Chritsmas is?

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Soon it will be Christmas and each one of us wants a gift this day. Our hearts crave for more than we already have. Things, things, things! But in life, we can't just be happy having all the things in life. As I thought about Christmas, I began to ponder what this day really mean to me and for others. This day is supposed to be Jesus day, but for many, it is like " my day" or "what I want this Christmas."
But as I ponder, I realized that this season not only brings joy. It brings also sadness:

- Sadness for those that will celebrate Chritmas apart from their loved ones.
- Sadness for those that can't afford to buy gifts
- Sadness for those that did not even know if they have food to eat that day.
- Sadness for those that are sick
- Sadness for those who lost someone near

And I thought, can Jesus be sad too at Christmas when the whole world is celebrating His birthday?
Well, I believe Jesus can be sad at Chritmas, because lots of people celebrate Christmas not because of him....for some it is just a holiday. Eat, party and be merry.

For people who are not really looking forward for  this season because it brings more pain than happiness, maybe we can ponder what this day really means for us. It is the day that we can remember how God really loved us by giving us His Son Jesus on that day. Jesus is our Savior.  He can lighten our loads. He promised to carry them for us. He can make the dark rooms in our lives brighter coz  He is the light of the world. He can fill the empty places in us with the fruits of the spirit.

He loves us so much that He died for our sins.

We can read in  Psalm 46:2-4
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. 
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to the depths of the sea, 
Though its waters rage and foam and mountains totter at its surging. 4 The LORD of hosts is with us; -

This song is for those that needs to be uplifted this season of the year!





 God will carry you! He will carry your burdens for you. So smile and be merry. Look to the source of light and life and you will never be in darkness and will be alive body soul and spirit :)

The little things we do!

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It's the little things that we do, and the little things that we don't do, that make the big difference in life!

A minute read........

As I was walking
Down life's highway
Many years ago

I came upon a
Sign that read

Heavens Grocery Store..

When I got a
Little closer

The doors swung
Open wide

And when I came
To myself

I was standing
Inside..

I saw a host of
Angels.

They were
Standing everywhere

One handed me a
Basket

And said 'My
Child shop with care..'

Everything a
Human needed
Was in that
Grocery store

And what you
Could not carry
You could come
Back for more

First I got some
Patience.

Love was in that
Same row.

Further down was
Understanding,
You need that
Everywhere you go..

I got a box or
Two of Wisdom
And Faith a bag
Or two.

And Charity of
Course
I would need some
Of that too..

I couldn't miss
The Holy Ghost
It was all over
The place.

And then some
Strength
And Courage to
Help me run this race.

My basket was
Getting full
But I remembered
I needed Grace,

And then I chose
Salvation for
Salvation was for
Free

I tried to get
Enough of that to do
For you and me..

Then I started to
The counter
To pay my grocery
Bill,

For I thought I
Had everything
To do the Masters
Will.

As I went up the
Aisle
I saw Prayer and
Put that in,

For I knew when I
Stepped outside
I would run into
Sin.

Peace and Joy
Were plentiful,
The last things
On the shelf.

Song and Praise
Were hanging near
So I just helped
Myself.

Then I said to
The angel

'Now how much do
I owe?'

He smiled and
Said

'Just take them
Everywhere you go.'

Again I asked
'Really now,

How much do I
Owe?'

'My child' he
Said, 'God paid your bill
A long long time
Ago.'
Got this poem from a friend through email and it is worth sharing.
So here it is:)

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My place in autum!

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                                                          Autum pictures!

This place is one kilometer from my home!

This picture is taken from the nearby town which is called Trondheim!

 

In the town center where I live!

Autum flowers from my garden.

The leaves that changed  their green color  to red and orange!

On the way to the seaside!

The seaside in autum!

 

 

Seaside in another angle! This is daytime, but it is already dark!

Wow! I found wild flowers that were still blooming!

                                        The trees nearby!

 

These pictures were taken last autum. Now is wintertime and the leaves had fallen and only the branches remain. I am still waiting for the snow to come. Then it will be brighter around, but much work shoveling the snow. Anyway, Michi, my daughter in the Philippines wanted to see autum in Norway. So I took some pictures for her to see :)

My boring life!

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My youngest daughter told me one evening that I have to create a life! My life is definitely boring.

