Jesus Is The Reason For The Season....

It’s getting closer to Christmas. Are you ready? While I love giving gifts at this time of year my favorite thing to do is spend time with my family and friends + spend time remembering the real reason for the season, Jesus!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” ~‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God Bless You All Durning this Advent Season and Remembering the real reason for this season which is Jesus! To Him be all glory forever!!!

Beautiful Sunset Yesterday....

On the way to take Tim to the gym to train yesterday we saw this beautiful sunset.  

I love when I get to see God's handiwork.  No man made this.  It's all God.  Only our creator can make such beauty for us to enjoy to be reminded of the fact that He and He alone created all things!  Thank you Lord for showing us your majesty in such beautiful ways.  

9 Years Ago and Now....

It's amazing the difference 9 years makes.  Tim was a read belt in TKD back then and now he's 1 1/2 years into olympic weightlifting and absolutely loves it.  We thought he loved TKD but it doesn't even compare to how much he loves weightlifting and doing PR's.  Love both of the pictures though because they represent different times in Tim's life.  In the one we were still calling him Timmy and now at 16 years of age it's Tim.  Right before his grandfather, Franklin Neal, passed away he began calling him Tim and then Tim wanted everyone to call him that so that's what we have been doing.  He will always be my Timmy though😊.  

Tim's Favorite Place To Be...

 Tim would rather be here than anywhere:

That's the weightlifting floors at Athletic Lab (Click on Athletic Lab).  It's Tim's favorite place on earth to be.  With Christmas and New Year fast approaching there are several days they won't be open and he's already disappointed about it😔.  I can't wait until the day we can build him a climate controlled weight room that he can do all his workouts in on our property.  He will still want to go to the gym but it will give him an alternative for when they are closed or his schedule is too busy for him to get to the gym.  Having options is a good thing.  This is a need for this kid for sure.  It's our hope and prayer that we will be able to start building a house with a climate controlled weight room attached to it on our other piece of property by the time he turns 18.  God's word tells us to set up an inheritance not only for our kids but for generations to come and that is our hearts desire for Tim and any other Neal's that come after him.  We are looking to the future while being thankful for all that we have learned along the way.  God is so good!!! 

Random Pics of Stella....

The first picture is a Christmas pic of Stella with Tim in front of the Christmas tree and the other is just a random pic of her.

 

My Desk Is No Longer Mine....

Stella has taken over the space where my keyboard and mouse go because the sun is currently shining there...LOL!!  I'm sure this will be ongoing thing because she loves being near her humans and she goes back and forth between me at my desk and Tim at his...LOL!  Plus she loves the sun!

Playtime with Stella...

 Stella loves playtime.  Tim has such a great time with her.  She is the sweetest thing ever.  And anytime I get to typing she becomes my typing partner...LOL! Here's a pic of her and Tim playing:

The fuzzy ball is her favorite toy.  

Blast from The Past - TBT...

Back to a time when our (one of my best friends) kids where still young.  It seems like forever ago that these pictures where taken but the bottom picture was taken Christmastime 2018.  They have all changed so much over the years.  

Tim is 16 and we just made a plan to graduate him in 2026 instead of 2027 from HS.  Charlie will be 21 in May of 2025.  He's all grown and working.  Andie is 16 and going to be graduating HS two years early.  She's such a smart young woman.  Soon it will be just Scot & I and Paula and Doug when they come to visit because all of our kids will have their own lives they are living that don't include us...LOL! 

Here's a recent picture of my best friend with her husband and Andie (included a pic of Charlie but it's a year old):

This is Charlie taken in 2023.

My Pal While I Work...

Stella paws at me while I'm working until I finally let her come over to my desk then she proceeds to be between me and the keyboard purring like crazy demanding my attention.   It's becoming her daily thing that she does...LOL!! 

