God's Gifts

"God's Gifts"


Christmas is about giving....and God has given us the best gifts ever...gifts that only He can give!

I started out trying to focus on one gift each day....I missed a few along the way, but all in all, it was a very thought-provoking exercise.

Dec. 2....God's Gifts...."He will rejoice over you. You will rest in His love; He will sing and be joyful about you!" (Zephaniah 3:17)

Dec 3...God's Gift...."It is not our love for God; it is God's love for us in sending His Son to be the way to take away our sins." I John 4:10

Dec 4....God's Gift...."Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus" (Romans 15:5).

Dec 5....God's Gift......For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – Ephesians 2:8

Dec 6...God's Gift...CHRISTMAS!! No scripture today, but a thought I had after worship this morning...I just don't understand how folks can have the true spirit of Christmas when they don't know the Reason for the Season! May we not only have the true spirit of Christmas in our hearts, but may we also share that spirit with those around us!

Dec 7....God's Gifts....an ever-present friend and companion..."The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you." Deut. 31:8

Dec 8 & 9....God's Gifts....okay, I missed yesterday, so here's two for the price of one! GRACE & MERCY! "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph 4:7) "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him" (Ps. 103:11)

Dec 10...God's Gift....The greatest gift God gave to you was Himself, the greatest gift you can give God is yourself. The reason God gave you life is so that you would have something precious to give back to Him. The reason God gave you more than you need is so that you would have to give to those who do not have.

Dec 11.....God's Gift......Our God is full of compassion and He loves to give, God is thinking about you continuously all day and night, He is constantly giving to you, every breath you take is a gift from God.

Dec 14.....God's Gifts.....A Plan for Us! "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Dec 16....God's Gifts.....a Spiritual Family...."I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (2Corinthians 6:18)

Dec 17.....God's Gifts....Answers to Prayers..."When a believing person prays, great things happen!" (James 5:16) Also, God's precious gift of our first grandson born on this day SIX years ago! Thank you, God, for Caleb!

Dec 18....God's Gifts....COMFORT...."The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." Psalm 29:11 Special prayers today for friends who have lost loved ones during this Christmas season....Cynthia, for you and your family in the loss of your mom this week...and for so many friends who will go through this holiday for the first time without that special someone.

Dec 23....God's Gifts....."Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful for words." (2 Cor 9:15) Why? Why did God go to such lengths to give us the gifts He has given us? The same reason we search and search for just the right gift for someone we love...we do it so they will somehow understand how much we love and say “You did this for me?” That’s what God says, “I did this just for you!”

Dec 24....God's Gifts....HIMSELF! "He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant." (Phil 2:7) Not only did He give Himself in fleshly form, but He gave Himself to serve others....you and me....unworthy creatures that we are...and He served us all the way to Calvary where He gave Himself in death for the salvation of our souls.

Dec 25....God's GIFT.....His Son...."For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) The greatest proclamation of love....God giving us His one and only Son not just so that we might live, but that we might live with Him forevermore. I pray that you all know this love in a very personal way.

Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

Just as the weatherman predicted (surprisingly!), we woke to a winter wonderland this morning!

Welcome to Winter!!!

What better way to start a SNOW DAY....Grandpa & Tater wearing matching snowmen ties!

And much to the disappoint of many teachers I know, SAISD did NOT have a late start day, so Jenni dropped off Tater at 7:15am as usual.

And playing in the snow with Nana was the order of the day!

And I snagged some pics of Caleb, Connor & Carter from Carey's facebook page....looks like they had a great time in the snow as well!!

And a brief appearance by Carter with the snowy background!

Butterflies, Dragonflies, and Flowers

Every year the Monarch butterflies come through San Angelo on their way to Mexico for the winter! It is so awesome to drive all over town and see them flitting about! They like to hang in clusters on tree limbs. Tater and I, along with his little butterfly net, went butterfly chasing/catching and had a great time! We would catch one, hold it a little while, talk about it, then let it go....over and over! He even caught a dragonfly in his net!

Of course I had to include some flower pictures! We started out at the Lily Pad Pond, but the butterflies around there were too high up in the trees and were not three-year-old-friendly to catch! We ended up at the Gazebo Garden next to the river on Concho.

Only in San Angelo, Texas......

Only in San Angelo, Texas, can you go to a hole-in-the-wall awesome barbecue place out by the lake, walk in to a room full of Friday-night-before-homecoming-football-game crowd, have a couple you've never met before offer you to share their table because they are almost finished, end up talking to them for 20-30 minutes (and find out she teaches with one of your daughters), and ten minutes later having your neighbors walk in, again to a crowded room, and asking them to join you, and visit with them another half an hour! And in the mean time, having no less than a dozen people walk through who stop and speak to you because they know you!! Ahh....I love San Angelo!!

Exploring with Preschoolers

After a trip to Kid's Kingdom Park proved un-do-able after two busloads of 'big kids' (elementary age day camp) arrived and began swarming over the entire park, we crossed the street along the river and 'went exploring'!

They loved climbing the steps up to the Visitor's Center and back down again, and again, and again. I finally bribed them by telling them there was another bridge coming up!

They opted to bypass the second bridge to 'explore this way', so off we went.

One of their greatest discoveries...a turtle and a squirrel!

We finally made it back to the second bridge....they saw a turtle swimming down below.

Then they saw ducks down below...

Rock climbing!

Refreshment!

It was a GREAT morning, exploring along the Concho River with a 3 year old and a 4 year old!