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One Thousand Gifts: 221 – 240

 

God’s gifts continued. . .

221. Family time over Christmas break: laughter, singing Christmas carols , goofy gift exchange, hugs, dancing with Pops, yummy banana bread, seeing my mom, enjoying my brother’s puppies.

222. A new start to a new year (It’s January so I’m still thinking beginning. Are you?)

223. My dad’s advice about cars and random home repairs.  He’s my long distance handyman.

224. My husband’s job and his hard work outside our home day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

225. Puppy prints on my hardwood floors.

226. My kids’ dirty laundry. They are still both living at home but not for long since Justin leaves in August for college.

227. The ability to type, even if I type my own way. Never took a typing class because I never thought I’d ever need it.

228. The local news coming over to interview my son about his wacky videos.

229. Giggling girls, my daughter and her friends.

230. Laughing with friends while playing Kinect.

231. The sound of my tabletop fountain

232. An accountability partner. What a difference it makes having to report to a friend on Tuesdays. My to-do list is getting done. A miracle. Praise!

233. Prayer with friends on Monday nights – over the phone :)

234. Hot Tamales – I heart candy..

235. Getting organized little by little

236. Setting up my office space after years of not having one. Finally ready to commit to a writing schedule.

237. Kindness of others

238. A Goodwill deal on a desk

239. Instrumental music that relaxes my soul

240. Hope, hope and more hope

 

To start counting your gifts or to add yours for this week, please visit Ann at A Holy Experience

 

 

**Find Tea with Tiffany on Facebook here

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Silly Saturdays: Take Two

One question: Who buys these things?

Introducing–Ugli Fruit.

These look silly to me..

 

 

(On a serious note, do you think God might have a message for us through ugli fruit? Hmm.)

 

 

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Sweet P’s: Prayer, Petition & Praise

Lord God Almighty, I praise You. I look to You today for my daily needs. You are my creator. You know exactly what is on my heart, You know my every thought and fear. You know my deepest dreams. I trust You know what my life should look like day by day. I look to You for my significance.

Father God, You are more than enough. Satisfy me in Your presence today.

Thank You for the gift of Your Word and the gift of Your Spirit. Thank You for Your powerful love that has changed me.

This morning I pray for all those who are searching for something to satisfy their restlessness, loneliness or emptiness. The widow. The drug addict. The stay-at-home mom. The scholar. The doctor. The worship leader. The creative one. The one in an assisted-living center.  The college student. The teacher. The atheist. The pastor with the big church. The list of individuals goes on and on. You know who they are, Lord.

God, please soften their hearts. Help them see and hear You today. Speak sweet love to them so that they know YOU are what they are longing for. YOU are the reason they exist. YOU give their life meaning.

I, too, remember the loneliness. I remember looking for love in all the wrong places. Nothing satisfied me until I turned to You. And when I did turn, You were right there. Always faithful. Full of mercy. Ready to rescue. You comforted, wiped my tears and held me close. You spoke love into my lonely heart. What a gift of Your grace. Thank You.

Lord Jesus, You are worthy. You are holy. You are our source of everlasting life.

God, we need You, yes, we do. Moment by moment, we need You to change us. We cannot change ourselves. 

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and heal our hearts and make us whole. Create in us a heart like Yours. Give us Your heart for humanity. Use our messy life stories for good. Equip us to go out and make a difference wherever we are. Our mission field is out there. The fields are ripe.

We can change the world, one life at a time.

But only by Your grace, so help us God.

Have Your way with us…

In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

 

(FREE gift for all who sign up for my new monthly newsletter. CLICK HERE for details.)

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FREE 2012 Monthly Calendar

I am starting a monthly newsletter. :) And as my FREE GIFT for all who sign up, I have created a 2012 monthly calendar (printable 8 1/2 x 11) . Here’s a couple screenshot samples. I used my photos and scripture for each month.

 

To SIGN UP, add your first name and email address to the box on the upper right corner of my website. And be sure to confirm when you get the emailed link. Thank you.

I pray my newsletter will encourage you.

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God’s Plan for You

Looking for hope today?

Looking for God’s plan?

How does the word SOAR sound to you? Want to experience God on a higher level?

It is possible for you to soar.

How?

By putting your hope in the Lord. . .(not in yourself or your circumstances)

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31

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Silly Saturdays – Take One

For 2012, I’m going to be silly on Saturdays. I’m calling these posts: Silly Saturdays. :)

While I absolutely love to write devotions and talk about all things GOD, I also love to laugh and have fun. I even give a talk about laughter because I believe in it so much. Laughing is a good, God thing. Right?

For Silly Saturdays I have no idea what I will come up with yet. It may be a photo, video or even a vlog. It may be one of my son’s goofy videos. But I feel it is time to let my creative, playful self out.

Ready for a smile?

This is my dad and my son. :) Aren’t they the coolest Grandpa and Grandson Santa on the planet? I think so. These Santas were dressed and ready to hand out candy canes and entertain people. They also had another clear mission:

Convince people in the Walmart parking lot that my brother’s puppies were the cutest, softest, most loveable, best pups around.

And guess who they convinced?

Us.

Here’s our new baby, Teddy. :) He’s half Golden Retriever, half Yellow Lab.