 That is her opinion........ "Do I really have a boring life?" I asked her. She said " Yes, because you are always at home everyday and everynight and on weekdays.

Then I told her that it is not true. Because I work everyday in an activity center and my job is to do different activities with young and old alike.

 There are lot of activities that we do there like: training, singing and dancing, bingo, painting, handcrafts, bowling and different games. And I sosialize enough when I am at work. In addition, I go to Zumba training every Tuesday evening, prayer meeting every Wednesday evening, and worship day every Sunday. And I read books, magazines, watch films, I make cards, I crothet, knit, embroider,  read and write blogs and addition to facebooking and I have never ending housechores. How can my life be so boring?

She told me that I don't have friends to visit and I seldom got a visitor. I said that I have friends in facebook and in blogworld and I know many whom I can visit and invite if I have time. But I do things that I like and that makes me happy. And I told her that my life is  absolutely not boring at all. And to think that when her father is at home ( he is a seaman) then my life is even more exciting.

For her, to be happy is to be with friends. Well because she is still young. Only 18 years old. But for me, I am happy and not bored at all! Im living up to my name which is Ligaya ( means joy in English) .Of course I appreaciate my friends too, but my 24 hours a day is not enough to spend too much time partying with friends. But I'm happy for them who is having a good time with each other.

Now, is my life really boring?

 I believe :)

The elevator!

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I work in an activity center in a nursing home. This nursing home is connected to a consultation clinic, and a rehabilitation center. For many years ago, this building had kindergarten too. My youngest daughter went there and we had taken this elevetor many times before.

One day the weather was nice and I decided to take one resident of  this nursing home, who sit on a wheelchair for a walk. I am sure that fresh air and sunshine will make us feel better. Since he sits on a wheelchair, we need to take the elevator in order to go down to the first floor.  While we were at the elevator and talking, I thought that if only this elevator can hear us and talk, I am sure that it has many stories to tell. This elevator had carried people of all ages up and down. Young people, old people, sick people, well people, nurses, doctors, and people with different proffesion. People who were happy, laughing, crying, quarelling, complaining and so on. One day this elevetor will not exist anymore. It can be replaced by something better or be removed permanently.

As human , we hear a lot of talks everyday too. We hear people laugh, cry,  murmur, gossips, criticise, shout, whisper or praise us. And we can be affected by these talks either positive or negative. Coz unlike the elevator, we have feelings and we can talk and express ourselves.

God too hears a lot! In fact he hears everything. Not only what we say. He hears our thoughts too. He knows the deepest secrets of our hearts. But sometimes we  behave as if God does not hear us. We say words that are not worth saying. We think thoughts that are not worth thinking. And our hearts lust for things that we thought can make us happy, but in reality can destroy us. We thought that God does not care and we thought that He does not hear our prayers.

BUT

So don't doubt. He certainly hears every words that we say and He cares.

 

The picture!

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Well, I supposed I will not be satisfied if I can't try everything under the sun. Especially in handcrafts. This time I tried  embroidery. Since it was the first time for me, my work was not very neat at all. The backside was a mess, but the front side was not so bad.

This project is not yet finished, but when it is done, I am sure it will look better. I will put this picture on a frame.

A friend told us today in the " Food for the soul meeting" that we as humans have the good and bad sides. And we alwasy try to show the good sides to other people, but sometimes when the going gos tough, the bad side can be seen in us. And she said that when she was young, she did some embroidering too. And her work at the backside was not so neat, but the frontside was nice.  ( just like my work) She thought that as long as it looks nice on the front side, then it will not be a problem. No one can see the backside after all, when the picture is hanging on the wall. She told us that  her mother was better than her with stitch work.  But her grandmother was much better. When her grandmother was finished with embroidering a picture, my friend could not tell which is the frontside or backside. Because the needlework was so neat  in both sides. And she said that we are like a picture that God is embroidering. As we continue to walk with God, He can turn our both sides neat and nice and when people look at us, they can never tell what is the bad side or the good side. Because both sides will be beutiful and nice.

Then I thought that like this picture that I was making, in the beginning it was only threads and a piece of

fabric. But after some stiches with different colors, it takes a form and the picture becomes clearer.