Stella loves attention but most cats do.  She loves having as many play times as you will give her.  She especially loves chasing the wand toys and crinkled up paper.  She gets the zoomies and runs all over the house...LOL! She loves to be with her humans.  She will sit in Tim's chair while he does VR gaming with his friends.  She loves to get on my dining room table which we are trying to break her from.  Consistency is the key.  She will eventually understand and make adjustments.  

Tim has been doing so good with her.  He and I feed her and He takes care of the litter boxes daily to make sure all the clumps are gotten out.  He has surprised his dad and I at how good he's being with her.  He's wanted a cat for so long and she's such a good kitty.  Stella sleeps in Tim's room.  She's his shadow as he walks around the house...LOL!

This has been the best early Christmas gift ever for Tim.  I'm still surprised that Scot and I caved and let him have one.  She was special though because we found her in a parking lot and gave her to a rescue who nursed her to health so that we could adopt her back.  I wasn't comfortable keeping a kitty that young who technically should have still been with her mom.  It all worked out swimmingly in the end though.  

Love When A Plan Comes Together....

Today was such a productive day.  I was able to make plans for Tim to get his Junior and Senior years of High School done next school year so that he graduates in 2026 when he was originally supposed to graduate.  Tim is happy.  His dad is happy.  And I am extremely happy because we won't have to keep bumping heads about getting school done and he will be done with school at the age of 18 instead of 19 years of age.  What a stress reliever this is for me that we are going to be getting this done when we will be getting it done.  

Stella's 1st Couple of Days....

Stella is enjoying her new home.  She is venturing out more and more and learning the lay of the land.  She is still unsure of Tucker (our dog).  She hated when he barked the first day.  Day two she didn't seem to mind at all.  She just stares at him now.  She watches him play with his toys.  Tucker wants to lick and play with her so bad right now but she's still not there yet.  A few times a day we put them together so they both can realize that it's ok to be friends.  I figure a month from now they will both be ignoring one another as they go throughout their days.  Stella's food bowls and litter boxes are where Tucker can't get into them.  Stella's found our dining room table and I knew she would.  She has her days and nights mixed up a little bit right now.  Working on keeping her more active during the day so she'll sleep more at night.  Here are some pictures that we have taken these 1st couple of days of her being here.

New "Christmas" Bible Study...

I'm doing "The Marvel and Miracle of Advent" bible study online along with doing the Advent Journal. Focusing on Christ's birth during the Christmas season has always been important to our family. I've been looking forward to doing this bible study since I first heard about it and day 2 into it and I'm loving it. #themarvelandmiracleofadvent

Adoption Day is Approaching...

As adoption day approaches for our kitty we are getting more excited and continuing to prepare the house for her homecoming as we think of more things to do.  She is going to be so incredibly spoiled.  The preparation has been non-stop since we were approved to adopt her.  I want the house to be a safe environment for her.  Tim will love on her like crazy.  He's the most excited about this adoption.  He's wanted a kitty for such a long time.  With the three of us she will be well taken care of.  Her life is going to be so good.  They have named her Indira but we are still trying to think of another name for her.  None of has been really keen on the name she currently has.  We'll see though.  It may be what we stay with if we can't come up with something that we like better.

My "Mentor" Mom....

 

She is pictured here with her dad in the background.  She spent Thanksgiving at her dads with all her kids and her kids kids.  When I think of her this is how I picture her though.  She loves with an unconditional love so deep that it's felt by all that know and love her.  Her name is Anne.  She's been a part of my life in some way, shape, or form since I was 8 years old.  She's influenced my life for the better in more ways than I could ever mention here.  God blessed me with her at a time in my life when I needed someone that would be a good influence in my life.  She has been for me what my parents were not capable of being for me.  They just didn't know how to be the kind of parent for me that Anne was for me.  God has such a special way of bringing the people into our lives that we really need just when we need them.  All these years later I still stay in contact with her.  My life is what it is today, in huge part, because of her influence in my life.  The love I know that she has for me and I have for her is the best of a mother/daughter type relationship.  I can only imagine how much more so her physical kids feel what I've felt in small part.  My life is so enriched and blessed.  Thank you Jesus for this special gift in my life that has remained all these years later.  You give the best gifts ever!!!  

