Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Whooohooo! My girl won last night. I have rooted for Michelle since the beginning of this season's Biggest Loser. Everyone looked so wonderful - even the 2 ladies that I wanted to boot off from week one.

My own fitness project has taken a back seat to all of the stuff that's been going on. In light of that, I am going to work very hard on being at goal by next Christmas so I have revised my goals. I need to get this done. I have procrastinated - one day at a time - for the last couple of decades. It's amazing how fast time goes by - one day at a time. I was reading about Oprah's weight struggles and she said something that hit me. "I took myself off my list of priorities." That's what I've done. I need to put myself back on that list.

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I am winding down on shop orders and have started on my own gifts for Christmas. I love putting together baskets and bags. In our family, the kids are very creative in their gift giving.

Our tradition of homemade goodies for Christmas began in 1986 - the year our entire crop of dry beans was wiped out in a flood. Money was tight that year. That was when we began making homemade chocolates. Everything we do on our website and at our craft shows has it's roots in our family traditions.

Nicola is carrying on the tradition of her grandmother who always gave us dishtowels with crocheted tops. Mine always needed replacing by Christmas because they were so well used. Now Nicola is filling that void.

Anna does paper crafting and is a talented cook. She is the one who does our packaging. Last year she made all of us baking mixes for Christmas. We decided to add them to our product list.

Melisa's specialty is peanut brittle. Her motto: "We're just a little nuttier than all the rest."

My specialty is fudge, although Nicola and I have vied for that over the years.

Sam makes no-bake cookies. He has a secret ingredient. :)


Word of the day:
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Gospel
Mt 1:1-17

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.

Thoughts from the cornfield:
Today's Gospel gives us the lineage of Jesus. It is a tapestry woven of many and varied colorful personalities, each one integral in its contribution to history. One can only wonder what these people would think when looking at this genetic line. Did they have any inkling of the importance of their place in the story? Pluck any single person out of this line and our entire history changes. It's something to think about when considering our own role in God's story of salvation. One person makes a huge difference!


God bless our troops!

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