Dear Friends,

Our very own Penny is in need of your prayers. Her family is in the midst of an unthinkable tragedy. Her husband went home to be with the Lord yesterday. Let's cover her, their two young children, and their ministry in prayer.

Those of you who are familiar with Penny's writing know that she is very strong in her faith. Please pray that her faith in the Lord continues to be strengthened, and that He draws them nearer during this very sad time.

I know she'll see any comments that you leave here, but you can also leave her encouragement/condolences on her own site, Living Above Ministries.

Edit: We are trying to find a way that we can help Penny and her family out (in addition to our prayers).  Honestly, we feel quite helpless.  If you would like to donate money to help them out with their expenses, we would all be very grateful.  Anything that the Lord puts on your heart to give - no amount is too small.  Please indicate that the money is for Penny and her family. We will be collecting donations through Friday, January 14th at which time we will send it to Penny.

Thank you, friends!

iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.


So, every Tuesday at 11:00 PM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and/or facebook accounts.

Please grab our iFellowship badge for our blog if you'd like, and don't forget to visit/comment on some of the other great blogs in the Linky list!

Each week a Featured Friend is chosen at random from the previous week's iFellowship link-up.



This week's Featured Friend is Mary Joy from Seeds of Encouragement. Please visit her site and give her some comment love!

As I type this, I'm not at home.  We're visiting family in Texas.  We left New Orleans the day after Christmas and I think we had been on the road about 20 minutes... not even completely out of town yet, and our children were asking, "how much longer?"

After each bridge we crossed, they would ask that infamous question, "are we there yet?"

Which was then quickly followed up with, "how many more minutes until we're there?"

Personally I was enjoying the drive.  We had wonderful weather and John & I were able to finally have real face-to-face talk time.  So in the midst of these questions, I wanted to scream, "just sit back & enjoy the ride!"

Honestly I kept hoping they would fall asleep... so peace would fall over the entire minivan.  Why couldn't they just relax?  Why couldn't they enjoy the books, crayons, and movies we brought with us for this 6 hour drive?


As much as I wish they would "enjoy the ride" more, I wonder if God sometimes feels the same way about me.  I wonder if He too wishes I would relax and enjoy the journey.  If He wonders why I don't enjoy more of His current provisions instead of whining about how long it's taking to get to a certain point.

I think I have my own way of asking, "are we there yet" and "how much farther" and "when will we be there".  I know that I too, much like my children, am anxious about what is to come.

I'm reminded of a Psalm I read over this holiday week...


How long is it going to take?  I think God's answer is much like the one I give my children.

The Lord provides for us in His due time and it definitely satisfies.  I just need to sit back and enjoy the ride a little more, knowing it's all in His hands.







I would love to get to know you better! You can find me almost every day sharing what God is teaching me personally over at my blog, Living Above Ministries. I also am totally addicted to Facebook & Twitter! So grab a cup of coffee and let's chat!

Wow, I apologize for the lateness of this post. I was hit with the flu and am just getting back to myself.

I found a song during these holiday times that not only looks at the love of parents to children, but the kindness of community that carries on throughout the year. This story is true.




One Last Christmas

Written and Sung by Matthew West


It's the news that no one hopes for,
Every parent's greatest fear.
Finding out the child you love so much
Might not make it through the year.

Now the thought of spending Christmas
Without him just feels wrong
They've been praying for a miracle
Now they're praying he can just hold on.

For one last Christmas,
One last time.
One last season when the world is right
One more telling of the story
One more verse of Silent Night.
They'd give anything so he could have one last Christmas.

The middle of September,
Still 70 degrees.
Daddy climbs up in the attic brings down candles,
Hangs the lights on all the trees.

And the neighbors started asking
And pretty soon word got around
First it was the neighborhood,
Before to long they lit up that whole town.

