Have Yourself a Blessed, Happy New Year

Here comes a jolly celebration in lots of places!

   Perhaps you will be going out on the town,

But do have yourself a blessed Happy New Year,

   Anticipating the future, without a frown.

Yes, there will be many challenges unforeseen,

   And some you already have been warned about,

But claim those as opportunities to grow;

   With a positive outlook, no need to doubt.

Oh, JOY !!!

Joy is a short word that says a lot.  Say it, feel it,  anticipate it, be thankful for it. Have you said it lately?  

     Consider it as an exclamation like “Joy to the world, the LORD has come.”     

     Consider it as a prayer like, “Heavenly Father, I’m running out of joy.  Fill me up with your genuine joy.”  

     Consider it as a question, “What brings you the most joy?”  

     Consider it as an explanation, “There’s a fake joy while drinking too much."    
     The real joy can come to your mind when you decide to do what you know is good, and you follow through.  

     Here’s how others say “Joy.”  

Radost = Czech

Vreugde = Dutch

Kagalakan =  Filipino 

Joie =  French

Freude = German

Xapå,  =  Greek

Gioia   =  Italian 

Radość =  Polish  

Джой  = Russian

Alegría  =  Spanish

Glädje  = Swedish 

Sevinç  = Turkish

Джой  = Ukranian

Xursandchilik   = Uzbek

     Look at that Google Translate feature, Select Languages, at the top of this blog.  That's how I found "joy" in lots of languages. There are a lot more languages that I didn’t copy here.  Look them up yourself and be amazed. 

     And if you look up "joy" at www.biblegateway.com you can find many different Bible translations in other languages, as well as over 50 English language translations. 
     Joy is a blessing from God.  You need it, we all need joy.  Find out more about "joy" and you'll be happy today…..and the rest of your life!

by Elaine Hardt ©2014

A Christmas Prayer

Turning aside from an overdose of Christmas, trading that frustration for meditation, and coming to a quiet place of prayer. . . 

Heavenly Father,

You are the Designer and Maker of All there is,

How awesome that You also made the way

for me to approach You in prayer. 

I come in humility and honesty.

Today I’m occupied with Christmas

traditions and expressions of family,

mingled with the excessive, the noisy,

the beautiful and the tacky,

the demands and opportunity.

All the trinkets and toys and earthly treasure

snare my mind with thoughts of pleasure;

show me the way through the unnecessary,

the way to what is true,  and what pleases You. 

The Christmas Worry

        I need to tell someone.  Maybe you’d consider this?
        It’s almost Christmas!  People are going to send out some Christmas cards.  It’s an outreach to some relatives and some friends; it’s not just to provide jobs for the postoffice.  These people (that’s you . . . ) need to be encouraged to write — in their own words — about God’s magnificent love that we each desperately need to personally accept.  

        “Aaaack,” some will frown or declare or yell.  “I don’t want my relatives and friends to label me a Religious Nut.”  

    (Please be patient and read on.  This is only 654 words long.  You can do it?)

        So, the problem is what to say and how to say it?  We’ve been drowning in pressure to sit down and shut up and be tolerant of every one’s notion of life and death. 

Another Tie? Another Fruitcake?

When a tie or a fruitcake just won’t do,

When Santa has lost his disguise;

Holidays can be more than glitter

When honesty opens our eyes.

What we need is love, peace, and forgiveness,

Wisdom for life’s decisions shown;

Only God offers these realities,

His presence makes the truth be known.

Turn aside from Christmas trivia,

You want more than parties and fun;

Confess your shortcomings and problems, 

Then celebrate what He has done.

By Elaine Hardt ©2005

Do Cowboys Celebrate Christmas?

Do cowboys celebrate Christmas? Yer durn-tootin’ they do.

All those nights under starry skies they think about what’s true,

They’ve seen the miracle of birth, the hard facts about dyin’

Their eyes crinkle with laughter, sometimes with cryin’

Without fancy words they pray to the Lord who made it all

They kin see His hand in winter, spring, summer, and fall.  

They know they’re not perfect, but some knows Who iz

Jesus died for all, and now He is riz.

There’s a lifetime for living, more than jes’ gettin’ by

When it’s hard, look to God with an honest cry.

Before your life here comes ta an end

You want to make your Maker your Best-est Friend.

He has a way to fergive your sins

So you can get there where life has no ends.

Don’t miss out on Christmas, it don’t have ta be December

Open yer Bible, where it is don’t ‘cha remember?

Writ by Elaine Hardt

©2004 

If You Knew HOW MUCH God Loves You

If you knew how much God loves you,

today would be much different 

than you expected.

If you knew how much God loves you,

His blessings you would 

not have rejected.

If you considered how much God loves you,

your weariness and uncertainties 

would be affected. 

When Holidays H-U-R-T !!!

     Gifts!  cards, parties, family dinners! Name any holiday, the stores are decorated and merchandise abounds. You can’t escape it! But not everyone can anticipate an enjoyable celebration.

     Many men and women have hurt feelings about holidays; most will keep their emotions under careful control.  Here comes Christmas; how do you feel about that? 
        Father’s Day might bring up some unhappy memories.  Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and even New Year's Eve may stir up old baggage that lingers on, every year again wounding the soul.

        Going to church on a holiday may make things worse, if all you’ll hear are platitudes and detailed examples of the perfect dad or the perfect mom or the perfect family.  If a greeting card is too “sweet” or too sarcastic that can hurt.  

      If you wince at the approach of some particular occasion don’t continue in this pattern; there’s a breakthrough for you.  If you are a relative of someone who dislikes certain observances there may be things you can do to ease the situation.

A person needs a strategy.

       Give yourself permission to take a few moments here. Step back from the immediate circumstances and take a dispassionate look at it. 

Would-a . . . Could-a . . . Should-a

As days rush by to another year’s end

I search and fumble for words to say

To analyze and explain and speak,

In order to improve things today. 

I would-a . . .  except for these reasons,

I could-a . . .  if I had thought ahead,

I should-a . . .  thinking back on it now,

I wish I’d thought and now wish I’d said.  

I said the word “love” too infrequently,

But I tried to be thoughtful and kind;

I could have asked questions to show

That you were certainly on my mind.  

How are you doing, how are you feeling?

What’s most important to you right now?

What do you like about this or that?

That’s nifty, can you show me how?