Category Archives: My 3 Sons

Choose Wisely

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I cannot remember the last time I wrote for #FiveMinuteFriday! Feels good to be back. No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Today’s word prompt is “Choose”.

Go!

The Sweetheart says I couldn’t make a decision if my life depended on it.

He’s right.

I have the worst time making up my mind on anything. Ask me to pick where were we will go for dinner. I am given that decision often since we travel so much; we are with different ministering families almost every weekend. “Where would YOU like to go?” PLEASE! Don’t ask me, I cannot make up my mind and I also do not like to be the one making the selection.

Put me in a dressing room with two or three outfits that actually fit. (Okay, that may be an exaggeration; that NEVER happens!) Then ask me to pick only one. I will be in there until they close up shop and go home. I cannot do it.  It will not happen. All three of those babies are going home with me!

But when it matters, when it really matters, I can choose.

I chose The Sweetheart over 35 years ago and have never regretted that decision. We choose to stay together because we made a commitment and have learned to love, and forgive, regardless.

I chose to keep three baby boys, My Three Sons, thanking God every day for blessing us with new life and for the wonder of it all.

I chose to raise them in Truth, to teach them to walk with God and put Him first in everything they do.

I chose a wife for my eldest son…no, really, I did! They chose to fall in love, thankfully, but I did tell Kyle that I had found the perfect girl for him before he ever laid eyes on her. #littlegirlineverhad

I choose to follow Jesus. That was an easy one. As a very young teenager, when I first made that choice, it wasn’t all because I loved Him. It was because I was scared of NOT being with Him, afraid I would end up in that “other place”.

But I kept choosing, kept following, kept reading His Word that He left behind for me. Then I fell in love with Him because of what He had done for me. Because He loved me FIRST, He chose me!

I choose to share this Good News with others because time is short and there is nothing in this life that we can carry into the next…except those that we bring to Christ!

Choices. We make them every single day. Good ones, bad ones, easy ones, difficult ones, but we live with those choices, most of them for the rest of our lives…some for eternity.

Look at all of the heroes in the Faith Chapter, Hebrews 11. Their choices of bravery, heroism, courage and fearlessness granted them great reward!

“And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:  who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.  Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” Hebrews 11:32-40 NKJV.

Their weakness was turned to strength! They became powerful in battle! They suffered…greatly, and the world was not worthy of them.

They made choices. Life-changing choices.

What are you going to choose today? Who are you going to choose?

“Choose you this day, whom you will serve…As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.

Make choices that you won’t regret.

STOP.

Choose Wisely

 Kingdom2

 

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Over the Hills and Everywhere!

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“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7)

What a wonderful week it has been rejoicing and celebrating the birth of our Savior! I have seen and heard so many who have been doing the same, it makes your heart sing!

Yet I know some homes are filled with sorrow this year, some have lost those that are most dear to them, maybe your employment is shaky and unsure, tension may be high in the home, maybe others even have a wayward prodigal or two.

Even so, hope springs eternal! Regardless of our circumstance, God is ever-faithful, He never forsakes us, never leaves us, always is near no matter what we are going through, and if need be, He will carry us.

I pray you have had some lighthearted moments this Christmas too. My Three Sons, Kyle, Kristopher and Korey, and my DIL Rachel, have been with me and The Sweetheart most of the week so we have enjoyed lots of laughter.

Kristopher and Korey have added a new little bundle of energy to their world, let me introduce you to Eisley Quinn! She is a full-blooded English Bulldog and oh my, have we been smitten! This little lady has a personality all her own to only have been on the planet a little over ten weeks.

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As you can see below, my boys, who are NOT boys any longer, love to have fun with her, I thought you might enjoy a laugh or two of their antics with Eisley.

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Nothing like a good card game!

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Especially if you are winning! Now on to more serious matters…

Did you know that “Go Tell It On The Mountain” has no published author, because it was passed down from plantation to plantation and never credited properly? John Wesley Work actually published it in 1907 and it has been a favorite Christmas carol for many decades.

Yesterday I asked the question, “Is Christmas over for you?” One of the verses in the beloved song says,

“He made me a watchman
Upon a city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.”

The story didn’t end for the shepherds, the Wise Men, for Joseph or even Mary after the birth of Jesus. It didn’t even end 33 years later after His death burial and resurrection!

Here we are, ready to enter 2014! Did you know that He made YOU a watchman?! He made ME a watchman! And if we are Christians at all, and we are friends, we are, we are the least of all, but He has us here to do the job.