For one last Christmas, one last time
One last season when the world is right
One more telling of the story
One more verse of Silent Night
They'd give anything so he could have
One last Christmas

Twenty seventh of October,
His time was wearing thin.
Friends and family
Even strangers that they didn't even know brought presents in

He was weak but he was smiling
Like there was nothing even wrong
They said he wouldn't make it
Looks like he got to see it after all.

For one last Christmas
One last time
One last season when all the world is right
One more telling of the story
One more verse of Silent Night
They gave everything so he could have
One last Christmas.
One last Christmas.

Dax went to be with the Lord in December of 2009.  He was a leukemia victim.  I pray for all those families who lose someone during the holidays.  But we, as Christians know that there is more going to happen.  We know that God lost someone too.  He can relate to Dax's parents, to you and even to me.  I praise God for the time I spent with my loved ones and for the lives that were touched.  This little boy had people from around the world sending in photos of their Christmas lights and decorations.  He inspired a whole town to become a kinder, gentler, giving people. 

Maybe your life feels hardened because of the commericalism of Christmas.  But if you went to a church service and watched the little kids try and say their lines, sing sweetly to the Baby Jesus and get excited because of the anticipation, maybe God spoke to your heart and opened you up.  I pray that each of us keeps Christmas in our heart every day of 2011.  Sing a carol, read a story, remember that baby, the wisemen, shepherds and angels.  Sometimes it is not hard to forget.








My personal blog: For the Love of 4
Find me on Twitter: @fortheloveof4

"Christmas is the only holiday that is a season." This said to me by my pastor the Sunday before Christmas. It got me thinking. This truly is the only holiday that is not celebrated over a day or so. We give to this holiday a season. For most, Christmas starts on the night of or the day after thanksgiving. Most shoppers find Black Friday the day to start shopping. Christmas music is playing everywhere you go, decorations are in the store fronts and your kids start writing their Christmas letters to Santa.

After listening to this hour long sermon about the "holiday season" and the need for "joy" it was kind of stuck in my mind. We celebrate Christmas as a 30 + holiday, being a little kinder and a little friendlier each day as we grow closer to The 25th. We should always take a step back from the commercial part of this holiday and remember this:

Christmas isn't or shouldn't be the time to want and receive. It should be a time of joy and giving. While we celebrate we should be thinking of the meaning of this holiday. The celebration of a birth. The joy and excitement of Jesus. While it is great to get a ton of presents and beautiful cards, we should remember what started this holiday to begin with. You may not believe that this is the day, the birth of Jesus but it is the worlds designated time to celebrate Him in all his glory.

Take a moment to look at your full tree (or empty tree depending on what time your children awoke this morning), what feeling do you have? Is it one of, "its over, time to clean up"... or one of joy because of the smiles and laughter?

I set out on writing this great and all knowing post of what Christmas is really about. But truly the only thing I can share with you today is that I am smiling. I am happy to see the amount of joy in my childrens' eyes. The laughter from getting a ribbon stuck to their sleeve ( happens every year). I am simply filled with joy. Something I most definitely prayed for this past week.

Christmas this year is about being happy. Counting your blessing and saying thank you. Praising the Lord. Understanding that "everything" might not mean you have it all, but that everything you have is all you need.

Remember these few scriptures over the next few days. As the hustle and bustle calms to a low roar and the holiday season comes close to an end.

Psalms 149:4
1 Timothy 4:12
Psalms 9:2
John 15:17

Merry Christmas from my family to all of yours.
 













Mom of For The Love Of 4
My personal website:
Find me on Twitter:

Merry Christmas!

You know, I've been a Christian all my life, and I love that we can still have these fantastic revelations and insights! That must be what it means when it is said that God's Word is living and breathing, eh?

Here are some of the lessons that I have learned recently:

Lesson 1:
A couple of years back, my pastor (who was fairly new to our church) was giving his Christmas Eve message. He has such a great way of relating the Bible that I hadn't felt in the previous pastors that I had heard.

When he talked about how Jesus looked down on the Earth with His Heavenly Father, and said "send me", it struck a chord right in my heart. All my life I heard the Christmas story - the boy child being born in the manger. I didn't realize until that moment, that that's where Jesus' story always began for me - with his birth.

