December 25, 2005 Christmas Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS! - By Becky Conrad


Oh, Baby Jesus, on the soft blanket you laid,
Oh, tiny Jesus on your bed of sweet-smelling hay.
The animals watched in silence and awe,
at the new babe in the manger that created disarray.

The wise men brought gifts and traveled so far,
guided and directed by a bright shining star.

Who would have known then while You innocently lay,
tht the innocence and perfection would turn into turmoil therafter each day.

God sent us His Gift, without paper or bow,
Once we accept it, it can set your heart aglow.
It is the infinite Gift and the best that there is,
but man saw some flaws, and tried to take You down to the abyss.

You rose from the dead, and Your resurrection was Light,
in a world full of deception, You saved us from sin,
and gave us the choice to believe in You and to make it all right.

You live in our hearts, as You have told us You would,
if only each person could see all the good.

You never leave us nor stray from our endless searching hearts,
but give us the choice of evil over good as we inwardly march.

Our Father had a plan, and He stuck to his guns,
Evil tries by the second, the battles rage on.
Your goodness and Light is far better than that,
Your unconditional love has the last word on that!

Celebrate tody for the day that it is,
the "Reason for the Season" as long as you live.
He has given you life, be thankful for that,
and in the quiet of the evening,
on bended knees and with bowed head,
be humble and thankful and look only ahead.

The future is full of doubt, mystery and reason,
only God knows with each passing season.

Lift your eyes to the heavens, look towards His Light,
the One that guided the chosen on that incredible night.

Settle for the best love, which only He can give,
and rejoice in His love and His Son while you live.

No matter what takes you down, and you probably will go down,
rely on the Trinity; remember the thorny crown.

He wears the halo, never askew,
but forgives us when our is, and makes us brand new!

One day when I am on my last weary road,
I hope I can recall any good I have done,
and I pray His goodness and love will carry my load.

Your kindgom awaits, and I know not when,
but given the honor, I will rejoice once again!

I humbly pray I will finally see, if given the chance,
not only Your love, guidance and goodness was Your plan,
and not as Man says, "Just Happenstance."

I believe in miracles. May the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit fill your home, life, and the days ahead with Peace, Joy, Love, and Laughter.
Have a blessed, Holy, and wonderful Christmas!

In God's love,
Becky Conrad

December 18, 2005 - 4th Sunday of Advent

Good morning folks,

Well the morning started out early, around 2 a.m., at least for my hubby. He heard a crash that came from the kitchen. I had a tall, stemmed, glass bowl on the island that had water and pine in it for a decoration. Well, one of the cats (not sure which one), knocked it over and water went everywhere, and the little ceramic dish I had placed on the island broke in three places. Hubby said he can glue the dish back together. Thank goodness the glass bowel did not break! I threw the rug that was in front of the stove, and the large towel he used to wipe up the water in the clothes dryer. Cats! They can be such stinkers at times! Of course no one fessed up as to who did it, but all three of them looked guilty.

Today I am fixing a ham, sweet potatoes, (my father-in-law-"Dad" loves them), mashed potatoes, (hubby doesn't like sweet potatoes), acorn squash, and a salad for dinner for later on today. My father-in-law is coming and bringing his "girl-friend." It is so sweet to see him with her. They seem to get along so well and have so much respect for one another. (Dad's wife-hubby's mother, died 5 years ago,and it tickles me that he has found a companion to converse with, pal around with, (they are on the go a lot, especially on a Sat.) and just to have someone to share with. When Dad brings her in the summer time, they take walks around the yard and the house, holding hands. It is so precious.

Isn't life that way? Yes, we all face uncertainty along this walk of life, but to have someone to share it with, someone to be a "sounding board" for our fears and our decisions we have to make sometimes, it is nice to have a "partner/friend" to share with.

Besides my husband, my ultimate friend is, Jesus. He is by my side constantly. I rely on Him so much to calm my fears, help me with decisions, and the directions of my life.

We only have one more week and Christmas will be upon us. I hope you take a moment at this beautiful time of the year to be thankful for what you have, not what you have not, to be thankful for family and friends, and try not to let the "things of the world" deminish or take away your Joy of the season. Yes, we may also be facing uncertainty right now, we may even have scary things happening to us at this very moment and it is so easy to let fear overtake our Joy, but if you ask, Jesus can be your strength. He will never leave you, nor forsake you, especially in your time of need.