Our lives is just like creating the perfect picture. God uses different colors with us to make the finished product perfect. There will be dark moments ( dark colors) happy moments ( light colors) there will be stiches with needles ( hurting moments) idle moments ( when God is silent)  but these process are needed in order for us to be a beautiful picture that this world should see. Gods workmanship, beautiful in both sides.

I read a very special letter that someone posted. This letter explains more how we can be the person that God inteded us to be:

If you never felt pain, how would you know that I am a healer?

If you never had to pray, how would you know that I am a deliverer?

If you never had trial, how could you call yourself an overcomer?

If you never felt sadness, how would you know that I am a comforter?

If you never make a mistake, how would you know that I am a forgiver?

If you knew all, how would you know that I will answer your questions?

If you were never be in trouble, how would you know that I will come to your rescue?

If you never were broken, How would you know that I can make you whole?

If you never had a problem, how would you know that I can solve them?

If you never had any suffering, then how would you know what I went through?

If you never went through fire, then how would you become pure?

If I gave you all  things, how would you appreaciate them?

If I never corrected you, how would you know that I love you?

If you had all power, then how would you know how to depend on me?

If your life is perfect, then what would you need me for?

Love,

Jesus

It means that we need God in every area of our lives. No matter what is happening with our lives, remember that God has a purpose. He is the creator and He knows how to make us perfect and beautiful inside and out and both sides.  :)

Washing machine!

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                                                       I was baking a cake one day,

but my thought was not with what I was doing. I began to think about our washing machine. I thought how this wonderful thing do the job for us so that we don't have to wash our clothes by hands.

We just put our dirty clothes in the machine, chose a washing program, put a detergent and turn it on. Then after a while, the clothes are clean and we can just hang them to dry.

 It reminds me of what Jesus did for us. We were so filthy because of sin, but he washed us so we can be clean. White as snow. But he did not use a washing machine to remove the dirt. He used his body to clean us. He offered his blood to be the detergent to wash away the sins in our lives.

I believe God had used different  methods to work in us, so that we can be clean in the eyes of God. Yes we already recieved Christ as our Lord and Saviour and had been forgiven for every misdeed we had done. But we have a long way to go if we are going to be like Jesus in deeds and in love. There are some behavior in us that needs to be changed that maybe God have to cook us , so that these behaviors that hinders us to grow can be removed. Like we program our washing machine to cook the clothes that were so bemired, so that it can be usable again.  Others though were born kind and need only a lightwash from God.

When we wash our clothes, we put softener so that the clothes will be soft to touch, and will smell good. Like if we have Jesus in us, we can be people that are clean and smelling good. We can be somebody who can attracts others beacuse they feel God's presence in us, which is love. Why? Because everybody wants to be with people who is clean, smells good and loving. As believers, we should be the one who scatters sweet fragrance everywhere we go. What I mean with sweet fragrance is that God's love that flows through us to other people. Although it is not easy to do it all the time especially if someone treats us unfairly. But as God had forgiven us for every wrong things we had done, we can also forgive others for the wrongs they have done to us. Anyway, no one is perfect. Sometimes we are the ones who can hurt other's feelings and not the other way around.

Like the clothes that we wear that  need to be washed everytime, we too should be washed by God everytime, because sometimes we go to dirty places, say dirty words, think dirty thoughts, and do something that is wrong.

God says in Psalms 119:9 that in order to remain pure, we must live according to his word.

And He reminds you and me:

We just need to come to God! He is our washing machine that never runs out of energy :)

The gifts!

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Soon it will be Christmas time and  many  of us are already  in the shopping mood. And the shops are selling everything that our hearts desire.

But think about it! Most of us had already recieved  gifts too many to count. The day we were born,  our birthdays, anniversaries, christmasses and so on. Still, we desire more gifts!

Anyway, the question is:

-Whom do we give our gifts?

First on the list  is our loved ones. Then after that maybe friends or someone we believe deserve a gift.

But are we happy when we give a present? What is our intention in giving?

If we can afford to buy those gifts, and if we love those we are going to give the gifts, then we are a happy giver. It is our desire to make them happy.  But if we cant't afford to buy gifts, but the reciever expects us to give, then it can be a burden for us.