So what did He leave us here to do?

Go Tell It On The Mountain hopeinthehealing

Go tell it! Proclaim it everywhere you go!

We are to make His name glorious as we spread the Good News! Jesus Christ is born, it’s more than just a story, it’s not a fairy tale. It is for you, for your children, and their children too! (Acts 2:39)

Are we moved with compassion to share this Gospel today? Are we willing in good times or adversity to share the story and our testimony?

Let us not hide it under a bushel! Let us not be so caught up in our “plenty” that we forget that our purpose on this earth is to reach others, not just to satisfy our earthly desires and wants.

He was born for a reason. He died for a reason. For you, me and all who would believe.

Let’s take this Good News, over the hills and everywhere!

Psalm 105:1 “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.”

Nannette Christmas

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35 Years of Christmas Caroling with the Elkins’!

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31 Days of Christmas hopeinthehealingIt’s the most wonderful time of the year! One of those “wonderful times” is the memories you make with family and friends.

Our family has been making Christmas rounds to the shut-ins and the elderly for over 35 years now. It is one of the highlights of the season for all of us.

We always start at “Mamaw Tava’s” house, where we load up on sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks. We pile on our coats, gloves, hats and scarves…unless it is a crazy Indiana weather Christmas where we might not even need a sweater! You just never know…

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Our entire family goes, from the toddlers to my 87 year old mother-in-law! There are 20+ of us and growing, depending on who is here from out of state or who has to be somewhere else for Christmas. We are an imposing presence to say the least.

Every year we go over our list and are saddened to realize we have lost a loved one, a dear friend, co-worker or church family member. The picture below is of my MIL singing to her long-time friend and sister-in-law, Thelma, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago. We will miss her dearly next week when we go to sing. 

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Then we are handed THE LIST!

My SIL Sue, who wrote a beautiful post for us here on the blog a few weeks ago, Still I Will Trust You, helps organize the list and gets us to where we are going. She makes sure that we aren’t running from the east side of town to the west and back again. We have a plan of attack!

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It is mapped out according to the area; we have to save the youngest until the last, if possible, because the elderly might not be awake when we finally get finished! Some years it would take us four or five hours to finish, we would have as many as 20 names on the list!

We have watched our children grow up caroling with us. Our older ones wouldn’t miss it for the world, and the newest little ones coming along are catching the fever as well. They wear their reindeer antlers and make sure their noses are Rudolph red for the occasion.

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We have some hilarious memories and some teary-eyed ones as well.

We visit nursing homes and hospitals if necessary; we go wherever our friends and family members happen to be at that special time of the year. One thing we do not want them to be is lonely.

One year, my dear brother-in-law, Danny, who is one of the kindest and most gentle souls you would ever meet, leaned over to greet a dear lady we were visiting in a nursing home. Instead of Christmas cheer, he received a sharp slap across the face!

Then there was the bitter cold winter many years ago that a couple of us “ladies” went sledding down a snowy embankment on our backside. I remember falling down the hill and hearing my SIL, Dixie, holler and both of us ending up in the cold, wet snow. Poor Dixie also nearly slid completely under her van during one caroling escapade in a Wendy’s Hamburger parking lot that was covered in ice. Her son, Nik, was working there probably 20 years ago and couldn’t go with us, so we decided to stop and sing to him at Wendy’s, it nearly cost her a few broken bones…

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We have gotten lost, separated, frustrated, frozen, been told to be quiet, sing louder, sing longer, come inside, please stay outside, knocked on the wrong doors more than once, been fed homemade candy, cookies, tons of peanut butter fudge, (some of it was even delicious), been asked to make a CD, been asked NOT to make a CD, laughed, cried, and laughed some more.

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Caroling has been around for centuries and even though it may not have started out as a Christian custom, I sure am glad that it has turned into a wonderful Christmas tradition that blesses so many!

We have literally created a LIFETIME of memories from this tradition. I am very grateful we have kept it going and pray that when our generation is gone that our “kids” will continue to make memories with their upcoming generation, celebrating Jesus and bringing joy to those who cannot get out or go be in the house of God at Christmas.

I’ve included a couple of our caroling videos from Christmases past for your entertainment enjoyment! (insert smile here). Unfortunately you must endure the antics of My Three Sons as well. I could not copy the better videos from my facebook page for some reason (insert frown).

What are some of your family Christmas traditions? I would love to hear them!

Caroling, caroling hopeinthehealing

Nannette Christmas

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