I'm back...

Well, the holidays flew by this year. And Bob's grandmother passed away right after the first of the year so things are just now starting to slow down a bit.

I hope my readers are having a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Twas the month before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand. See the PC Police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS , not Happy Holiday !

Please, all Christians join together and wish everyone you meet during the

holidays a MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

Holiday time

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Ours was great, good food and a mostly healthy family.

We had nice weather and was able to do some much needed work outside Friday and Saturday. Hedges trimmed, a new gate between pastures that will help us to rotate the horses on the rye grass Bob planted.

Now it's time to look forward to CHRISTMAS!

First Frost on the Farm

Oooh, it is a nice and sunny but chilly morning. I noticed we had our first frost this morning on the lower areas of the farm.
It should be another beautiful autumn day. We have been blessed this year to actually have the season, it seems to usually go from summer to winter here in central Texas.
We noticed that the people we have been buying hay from in previous years cut their field yesterday so hopefully we can fill the barn with square bales for what might be a real winter.
We should have LOTS of Tunis lambs next spring, Ralph, our ram has been in with 17 ewes the past month.
The miniature horses are putting on their shaggy coats and feeling fiesty in the cool air. Even the draft mares have been bucking and running a bit.
If I ever charge up my camera battery I will take some photos.

Cool Recipe! 5 Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Another great email... so true

I received another great email this morning...

A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table..

In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew,

which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.

They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell. They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, 'I don't understand.

'It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill.

You see, they have learned to feed each other.

The greedy think only of themselves.'

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you.

Interesting...Do You Know How the Apostles Died?

1 Matthew
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound

2 Mark
Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

3 Luke
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

4 John
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

5 Peter
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6 James
Just The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. * This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7 James the Great
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem . The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian

8 Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia . He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey . Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9 Andrew
Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras , Greece . After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

10 Thomas
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent

11 Jude
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12 Matthias
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

13 Paul
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:
But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 10:22