Sometimes we don't like the person that expects gift from us and we are reluctant to give. Or maybe we only give because we expect to recieve a gift in return. Still, we have to give.

But are we happy when someone gives us a gift?

Usually, we are happy to recieve a gift, but sometimes if we don't like the gift that we received, because we already had that thing that the other person had given us, or maybe we expect something better, then deep inside us, we are not satisfied  and can be unthankful. Actually, we should be thankful just to receive something from other people. Strange though, because the people who already have more expect to recieve more, but those that are lacking, they are so thankful just to receive one gift.

As humans, sometimes we are happy to give or to receive a gift.

But I know someone who had willingly given us a priceless gift. That someone is the Almighty God.

 And God gave and gives and gives .........................

 Just think of God's creation that He has created for us. The heaven, the stars, the moons and the planets.

'

 And this beautiful earth for us to inhabit. Think of the oceans, the seas, the mountains, the trees, the plants, the flowers just to name a few. So many different colors. 

                                          

And everybody can agree with me that everything that God created is wonderful. God has created us too. It means that we are beautiful. That is why we must not criticise each other. We are God's workmanship. We are created in His image.

That is why I want to thank God who had given us gifts to many to count and even more.

                                     God: He is the greatest gift of all!　

Fathers day!

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Every second sunday in the month of November  is " Fathers Day" in Norway. So the children or wives bake cakes for the fathers. My mother-in- law baked this cake for her son and son-in-law. She was very thoughtful.
Anyway I bought a cake for my husband. A small one!

And I want to greet every father that I know,  especially my husband and my son!

And I dedicate this poem to every father :)

And most of all, I want to remember God as my father, not only today but everyday!

He gave us the greatest gift of all!



My mother's birthday!

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Today is my moher's birthday and the first thing I do after I woke up this morning was to call her on the phone. She is miles away from me and I couldn't visit her, but thanks God for modern tecnology. At least I can hear her voice and she can hear mine too.

As I looked back, I can now see how my mother infuenced me. She showed me how to work hard not by words, but by her deeds. I treasured the  moments that we worked together side by side. I admired her a lot. She worked like a man and was not afraid of hard work. Although she did not have much education, she was brave enough to face  life's difficulties with courage.  She didn't give up although there were people who wanted to crush her. And that what she inspired me to do. Never, never give up. And those who works hard, get rewarded.

As I grow up we didn't have many chances to be together because of unavoided circumstances. But deep inside me I know that she love  me and my sisters deeply. It must be very hard for her to be apart from us, but she managed and we managed by the help of God. And everytime we meet, she makes up by doing everything for us although we are big enough to do all things for ourselves. She cooks delicious foods that me and my sisters loved. She helped us to take good care of our children when we needed a helping hand. She loves her granchildren and is helping in every way she can.

I treasured our moments together and I pray to God that she will have many more birthdays to come and that we can still have many happy moments together. We  love you mother! You are precious for all of us!

The choice!

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One day, it was very cold and I began to make a fire in our fireplace. Suddenly a word came into  mind! " You became what you eat". And I thought about it. Then I asked God if He is telling me something about it and what He meant by I became what I eat.

Well, in the last days I have been aware of what I'm eating. I had been to a doctor and he told me that it shows in my blood test that my cholesterol was high. High colesterol can cause heart desease so  he adviced me to avoid foods that contain too much fats. Not only that, I  also have to exercise regulary. Well, easy for him to say that to me, but for me it will not be easy to do it.

Everyday the media offers a lot of information of how to loss weight and  how to exercise. Of course it is good for the body if one is disciplined enough to follow the diet and exercise program. And not only that, we are tempted to buy things we actually can live without, do things that we should not be doing, eat all kinds of foods that we should not be eating. Say words that was not worth saying, think thoughts  that was not right thinking and so on. And it is not very easy to resist.


When I was a child I was constantly hungry because my parents could not afford to buy enough food for us. But now that I can buy and eat what I want, I can't do it either because it can damage my health. Strange life! But I'm not complaining. At least now I can choose what kind of food I'm going to eat and I can afford to buy it. And when I think that it is for my body's benefit, it became  easier for me to do it.

