Hey everyone. I hope y'all are having a great Friday. Last Family Fun Friday, I shared with you some ideas for a Christmas movie night. Today, I would like to share with you some ideas for a "regular" movie night. (Meaning movies that are not Christmas movies). Listed below are some of my favorite movies. I have so many favorites that it was very hard to choose just three, but I finally narrowed it down to three. Below you will find three movies that are some of my all time favorites, plus the essentials you will need for the perfect family movie night. Thanks to PureFlix for making the graphic below for me. 

In case you are not familiar with some of my choices, I have given a brief synopsis of the movies below. 

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered Series"
starring Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Geoff Gustafson, and Crystal Lowe

There are a total of ten movies so far(one is coming out on September 24, 2017) plus a ten episode season. This wonderful series follow the Postables(Oliver, Shane, Norman, and Rita) as they solve the mystery behind lost letters that find their where to the Denver Dead Letter Office. 

This is the best series that I have seen. My entire family loves this series, and guess we all agree on watching it. (Which is sometimes a challenge to find something to watch that we all like and agree on!) The series is filled with humor, tear jerking moments, romance, and a Spiritual message that will touch your heart.

Sadly, they are not all available on DVD yet, but I am hoping that they all will be soon. Below is a complete list of the entire series, plus links for those that are available on DVD if you would like to purchase your own.

Pilot
TV Series
For Christmas
From Paris With Love
Truth Be Told
Impossible Dream
From the Heart
One in A Million
Lost Without You
Higher Ground
Home Again

"All of My Heart"
starring Brennan Elliot, Lacey Chabert, and Ed Asner

"Surprised by Love"
starring Paul Campbell and Hilarie Burton

Now of course no movie night is complete without a few essentials.
1. A comfy spot to curl up in
2. Your favorite snack of course. As you can tell by the photo, my favorite snack is ice cream!!!! 
3. Turn off all electronic devices. That way you will not be distracted by anything as you and your family spend some quality time together.


So these are my suggestions for Family Fun Friday this week. Let me know what are some of your favorite movies and what your favorite snack is. Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Thanks to Leah Hastings, I am starting a new series called FAMILY FUN FRIDAY. Leah approached me with the idea about doing a post on Family Fun Night, that it got me to thinking about doing a regular post called Family Fun Friday. Now of course we all now that we can have fun with our families everyday of the week, but I love the alliteration in Family Fun Friday! 

For my first post I want to give you all an idea for Christmas in July. Most businesses have some kind of Christmas in July sales. Hallmark has been running Christmas specials most of the month, so I want to share with you some of my favorite Christmas movies. There are so many to chose from, but I finally narrowed down to three. Thanks to Pure Flix who made the graphic below to help me share with you my Christmas movie suggestions plus the ultimate essentials that you will need for a Christmas movie night.

In case you are not familiar with the movies that I have suggested, I have put a synopsis of each movie below. 

"The Gift of Love"
​starring Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms

Played against the tapestry of early 1900's New York City, this touching tale of selflessness brings O. Henry's Christmas Valentine lovingly to the screen. A beautiful and wealth orphan (Marie Osmond) is dutifully resigned to an arranged-for marriage to a man of "socially acceptable class" (James Woods), when her heart is captured by a young Swiss immigrant (Timothy Bottoms). Within her heart she wages the struggle to fulfill her relatives' expectations, and yet to find for herself that most precious of all joys, "The Gift of Love".

I have always loved this sweet story. Yes, you pretty much know how it is going to turn out, but the journey along the way is beautiful. Sadly, they don't air this movie any more, but you can purchase it here at Amazon.

"Crown for Christmas"
by Danica McKellar and Rupert Penry-Jones

"Hearts of Christmas"
starring Emilie Ullerup and Kristoffer Polaha

Of course, there are a few things that you need for the perfect Christmas movie night.

1. A comfy spot to curl up
2. Hot Chocolate
3. Christmas cookies (Yes, I definitely recommend making Christmas cookies in July)
4. If you have a fireplace, you could turn the A/C up and light the fireplace for an extra Christmasy feel.
5. Turn off all of your electronic devices. This is definitely a must for quality family time no matter what you are doing. 

