Just one little question...with hopefully a BIG answer...

With only a few days to go to 2009, I pose you this one little question;

What kind of influence will you be?

We all have the power to influence someone for good. God has placed us all within a realm or social circle, and yes, even within our own families that have the need to be influenced for God and godly things. No matter where we are, there is always someone watching. If we are living a Righteous-in-His-sight life, then those who see and witness it will be influenced towards change in their own life. (I'm not telling you to go preach down Aunt Alice's throat, that is not the answer! :))

I'm not really big on New Year's Resolutions that are set unrealistically and usually forgotten before the month ends, but I am big on change. Self-reflection, self-motivation and self-improvement! Setting goals is good...very good. Follow-through is even better. In whatever goals you set for yourself this year, be sure that they are reachable and realistic, then ask yourself what kind of influence can you be in it and to whom. Take the opportunity to share with your kids one of the things you've decided to change in your life and why. For example: If you've decided to make a life-style change in your eating habits (can you tell that I am a food nut?), you could take it a step further and explain to your kids why you've decided to make such a change, that it will improve your energy, your health, your over-all well being, your attitude and moods, and add years to your life. By doing this, it could influence them to be an encouragement and support to you, to eat healthier and to try new foods, and influence them to make healthier choices as well, all of which are all very positive changes.

Remember that some of those who are always watching are: our kids, our parents, our coworkers, our friends, our family, but most importantly, our Jesus. Out of these who watch and see, the most influencial are our children, so be encouraged and get creative!! For Homework: I would like for each of you to share a comment on this post with some of your own ideas of how you plan to influence those around you in 2009!

~Janice~ :)

In case you were wondering....

In case you've been wondering what I've been up to since you've practically not heard from me the past few weeks due to my hectic schedule, the past few days have finally been 'aahhhhh, relaxing!' Just like the seal you see in this picture! I know that by next week my life will take a wonderful spin and the 'calgon time' will come to an end so I'm trying to live it up and enjoy this week while it last. I hope you can find time to do the same. No matter how hectic life is, I've learned how important it is to treasure these times. There will always be dishes that need washed, laundry to be done, errands to run, office work, etc, etc, etc....but for right now - it can wait...find those little moments to refresh, sit back, smell the coffee and enjoy this life that's been given to you. Love a lot, laugh a lot and ENJOY!!

Smiles,

Tracee, sigh :)

Everything Matters

Hello my awesome friends! Yes, I am alive - thanks to Janice, if it weren't for her this blog would've been awfully quiet the past week. Put it this way, it's been mighty crazy in my neck of the woods with in-laws in town, a 2 day trip to Nashville, Christmas church events, etc...I just couldn't squeeze in the time to even think much less write. I couldn't wait for this past Tuesday to arrive because I finally was able to sleep in! Wow, how awesome it was too! ; )

So, here it is Christmas Eve and I'm sitting here in my apron feeling like a real chef...haha! I'm baking and enjoying spending time with my daughter as she helps me whip up some fun goodies for the holidays.

After talking with my sister that lives in Florida and telling her about the amazing blessings from God with the wild provisions He's performed for us this Christmas season, she said something that struck me and it was - "Everything matters to Jesus." How absolutely true! When it comes to us, His children, everything matters - everything we love, everything we long for, everything we dream of, everything we do every single day - It ALL matters to Him. That totally rocks! I love my Jesus.

I hope that you have a BEAUTIFUL Christmas - no matter what season you are in right now, know that EVERYTHING MATTERS to Jesus - live it up and rejoice - because Jesus really is the reason for this gorgeous season.

Lots of hugs and kisses,

Tracee, amazed

You never know who's watching...

All last week, my entire focus was on our annual trip to Florida for Christmas. I have to admit that in the 8 Christmas' that I have had with my husband's side of the family, the one thing that has remained constant is the stress involved with the party my brother-in-law and sister-in-law host every year. On a side note, you know how people say, "Discover the gifts that God has given you and excel at them."? - Planning/Organizing big family parties is not one of their gifts, but they do try! I have found myself thrown in the middle at times and stressed to the gills! I have found myself mentally preparing for days before I get there. See, I am a planner and an organizer, not to mention a chef, but it is their party and as much as I would love to come in and take over to reduce the stress I feel, but also in the atmosphere, I can't. I'm sure you can empathize with me. This year, I let go. (aren't you proud!!)

I can't tell you how hard it was for me. I can't tell you how freeing it felt. I can't tell you how much better I feel (physically and mentally). It is one of those things that can't be put into words, only experience. So what did I do instead, you ask? I spent the day with my kids! It was wonderful! Later in the day, I watched my 2 year old nephew and got him to take a good nap, (effortlessly too, I might add - a miracle - and the first one witnessed that night!).

By the time the party started, I was in charge of my kids, my 2 year old nephew, and his soon-to-be 1 year old twin sisters! It was great! We had fun and I told my sister-in-law that this is my new thing! Every year, I will help by taking her youngest three (she has 5), and my kids somewhere while they prepare for the party.