How Do People Start Attending Church?

The answer is a simple one:

We have to invite them if we want them to learn about Jesus.  It's that simple.  No magic formula.  Just ASK!  That's all!  

How can we expect people to learn about Jesus if we don't invite them to church?  It's where I first learned about Jesus.  An elderly lady, Mrs. Chappell, asked my mom if she could take us kids to church on Sunday mornings.  Back in those days you could trust people like her to do what's best for your kids.  That's where my journey to Jesus began.  One kind, sweet, old lady, with such a wonderful heart for Jesus that she shared it with everyone that she ever came into contact with.  She was the most amazing woman I ever knew.  She loved Jesus and people so much that it just overflowed in her life.  It spilled over in huge quantities.  I know she's in heaven today with an enormous crown of jewels on her head.  Mine will not even come close to comparing to hers (not that we'll be comparing when we get to heaven anyways).  She was one of a kind.  There's not many like her that walk this earth today.  But if you have one like her in your life treasure them.  They don't come any better.  Believe me because I'm speaking from experience.  

Favorite Ornaments...

Our Christmas tree isn't a theme one.  It's a hodge podge of ornaments Tim's made or we have collected through the years.  I love being able to sit in my living room and enjoy looking at my Christmas tree every year.  I sit and think about Christmas's past with all of it's joy that Scot and I had as we watched Tim's face light up as he opened his gifts.  These days with his being 16 years old there's not as much excitement because it's hard to surprise a teenager with gifts when what they want is parts for a gaming computer...LOL! Stuff like that has to be thought through and carefully picked out with the advice of a computer gaming geek like our son who builds gaming computers for a living.  We always want to make sure that Tim is making the best decision and getting more bang for our buck...LOL! So suffice it to say that my joy comes from looking at the ornaments on the tree, especially the ones Tim made, and remembering Christmas past and all the fun memories we've had over the years.  Enjoying Christmas has a different meaning now and that's ok because there's always joy in sharing in the birth of our Savior Jesus and celebrating Him!  He is the real reason for the season and we have never forgotten that!  I pray you find lots of joy in this season as I do every year at this time.  God Bless You All!

No One Would Even Suspect...

No one would even suspect that Tim was ripped like this seeing how he dresses normally...LOL! His coach calls how he dresses his pump cover...LOL! It's a very true statement.  

I know which one I am. Do you?

 

Christmas Tree Is Up!

We finally got our Christmas tree up for the season.  We don't do a theme tree.  Ours is a hodge podge of ornaments either Tim has made or we have collected over the years.  It is the definition of a family tree and I so enjoy looking at every year once it's up.  This year though we will be having to keep a kitty out of it.  That should be tons of fun...LOL!   We have the kids Christmas done.  The little ones will have gifts but the big ones will get $$$.  It's easier that way because the older kids usually want things that cost a lot of money so if they collect money from everyone for Christmas then they can usually buy what it is that they really want.  

Thanksgiving...

 

I hope that everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day today!  Tim went to train earlier this morning and we've spent the rest of our day just relaxing at home.  We decided to do a different kind of Thanksgiving this year since it was just the 3 of us so we are having taco's for our meal this year.  Nothing traditional seeing as how cooking that much food is just a waste when it's just us.  

This year and every year I'm thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus, my family, my friends, my home, running water, electricity, clothes on back, food to eat, a car to drive, a bed to sleep, for our health and for God's Angels who are always keeping watch over us.  I'm thankful for God's hand on our lives guiding us to the future that He has for us.  Thank you Lord for another Thanksgiving and Thank you Lord for all that you do for us and for so many others.  In Jesus Name, Amen!