Thoughts about Christmas....

So I have been thinking a lot this year about why this Christmas has felt so different to me.

I have struggled to shop, not done any baking, and put half of my ornaments and Christmas decor out. Regardless of how hard I tried I could NOT get into my normal

Christmas hustle and bustle mode.

So I became very introspective, searching for meaning to this new

Ba-Humbug mood I was experiencing.

And as I finally forced myself to shop, (which by the way is my love language-I show love by giving gifts) I could not shake the absolutely miserable way I

was feeling.

For the FIRST time in my life I was HaTinG shopping!!!

Can you even imagine?

I know, me neither. But this was the case. And as I was reading the next morning still plagued for the reason behind it all, the answer came flooding in.

I realized there was NO

gift I could possibly give my children or anyone that could even come close to the GreAtest GIFT that has already been given 2000 yrs ago!

And for the first time in my life, I hated every tradition about Christmas that

did not put the focus on Christ ALONE!

I cringed at the thought of Christmas morning and everyone clamoring

to be the first to see what they got.

When we should be basking in the TRIUMPH of a GIFT

so magnificent that it transcends this temporary existence we call earth, and carries you into an abundant life in our REAL home!

Heaven with our LORD

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

He came for one purpose....

to die on a cross, And offer us a restored relationship with God!

This is the "Reason for the Season"

We are celebrating the greatest Gift mankind has ever known,

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends" John 15:13

So this Christmas I will not wrap any gifts, or put any presents under the tree.

But instead....I will make very effort to share with my children

what

Christmas is

REALLY about.

About a sacrifice of Love!

A Gift that cannot compare with any other.

A Gift that is undeserved, and cannot be earned.

A Gift that sits wrapped, just waiting to be received!

Praise God, for He is good and His love endures Forever!!

Merry Christmas!

Our 15th Anniversary

So I guess we are getting old, because we have NOW been married for 15 years!

Holy Cow....Thats a long time. But by the grace of God....I have never been more in LoVe

with GT! He truly is my other half.

In celebration of our 15th Anniversary we renewed our vows in September.

So I thought I would share with you our SpECiAl dAy!

Happy Anniversary My LoVe!

I cannot wait to see what the Next 15 years have in store.....

More catch up....Our Family Baptisms

This summer we had the opportunity to make a public profession of our inward commitment to Christ. We did that together as a family in the Provo River. We would love to share it with you!

Click on the link HERE

THE Year of 5 Surgeries!

So 4 days after we returned home from Mexico with the kids,

I had a back fusion of L5 S1 (the lower back)

Then about 3 months later Tyler had a granuloma cut out of his tongue.

Then the next week GT had his gall bladder removed,

followed by the 1st of Samanthas 2 surgeries on her legs.

So we just got home last night from the last surgery. We did spent Thanksgiving at Primary Children's Hospital. Their cafeteria leaves a LOT to be desired. But we got to be with family and it worked out better for Sami not to miss so much school if we did it over the holiday. So it made for a very memorable Thanksgiving!

This was 8 weeks ago when she had the Right leg done.

She did so much better the second time, she has almost had NO pain if you can believe it. Such a blessing, we had a lot to be greatful for!!

SO...I think we are done for the year. We have a lot of healing to do!

Playing catch up!

SO this summer we took the kids to Mexico because we knew our summer would be very boring as we waited for everyone to heal. But Mexico was very therapeutic for what was to come.

Our Newest Project

So we embarked on a new journey in October. (Hence the blog that did not change until now)  We have had a lot of friends from church and neighbors who have lost jobs. And it was weighing very heavy on GT's heart.  With the events over the last year GT knew he could not raise overhead at the dealership, so he followed what could only be considered divine inspiration, and we have started a new business. 

The name is RiverView Financial of Utah, and we started from this building, which was a blank slate. We painted the walls cleaned the carpet and furnished it from my basement. We have created brochures, logos, and a website. www.riverview-financial.com

And this last week we hired 4 salesmen, and an appointment setter. I am now training people in sales, which I do not know how to do myself.

  How do I get myself into these predicaments which require so much FAITH to get thru a day!!!

OK.....so what exactly do we do?  We have a two fold business. We are a Christian collection agency, and we teach other business owners how to create a loan portfolio for themselves. We also do all the receivables for the loan portfolios as well.  So we are busy, and when we are not sure what to do next, we pray.  And one day at time we have learned a lot, but mostly just how to listen. Because once again, we had NO idea just how much work this task would be or even what was involved. But God gave us the strength and the know how.

We are not done by far, but we are not fearful because God is faithful. 

I will try to not take so long in between blogs. It just takes time, and that is the ONLY thing I can never get back. Do you have any idea how many good books there are!