Can you believe another week has come and gone?  Fall sure is flying by huh?  Christmas will be here before we know it!  Have you started preparing for it's arrival?  Made your Christmas list yet?  :)  We're working on ours.  Yes, we still make Christmas lists.  It's just easier for whoever wants to buy us something!  :)

Hopefully, we're going to go Christmas shopping next week!  Can't wait!  :)

Hope y'all have a great weekend! 

SMILE, GOD LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

5 FAVORITE THINGS THIS WEEK! 

This is a party where you share your 5 favorite things from the past week.  Sounds like fun, right?  Join the fun!

"I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel, so bad!"

So, here are a few of my favorite things:

1. Celebrating our sister's birthday.  Yep.  We had another birthday!  The last one for the year.  

 

2.  Playing Disney Apple to Apples with the family.  We had a riot!

 

3.  Drinking Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks! 

 

4.  Receiving cupcake calendar's from my Secret Sister.  There is 3 of them!  She sure is spoiling me!  Can you believe I enjoy baking and decorating cupcakes, but not eating them?  Strange.

   

5.  Celebrating our Pastor's (our Dad) birthday at Church.  The kids had so much fun spoiling him!  It was so cute!  Oh!  Just a little FYI, this month is Pastor Appreciation Month!  

 

What were some of your favorite things from this week?  

"Be good to everyone, because everyone is having a tough time."  -J.H.

This is a quote from my former pastor who passed away 11 years ago today.  Not only did he say this quote, he lived it!  So should we!  We have no idea what each other is going through.  Someone could be having the worst day of their life and we may have the choice to try and make their day better or worse.  How do you want people to treat you when you're having a bad day?  Sure, we may just want people to leave us alone, but that's not always best.  Everyone needs to be encouraged.  Everyone needs to be loved.  Everyone needs a smile.  Everyone needs a friend.  We can be that friend!  I'm not saying go up to some complete stranger on the street and decide they're going to be your new best friend.  That may not be very wise.  But we can smile at someone in passing.  True, people may look at you like 'why is the strange person smiling at me?  Do I have something on my face?'  That's because everyone today is so wrapped up in themselves that they're not use to people reaching out to them.   

Why not decide that you're going to encourage someone today.  Say something encouraging or do something encouraging.  Proverbs 16:24  "Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."
Sometimes I think I hold the record for saying things that I shouldn't.  I'm still working on that whole "think before you speak" thing.  I wish I was one of those people who say a lot without saying a lot.  But I'm not.  I'm the kind who has to work hard on controlling my tongue.  Which, I might add, is not an easy task.   Ecclesiastes 5:2 "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." 

So, let's decide that we're going to be an encouragement and not a discouragement.  A help instead of a hindrance.  A "ray of sunshine", and not a "Johnny raincloud."  God will help us, if we just ask Him!  Psalms 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

SMILE, GOD LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!