thehereandafter

This was the best Christmas ever!   And if the family, fellowship, gifts, food, and fun wasn’t enough God blessed us with a measurable snowfall all day Sunday.   The Barnes’ estate looked beautiful dressed in a fresh blanket of snow white. Of course, we took all the pictures…Amanda, I, my nephew and niece, their sweet babies…and we can’t forget Cooper, our dog. This morning I took Cooper for his morning walk and we took a different route. We walked through the snow back in the woods. The woods, with it’s carpet of white, lumps of snow hanging to all the branches overhead, and the sprinkle of snow that falls from the heavens as the wind blows is a perfect picture only our Creator can paint. As we walked peacefully, engulfed in white I couldn’t help but be reminded again about the season we are celebrating. An innocence baby being born eventually shedding his blood for us so that we can become as white as snow…” Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”...

We all know that Christmas is a time of giving. From every pulpit, every preacher's lips, and from every devotional we are told how important it is to focus on giving at Christmas rather than on receiving. And I agree, this is very important. Well, not to be redundant, but the Lord has laid on my heart some words about giving that I want to share with you this Christmas. On Christmas we celebrate the birth of the greatest gift to mankind imaginable for all generations. It sometimes seems as if this birth was brought to us as quietly, as insignificantly to the world as possible. It was just a baby being born out in a smelly stable, in the cold, on just a plain winter's night. But this birth  was much more than insignificant. Every detail of this birth and the life that followed was planned meticulously by the master Creator and nothing was left to chance.  Before Mary, the mother of baby Jesus, discovered she was with child, God had worked on eve...

Night after last I posted about Satan subtly attempting to steal my joy this Christmas. Luckily, after talking with a treasured friend a light went off in my mind and my Lord was able to steer me down the right path. Well, here is another chapter to the story.... Yesterday morning I awoke with the joy of the Lord! What a new day...throw off the old and on with the new...we have a plan and I am ready to get started! First, get dressed, leave the house around 10ish or so, take Cooper to puppy daycare (a 30 minute drive) and then Amanda and I have about 6 hour to shop and fit in a meal before taking Amanda's hair appt. at 6:30 (one of her Christmas presents). Simple, planned, and to the point...what could happen to such a simple plan?! Amanda has been awake since 3:30 a.m. and is concerned about Cooper (her puppy). He has been doing this coughing and choking thing all night and she is concerned he has something caught in his throat. Could I watch him for awhile for her to go back ...

Here at the Barnes' Estate the house is not fully decorated, the Christmas letter has not been printed, the Christmas cards are still in the box (list though is made), the menu for Christmas Day has not been decided on, haven't made my list of gifts yet, and  have yet to start shopping! And guess what?!...Christmas is 5 days away! Last night, over the telephone, I shared with a close friend how frustrated I was because I was so off my game. Oh, after the way we have spent the last three years I am not so worried about the decorations or the menu (look at my family...we will eat no matter what!), or even the shopping...I can make it happen if I put my mind to it. What is really bothering me  this year there is no reason to be so melancholy! Russell is working (not just 1 job but 2), my son just finished paramedic school and passed his national registry test, his  wife is working and happy, and Amanda is happy and has her new best friend (her dog) Cooper. S...

We all know why this country celebrates Thanksgiving Day. Hopefully all of us, at a young age, learned about the trials, tribulations, and hardships of the pilgrims in "the new world". And hopefully, as adults, we have lived enough of life to remember that trials, tribulations, and hardships can fall on any of us even in this day and time. Most of us know to give thanks everyday but there is something special about putting life on hold and focusing all our attention and effort on spending one day for giving thanks for all God has given to us...all the ways He has blessed us...all He has brought us through....all He does for us....all He is and....and how much He loves us!  “‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.    Leviticus 26:6 After our journey of the last 21/2 years, this Thanksgiving I was just so thankful f...

Saturdays during the fall is a big day for college football followed by NFL football Sunday. People of all ages from young to old plan their weekends around FOOTBALL. Stadiums from the north to the south are filled with people and there is a marked rise in the sale of TVs during football season. Fans are serious about their football. To me football is an easy game to understand...but boy it has a lot of player positions. There are linemen, halfbacks, fullbacks, guards, punters, split ends, safeties, tight ends, wing backs, receivers, and of course, the quarterback. This is just some of the positions. Just don't ask me what they all do. I know that the quarterback gets a lot of attention and he is the offensive player who   receives the ball from the center at the start of each play before either handing it to the running back, throwing it to a receiver, or running with it himself. ...

Thought provoking, no matter what your stance is. The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning   Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.  And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees...  I don't feel threatened..  I don't feel discriminated against.. That's what they are, Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, ' Merry Christmas ' to me.  I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it.  It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu ..  If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getti...

We all like a certain amount of control in our lives. Some of us like more control than others. That control or the appearance of having control also helps us give to others the appearance that everything in our lives is under control. Many of you have probably seen the movie "Monster In-Law" with Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez. This movie, to me, is so funny I laugh through the whole thing even though I have seen it half a dozen times or so. Even thinking about it makes me laugh. In short, Jane Fonda is a wealthy, famous mother of a grown son. Her son is her everything and he is a good son to her. But, she is a very controlling mother and doesn't want to let go of him. He has fallen in love with Jennifer Lopez, a very sweet, innocent, beautiful young lady, who, of course, is not good enough for Jane Fonda's son. The son brings Jennifer home to met his mother and while they are there having tea asks Jennifer to marry him. This sends Jane Fonda into a tail-spin and you ...

