Merry Christmas

from my family

to yours!

Cookie time!

I baked Soft Maple Sugar Cookies this morning!  They are delicious! You willl want to add these to your Christmas cookie collection.

Here’s the recipe, found in the  Better Homes and Gardens “Christmas Cookies” magazine.


Soft Maple Sugar Cookies


1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour


Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine butter and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.


Shape dough in to 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.


Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes (I did 12) or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes (they’re super soft right out of the oven!) Transfer to a wire rack; cool. (Centers will dip as cookies cool.) Drizzle with Maple Icing. Makes about 48 cookies.


Maple Icing

In a medium bowl, stir together 1/4 cup whipping cream or milk, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup. Whisk in 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar to make an icing of drizzling consistency.

ENJOY!!!



Act of kindness and love

Jim and I were invited by our friends, Sally and  Ron, to go to Aruba.  They had been blessed with a week at a condo! We had a wonderful time being with them and away from the normal busyness of our lives. 

I knew we were coming home to Christmas time.  The tree needed to be bought and the house decorated. I was feeling the stress of all that needed to be done.  We were picked up at the airport by our daughter and son-in-law.  When we arrived home I walked through the door and had the most wonderful surprise.  There in the living room was

a pretty tree decorated so beautifully by Stacy, Shawna, Ashlynn, Austin and Travis.   The house was decorated and Christmas music was playing. 

 Jim and I were both so happy and felt so loved by our daughter's and their husbands!!!  They spent their Sunday afternoon doing this for US!

What an awesome gift of love! 

Thoughts on Christmas

I have shared the devotions A Heart to Hear by my friend Jennifer before.  I wanted to share the one she wrote today and pray that it blesses you as we begin the month of December.
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Here we are, poised on the brink of the Advent season, like a roller coaster at the peak of the first hill. Now more than ever, we need to hear the Lord! Everywhere we turn, voices are shouting for our attention, our time, and our money. Pleas for giving to those in need compete with commercials touting the latest trends in toys. The desire to focus on simply celebrating the birth of Christ collides with a calendar that is suddenly covered with special events. Most stressful of all is trying to figure out what will bring joy to each and every person on our lists without causing a financial meltdown. Suddenly the joy of the season is wavering as we take up the burden of making Christmas wonderful for all the people we love. Does anybody besides me tremble a little at the daunting task of decorating, planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning, baking, gift wrapping, gift giving, memory making, and don't forget photographing and scrapbooking the whole thing? Oy vey!
So...here in my quiet place, I'm coming to the Lord and I'm asking Him to make my mind new about Christmas. Ephesians 4:23 tells us to let the Spirit renew our thoughts and attitudes. When it comes to preparing my heart for Christmas, that's exactly what I need Him to do. First on the agenda is dealing with the fear I feel over wanting to make everyone happy and being pretty sure I will fail. When I brought these fears to the Lord, He told me gently, yet firmly that He alone is responsible for each living soul. He said, "You can love, care and do what I allow you to do, but you will NEVER be able to make them happy or holy or whole. This is MY work. You are required to trust Me and stay out of My Way!"
There are many things I can give my family for Christmas, but happiness is not one of them. What I can give them is myself, at peace, simply loving them with no guilt, no stress, and no strings. I can give them freedom to be who God is making them to be. I can give them the gift of enjoying the imperfect instead of driving everyone crazy in my obsession to make everything flawless.

One more deep breath, and I think I'm ready to look forward to Christmas. My heart feels lighter, because I know now that my Abba Father has His own plans for this special season and He alone is able to make Christmas exactly what it needs to be for each one that I love.



Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

~~Jennifer Davis

Free downloads

"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,

The whole earth is full of His glory."

Isaiah 6:3b

 Dennis Jernigan has two free MP3 downloads.  If you don't recognize his name you might recognize some of the songs he has written.  Check out: http://dennisjernigan.com/free-downloads and enjoy the music!  This is over November 30.