But that's not really where Jesus' story began, was it? He made the choice to leave His position in Heaven to come down and live amongst us.

Lesson 2:
Have you seen the movie The Nativity Story? I watched it last year, and it wasn't anything like I had imagined. Again, my whole life, the thought of Jesus began with His wonderful birth. The people who created that movie did such an amazing job of portraying the darkness of that time, the fear that the people lived in. The birth of this boy, our Saviour, brought hope and light to that dark time, and He is still bringing light to our lives today!

Lesson 3:
My 5-year-old and I were doing our Homeschool lesson yesterday. The lesson called for a reading from "Devotions from the Children's Hour" by Kenneth Taylor. The chapter that our curriculum instructed us to read is called "How the Baby Jesus Was Different from Every Other Baby".
Mr Taylor went on to talk about how Joseph was not Jesus' father. Of course we all know this, right?

But his explanation was stirring to me - if Jesus had been born of Joseph, then he would have been born with sin. When he died on the cross, He would not have been able to die for our sins, because He would have had to die for His own.
Because He was the Son of God, He was born without sin, and THAT is the reason that He was able to die for our sins.

I'm sure many of you already hold these truths in your hearts, but I'm hoping that you will see this Christmas with fresh eyes, and an open heart.


May you and yours have a blessed and Merry Christmas!









My personal blog: MomKaboodle
Find me on Twitter: @MomKaboodle

Wow, is it Wednesday already? It totally snuck up on me (again!).
As a result, this linky will be open until 8 AM CST tomorrow (Thursday). Sound good?



iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.


So, every Tuesday at 11:00 PM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and/or facebook accounts.

Please grab our iFellowship badge for our blog if you'd like, and don't forget to visit/comment on some of the other great blogs in the Linky list!

Each week a Featured Friend is chosen at random from the previous week's iFellowship link-up.



This week's Featured Friend is Elizabeth at Count It All Joy. Please visit her site and give her some comment love!

These are only a few received messages I've already seen by those around me this Christmas season.

Don't you just love it when the Lord reveals something to you - over and over again - until you say, "Aha! I get it now!"

The Lord has been communicating a simple message to me in many small and connected ways and I wanted to pass it along to you.  The message is simple.


Yes, that's it!  I know many of you will be sitting down at a table this week with people who do not know the Lord like you do.  You may be the very person God wants to use to deliver the message of Restoration.  Hope.  Joy.

These are the simple ways He reminded me of this simple & yet important message.  Perhaps you can even use these as conversation starters!

Last week I read, "The 12 Days of Christmas," to my children at bedtime.  The book we have is actually about the history of this famous story.  The one "day" that really stood out to me this year was "4 Calling Birds."  The 4 Calling Birds represent Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.  Just as birds call out, the disciples called out or shared with all of us who Jesus is and what He has done for us.


Then, last Sunday night, our church took 30 people caroling to the homes right around our church.   Most people received us very well.  They stood on their porch, listened with a smile and then waved and thanked us as we moved on to the next house.  However, one house really moved me.  A mother and son, and perhaps a grandmother, came to the door.  About half-way through our song the mother reached over and hugged her son.  It was really a beautiful thing to watch!


Yesterday I invited a few little girls and their mothers over for a Christmas playdate.  We're out from school and I know these Christmas vacation days can seem like forever - waiting for Christmas.  So while the girls played dolls and Lightbright, the mothers & I shared a cup of coffee & Baked Brie (Yum!!).  One of the mothers began to share what the Lord is teaching her lately. (now... keep in mind this was the 1st time the three of us had spent 1-on-1 time together!)  What a special time!  She touched both of hearts and gave us both hope & wisdom for the days of mothering to come!


Last night I read, "The Legend of the Candy Cane," to my kids at bedtime.  I love the part of the story where the candy store owner asked little Lucy if she will help him spread the word about the real meaning of the Candy Cane.  As a result an entire town came out of their dark places and found joy in a candy store!


