Is It Christmas Yet?

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." -Eddie Cantor

If you are interested, there is a website to answer the question, "Is it Christmas" yet?

Though you probably wouldn't know that several other holidays occur prior to it, including;

• Calan Gaeaf is the first day of winter in Wales on November 1.
• All Saints Day is also celebrated on November 1.
• Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated in the UK commemorating the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.
• Armistice Day is a remembrance holiday in the UK.
• Nativity Fast or the forty days before Christmas, St Philip's fast, Christmas fast, or winter lent or fast.
• Thanksgiving in the U.S. or better known as "Only 30 more days of Christmas shopping" occurs on the fourth Thursday in November.

Christmas is the big one for sure but there is plenty of life that occurs between now and then. It is not strictly a time for shopping, but a time for preparing, a time for connecting with others and a time for experiencing life.

Do not let the time slip by with a blur. Enjoy the moments of "being" with other people. Christmas will come soon enough.

Stay inspired my friends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving !!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

The following is from a friend of mine and his own thankfulness says so much. Find what there is to be thankful in your own life.

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What I'm Thankful For

I'm thankful that I serve a God who not only created me but loves me in spite of what I have done with His creation.

I'm thankful that I am part of a church who embraces what I am instead of trying to mold me into what I am not.

I'm thankful when I see Dona walk away because I know that I will be just as flushed when I get to watch her walking back; and at my age I'm thankful that I still get flushed.

I'm thankful that I am called "Honey" instead of Grand Pa.

I'm thankful that my three boys have turned into my three men.

I'm thankful that kids still like to fight with me, young ladies see the father in me and young men still think I can kick their rear. And for the latter, I am thankful for the power of perception.

I'm thankful for a cool mountain night and a warm open fire.

I'm thankful when I receive a great hug, a sincere smile and a firm handshake.

I'm thankful when my knees and back don't hurt when I wake in the morning.

I'm thankful for answered prayers, God's correction and a lack of worry.

We all strive for the big things. We all want God's blessings and tend to think big when we picture prosperity. But at the end of the day, I have found that it is the series of little things that makes me happy.

For this revelation, I am most especially thankful.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
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Being Thankful

With the American holiday of Thanksgiving nearing, it is good to remember what this day is all about. On this day, people give thanks with feasting and prayer. The holiday is celebrated in the United States and Canada. Interesting enough, potatoes were note a part of the first celebration...Irish immigrants had not yet brought them to North America.

In America, the Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving in 1621 after the first harvest and are generally considered the founders of this holiday. These were the folks that settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. But on December 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers had arrived at Berkeley Hundred, about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, where the first permanent settlement of the Colony of Virginia was established on May 14, 1607.

This group stated that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to God. On that first day, Captain John Woodleaf stated, "Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god."

Traditionally, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Yet, the first North American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1578 when the English Navigator, Martin Frobisher, held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland. He did this to give thanks for surviving the long sea journey, and other settlers arrived in Newfoundland, and the tradition was continued by them. This holiday is held on the second Monday in October in Canada.

Regardless of who was first or where it occurred, the point is to take time out of your busy schedule to be thankful for what you have. It isn't a day of rest before going out the next day and spending all of your money. Take the day to reflect on all of the goodness in your life.

“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.” -Oprah Winfrey