

Mary also enjoyed shopping for presents.  We visited a jewelry story where Mary selected several pieces (within our budget) to brighten mommy's day.  Then we made our way to Hallmark to obtain a card (musical of course) to express love.  Mary chose a card with themed music from "Sleeping Beauty" that was a hit with mommy.  We were also to score two movies that Lisa loves: "Enchanted" and "Secretariat."  They are excellent flicks that are worthy of owning to view many times.

All in all, it was a great celebration.  Speaking of that, we will continue that tonight with more food, laughter, and movies.  This was a "post" celebration pic since we failed to light candles the first time.  As you can tell...the smiles were plenty.

More Laughs...

UNANSWERED PRAYER

The preacher's 5 year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon. One day, she asked him why. "Well, Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages. "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon." She asked, "How come He doesn't answer it?"

BEING THANKFUL

A Rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy, "So your mother says your prayers for you each night? That's very commendable. What does she say?" The little boy replied, "Thank God he's in bed!"

These were some funnies passed along to me by a close friend, and I thought they were too good not to share.  It seems that in the Lee household laughter is heard most often...a close second is Lisa saying, "That is not funny!"  Aimed at Mary and me for our jokes on mommy.  BUT we do think they ARE funny.

I do hope that you will be able to exercise your smiling and laughter and giggles during the week.  Numerous studies have been done on the wondrous effects on those who laugh often, but it does bear repeating: laugh.  Laugh often and much.

Here is video for your enjoyment...take care!

Un-Decorating

Yep, it's that time of year...taking down all the Christmas decorations.  I love to get out the decorations for Christmas: the tree (artificial), lights, ornaments, nick knacks, but no tinsel.  (Tinsel has a way to "cling" onto other things in and around the house that seem to appear year round.  Therefore, no tinsel!)  We were able to take down most of our stuff last weekend, but we finally completed the task Saturday.  Everything was placed back into the attic where it will wait until the next adventure.  Granted, it's not near as much fun as getting it all out while listening to your favorite Christmas music selections, but it's necessary. 

I hope that you celebrated a wonderful Christmas time with family and friends, and are eager to achieving some goals for 2012.  One goal I would like to offer for you: read through Bible.  There are three plans to choose from that will help you.  Check out our church website or you can surf the web to find one just for you.  Remember the main goal: reading through the Bible to give clarity of God's message to you.

God desires to communicate with us, and the main message He has given is the Bible.  Carve out some time and read His Word.  I've never heard anyone say that it never helped, or it hurt them.  Rather, I've heard from several folk who learned from God an important lesson in life in how to live.  So it was a positive experience that is worth passing along to others to enjoy. 

So take my encouragement and read the Bible.  Get in touch with God so He can communicate with you about important issues.  You will be a better person for it, and that is always a good thing no matter what year it is.

Working and NOT Watching

This year I'm coaching young girls in Upward Basketball.  First time with 7 little princesses, but it has been a joy even though I was a little nervous at first.  The main obstacle, at least for me, is getting them to hustle to the ball and not just WATCH the ball.  Most are perfectly content to observe the action, but this is not necessarily a good thing in playing basketball.

A spiritual connection is that we often watch from the sidelines rather than becoming an active participant.  For some, attendance once a week is all they want, but God demands greater: participation.  We should be committed to a life of: prayer, worship, sharing faith, discipleship, and stewardship.  These are mandated in Scripture, and hence are not optional.

I was cruising some Christian news sites and came across this info about Salvation Army.  Check out this site about Joe the Turk.  It's a great read and very interesting character.  Hope you enjoy!


http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/FD47275D57159E43852574420041FAB0?Opendocument