The Revision of The Dream

The last post I did felt pretty good at the time. I was satisfied with the pictures I had found and felt I was successful at conveying my ideas. I was glad to hear that some of you out there could identify with what I was feeling at the time....yes, it felt nice to have a dream of mine illustrated so that I could see it "on paper". However, I was gently reminded that I left something out.

My life is good.

It's not just good, it's blessed with all kinds of gifts from my Father in heaven and I am so thankful for what He has already given me that to "daydream" about having something different seemed ungrateful.

So here's a little post about reality.

I have two beautiful, smart, creative, funny children whom I love with all of my heart.

I actually got to carve out some time this week to make our first Christmas cookies together!

I have to say, even though getting together with all my family and friends still sounds great, this time with my kids satisfied me more that I could imagine.

I love building memories and traditions into our lives!

And look at the cookies we created :)

They aren't like the cookies that you see in certain magazines about "living" but they have more meaning and love than a perfectly decorated cookie will ever have. (By the way, the one that looks like a ghost is my sons angel)

I also have a husband who does everything he can to take care of me, whom I love with all of my heart also. He's smart and funny and thoughtful. He works hard to provide us with nice things and takes care of them when they break (which seems to be often lately). I'm also blessed because he knows so much about God's word and is able to teach his family the truth of scripture. If you haven't checked out his blog, you should. He's got some great stuff on there.

There are so many other things to be thankful for that it would end up being a very long list so I'll sum it up with this...

God continues to provide for our needs, He is faithful and trustworthy. And, as I was reading in Jeremiah this morning, I found comfort in these words from Him which were meant to strike fear in the hearts of the Jews because of their rebellion against Him, but for those of us who love the Lord they mean something else entirely...

"Am I a God near at hand," says the Lord, "And not a God afar off?"..."Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:23 &24

God is near to us and is active in the world today. He does not stand afar off and leave us on our own but takes care of us and cares for us and for that I am thankful.

Have a blessed day and a worshipful Christmas Season!

The cookie and frosting recipe I used can be found at

www.landolakes.com

"Best Ever Butter Cookies"

"Favorite Butter Frosting"

And the cake in the above picture was the lemon cake I posted about here.

Visions of Sugar Plums

I love Christmas Cookies. They almost look too pretty to eat...almost.

I know they're not sugar plums, what are sugar plums anyway? I don't really care since I won't be making any this season, my point is I'm dreaming today.

This post is a little different than my normal posts, I guess I'm in a bit of a wishful state of mind today. The weather outside my living room window, where I sit typing this, with my Christmas tree glowing and sparkling from all the decorations, looks like a typical "winter" day. The sky is gray and the wind is blowing like crazy. It looks like it should snow at any minute. But, alas, I live in Florida where the feels like temperature today is somewhere around 80 degrees (I'm sure) and instead of snow we will get rain (oh yeah, and a possibility of tornadoes). So, I sit in my warm, cozy house pretending to look out onto something like this...

...and daydream of being in a kitchen like this...

...with family and friends, sharing wonderful stories and laughing at funny things that have happened to us over the year, since the last time we got together to do some holiday baking. Not that I've ever done this but I dream of doing this. A whole day devoted to female bonding! Mothers, sisters, friends, anyone who wants to come to my house, relax, listen to Christmas music, have a glass of wine or egg nog and bake till their little heart's content (that is why I need such a big kitchen, it's not that I'm greedy, I need the space!)

And look at this kitchen table!

Can you imagine the cookie making that could go on at that table???

And for those wanting to take a break from the kitchen, you can sit and nibble on the goods by the tree.

What would the men be doing? I have a few suggestions. Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling...

...or relaxing in front of the TV watching football...

Or maybe shooting a friendly game of pool?

See, I didn't forget about you guys.

Welcome to my dream on this blustery December day.

Maybe one day it won't be "just a dream"