Turn the page…. Many resolutions will be posted tomorrow and while it’s encouraging to see so many intent on change, we need to remember that change begins inside of us. Without our change of heart, mind, and soul, nothing really changes. The great news is that we are each capable of change and that there is a plan for success waiting for us if we would only allow ourselves to commit to Christ… Check your experience.. “We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn't apply to our human problems this same readiness to change our point of view.” Big Book pg 52 Lord let us look inside our hearts to see the changes we need and to turn our will and our lives over to You in order to see the plan You have for us, AMEN. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. Have a blessed day y’all! TIPSY TOW is offering to get you and your car home for FREE tonight - 1-800-222-4357 Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

Looking in the mirror… 2019 is almost here and for many of us it’s a time for fresh starts and healthy changes. While these are noble goals based on good thoughts and great intentions, it seems that no matter where we go or what we do different, the same person inside of us is still involved! Now maybe it’s different for you, but I have learned that until I look inside myself to see what is fueling my actions, attitudes, and behaviors, that new thing I attempt to do will not bring new results UNLESS I first change those things inside of me that drive my thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. Until I can see that these things inside of me that drive my choices need to change,.. nothing will change!...Check your experience… “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” Big Book pg 59 Lord, let us first rid ourselves of the character defects that drive our poor choices then we can seek Your will to enjoy the benefit of healthy change, AMEN. “For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” James 3:16 Have a blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

Those hard to open presents…. It seems we have had that one gift that is hard to open. You know, the one that is wrapped so tight it takes something stronger than kitchen scissors to open and usually contains what seems like military grade indestructible packaging? Maybe it’s different for you but each year someone in our family receives this well wrapped gift and we all get to watch the receiver try with all their might to open. Sometimes we even have to pitch in to complete the task. In the end the gift is opened and usually heartfelt thanks is offered to the giver...note that I shared “usually”!! We can have the same challenge with our spiritual life. When we get wrapped so tightly in worldly clamors and bound up deep in material wants and self-will, we make it nearly impossible to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit that resides in our hearts. It’s not that we don’t deserve God’s spiritual love and gifts, rather it’s the fact that we are bound up, or wrapped so tightly if you will, in the chaos of this material world that we cannot open our hearts to receive God’s love, grace, and peace…Check your experience… “We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him.” Big Book pg 46 Lord, help us to open our hearts to receive Your gifts of love, grace, and everlasting life, AMEN. “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.” Ephesians 4:18 Have blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

Some gifts you just can’t return… Ahhhh… the American way of life! In the retail world, whether it be the wrong size, shape, style, color, or fit, an exchange is made or a return is credited. However, some gifts just cannot be returned, spiritually speaking of course. Think about it, we were chosen to receive eternal life and we have done nothing to earn it. We just have it given us without even asking. We can’t return it! It’s ours as long as we open our hearts and accept the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it’s different for you but those that know more than I ever will about this subject have suggested that I show my gratitude for this gift daily by doing my best to seek and do God’s will. How are you handling this gift?.. Check your experience….“The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.” Big Book pg 93 Lord, thank You for the gift of grace and eternal life through Jesus, AMEN. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2: 8-10 Have a blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

So what is Christmas really about?… Merry Christmas friends. My hope and prayer is that you enjoy the hope and peace that this day represents. It’s hard to imagine in today’s world that anyone would love us so much and unconditionally no matter what our current situation is. Yet that is what Jesus represents. Most of us spend our lives seeking acceptance and searching for all encompassing love. That is what this day is for. Living, real, and never ending love came to each of us in the form of Jesus. God even loves us so much that He does NOT force it on us. It’s ours to take and use as we understand it. Luckily for us HE gave us an instruction manual on how to receive, use, and share His never ending love. I cannot give you this love. Heck, nobody can, but it is yours for the taking when you are ready, willing, and able. I can share with you that once you accept the love of Christ, your life will NEVER be the same!! MY life is better beyond my wildest dreams because of the love of Jesus I carry in my heart. To be blessed with a life with Miss Tami and Miss Kai and a host of loving family and friends is more than this ol’ wretch ever deserves, yet, God loves me unconditionally and wants me to receive this amazing life. Please take a moment today and look beyond the presents, gifts, and shiny things to reflect on the Holy Spirit that lives in each of our hearts and wants to love us unconditionally. Merry Christmas!... “When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.” Big Book pg 52 Lord, thank You for sending Your living love to walk the earth so many years ago and for the Holy Spirit that lives in our hearts, AMEN. “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Isaiah 9: 6-7 Have a blessed Christmas y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

There was no room at the inn, but what about in our hearts?.. It’s Christmas Eve y’all! Please stop the hurried pace for a moment today and pause to remember that JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON!. “We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well.” Big Book pg 63 Lord, we thank You for Your unconditional love and healing grace we receive when we accept Jesus as our Savior, AMEN. “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn …son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2: 4-8 Merry Christmas y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

What is YOUR understanding?... On the surface, it’s a simple question, however the answer can become complex. It is a hard question because there are so many different answers that come from so many people, places, and things. The confusion sets in when we try to analyze, compare, and contrast all of the perceptions, opinions, and so called “facts” that others are willing to provide. I can’t answer this question for you or anyone else for that matter. It’s not because I don’t care, because those that know me, know that I do care very deeply about this. I cannot give you a God of your understanding, and I hope you are not allowing others to force theirs upon you. I will lovingly and unselfishly share my experience, strength, hope, and God with you but… in order to know God: YOU MUST create your own relationship with Him, based upon YOUR OWN experience and understanding…I love you all but please check your experience and know that for me, to coin a phrase that has meaning to me…”Jesus IS the Reason for the Season… “Perhaps there is a better way-we think so. For we are now on a different basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves.” Big Book pg 68 Lord, let us open our hearts and invite You into our lives so that we may know You as well as You know and love each and every one of us, AMEN. “Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15 Have a blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank has helped many folks this year with a HAND –UP as they worked with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support made this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others are now enjoying homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html