The message is simple.  Spread the word.  It may seem strange and out of place (like old fashioned caroling or sharing your heart at a playdate)... but God can and wants to use you to share His good news!  He wants to use your surroundings, your stories, your life for His glory!  It doesn't have to sound like the preacher on Sunday morning to be effective.  Just tell about the God of your every day life!

So this week - be brave, do the unordinary thing, talk about the Lord who has changed you!  You just might find them experiencing restoration, hope, joy, and salvation.







I would love to get to know you better! You can find me almost every day sharing what God is teaching me personally over at my blog, Living Above Ministries. I also am totally addicted to Facebook &  Twitter! So grab a cup of coffee and let's chat!!

This excerpt is from John MacArthur's teaching "Pursuing Divine Wisdom" originally published on Grace to You. This is a call to action for Christian parents. Who do you want teaching your children?

"The most important thing you could possibly learn is wisdom. Wisdom is not some spacey kind of thing, out in the air somewhere, some conceptual thing. Wisdom is skill in living and it starts with fearing God, moves to guarding your mind, selecting your companions, controlling your body, watching your words, pursuing your work, managing your money and loving your neighbor. Very simple. But that's it. And when you've done that, you've learned wisdom.

It's so important to be taught. I can say as a father, for example,

if I fail to teach my son to fear God, the devil will teach him to hate God.

If I fail to teach my son to guard his mind, the devil will teach him to have an open mind.

If I fail to teach my son to obey his parents, the devil will teach him to rebel and break his parents' hearts.

If I fail to teach my son to select his companions carefully, the devil will choose them for him.

If I fail to teach my son to control his body, the devil will gladly teach him to give it completely over to his lusts.

If I fail to teach my children to enjoy speech that is honorable to God, the devil will fill their mouths with filth.

If I fail to teach my children to pursue their work, the devil will make them lazy.

If I fail to teach them to manage their money, the devil will teach them to waste it on riotous living.

If I fail to teach them to love their neighbor, the devil will gladly teach them to love only themselves.

Learn wisdom."

Let me be blunt. Someone is teaching our children. Who is it?

Moms, let's be intentional as the time with our children is short. Let's learn wisdom and pass it on to our children by God's immeasurable grace.

Proverbs 2:1-15 ESV

¹ My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
²making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
³yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
¹²delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

On this journey with you,

The winner of the $35 gift code to CSN Stores is comment #36, Elizabeth!

Congratulations, Elizabeth - the gift code has been emailed to you.

Thanks to all who participated!

It's been a while since we've had a Seeds Digest!

In case you missed any of these great posts, we have them all here in one spot so you can get caught up.

I'm praying that the Lord will prepare all of our hearts for this glorious Christmas celebration. May he soften our "innkeeper's hearts" to the real meaning of the Season - the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

November 22, 2010 - I Am Thankful This week, most of us in the United States are readying for several things; a day of eating, a day of shopping, and for most of us, a day off from our jobs. But Thanksgiving started out as more than that...

November 23, 2010 - In This Rejoice, In This Be Thankful Again, in my prayer time this week, it was as if the Lord was making the words in my Bible bold - highlighted - and underlined - regarding something I often fail to thank Him for at this time of year.

Bear with me... as this is not a typical "thanksgiving" verse...

November 24, 2010 - iFellowship 11/24/2010 with Featured Friend, Sarah from Water Water Everywhere

November 25, 2010 - Thanks!I love the reminder to set aside some time on this Holiday to reflect on our many blessings, and to think about what we are thankful for.

But do we make the habit of acknowledging our blessings all of the other days of the year?

My Pastor often talks about the "Attitude of Gratitude"....

November 26, 2010 - Guest Post: God's Answers by Jamie Habermaas from Inspired Mess
Have you ever asked God for answers but never stopped long enough to hear what He's trying to tell you? Unfortunately, that's been me lately. The past couple of months, I've felt led to change careers and have felt my passion for wanting to make a difference just ready to burst forth! I have repeatedly asked for guidance and answers....