One of the television shows I look forward to watching is the "Amazing Race" that comes on Sunday nights. It is exciting to following the contestants as they travel around the world to foreign places while competing in challenges. Every week the teams have trial and tribulations that they are faced with. They are pushed, pulled, and tested. For some of the teams the challenges bring out the best in them, in other teams it brings out the worst in them. This series is a lot like real life but condensed. LIFE in itself is an amazing race that we all are participates of. My amazing race, so far, has been one full of blessings and opportunities sprinkled with trials but then even the trials are covered in blessings. God breathes life into us and we are brought into this world. Whatever our circumstances, at some point in our lives, WE become responsible for making the decision each and every day on how we meet the challenges of life...how I run this "amazing race". ...

At the end of January 2011, we will be 3 years post accident. What a overwhelming thought, at times, when we FEEL still so off our game. We have literally come from the grave back to life, and God performed so many miracles that even last week our main trauma doctor was again giving God the glory and calling Amanda a walking miracle. Some much has been accomplished but yet there are still life issues to deal with...physical, emotional, and finanical. While my daughter was still in the hospital my husband was laid off his job. Not knowing what her medical condition was going to be we had no choice but to pay an outrageous monthly premium for health insurance. We were already drowning in medical bills, not to mention the daily cost of me living at the hospital. Then there are all the small expenses...I remember when she was moved to rehab and she needed clothes. Nothing she had fit because now she had an open-book pelvic fracture and a catherur that made moving difficult. She ...

Our priest this Sunday gave us a sermon on humility. Here are his thoughts combined with my thoughts. In today’s world when we are complimented we are taught the humble response is to make light of the compliment. When someone tells you your singing voice is beautiful, you respond by saying everybody can sing. No big deal. When you are told you pitched a fabulous game….you have quite the arm, you respond with saying you could do it with your arms tied behind your back. It is nothing. Someone compliments you on your artistic ability…you really paint or draw well, you respond by saying you enjoy doodling. The fact of the matter is that God gives each and every one of us talents or a gifts. He gives some of us the extraordinary singing voices. He gives some of us athlete abilities, others artistic abilities that have lived on for centuries. God has given men and women the talents, gifts and ability to become famous writers, mathematicians, scholars, doctors, and inventors. He bestows o...

When I was in Wal-Mart yesterday, the cashier was talkative and seemed quite happy. "Did you hear it's going to be COLD this weekend?" she asked me.  I told her I had heard the weather was going to change and that it was suppose to be a very pleasant weekend.  I couldn't help but smile to myself that I didn't consider a high of 89 degrees and a low of 64 degrees exactly COLD but her joy was certainly sincere. It got me thinking about all the changes that are ahead that come when the cooler weather rolls in. The switching of summer to fall clothes, bringing out scarfs and coats, cutting wood for the fireplace, cleaning the house before it gets shut up for the cold weather, getting the supplies together to dip candles....the list goes on. The thought came to me that this is the perfect time to add God to the list. Work something new with my relationship with the Lord into the cooler weather. Maybe 30 minutes with the Lord, the birds, a throw blanket, and my mornin...

It’s true that someone else’s trash could be someone else’s treasure. I have had a business now for several months where I take other people’s old, unwanted stuff… home furnishings, fix it up and resell it. In my little town, two of these new shops have opened in the last six months and business is doing very well. It is a “shabby-chic” take-off of the Goodwill or Salvation Army. Last night, as I lay in bed praying for someone who has a lot of “junk” in their life, the Lord and I had a talk. I was asking the Lord why this person would want to carry around all this old, unwanted, dirty stuff in their life. The Lord revealed to me that to some people, Christians and non-Christians, what I and you might consider “trash” in their lives they have made into “treasures”. Treasures are anything that a person considers valuable, something that a person values. That is different depending on the person. One of my treasures is the pictures of my children when they were babies, but I have a fri...

I looked up the definition of blessing and this is what I found: BLESSING- help believed to have come from God; something to be glad or relieved about; a religious act in which a person invokes or claims to bestow divine help. My life, my little world has been covered up in blessings and as those of another generation says,"it is time to count my blessings." I know that help has come my way that can only be from God; huge portions of help, special things to be glad or relieved about, and divine help because someone invoked God's help upon me and my family.  Of course, the most recent is the truck wreck my daughter was in that nearly ended her life. She was not suppose to survive... blessing , she was not suppose to walk... blessing, and the doctors didn't know how they would fix her injuries but somehow they ended up fixed... blessing! The blessings started a long time ago, though, when I was just a baby. I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and was not suppose to ...

Someone whom I know that was estranged from her father recently was reunited with him. The parents got divorced when this person was young and like most children, she was caught in the middle. This child just remembers one fall her father coming home and then leaving and that was the last time they were a real family. Her father was at her graduation and a few things but they were few and far between. This person grew up with the impression that her father didn't love her. But then, about six months ago, she reached out and her father responded. They have had some serious talks and she has discovered how much her father has and does love her. One thing that made a lasting impression on her was that he brought her two large tubs of memorabilia that he kept of her. He kept baby clothes, coloring books, crayons, Barbie dolls, mementos of birthdays, tickets from Funsville...ect. He had been keeping this stuff...HER stuff with him all these years. This was validation of his love ...