Fuzzy wuzzy, isn’t he?

(I may change this into a “Silly Saturday meme.” Let me know if you’d be game and we can link up soon.)

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Sweet P’s: Prayer, Petition & Praise

Father God, another Friday is here and I’m feeling under the weather today. Still I will thank You and praise You. I look to You for my daily strength. I look to You for healing if I am getting a bug or something. Come quickly and renew me. I can trust You always. You alone are God. The author of my life, the One who knows every page and chapter. You are good. You are holy. You are true.

Today I am here to thank You for the adventurous week we’ve had with my son’s viral prank video. I thank You for his sense of humor. Laughter is good medicine. I thank You for Justin’s salvation. I thank You for his dreams yet answered. I lift up his future to You. I pray for Your leading in career path as he continues college.. Speak to him each day and let Him know You are Emmanuel, God with Him. Give him a heart to serve and love You above everything else. Bless the work of his hands. Enable Justin to help those in need like he dreams of doing. Keep him from those who want to lead him down the wrong path. Thank You for my son. I love knowing He is Yours.

Children are a gift from You.

Thank You for my daughter.Thank You for Hannah’s life and her influence in our home. I love knowing she is an encourager to her friends. I love watching her dance. She is so graceful. I love her precious smile, expressions and giggle. I love that she still shares her struggles with me and that she listens to my advice. I pray we will continue our open relationship throughout I pray her high school years. Encourage her to try her best when things are tough. Remind her of Your love. Remind her she is beautiful in Your eyes always, with or without makeup. Bless her with friends who can be trusted and who love Jesus. Use Hannah as a blessing to all she meets. Thank You for Hannah’s salvation. Like Justin, I love knowing she is Yours.

Lord, I pray You will help me with self discipline. I need You to guide me every step of every day because I am so easily side-tracked. I want to follow You and yet I find myself following my own way. There are things I need to get done in the home and there are things You have invited me to do, like book writing. Jesus, empower me to be obedient and create a plan that will help me move forward. God, You know my weaknesses. I am so glad that when I am weak, You are strong.

Holy Spirit, fill Your people today. Fill us with fruit that lasts. The fruit of the Spirit. Let us live as people that love well.

Speak to us througb Your Word. Draw us close to Your heart. We need You. Without You our lives are empty. Please God, satisfy our longings with more of You.

I love You, Jesus. Amen

 

 

(PS please consider “liking” my  Tea with Tiffany page on Facebook)

 

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JStustudios Viral “Falling Is the New Cone-ing” Video

A sidestep from my normal devotional posts—

Stopping in to share my son’s viral prank video. Today Justin’s falling video hit over one million views. (screenshot below)

 

 

 

This trend has caught on all over the world. Justin has a falling community and there are videos of people falling in public everywhere. China. Australia. Germany. Belgium. In schools. You name it, crazy pranksters are having fun. So far no one has been hurt that we know of. Falling is funny. The Three Stooges fell and we laughed at them.

This just proves people need a good, clean laugh.

Justin has been a clown since he was born. He does great impersonations, has hilarious  improv skills and gestures. He plans to attend the Colorado Film School next fall. Currently he is going to community college for some core classes.

Please PRAY for Justin’s journey and for God to always guide his steps. Justin dreams of continuing to make people laugh through family-friendly humor. Acting. Filming. Ect.

Go, Justin!! I love you, son. :) You make me laugh.

(For the record: Justin and his friends ALWAYS pick up their public messes. And they ask all fellow fallers to do the same. Falling is risky business. Please fall responsibly and try not to get hurt.)

 


As Justin’s mom, I support his love of laughter. And as a speaker, I speak on the topic of laughter. I highly believe in the healing power of laughter. Here’s why.  ( screenshot of a comment about Justin’s video)

To see more funny videos, find Justin at JSTUSTUDIOS on Youtube HERE

Find Jstustudios Facebook Fan Page HERE

 

Here is Justin’s local news interview. In this interview, I say a few words (as his mom)..

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The Greatest Moment of Our Lives

You stand at the back of an empty auditorium, seeing rows and rows of chairs soon to be filled with friends just like you. Your big moment is just a couple hours away. Soon you will hear your name being called and walk forward to accept your diploma.

Years of hard work, finished. You did it. Yes!

Yet deep down you feel joy and sadness. What once was will be no more. Goodbyes will be said and tears will fall. Festive foods await you. Family and friends celebrate your success today, but tomorrow will come and you will enter unknown territory.

Questions bounce around in your mind.

Who am I if I’m not a student anymore? What will become of my life? Will I find a job in this economy? Will I make enough money to survive? Will I get married? Have children? What trials are right around the corner? What successes?

TO FINISH READING, FIND ME AT LACED WITH GRACE

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Sweet P’s: Prayer, Petition & Praise

When words escape me, one word will do.

Jesus.

Jesus, You are the hope I need.

You are my best friend, the one I can always count on.

The one who never leaves me.

The lover of my soul.

The savior of the world.

My healer, comforter and redeemer.

The best gift ever.

Everlasting love.

Jesus.

Your love completes me.

Thank You, thank you.

I look to You today to fill my cup.

You are my enough.

In Your precious name I pray, Amen.

 

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