November 27, 2010 - A Thankful Moment his is the season to be thankful. With Thanksgiving done and Christmas on the way, i find myself trying to teach my children the real meaning of it all. I can see that the social world has played a big part in what they think its all about. So it was time to take a lesson in Thanksgiving and we will do the same for Christmas.....

November 28, 2010 - M.A.D. Mommies
Our family has many Christmas traditions. Some are classic, like attending the Christmas Eve service together and reading the Christmas story in the morning before opening presents. Others involve eating pizza bread at the family get-together and expecting a toothbrush, toothpaste, and an orange in my stocking from Grandma each year.

But another thing to expect from Grandma isn't so common....

November 29, 2010 - $5 From 100 People
In a previous post we mentioned that the Seeds of Faith holiday project is to support Children's Hope Chest.

Our goal is to raise $500 to help stop Sex Trafficking in children.

Do you know that if 100 people donated $5 each, that we could easily reach this goal?...

November 30, 2010 - The Beauty of Fridge Letters
This morning with coffee in hand, I opened my One Year Bible. I breathed in deeply and just sat still for a moment before reading. I shared with the Lord some of the things that were on my heart.

Some were requests, some were admittedly "whys" (I just can't seem to rid myself of those!), and some were praises and thanks. I asked the Lord to give me a special word. It didn't have to be an answer for all that I had just laid before Him, but just His still small voice that speaks volumes to my soul!...

December 1, 2010 - iFellowship 12/1/2010 with Featured Friend, Aurie from It's Our Good Life

December 2, 2010 - Praise Him!
There seem to be many traditions and examples of praising God in the morning and in the evening. Several songs even come to mind:

"Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the evening, Praise him when I'm young and when I'm old."

"From the rising of the sun, til the sun goes down, let the name of the Lord be praised!"....

December 4, 2010 - The Culture's Message: Sex is Great! Why Wait?
Shopping at the mall Thanksgiving weekend, I saw a sight that broke my heart. A little girl of approximately six or seven years old in pigtails and Mary Janes was sitting on the ledge of a store's window front. She was all innocence and bubblegum bubbles, and was laughing at a baby in a stroller....

December 6, 2010 - Giveaway: $35 Gift Code to CSN Stores

December 7, 2010 -Candy Cans
It seems like everywhere we go we see Candy Canes.

Our neighbors have large plastic ones lining their porch. When we go to the bank, they offer them to my children.....

December 8, 2010 - iFellowship 12/8/10 with Featured Friend, Jenilee of the Goodwin Family Blog

December 9, 2010 - Do You Trust Them to Him?
It's easy to want to hold on tightly to our kids sometimes. To shield them from hurt both physical and emotional. To worry about them endlessly when they are in the care of others (sometimes even when they're with loved ones!)

But let us remember that as much as WE love and want what's best for our children, our Father in Heaven wants that even more!...

December 11, 2010 - Going Through A Difficult Time?

December 13, 2010 - Grace Has a Face!
This month I have been looking at non-traditional/contemporary Christmas songs. Earlier in the year, I listened to a cd and found this song that is sung by the southern gospel group, Greater Vision. It starts out telling about how the wiseman went to find this child and how they described him....

December 14, 2010 - Which One is Your Favorite?
here are as many different decorated trees as there are homes to fill them. I have one friend who decorates according to a color theme each year. I have another friend who has a complete tree dedicated to her college alma mater - complete with orange only lights & everything!

I love the many different personalities of decorated Christmas trees. They tell quite the story of the owners' lives....

December 15, 2010 - iFellowship 12/15/2010 with Featured Friend, Liz at A Flowering Dogwood

December 16, 2010 - Joy to the World
You might think with four children and ten years of Christmas pageants under my

belt I could make it through another without shedding a tear. Well I tried, but at our three-year-old’s Pick Up Pageant this week the tears flowed like clockwork. As you probably know, in pick up pageants children choose which part they play in the Christmas story. This year the familiar story was told with the help of three Marys and no less than a dozen angels. Our little one announced earlier this week that she would be ‘a keen’. And a beautiful king she was!...


