Pass this blog on to my SEALS if you are reading it!

HOOYAH GUYS We are praying for you!! Come home soon, come home safe, Have a good Christmas and when you look up and see the stars remember the star that showed the way to Jesus as a baby is still there! He never changes nor His love for you!! He is watching over you wherever you are!! God bless you!! Hugs and Kisses from the Woodles

Emmanuel God with us! God with you!

Pass this blog on to my SEALS if you are reading it!

HOOYAH GUYS We are praying fo!!r you!! Come home soon, come home safe

Christmas Eve.....

It is Christmas Eve, 2010! This is a different kind of Christmas for us and it will always be different. But our lives change in a moment! I have heard that all my life and am just now really beginning to fully understand "a Moment" in a second your life and mine can change! Ours did, this Christmas consider your lives, are you ready to meet Jesus, do you know Him as Savior and Lord? Have you said yes to the Creator of everyting, the One Who knows and loves you best? Think it over!
Also, have you enjoyed your lives with no regrets? It's not too late to change that. Go back and make amends with your friends and family. Tell everyone you love them. Make time for people in your life. Enjoy life to the fullest! Its a gift!! Give it away for others, don't be selfish! Live in the moment, you never know which one is the last one!!

May God bless you this Christmas and for many more to come!
Happy Birthday Jesus!! Kiss my Tyler for me!!

A Message to our SEALS today......

We love you guys and we are praying for you every day, throughout the days! We do not understand how hard it is for you but we know that it is a hard job you do for us. We know it is cold there because it is cold here. We want you to know that you are not alone at any time. God loves you and He is with you. I reminded Tyler many times that when things were rough or he was lonely that all he had to do was whisper the name of Jesus and he would feel His nearness. He is with you and He loves you. When I pray for you I pray for God's presence to be felt, for His love to comfort, for His mighty strength to protect your minds and bodies, I also pray that His breath would blow a warm breeze over you when you need it most. Keep looking up, He is with you. Christmas is God coming to earth to be with us on our level in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. Emmanuel, God with us!! ISAIAH 40:28-31 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." 41:10 "So do not fear I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will unphold you with my righteous right hand" HOOYAH these are promises to keep!! We love you all, God bless you and hold you Have a Blessed CHRISTmas!

Matthew 5:1-12......Blessed

Is happiness the ultimate goal in life? Is doing what will make us happy always the right course of action? Is trying to insulate ourselves from sadness, disappointment, or loneliness the wisest thing? Loneliness might be the result of having made a courageous choice not to follow the crowd. The things we may feel we need, "to be happy" are sometimes the opposite of what we really need in order to mature and learn compassion, or integrity, or selflessness. Difficulty hardly ever produces happiness in the short run, but difficult experiences often are vitally important in shaping character. Wisdom will remember that we are building for our future, not just for now. Just being happy is too shortsighted, too immature a goal.

This has been a very difficult year, not just for my family because of losing Tyler, but for many others. Loosing loved ones, loosing health, freedoms, loss of jobs, money, worry over children, elderly parents struggle, so many more. Many have been lost due to war. Cancer is everywhere, touching all families. BUT GOD.....this are becoming my favorite two words in the Bible!! But God is with us, He comforts us, He holds us, protects us, gives us strength, supplies all our needs, He never leaves us or forsakes us. God with us, the real meaning of Christmas! Not gifts, happiness, friends or family! But God! Rejoice BUT for God we would have no hope! Happiness is shortsighted in the Kingdom of God!! We have His love!

Promises...Ruth b. Graham

Among the most reassuring promises of Scripture are the >"I Am With You' promises. They begin in Genesis where God says to Isaac, "Fear not, for I am with thee" (Genesis 26;24). They reach a glorious climax in Matthew 1:23, "And they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Once again at the close of Matthew, as the risen Lord prepares to return to Heaven, He leaves His disciples with the promise, "Lo, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)
This happy season will be even happier as we bear in mind the words of the writer to the Hebrews, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5) Having so great a Gift places all lesser gifts in proper perspective.
And all of time is marching toward that glorious fulfillment when, as He said, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3)
He with us here____we with Him there. Emmanuel!!
Just think, God is with us, everyday, everywhere we go, all the time!! And if we know Jesus as Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, we have His promise that when we leave this life on earth, we WILL be with Him!! WOW that's huge! What a promise! What a hope!! It's worth living for, the hope of Heaven! Do you know Him? What a Christmas gift, eternal life!

Facing the future...

Without trials, you would not know to trust the Savior. Without pain,the help He offers would go unnoticed. So many long to take the easy way. Yet this is not always God's design.
At times our pathways become treacherous, taking dark and shadowy turns. We learn to identify with the psalmist, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for Though art with me".
God goes before you into each and every trial. He leaves a trodden path for you to follow. You may walk where danger is crouched on every side, but you do not walk alone, You may face being misunderstood, overlooked, and forgotten, but God knows you and loves you greatly. Keep your eyes on Him. Fix your emotions on His promises. They are unshakable.
Once you learn to go to Him in times of sorrow as well as happiness, a new joy will spring up within you. It comes from an overflow of being in the presence of God. It has the power to change the way you feel about yourself and others. It can heal any relationship.
Don't be surprised if you find yourself praising God in desperate times. Trials bring you to your knees. From this angle all you need to do is to look up into the loving face of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is here you discover that greatness of God's love and forgiveness C. Stanley His love gives grace, His grace gives peace, His peace gives hope.
This year I have learned much about the love of God. About His plans and how I have no control of my own, He truly is in the driver's seat. His grace and mercy hold me, He is my strength and comfort. He is my hope. Hard things come to all of us, our choice is only, where we go with them. As for me I choose my Lord. Some choose self destruction, some anger, some just walk away from friends and family. In my past life before I knew Jesus, I chose all these routes at one time or another. Speaking from experience, my advice is Jesus!