Christmas

This year we had Christmas dinner with my sister, brother in law, and several friends. I volunteered to make all the dessert.  I was really fun and I really do like making desserts and the ones I picked are pretty simple. The problem is a good portion of my day both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I spent cleaning and baking.  We went to a Christmas Eve service, where I was thinking about the cinnamon rolls I had started. Our church didn't have service since it was Christmas. Anyway my point is this. I was trying so hard to get everything just right for Christmas. The only problem is I got nothing right. Because I was making so many desserts, I not only didn't do as well as I could have on them, but I didn't even get the point of Christmas right. I was so busy with everything else that the meaning of Christmas, my Savior coming to this earth as a crying, pooping, helpless baby, got lost in the shuffle. That's not right. It left me sad and wondering how to do it better next year.

They will know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrOywJnLj7Y

This song is by Jars of Clay and is called They will know We are Christians by our Love. Have you ever thought that is song is ironic? The verse used in this song is in the Gospel of John. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35. John is written to Gentile Christians. Jesus says the way the world will know we are Christians is how we treat each other. That sounds pretty easy right? Except it's not. I think in general we treat Christians worse then we treat anyone else. Maybe it's because we know they have to forgive us. Maybe it's because Christians are supposed to be nice so they can't get angry at us. But why is that? Why do we treat each other with such bitterness and just plain meanness? Alot of times we aren't apologetic when we've wronged someone and we are very defensive when someone says they've been wronged by us. I think we need more humility and compassion in our lives. And prayer. Prayer that our attitudes would be more Christlike because honestly, only Christ can change us.

Christmas break!

Its Christmas break! I have four wonderful days off work. The majority of my plans (except Christmas of course) is to clean and bake. I know its a little sad, but I rarely get a chance to really clean or bake. I just usually don't have time or energy. However it is very motivating to get paid to clean. :) However since it's a paid holiday I'm also getting paid to watch movies... I think it's time for A Christmas Carol. =D

Its all about attitude and perspective

A little over three months ago I got hired at my new job. I work for a disability center that other companies hire us to do their disability. I basically make sure people get the right paperwork they need. Anyway when I started I was psyched to work there. It meant full time work, no nights, weekends, or holidays and a pretty big pay raise from my previous job. I still love this job and enjoy it quite a bit. I work with about 20 different people in my department and all they can seem to talk about sometimes is how horrible this job is. How they can't live off the pay, and how we're treated and not enough time off for Christmas. I'm not saying this to take down my co-workers, but I just want to laugh every time they say something. We almost are living off this pay, the people, especially my supervisors, are some of the best people I've ever worked with and the paid time off benefits are amazing. Some people don't know what they have do they?

Christianity

Churches always say how much they want to have fellowship, but they don't always practice it. I know its really hard to get really great fellowship in this world, especially when you have kids, but I feel some people don't try very hard. I don't know the solution, but I do see it as a problem. Maybe it should be just the individuals responsibility. Maybe it should be more of a church structured idea. I'm not sure. Thoughts?

Recipes

Well I'm happy to report that both my experiments got rave reviews. So now to follow with the actual measurements I used.

Cheese ball
1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used Mexican but pretty much any kind would be good)
1 tablespoon BBQ sauce
Mix them all together and roll in some sort of nuts (I used almonds, but again depends on what you like) then chill till needed.

I'm still experimenting with the berry pie because it didn't turn out exactly as I wanted. :)

Recipes

Recently I tried two new recipes that I kinda made up. Well technically one I got from my mom, but I didn't have any measurements, and the other I got from a movie which also didn't have the measurements. So as I said I kinda made them up. One was a mixed berry pie with chocolate crumb crust, the other was a cheese ball. I haven't tried them yet, so after we do I will let you know how they turned out. I'll give both my opinion and my husband's because I'm a harsher critic of my food then he is :) I just say he's biased, but I still like it.

Hard things

Well I've been thinking alot about my past post. I think one (of many) solutions is to mentally decide to do the hard thing. The easy choice is almost always sinful. Its hard to decide to be unselfish, humble and motivated. But I think that is one of the most important things we can decide. And sadly, it's not a choice that you make once. Sometimes its once a minute. That's really not easy. Life can be hard sometimes : /

Questions on my mind

The big question on my mind this week is how. How am I supposed to be all I'm supposed to be? How do you have peace with Christ? How do you rely on His strength? I want step by step answers and I have a feeling they don't exist. If you can't give me answers, show me. Show me someone who really lives that. What does it really truly look like to put your strength in Christ? I sure don't know.