December 18, 2010 - A Lesson From Love
As I explained on my blog last week, I've been having a hard time this Christmas. We just celebrated my husband's birthday with him being gone from home for the third year in a row, and now we're facing another Christmas with him still in Afghanistan. I battle the desire to go to a corner and just cry at the unfairness of it all. Every day I have to intentionally put my chin up and pray for good cheer.

Wednesday morning, I was feeling really sorry for myself. Wednesday is my day to volunteer and cook at the soup kitchen, which normally is so fulfilling to me, but that day was the day before Gregg's birthday and I was dwelling on it. That afternoon, a young wife and mother came into the dining room to eat....

Hope you enjoyed these posts! Did you see something you missed? We'd love if you'd leave us a comment. :)

iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.


So, every Tuesday at 11:00 PM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and/or facebook accounts.

Please grab our iFellowship badge for our blog if you'd like, and don't forget to visit some of the other great blogs in the Linky list!

Each week a Featured Friend is chosen at random from the previous week's iFellowship link-up.



This week's Featured Friend is Liz at The Flowering Dogwood. Liz is a mommy of 3 boys, and she just posted that she plans to stop blogging after the first of the year. Let's visit her and give her a big farewell!

I'm talking about the ornaments that adorn our tree.

There are as many different decorated trees as there are homes to fill them.  I have one friend who decorates according to a color theme each year.  I have another friend who has a complete tree dedicated to her college alma mater - complete with orange only lights & everything!

I love the many different personalities of decorated Christmas trees.  They tell quite the story of the owners' lives.

Last week, the ladies of our church shared our annual Ornament Exchange.  I led a devotional about the history of Christmas ornaments.  You can read about this devotional here.  Originally ornaments were fruits & nuts to symbolize the hope of Spring.  Winter was such a harsh & dark time, the people needed a reminder that hope would indeed return!

I think God knew that we would experience harsh & dark times, so He sent His Son as the ultimate "exchange" to bring us Hope to last a lifetime.

At the end of my devotional - I read a poem about Christmas Ornaments & friendship.  My wonderful husband, John Franklin wrote this for me and the ladies of our church.  I wanted to share it with you today.  When my husband is not leading our wonderful church he's writing books and penning incredible songs!

From dead things to live things and up on the tree

From apples to oranges and gum-drops we be

The trappings of Christmas through tinsel we sing

and cater the mem'ries of family and things

We journey from lands where the elves know the snow

Where candy-cane forests and workshops are old

With care we're inspired and coming to life

with shinings and glitter reflections to light.

From old country, new country, and your home we've come

Now here to be traded, where sisterhood's born.

What more could we ask for than now in your hands

To bring to you memories of love, joy, and friends.

I would love to get to know you better! You can find me almost every day sharing what God is teaching me personally over at my blog, Living Above Ministries. I also am totally addicted to Facebook & Twitter! So grab a cup of coffee and let's chat!!

Are you going through a difficult time in your life?  I am sure most everyone has something in their life at this time to where they just don't know what to do about a situation.  Lately it seems no matter how hard I try, I just can't get ahead of the game. Kids have been sick, hubby has been sick, vehicle issues, medical issues.  It is that time of year where you want to give your family all they deserve.  You think you can do it all and you can't. However, I know the one person who can. God.  He can and will supply all of my needs.  All I have to do is ask!  No matter how small or large the prayer request, He will answer.   Did you notice though I said needs?  Yes, needs!  Not wants!  God knows what you need and He will take care of you no matter what.  Just trust on Him and His holy name and He will provide all of your needs.

Check out these verses that I came across.  Remember that God will take care of you and your family!

Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?
Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!
So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."  -Matthew 7:9-11



But let us remember that as much as WE love and want what's best for our children, our Father in Heaven wants that even more! 