The party started and I continued to watch out for kids as they were passed from one adult to the next while my sibling-in-laws hosted the party. Little did I know that I was being watched all night long by my elders. You never know who is watching you and when. As I reflected on the night, there were times of correction, discipline, praise and obedience required from my nieces and nephews. I remember that I was being myself and that it was easy to do the right thing and react correctly - I have no regrets. I also remember that as we live righteously for God, that others will see without us saying a word to them. It is part of our testimony. It becomes a part of us, "of our new man (woman) in Christ, old things (reactions, words, attitudes, etc.) are put away, all things become new." How many others have watched and seen our reactions, actions and heard our words or seen our attitudes?

Later that night, I received compliments from those elders, and the next day, one of them made the point to call ME, at my mother-in-law's house to tell me what an impression that I made on her. I am thankful! You never know who is watching! Live righteously before the Lord first, then (effortlessly,) it becomes a testimony to all men.

~Janice~ Living this life for Christ! In ALL Areas!

What Comes Around Goes Around

One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

Well, all she had was a flat tire,
but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.
Bryan never thought twice about being paid.
This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.'

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy look ing restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her
feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan .

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have
been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.'

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'

There is an old saying 'What goes around comes around.' Shine your light brightly this Christmas season!

Love, Tracee - alive and still kicking after a crazy week! ;)

A moment in time...

"We do not remember days, we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavere



As moms, daughters, wives and women, let us remember this Christmas season to make moments - special moments with those we love, and even with those we don't know. Let us strive to make as many moments as we can, for we are not promised tomorrow and these moments are the ones we will cherish forever. What kind of moments do you want to create? What kind of moments are you projecting now? Are they moments of busiedness, rushing, of stress? Are you taking the time to listen to your children read you a story, or show you an accomplished assignment? Are you able to touch someone else's life and change their world in one moment of kindness? What kind of path are you laying for your kids, your family, your friends? What will they remember the most about you? Are you creating moments that they will want to remember? How about those in your community?



"Father, help us to take EACH moment that you have graciously given to us and make them into wonderful memories, for these are the true treasures of heaven. ~Amen"



~Janice~ Loving every moment of this wonderful Journey!

Things Aren't What They Always Appear

WALKING THE DOG



A WOMAN was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, 'Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?' The blind lady replied, 'No thanks, but maybe Buddy would like to stretch his legs.'

Picture this:

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog!

The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

True story... Have a superb day and remember...

THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR

Tracee, loving life

My Agenda...HIS AGENDA!!!

About this time of year, we all do it, we start "meeting" ourselves to death. A meeting here, a party there, there is so much to do, we have to schedule time to pea, let alone go shopping, holiday baking or wrapping! I was just telling my husband last night how crazy this week has been, and to make matters worse, it is NOT at ALL how I planned it! AGGGHHH!!! My kids have been sick, we've had an emergency trip to the dentist (not to mention the unexpected cost), late nights, my husband has been working late, and last, but not least, I have been trying to get ready for a catering event for our church and I'm not ready!! Even this morning, I don't even have the time to wait for a computer that seems to have a bad case of the sleepy's! And don't get me started on devotional time....More like speed reading! Then I wonder, What did I just read?

WHOA! STOP! What is this? What are we doing? My agenda doesn't even have time for the most important One in my life? How messed up is that when this time of the year is all about Him in the first place?...............It's time to stop this Christmas sleigh and get off! When we start feeling like our calendars and agendas control us, it's time to throw them out the window!

How many of us have an agenda for our finances, our schedules, our personal lives, or even have an agenda for our ministries? And then we struggle to make them work, and work our way. When will we realize that WE are in GOD'S agenda and NOT the other way around? In all actuality, He wants us to throw our agenda, our plans, for our lives away and truely, and fully rely on Him to Reveal His agenda to us, for us. The question now remains, Will We Let Him?

The first step, surprisingly, is backward. Lay your planner/calendar down and slowly back away to look at the big Christmas picture. Christmas is not designed to make us overworked and overwhelmed. It should stay focused on the birth of our Savior. It surprises me that when we do this simple act of reflection, how easily and effortlessly everything else FALLS into place! Try it! Put your God to the test! (I double-dog dare you! lol)

In Romans 11:6, God's word says, "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." Some of you may read that and say, HUH? Let me explain...Grace is that which God does in and through you that you cannot do of your own ability. Works is that which you do on your own and of your own ability. Therefore, grace and works cannot exist together because if something is done of grace, it cannot be done from works and visa versa. Works = headache. It is us, working out our own agendas, our own plans, our own ideas. If that which you are trying to do is bringing you frustration, getting your priorities out of order, just not working, then pray about it and ask God if that thing is really what you need to be putting your time and energy into. If it is, ask God for the GRACE to work it out for you, lay down your ideas of making it work and let God take care of it. You would not believe how much of a stress-reducer this is.

So, this Christmas, I challenge you to take a closer look at your calendar. The deeper challenge is this, see if you can cut one thing (if not two or three,) off your calendar from every week for the rest of the year. Use this new-found free time to seek God and ask Him to reveal HIS agenda for you and your family for the up-coming year.

