A Christmas Chat And a Few Gifts

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it will spring forth; will you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."   --- Isaiah 43:19

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Read here long? Then you know I'm no huge fan of Christmas-as-usual, the frenzied way most folks treat it, that is.

I'd rather have Christmas the other 11 months of the year. The calm way, rather like this:

But here we are on Christmas Day. The sun is shining, not one snowflake sits upon the streets and I am thrilled. Answered prayer! Last year we had that historic, tragic, Buffalo blizzard and oh Honey, this is better.

My heart overflows with gratitude and so desires simplicity (and just sitting on the red couch thinking about Jesus' birth), yet downstairs awaits a ton of gifts from Tom and Naomi. I've still not even slipped mine into gift bags. Seriously, not a fan of this.

But I'll let Tom and Naomi be who they are. They pretty much allow me my low key grinchiness. I appreciate that.

ジ

Anyway, my head and heart already are faced toward the new year. In fact, I had a tiny 'vision' for 2024. In it, God stretched down His arm through the clouds and sky, then with His index finger, He swirled a big circle, round and round.

He majorly stirred things up and stuff went flying.

That's it, and you know? I'm so excited to watch all the changes He will bring in 2024. I'm not certain I've ever felt this anticipatory before regarding a new year.

Oh, what we will all witness!

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But today, I give you some small gifts. Merry December Christmas to you!

A Perfect Day. The full movie is here.

The Crafty DIYer. Oh my, almost has she persuaded me to, in 2024, enter the world of shabby chic gifts and crafts.  And here.

And wow. Cassie's reaction to The Family Man truly felt like a personal present. Her thoughts and tears are priceless and I love her editing of scenes I'd always thought too long. Be sure to watch to the end of her recap--she glowed with honesty. Cassie is my favorite movie reaction person on Youtube--watch this and you'll see why.

200 Gift Basket Ideas for Everyone. It's never too late to give gift baskets.

And these?

I just received my 4th order! I keep finding new uses for these. 

Chip bag clips. 

Holders of my slippy clothes on hangers. 

Closures for frozen vegetable bags. 

Keeping our guest room curtains closed.

A way to seal cat food bags and pouches.

A means to stop our kitchen trash bag from slipping down. And more!

Top100+ elegant vintage rustic and shabby chic style farmhouse & cottage decor ideas. Lovely rooms and music, as well.

And here are my long ago (I like to think humorous) thoughts about those inflatable Christmas folks.  ツ

For my fellow rabid fans of It's a Wonderful Life, here's a terrific video about the locations used, then and now. 

Oh! I prefer this 2023 memoriam to celebrities. Extremely well done and not rushed (we oldsters appreciate that).

And this is far too beautiful not to share again. And again (as 21 million folks have discovered).

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An update as I noted on Facebook! --

Oooo... a personal Christmas miracle. Just after sitting outside around 4:30 to read (a miracle in itself on this day), a flock of at least 90 geese appeared in the sky loudly honking with what sounded like joy and celebration of Jesus' birth. Wow. So grateful!

Fondly do I remember this family ... Again, Merry Christmas to my much-appreciated readers!

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15