I am dealing with some health issues right now. I have some tests that have to be done next Friday, the 23rd. But I refuse to let the "unknown" take away my Joy of the Season. I know that He is much stronger than I, that He is the ultimate healer, and that He is there for me always. Whatever the outcome of the tests, I will deal with them.

I finished the sequel, A Better Day Dawning, last week, but now, because of some other things going on in my life, I am re-writing the ending as certain things are happening.

Until next time, probably Christmas Day,
Have a blessed day!
Becky :)

December 4, 2005

Hello Folks,

Well, Thanksgiving is over (always sooo much food!) and we are on our journey to celebrating Christ's birth and the awesome Christmas season.

I have been decorating inside and out. I love to do this, but I do not forget for one minute the "true meaning of Christmas."

It is a crazy world, but I refuse to let it interfere with my "Joy" of celebrating this wonderful season.

I left the lights up outside the night before so when I got up in the early morning, I could sit in the quiet sollitude and enjoy their softness and the serenity, especially with the snow surrounding the lights. Such a peacefulness and a calming effect. I love mornings.

Yesterday I finally got the tree decorated and the front window done. We have an artificial tree now as we discovered years ago that B-Bob, the cat, is allergic to the pine. His little eyes swelled shut, so no more real live trees. Tooter, another cat, leaves the decorations alone now, if I remember to have her little, round crocheted one she can play with. I used to have about 30 of them on the tree, but after going on a "hunt" each and every morning for all of them, I gave up putting them on, and limited them to a total of 1. She seems fine with this. Sissy, another cat, isn't interested in the tree at all.

We had an incident with some hunters on Monday, the first day of deer season. My husband started out early, before sunrise, and went into our woods to his deer stand. I heard a lot of shooting during the morning. When husband came back around 10 a.m., he said he saw two trucks parked across the road from our property just down the road from our place. He made a copy of our property lines, and took it down and put it under the windshield wiper of the white truck as it was starting to rain.

I called the sheriff's office and then the game warden called me back. I told him that my husband had spotted three hunters on our property, shooting near his deer stand. I was really upset about this, as was my husband. The game warden said he would be out as soon as possible.

When it was very close to dusk, I spotted the hunters, (two of them) returning to their trucks. I put on my coat and waders, and headed out the door to confront them. I hollered at them to wait, as one of them was backing up and gettting ready to head down the road. When I got to them, I asked them why they were hunting on our property without our permission. They said they got permission from our neighbors to hunt. (I had called the bordering neighbor and she had given them permission to hunt on her property, but told the hunters not to cross over the fence lines unless they had permission from other neighbors.) I told them they were not on the designated property but on ours, and that my husband observed them on it, and also they were firing their guns numerous times while on our property. The one guy got very surly and started cussing at me, using the "F" word and said to me, "I'm not going to get into a P.....match with you." (His Mother would have been so proud of him using the language he did and his demeanor. I guess using that language shows his intelligence level.)

He asked me how my husband knew it was him. I told him, "Because you did our cement for our garage and he recognized you and your truck! You were right near his deer stand on our property blasting away!"

He was really being a jerk and I was standing my ground protecting what is ours. I pointed to our land and told him, "This will not happen again. You never asked for permission to hunt, so stay off of our property!" Hmm. Some people have total disregard for other's property and do whatever they want to do. This attitude could get him in trouble some day.

After I calmed down, I called the sheriff's office back and told them, "I took care of the matter."
(The "hunters" have not been back since.)

While I was outside the other evening, putting up lights, Clara, our lab, kept bringing her ball to me to throw. This is a nightly ritual and no matter what you are doing, she insists you throw her ball. It takes very little to entertain her. She is a good dog, most of the time, except when she ventures to far down to the woods. At least she does listen and comes back as soon as we call her. She and the beagles have a fun time every evening running and playing, and searching for "critters unknown" under the snow.

I have been teaching her to sit up and "wait" for me to give her the ball. She is getting this down pretty well. Another thing I taught her is when I lay the dog biscuit on her nose, I make her wait, and then tell her, "Okay." She tosses her head and catches the biscuit! I love to teach her things. She is smart and learns quickly.

Try not to let the "commercialism of the season" deter you from the true meaning of Christmas. I am so thankful for God's love, forgiveness, and being there always in my everyday life. I am so blessed.

I will be posting the "poem" soon that Marcy D. sent to me. It is really good.

Until next time,
Peace, Joy, Love, and Laughter to you all!

Becky :)