Living by grace ~ Janice~

Christmas Lights

I finally got my Christmas tree up this past Saturday. For me, I was late as we usually get the tree up the week of Thanksgiving or before. Why so early? Because by the time December gets here the calendar has a mind of it's own. Ever feel like the calendar controls your life? haha!

I was working on the house, cleaning, getting ready for all the parties coming up here and was finally ready to tackle the tree - that's when I remembered that I threw away all my lights last year because almost daily, a section of lights would burn out so by the time Christmas was over, I don't believe we had a full strand of working lights on the tree!

I really wasn't in the mood to head out and get more lights. The weather was nasty - snowing, turning into ice on the roads, cold, and I didn't feel like putting my face on to head out - yes, I am one of those that has to put my face on before I head out thanks to acne attacks in my late 20's and still going as I am 29 and gracefully holding. lol!

I finally just decided to grin and bear and headed out after cleaning a good 1/2 inch of snow and ice or more off my car. I headed to Lowe's since my hubby needed salt for the morning. I slipped and slid all the way there and if you can believe it or not, I stayed at Lowe's for probably 2 hours! For starters, they had all their Christmas stuff on clearance 50%. So, knowing me, I had to search every item they had left to see if their were any goodies. Most of it was picked over but I found ONE beautiful ornament. Okay, now remember, I'm there for lights and salt but it probably took me 40 minutes to actually get to the light section! haha!

After I arrived to the light section, well, you guessed it. I had one conversation after another with myself on which lights I wanted. I actually had options because of that sale instead of usually just grabbing the cheapest lights available. So, there went about 30 minutes...I actually had finally made my decision, lights in the cart, walking away when I halted - thought, thought a little more, talked to myself outloud, had people loooking at me strangely, I politely smiled, talked a little more and finally, put those lights away and grabbed the $4.00 lights (the one's I had were $10.00 big lightbulb kind...the kind I'd love to have). Why, you might ask? Because they simply didn't have enough of the big bulbs I wanted - I'm a red girl...I like my tree dancing with red, well, they only had 100 big bulb lights...4 boxes...I could just see my tree starving for color and looking quite anorexic with barely any lights, so I picked up the 'typical' lights I always get and got 500 lights..all that work just to pick what I always get! Go me!

Okay, so I'm done with the Christmas shopping when I decide it's time to get lights for my kitchen - and yes, you can imagine that took probably another 45 minutes, a few conversations with myself, and phone call to my sister in Florida, a couple more changes after I had the lights in my cart, a phone call to my husband, pacing up and down one aisle after another - but I have to admit....I eventually made my decision and hopefully today I'll get to see what those lights look like in my kitchen - well, that is after I get the right kind of lightbulbs as I FORGOT to get them even though they were staring me right in the face that night at Lowe's.

Now, I'm sitting here on my sofa, watching my 500 lights sparkle on my Christmas tree and will get to witness my new lights (2 of them) in my kitchen/dining room later today as I figure out some kind of bribe to get my husband to put them up.

My little world is all lit up and even though it was an awful lot of hard work just picking out lights, it was worth the silly hours I spent picking them out. :)

Tracee, all lit up!
"Shine like the stars in the universe." Phil. 2:15

I Corinthians 13 for Moms...

The minute I read this in a book that I am reading, I thought of all of you and knew I had to post it...

'I can read bedtime stories till the cow jumps over the moon and sing "Ten Little Monkeys" until I want to call the doctor - but if I don't have love, I'm as annoying as a ringing phone.

I can chases a naked toddler through the house while cooking dinner and listening to voice mail, I can fix the best cookies and Kool-Aid in the neighborhood, and I can tell a sick child's temperature with one touch of my finger, but if I don't have love, I am nothing.

Love is patient while watching and praying by the front window when it's 30 minutes past curfew. Love is kind when my teen says, "I hate you!" It does not envy the neighbors' swimming pool or their brand-new minivan, but trusts the Lord to provide every need.

Love does not brag when other parents share their disappointments and insecurities and rejoices when other families succeed.

It doesn't boast, even when I've multitasked all day long and my husband can't do more than one thing at a time.

Love is not rude when my spouse innocently asks, "What have you done today?" It is not easily angered, even when my 15-year-old acts like the world revolves around her. It is not self-righteous when I remind my 17-year-old that he's going 83 in a 55-mph-zone, but rejoices in the truth.

Love trusts God to protect our children when we cannot. It preseveres through blue nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes, crossed arms, messy rooms and sleepovers.

Love never fails. But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labors, they will fade away. Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease. (Please, Lord?) But when we get to heaven, our imperfect parenting will disappear. (Thank you, God!)

When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us. Now that we're parents ourselves, we have a heavenly Father who adores, shelters and holds us when we need to cry.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'

I love how the writer took this passage and applied it to everyday moms like us to help us see clearly how we can share and experience love with our children and families today. I hope this blesses you like it did me. Have a wonderful Monday!
~Janice~