It is my hope that we will remember to pray over our children each day, and trust God to take care of them and keep them safe while they are in our care as well as in the care of others.

I hope you and your kiddos have a blessed day! 
 
Find me on Twitter: @sdakin105 & @MomKaboodle

iFellowship was created by the team at Seeds Of Faith. We wanted Christian women to have a place to get to know each other and well, just fellowship! After all, as Christians we're called to fellowship with one another.


So, every Tuesday at 11:00 PM CST, there will be a linky tool provided for Christian women to post links to their blogs, twitter accounts, and/or facebook accounts.

Please grab our iFellowship badge for our blog if you'd like, and don't forget to visit some of the other great blogs in the Linky list!

Each week a Featured Friend is chosen at random from the previous week's iFellowship link-up.




This week's Featured Friend is Jenilee of the Goodwin Family Blog. Jenilee is a homeschooling momma of 3 girls. Her love for the Lord shines through very clearly on her blog. Please visit her site and give her some comment love!

It seems like everywhere we go we see Candy Canes.

Our neighbors have large plastic ones lining their porch.  When we go to the bank, they offer them to my children.



We even have them in our Advent Calendar to help us count down the days to December 25th.

You might think they would get tired of them and wish for something a little more exciting than a red and white curvy stick!

However, my 3 year old little boy LOVES THEM!!!  And for the time being he calls them "candy cans" instead of candy canes.  It's just adorable!

The other day he shouted with absolute glee, "Yeah, candy cans!" - and in that moment I thought, "wouldn't it be cool if I could find the energy to say "I can" all from a piece of candy!"

You know, things like this:

Wouldn't that be fantastic if we could find the will, the energy, and the strength to say & do these "can-do" things all from a small piece of candy?!

The more I thought about this - "candy cans" - the more I thought about the history behind the real Candy Cane.

I couldn't have said it better... I found this description of the candy cane here.

Many people have given religious meaning to the shape and form of the candy cane. It is said that its shape is like the letter “J” in Jesus’ name. It is also in the shape of the shepherds’ crook, symbolic of how Jesus, like the “Good Shepherd” watches over his children like little lambs. It is a hard candy, solid like a “rock”, the foundation of the Church. The flavor of peppermint is similar to another member of the mint family, hyssop. In the Old Testament hyssop was used for purification and sacrifice, and this is said to symbolize the purity of Jesus and the sacrifice he made.

Some say the white of the candy cane represents the purity of Jesus and his virgin birth. The bold red stripe represents God’s love. The three fine stripes are said by some to represent the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Others say they represent the blood spilled at the beating Jesus received at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

I've known the history of the candy cane for quite some time and have always thought it was a neat part of Christmas.  But when I was wishing I had a piece of candy that could give me the strength to say, "I can" instead of "I'm not strong enough and therefore I can't" - I realized I do have something that can give me strength - that can help me say "I can" instead of "I can't" - and that something... is Jesus!


I know you will see and probably enjoy many candy canes this CHRISTmas season.  The next time you see one - actually remember what it symbolizes and let it strengthen you so you too can say "I can!"

Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

I have several online carts filled....I have a few more things to do before I can checkout, but it shouldn't be too much longer now before I have everything finished....now if only I could borrow some little elves to wrap everything!

We have a great giveaway this week brought to you by CSN Stores. If you're not familiar with them, CSN is comprised of over 200 sites, including everything from luggage stores to toy stores. They've got you covered for just about anybody on your list that you need to buy for.

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Thanks, and Good Luck!

Shopping at the mall Thanksgiving weekend, I saw a sight that broke my heart. A little girl of approximately six or seven years old in pigtails and Mary Janes was sitting on the ledge of a store's window front. She was all innocence and bubblegum bubbles, and was laughing at a baby in a stroller. In the window above her head was a Victoria's Secret model, looking up with a seductive look at the camera above her, that looked down the exposed cleavage of the barely covered up breasts, her torso bare down to a very skimpy pair of panties.

