Bad hair days and crooked tiaras...ALL righted by God's grace!!

Every year at this time people around the globe are preparing to welcome in the new year.  With fireworks and confetti we will say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. For some reason this year I am acutely aware of the  goodbyes that have already been said in 2010.  In April I said goodbye to one of my dearest friends as she lost a 3 year battle with melanoma.  A few months earlier I had said goodbye to another friend who succumbed to liver cancer. This year I have watched as my friends have said goodbye to their  spouse, mother, father, grandparent and most devastating of all -their child.  Some friends said their goodbyes to "what could have been" as they watched their marriage fall apart and their home seem to disintegrate before their very eyes.  Many said goodbye to jobs they loved and have found themselves struggling to make ends meet.  What about you?  To whom or what have you had to say goodbye?  We hear of "fond farewells"- unfortunately these  farewells d

Recently in looking through some old photos I came across a picture from Christmas morning 1971.  A laugh burst from my lips as I looked at that little girl standing in front of the family's aluminum tree adorned with glass balls and gold garland.  This particular year Dolly Parton was an up and coming country star and deciding it would be great to look like her I requested a cowgirl outfit and a platinum blonde wig.  In the photo it is evident from the smile on my face  that I was  happy about the gifts from that Christmas morning. I have a  vivid memory of  the gifts from that Christmas, however, if I look back over my 45 years I can hardly remember any of the gifts that I have received.  Those gifts that elicited such anticipation and excitement soon either became common place, worn out or  broken and were ultimately discarded. How thankful I am for the gift that is always new, that never breaks down and is always available to us-the gift God gave us in His Son, Jesus. T

As a child my family always had an artificial tree at Christmas.  This was also the case for one of my best friends, Bill, but on one particular Christmas he decided to put an end to the artificial tree tradition at his home. Certain that his parents would not be on board with the idea, he decided it would be best to implement his plan while they were out of town.  He and I set out, with saws in hand, to find the perfect Christmas tree for their home.  Many of the trees we were looking at just seemed too small to make the cut.  We looked and debated and were finally confident that we had found not only the perfect size tree, but a perfectly shaped one as well.  Upon arriving at his house we began to attempt to maneuver the tree  so that it would fit through the door. It soon became apparent that although the tree we had chosen appeared to be perfect it was in fact gigantic and there was no way that the tree would make it inside without a little work.  After much cutting and trimming

One  night after arriving home from work I was curled up in a chair in my bedroom reading with my little dog in my lap.  Suddenly she turned up her nose and began aggressively sniffing the air.  At first I thought nothing of it and then the odor hit me -it smelled like 3 wet dogs were running loose in my house!!  Turning around I saw my husband and realized that the odor was coming from him!!  I screeched, "What in the world is that smell?" My husband, Marshall,  a residential contractor, had been working at a job and had developed an affection for the home owners Blue Heeler, Lucky.  He would often spend time playing with the dog before he came home.  If my husband's odor was any indication, that day  Lucky must have been particularly smelly.   Unfortunately, my dear husband's olfactory senses must have been dulled because he indicated that he didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. It was beyond me how someone that smelled that badly couldn't detect the