Entering The Christmas Zone!

It’s that time again!

Gearing up for Christmas!

🙂

Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday have all passed without further ado! Now is the time to think about the reason for the season.

LOVE!

Brrr, baby it’s cold out there!  I need hot chocolate. (I love hot chocolate!)

Cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s a  quick  holiday idea for making gifts teachers, friends, etc. My kids love  this hot chocolate mix.  Adapted and tweaked from Grandma Dot’s recipe to…

Evie’s  Hot Chocolate Mix!

1 – 8  ounce jar cocoa powder

1 – 8 quart package  non fat dry milk (about 10 cups)

1 -16 ounce package sifted powdered sugar (about 3 -3/4 cups)

1 -10 ounce jar powdered non dairy creamer

Optional * pinch of cinnamon and whipped cream or marshmallows. I like to add a peppermint stick to my gifts!

My grandson, Justin doesn’t like cinnamon so I just add it to my cup!

~ In large bowl mix all ingredients except optional items. Store in airtight container. For one serving add about one fourth cup hot chocolate mix to one cup boiled water. Let cool before drinking!

Last year for teachers and friends, the grand kids and I did Rudolph Hot Chocolate Treats .

For over a year I have pinned these holiday ideas, and here’s the mother load! I thought maybe you would like to check out my Pinterest board full of Christmas ideas.

Many are do-it-yourself, easy decorations, crafts, and ornaments that will make your holiday brighter.

Enjoy and don’t forget to follow Evie’s Gardens here and on Facebook!

Thanks ~ Evie

Related articles

• 4 Secrets To A Well Stocked Holiday Pantry (designmom.com)
• Christmas Ornament Craft: Recycled Snowman (inspiredbyfamilymag.com)

Advertisement

Charity And Love, What It Really Means!

Fruit of the spirit, yeah, that's love!

Just what does love mean to you? Is it only your family and your friends that you care about? Or do you love all the people in the world? I love my God, I love Jesus! I love my children, my grandchildren, my family! I love my friends and my pets! But do I love my neighbor?

One of God‘s commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself!

Do you really know your neighbor? Can you really love that person if you don’t? And then, that being said, who is your neighbor?

Many people think they know just what is right, and judge others for their (in our minds) wrongdoings. Often we think we are the ones that know best, and we put others behind our opinions. Do we stand in judgement for this?

Sometimes people do things that really tick us off, make us angry! We have a tendency to not like some people, and really think others are special. It could be we don’t like the way someone dresses, their form of self-expression, or their shortcomings that make us feel this way.

Taught all through all my life to love the sinner, hate the sin; sometimes, it is hard to see past what you think others are doing wrong, and not love them for those particular reasons. As I have said before, He is still working on me, and will be until the day I die.

At times people are just a thorn in your side. Ever have one of those? Someone that just really irritates you, one that you just don’t get? Unfortunately, I do. But I try to see past all that, and I am sure some people feel the same way about me.

It could be the teenager at the grocery store with the cell phone in her ear or the foreigner at phone company that really gets to you and makes you not feel very lovable at that minute and want to just hang up on them.

Love is the most beautiful word in the English language, don’t you think? It compasses all the good about everything, none of the negative. It is the feeling of joy, hope, compassion, and peace. We never feel anything better. No money can buy it, no possessions can own it. Love is happiness, security, and contentment. So why is it sometimes we don’t feel love?

Is it knowing that God loves us, and has sacrificed His own for us?

Do we have that love in our hearts? Love is charity! Not the kind you write off on your taxes; but true charity, giving of yourself, and not expecting something in return. You have to give love to receive love! That simple.

So… what do you think?

When writing this blog, I am not writing at you, but to you. Therefore, I would appreciate your comments to let me know how you feel. All response on these topics can only broaden our views, our thinking, and our outlook on life. I need your advice. What do you do when someone is a thorn in your side, and you don’t understand?

Have a blessed day! Evie

The word “love” occurs 311 times in 281 verses in the KJV of the Bible. According to the dictionary in the BLB, Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian. Gal 5:22. See below.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Gal 5:22-23

Pretty Is As Pretty Does!

A beautiful Spellbound Rose that grows in my Sisterhood Memory Garden that my friend gave me in memory of my Mother, the most beautiful lady.

Mom always said that. Pretty is as pretty does.

So I am wondering today, just what do you consider pretty? Where does beauty come from? Is it in the gene pool? I think about my family and what people have said about us through the years, about our appearance. God pretty much blessed us with good looks, or so they say.

The media is full of airbrushed models who spend their days making themselves look beautiful. In the cosmetic industry, there are big bucks spent; from makeup, to anti-aging cream, liposuction, plastic surgery, and on and on.

Merriam Webster defines pretty as pleasing by delicacy or grace, having conventionally accepted elements of beauty, and more. What do we, as people, consider delicate and gracefully pleasing? What are the conventionally accepted elements? Do you think it is pretty on the outside, or is it pretty on the inside that makes a person beautiful?

Have you ever feasted your eyes on someone and saw beautiful? Well, I just did on a profile picture on Facebook. Every time I have looked at this person from the time she was a child and now a woman, I have thought she was beautiful. That conjured up more images in my mind of people who I think are pretty. When I pondered on this, I wondered what it is that makes a person pleasing to the eye of others.

Not taking away from family genes, but is it the outward appearance that makes you beautiful?

I realised that the people I think are beautiful are the ones that are full of goodness on the inside, filled with  joy, happiness, kindness, and compassion. They laugh a lot. You don’t hear them complaining and whining about insignificant things. In a nutshell, they have substance within themselves.

People who walk around with a scowl on their faces aren’t pleasing to the eye. Discontented people aren’t pretty to me. There is no smile on their face, no twinkle in their eyes, no joy for life.

Do you consider yourself pretty? On the outside, I never have thought I was. We see our flaws every time we look in the mirror. But are you pretty on the inside? Are you filled with those God-given gifts that I mentioned before? Are you filled with the fruit of the spirit?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance… Galatians 5:22-23

This to me, is what makes a person beautiful. The first time you see someone you see their outward appearance, they might look good, but are they on the inside? Just asking!

To the inspiration for this post, Happy Birthday, my beautiful niece, De. I am not telling your age, because it only makes me feel older! To my daughter(s) granddaughters, sisters, all my cousins and friends, my nieces, great nieces, and great, great-niece, you are all beautiful, too. (Because I know you inside and that makes you delicately graceful and pleasing to the eyes!)

May your day be filled with the fruit of the spirit, for tomorrow you will be even better looking.

Love you biggest! Evie!