It made me so sad that I wanted to grab the little girl and whisk her away from the terrible scene.

In continuing my discussion of Vicki Courtney's 5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter, we enter into Chapter 8, "The Culture's Message: Sex is Great! Why Wait?"

Two years ago, my husband, Gregg, and I decided to rid our home of anything that condoned premarital sex or showed gratuitous sexuality. You might think, "How hard can that be?" Let me tell you: unless you do something like that, you have no idea how invasive sex is in our culture. We had to get rid of about ninety percent of the movies in our collection - and we had a really large collection. We had to get rid of most of our books (I write romances and had a huge collection of contemporary romance novels - I have since switched to inspirational romance novels). We got rid of cable television and cleaned out the shows that filled our three TiVo's. And we canceled all of our magazine subscriptions, including the publications like "Men's Health" because of the advertising.

We had to go to such extremes JUST to remove premarital sex from our lives.

There is something wrong with a culture that accepts ads like those that are three times life-sized posters that line the windows in stores like Victoria's Secret.

Just pulling a recent PG-13 movie release out of the air, here is the rating notification for "Life As We Know It," a movie my daughter asked if she could see:



"Sexual Material"

Here is the detailed list of "sexual material" from the PluggedInOnline review of this movie (and if you've never used Plugged In as a resource, I highly encourage it.)

Sexual Content

Messer is a womanizer for most of the film—a hunk a hunk o' burnin' love who causes almost every women (and at least one man) to swoon in his presence. A married neighbor, for example, struts out in her nightie to ogle Messer's pre-run stretch. (She hastily adjusts her breasts before he can see her.)

Messer takes full advantage, bedding at least three women. We see him kiss and make out with one of them before she takes his shirt off in the hallway. Later, he bemoans losing his sex-filled life to become a dad. "I had it all, and it was awesome!" he tells Holly. To adjust to his new reality, he says he's picking up new conquests at the supermarket—with Sophie's help. Women stare at men with babies, he says, like "a guy'll stare at a woman with a great rack."

On Messer's infamous date with Holly, he tells her that the best he can hope for is that they'll "get drunk and hook up," shortly before making what Holly refers to as a "booty call" to another woman. We see him hold a woman's rear, apparently pinch another's and cavort in his underwear. Holly shows up in the bathtub quite a bit. (We see her legs and shoulders.) She wears only a towel at one point. She and other women often wear low-cut blouses and dresses.

References are made to male body parts and condoms. Rude comments are made about having sex and not having sex. Strippers and "tranny hookers" make their way into conversations. A joke is cracked about what would happen if a tweenage babysitter were old enough to have sex with the baby's father. Gary, one half of a homosexual couple, tells a neighbor that he and his partner "used to have sex all the time." And they're later shown holding hands. Holly is propositioned over the phone by another woman.

When Messer leaves Holly and Sophie for a bit, it appears as though Holly invites another man to live with her.

If you don't teach your children that premarital sex is wrong, unhealthy, damaging to their minds (more on that in upcoming chapters), and sinful, I'm afraid that no one else will. Every single message they're going to receive from the world is going to tell them the opposite. Almost every one of their friends will lose their virginity in high school. It will be a topic of conversation from middle school forward, and if you don't battle it now, you will lose the battle in the future.

If you aren't reading this book with us, I would very much encourage you to do so. If you have sons, a phenomenal, eye-opening resource is Every Man's Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker. My husband and I have both commented that it should be required reading for every parent of a boy.

Our 13-year-old daughter knows to check with us before she watches a show or a movie, and she'll know the reasons why she can't watch some things or read other things. As best as we can explain it to her, we are teaching her about the value of her virginity and about how amazing it will be to wait for marriage.

It isn't a subject we avoid, because no one else is avoiding it. It is an area where we are fighting for her and doing our best to protect her.

My personal blog: Hallee the Homemaker
Find me on Twitter: @halleeb