NO FEAR

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Anonymous

I love this quote. When I saw it I wondered how it would apply to me. Well, I don't seem to have a fear of failure and try all sorts of things, large and small, easy and seemingly impossible. I've succeeded at most, and totally blown others.

No biggie. Failure just tells you what you need to either stay away from, or just the opposite, what you need to work extra hard on, depending on your situation in life.

I wish all of my friends and family would erase that fear of failure, it only holds them back!

My prayer today is that my friends and family would break the chains of fear and be free!!!

Blessing to all,
De

Note, this blog entry was in a previous blog I had. I liked it so much that I wanted to put it here as well.

Still CHRISTmas....

I'm up pretty early (6:48 am) for a vacation day and I'm still thinking and feeling "Christmassy". I'm glad because His gift to us was not just for a day, it is for eternity and I want to keep that in the forefront of my mind.

I'm so incredibly grateful that I'm not going it alone on my life's journey, but that, when I let Him, when I pay attention, Jesus guides me (and gives me guidelines) to make this short stint on Earth one that is valuable, adventurous, and enriching to others as well.

I receive a daily email called, "Encouragement for Today", Crosswalk for Women by Proverbs 31 Ministries. Yesterday they had a cool idea that I think I'll try next year....

The author was talking about how to keep Jesus as THE GIFT when all the other presents were being opened and focused on by her children. She had taken the baby Jesus from their family nativity and wrapped Him as a gift and gave it to her daughter. When the young girl opened the gift, there was silence and a fabulous family discussion ensued around how Jesus really is the main Gift and what that Gift from God meant to each one in their family!

I then read these verses:

Isaiah 9:6, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (NASB)

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (NASB)

Romans 6:23b, "... the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NASB)


Well, this was a great way to start my day, another CHRISTmas day if you will!

Christmas 2008 at Sky Haus in Big Sky, MT

Well, here we are in Big Sky, Pete, I and 8 teenage boys! (What was I thinking!?) We are truly having a great time out here, enjoying God's incredible creation. We have quite a diverse group, our own 2 children, Paul Swanson, our exchange student, Esteban, from Mexico, Jim from China, Thiago from Brazil, and the Hanske boys who are the host brothers to Jim. Parents, Sue and Tom Hanske also stayed with us for a few days as well....

It has snowed more than 15" since we've been here (4 days) and the powder is magnificent. I've taken many photos and movies of the boys and their shenanigans: jumping through trees on their snowboards, too many in the hot tub, foosball tourney, karaoke for all, xtreme xbox, and more. I will eventually figure out how to post those to this blog...still learning.

Expecting the Olson family to join us, maybe all 6 of them! The more the merrier!

Merry Christmas to all who read this, we celebrate the birth of Christ and our oldest son, Michael, who will turn 18 on Christmas Day.

In the Beginning......

First Foray into Blogging....Again!
Well, I set one up two years ago and can't seem to find it, it's lost somwhere in e-space.....so I started a new one. I'll be adding photos soon...