A Christmas card I loved

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Many years ago, a candymaker wanted to make a candy at Christmas time that would serve as  a witness to his Christian faith. He wanted to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus.                                                                                                          
He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. The white symbolized the virgin birth and the    sinless life of Jesus.                                                                                                         
He made the candy hard to symbolize the that Jesus is the solid rock and the foundation of the church. The firmness also represents the promises of God.                                                     
The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. He thought it could also represent the staff of Jesus, the Good               Shepherd.                                                                                                                        
The candy maker then added red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received, by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed    by Christ on the cross so that we could be forgiven and have the promise of eternal life.             The flavor of mint is similar to hyssop. In Old Testament times, hyssop was associated with      purification and sacrifice. It was also used at the cross as they gave Jesus a drink of vinegar     before He gave up the Ghost.                                                                                                

The Meaning of the Snowflake

Every new snowflake comes to the earth
as a picture of our Saviour’s birth,
because they are sent from up above
and remind us of God’s care and love.
Each one is so intricate and small
because Christ sees the details of us all,
and just as two are never the same
the Lord knows and calls us each by name.
Snowflakes gently cover the world in white
and hide what’s unlovely from our sight,
showing us how He covers our sin
and gives us His grace when we come to Him.
So may every snowflake bring Christ to mind
and in every bit of white may you find
a reason to celebrate anew
and a reminder of His love for you.

The story of the three trees

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: " I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it's way to the ocean. " I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world! The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.

Years, passed. The rain came, the sun shone and the little trees grew tall. One day three wood cutters climbed the mountain. The first wood cutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall make a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said.

The second wood cutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It's perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. " I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last wood cutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the wood cutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the wood cutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, or treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the wood cutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and awed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river, instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the wood cutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. " All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."

Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." Her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. " This manger is beautiful." She said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She new she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awoke. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten wood pile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hand to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The next time you feel down because you didn't get what you wanted, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

Chick Flicks

I dunno if its a good Idea for me to watch chick flicks. One of my roommates all the time we lived in the same area was convenced I was a true cynic and that I would never day dream of romance. Oh ho wrong could she ever be. I am truly a full blown hopeless romantic at heart and day dream of love and all that every day of my life. I am not as bad as I used to be and yes I can seem a tiny bit cynical but that does not mean I do not dream of finding my true love, I just have a hard time believing it ill ever happen. Do you blame me tho? I thought at one time I had found my true love and he got snagged away from me. Some times I believe it was because I was not good enough for him but then who is good enough for an angel?
 

Lately I have found my self not having a reason. I hate not having a reason. I mean one of my old friends asked me who I was crushing on and I dont even have that! Yes I have gone months and months with out even being interested in some one but that was at the time I had thought my only calling in life was to be a missionary. I had planned on never marring just to spend the rest of my life serving my Lord. Now what? I am not Interested in any one. Those guys I do know are not interested in me, that I know. There is not even one guy I can look at and say " if I was forced to wed tomorrow I would not mind being with him forever". In fact if I was Told I had to get married by the end of this year ( being less than a month) or never marry I would end up the Former. Not the happiest thought but it is true.
I guess I can not say these things for sure. I mean who knows tomorrow I could go to Honey's and run into the love of my life and e could click just like that and know we are meant to be with each other forever, But the Cynic in me says that there is no way that will ever happen. So for now I am happy with my chick flicks and day dreams of one of these times I trip and fall and drop my groceries all over that a handsome young man will stoop to my rescue and I will finally look in to some ones eyes and know that my chance for love is not lost on the breeze.

And this lil bit is kinda a Rant of some thing that some what really bothers me! I hate when you are sitting there with one of your guy friends ( that you may or may not like) and you end up talking about how you don't date and they say some thing along the lines of " Bellah any guy would be so Blessed to date you, Guys must be lining up for miles to get the chance to meet you. You are wonderful and there is no guy out there that would not want to date you" Well what about him?! If guys are lining up to date me where are they?! Are they ghost? No not even that for I cant even feel them! Are they under some magic spell that I can not see nor feel them as they line up wishing they had the chance to date me? Am I that scary that one f them cant find the guts to ask me out? haha It just makes me laugh when my guy friends tell me this.
" guys would kill just to have one date with you Bells" Really? Perhaps they killed each other all off, fought to the death and the last 2 stabbed each other at the same time. Uhhuh that's what happened. hehe.

A few Christmas Pics

Christmas fun

Melting snow man!

~~***MELTING SNOMAN***~~


1. 1 package Sugar Cookie Mix 
2. 10 large marshmallows
3. Cookie Icing (white and orange)
4. Decorating Icing Tubes in Black, Red, Green, Blue and Pink


Mix cookie mix according to directions, or prepare your favorite cut out sugar cookie recipe, then just grab a tablespoon sized ball and squish it down until it's about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Do not worry about the shape or how lumpy it is, the more misshapen the better. Bake according to recipe directions.


Once the cookies are cool, load them up with the cookie icing and spread it around with the back of a spoon, let some dribble over the edge for a "puddle" look.


Spray a microwave safe plate with cooking spray, and place marshmallows on the plate. Set the microwave for 30 seconds, but watch the marshmallows as they cook. Stop the microwave as soon as the marshmallows start to get puffy, do not let them double in size.


Spray your fingers with cooking spray or grease them up with a little butter, and carefully pull the marshmallows off, by the base, and set them on top of the frosted cookies.


Then just decorate as you'd like with the icing, or your own homemade frosting

Make your own Tree decorations 

This is a cute Idea and Edible! That is unless you use real glue, then please do not eat or let kids eat these yummy looking decoration.

These are the decorations my family made this year. We wanted to do our tree in gold and white. We did not have any white bulbs so we took old scratched glass green bulbs and placed them in bleach and then cleaned all the old paint off. Then we placed white water base ceramic paint inside and swirled it around till we had white bulbs. 
We also gathered pine cones and then spray painted them gold.