So it is with our christian life! God's words are life for us. But are we happy to read the bible everytime? Is it the first thing we seek in the morning? Do we hunger from his word everytime? Do we always want to pray? For me sometimes its wonderful, but sometimes not. There are other things that have to be done, work to do, and many times my mind wonders and keeps wondering. And maybe sometimes we began reading the bible, but after some minutes, we became tired or suddenly another thought will come into our minds and we begin to think about this thought that was not in line with God's words. But strange though bacause most of the time we don't feel tired when we read newspaper or magazines.  We turned the pages one after another to know whats happening, as if reading these articles makes us wiser than we are.We wanted to be updated.  Most  people love to read the newspaper first thing in the morning. They want to know if there is something new that occurred lately. And oftentimes  newspapers has articles about calamities, catastrophies, murder, robbery, rape, war and so on. And what kind of thoughts and feelings these bad news can give to a reader?  For me, I get depressed reading that kind of news. And not only that, one can buy magazines of every kind that awake ones interest. But in magazines, they also offers a lot of things that we should buy and make us believe that if we buy those things we will have a happy life. But are we happy after acquiring those things?

Everday we have to make a choice.  Like we have to choose if we want to:
 -eat the right foods or not
- say the right or unpleasant words
 -think right/positive or negative/ destructive thoughts
-to buy things or not
- be happy or be grunchy
- be nice or be bad
 -to give or to be greedy
- to help or not
- to be thankful or the opposite
-forgive or  holds a grudge
- to be faithful or unfaithful
- to be honest or lie etc.

We also have a choice to read Gods words or not! And the enemy will give us a thousand reason not to like:
-Have you not already read the whole bible?
-That the Bible is boring and difficult  to understand
- That the Bible is only for the priest
- that it is better to watch tv, play many kinds of games in facebooks, party with friends, or shop in the mall ( although it is not bad to do all these things if we put God first and we already feed ourselves with His words. Because Gods words is life for those who find it)

So it is our choice! To hear from the lies of the enemy or hear from God that never lies.
God said:

 

And if we really listen:
He speaks to us the way we can understand Him
He listens and is worth listening
He gives us wisdom if we ask
He communicate with us in every details of our lives.

We only need to stop, look and listen. Then we will experience that life with God is worth choosing!



The dolls!

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I work in an activity center for the elderly and I have the possibilty to do  many things together with them. And I can be creative too :)

Some of the elderly can still knitt  square patches like the pictures above. Then I try to make something out of this patches. I sewed them together so I can make  a stuff doll.

This is the body and the head!

Then I make a face and a dress for the doll!

I made  lots  of them with different faces. Some samples below.

Happy faces!

Stuff doll with a sad face!

I made also two of these three dolls on the shelf. Two dolls from the right.

These stuff dolls in some way make the reciever either happy or sad. Most of the time  the lucky girls were happy to get a doll like these, but not the one that I made with a sad face. It was thrown away by the girl who got it. And the lady who gave the stuff doll  didn't  have any choice but to take the doll back.
Then she asked me if I can change the face of this doll, but I said that the stuff doll was made that way and either she take it or leave it.  Then she brought it home instead:)

When I'm creating these stuff dolls, I decides how they will look like and they can't complain to me about it. If I put a happy face on it, it will remain happy. If I made a sad face on it, it will remain sad. And they can't move their feet or hands or their bodies. They are dependent of me or the owner later.

I think of myself as the creator of these stuff dolls. But I too is created by someone. This someone is the Almighty God.  Luckily, God didn't make me like these dolls I made, who did not have  any  choice. God had given me a choice to smile or laugh when I'm happy or to be sad or cry when everything gets tough. He had given me hands to do what I want to do and feet to go wherever I want to go. And God has also given me a choice to follow Him or not. As His creation, He loves me unconditionally. Unlike me,  I cannot say that I love the stuff dolls that I made unconditionally. It made me of course happy to do it, but I won't give my life for these dolls. But my creator did it for me.

And I'm not the only one that He created and loved. He created each and every one of us and died for us all. And as His creation, He wants us to be with Him in paradise one day! 

Father God thank you for creating me/us . Thank you  for we are all unique in your eyes. I pray that we will used the eyes that you had given us to see the needs around us and used ours hands to do something about it. To hear your voice everyday so that we can be guided where to go. And to choose to smile no matter what circumstances are because you said:

And Him is God our creator!