Congratulations!

Congratulations to our "Cozy Christmas Giveaway" Winners...

Carol M, Linda Henderson, Carol Wong & Trinity Rose!  

We hope you enjoy your new read and take the chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy a cup of your favorite coffee or tea...something we all probably need at this point in the season! I will email you shortly to get your mailing addresses. 

Thank you all for sharing the ways you and your family celebrate Christmas! I know Christmas can be both a joyful time with family and friends and it can also be a difficult time, as some you related, in the face of sickness, family tensions, or the loss of a loved one. So thank you for all honestly sharing where you are this Christmas season, and I pray that as we enter this New Year that as God gives us His grace and love, we will have reason to rejoice! 

 Here are a few encouraging words from Bill Thrasher, author of Putting God Back in the Holidays, on the New Year (you can read the full article here): 

"Theologian Andrew Murray speaks of three stages in the Christian life. The first stage is characterized by making resolutions and determining to keep them in your strength. The failure that comes from this leads to the second stage of the Christian life. The first stage of “I can do it” is replaced by “I can’t”— when you feel that setting goals will only lead to failure and defeat. The third stage is characterized by the attitude of “I can’t, but I must and I am going to trust God to do it.” It is in the spirit of the third stage that one finds freedom in setting goals.

It is discouraging when we are stuck in the “I can’t” attitude of the second stage, perhaps the reason we avoid the tradition of “New Year’s Resolutions” in the first place.  But we can remind ourselves and each other that our strength is found in Christ.  Here is a list of truths I pass out to my family members each year as an encouragement as we form our goals:

Trust Jesus to enhance your relationship with Him.
Trust Jesus to give you rest and refresh you.

Trust Jesus to show you how to be a vessel of love.

Trust Jesus to keep a measure of discipline in your life.

Trust Jesus to prepare you for any special temptations.

Trust Jesus to give you His goals for the New Year."