Happy feet

This morning after my husband, Jim, finished his devotion, he walked through the dining room and said, "I'm walking with "happy feet" today".  I had to know what he meant by that because I wanted to walk that way too. He further explains, "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17) "God has covered me with peace and I am walking in His peace so I have "happy feet".  That made me smile. I had been thinking about the last 24 hours and all that so quickly had happened.  Jim had arrived home from a mission trip in Honduras.  We were happy to be back together and I looked forward to hearing about the trip as well as telling him about my week. We went to dinner before going home. After the meal as we still sat talking a waitress came up and asked him if he had a white Ford Expedition. When he said yes, she asked him to come outside with her. I was so confused so quickly followed him. Someone had broken the back window and taken Jim's brief case.  We both felt sick and even sicker when he began to realize what all was in the brief case. He has $500 which one of the team members had just given him, $40 in Honduran money, ipod, Bose headphones, watch (I had given him), video camera, all the videos he had taken in Honduras, Bible, books, journal, notes, passport... The list goes on but those were the big things. We spent the rest of the night calling the police, making a list of everything for the insurance, and just feeling bad about it all.  I don't think either of us slept much that night. The next morning Jim was up early ready to see what he could do about his passport. We needed one quickly as we are going to Aruba next week with dear friends. He also needed to get his window fixed in the Expedition and call the insurance company about the loss.

As the day went on we saw things to thank the Lord for:

Jim was safely home, his luggage was not in the car because it was not on the plane (we got it later), for the kind words from friends that helped soothe our hearts, for the company that came to replace the window in the Expedition rather than us having to drive to them, for the lady who was willing to give Jim a discount on expediting the passport so that it will be in our hands tomorrow, for the manager of the restaurant that bought our lunch (we went back to look around the area hoping the thieves had thrown some of the things out) and apologized that this had happened at his restaurant and for the sweet friends who gave us a very generous gift.  So today, even though a alot of things have been taken from Jim, no one can take the peace of God from him, or from me.  So, like him, I am walking today with "happy feet". And yes, we pray that the people that took the brief case will open the Bible and find forgiveness in Jesus and the peace of God like we have.

Give thanks

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Welcome Home a Hero!

Saturday Jim went to the airport to meet the troops coming home. He really did not know what to expect as this was his first time to do this. Because he is a veteran he was able to be in the front. He greeted the soliders, shook hands and welcomed the men home.  It was a very touching experience and he came home saying,  "I gave them the welcome I never received when I came home from Vietnam".

I have included a link below and if you look towards the front and see a silver haired man with a black hat, that is Jim. :)
Welcome Home a Hero

A tribute to a dear friend...

This week, we lost a true man of faith. Tom Dooley went to be with the Lord. My husband, Jim,  wrote this amazing tribute to him.


TOM DOOLEY
A Voice to the Nation for the Cause of Christ

Fifteen years ago, I was privileged to speak at Tom’s Ordination Service ... there I compared Tom’s ministry to the military tradition of “Reveille” ... an early morning bugle call to awaken soldiers. Each morning at reveille is when accountability for the troops was taken—honor to the nation was rendered—and orders for the day were issued!

This is what Tom did each day ... brought us all to accountability—rendered honor to our Lord and King—and provided practical words for Christian living that served as our orders for the day!

Now he is in the presence of the Commander and Chief ... and no doubt Tom has taken his new position in heaven ... responsibility for Reveille.

I can hear him now calling the saints into accountability—rendering honor to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords—and issuing the orders for the day!

In the distance I can still hear Tom’s voice ... “Welcome to the Journey ... where the words and the music go together!”

Tom’s "Journey” has come to an end ... but his message remains!

Farewell my Friend ... I’ll see you soon!

Colonel Jim Pack

"Destiny in Bloom is an online women’s magazine that aims to inspire, uplift and challenge our readers through articles written from the heart, yet in different perspectives."

My daughter is one of the authors of this magazine and today I would love for you to read her blog on best friends!  It would be an encouragement to her if you would leave her a message under comments!

http://destinyinbloom.com/bffs/