So this my first suggestion for Family Fun Friday. Enjoy the last Friday of July with a Christmas movie night!!! I would love to hear what your some of your favorite Christmas movies are, so please feel free to let me know in the comments below. Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday! If your week has been anything like mine, then you are ready for a little R&R and what better for some Rest and Relaxation then with God's Word. The Bible is filled with so many wonderful Truths and directions on how to live are lives! This is wonderful, but sometimes I'm afraid that we look at the Bible as only an Instruction Manual or Rule Book. I've heard many people say that the Bible is just a bunch of rules that keeps us from having fun or that they don't understand the Bible for one reason or another. How sad those two statements are. Today I would like to show you that the Bible is so much more than an Instruction Manual on How to Live. The Bible can also be and should also be a Place that we can go to when we need comforting, peace, and a Place that we can go to forget about how stressful how day has been or how bad are week has been. God didn't just give us guidelines on how to live our lives when He gave us the Bible, He also gave us His love, compassion, and strength. So many times we get into trouble or we get frustrated about something, and sadly the last place we turn to is to God and the Bible if we even turn there at all. I have often wondered why that is especially when the Bible has the best answers to our problems and the peace that we need. Let me give you a personal example. When I was in college, a boy I had gone to school with passed away in his sleep. Nobody knew why it just happened. For weeks after this happened I was so shocked and shook up that I was afraid to go to sleep at night. You may think that is crazy, but that is how I felt. Every time I would lay down to go to sleep, I would think about Josh. I even tried sleeping on the couch, counting sheep, and playing relaxing music, but nothing helped. My parents tried to tell me that I needed to sleep (which I knew of course), but even with their concerned appeals nothing seemed to help. I could not go to sleep. Finally one night while I was reading my Bible, I came across a verse in Proverbs. Proverbs 3:24 to be exact. It says "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet." I read that verse, and it this peaceful, calming feeling swept over me. I stopped reading for a few minutes and just sat there thinking about that verse. I realized that God was telling me that I can go to sleep now. There was nothing for me to worry about or be afraid of, He was there with me and would help me get a good night's sleep. That night I was finally able to go to sleep. Then the next night when I was getting ready for bed, I turned to that verse again and you know what it was still there!!! God was still telling me that I could go to sleep and He would be with me. So now whenever something is bothering me and I can't sleep, I turn to Proverbs 3:24 and I am reminded that God is with and He will give me peace so that I can sleep. That is just one example of how the Bible has calmed me and help me to relax. There are hundreds of other verses just like that one that I can turn to when I am worried, stressed, scared, sad, want to feel God's love, or whatever kind of mood I am in God has something for me in His Word to help me. And you know what? He has verses in there for you too. He is just waiting for you to spend time with Him so that He can show them to you. So what are you waiting for? Ask God to show you what He has waiting for you and you might just find that peace, comfort, solace, and relaxation that you are looking for.

Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful day with your family and friends. As you are having cook outs, shooting fireworks, or just enjoying a day off, don't forget all of those brave men and women who have fought to defend our freedoms so that we can celebrate the 4th of July. Thank you to everyone who has served our country in some way. Whether you are a service member overseas, a police officer, or fireman thank you for all that you do to protect our great country! May we never forget everyone who has fought for our country. Have a great Fourth everyone! Have A Wonderful Day!!!

So since it has been quite some time since I have posted ways to Have A Wonderful Day, I want to give you my acronym again.

Have something to look forward to                                              
Align your will with God's
Value each moment
Extend a helping hand

Accept whatever comes your way

Work hard and enjoy it
Organize yourself
Name your blessings one by one
Daily walk with God
Express gratitude to God and others
Reward yourself
Find  someone to cheer up
Use your time wisely
Laugh a lot

Decide to have a wonderful day
Accept yourself as God made you
Yield to the Holy Spirit

I posted the "HAVE A" ways in previous years, and I would like to pick up where I left off which is WORK HARD AND ENJOY IT. So without any more delay, here is the next installment in "Ways to Have A Wonderful Day!" 

We all have different jobs and duties to perform. Some we do not mind doing, bu there are others that we dread having to do. I don't know about you, but for me there are a lot more that I dread doing than those that I don't mind having to do. I mean seriously, who really enjoys doing the laundry or washing the dishes? I know that I sure don't. I would much rather read a book or work a puzzle instead of having to do my laundry or cleaning. What about jobs outside of housework? I was looking online, and I found that only 27% of Americans actually like their jobs. That is not a lot of people if we stop and think about how many billions of people live in America. I know that I have had jobs that I did not like and wished I could quit or get of them somehow. But at the same time I have had jobs that I did like and enjoyed them. 

All of that being said, if we get up every morning dreading having to go to work or complaining about what we have to do today or wishing we could put have doing the laundry til another, then we are obviously not going to Have A Wonderful Day. I know I am guilty of this very thing. I wake up thinking okay it is Monday, Tuesday, etc. what is it I have to do today. I then I remember I have a dozen different things to do that day(some of which I have been putting off doing because I don't like doing them or didn't want to do them when I was supposed to them), and suddenly I am not in a mood to get out of bed. This ruins my entire day. I drag myself out of the bed and then slowly begin to get ready for the day, but the entire time I am thinking to myself "Do I really need to do that today?" or "Is there anything that can wait another day to get done?" and I have pretty much put myself in a bad mood for most of the day. 

So how can we avoid falling into this trap of not necessarily being lazy, but of just not liking are work and the things that we have to do? I must I admit that I am no expert at this yet, but I am still trying to work at it. One way I have found that makes grueling tasks not so unbearable is play uplifting music as you do them. I don't know about you, but if I have uplifting music playing in the background, then it helps me work better and faster. Another thing that seems to help me is to set goals for myself. For example, I am sure a lot of you just went through Spring Cleaning. Well when we think of everything that we have to do for Spring Cleaning, we can get discouraged very quickly because there is so much to do. So one way to avoid the discouragement is to set goals for yourself like on Monday I am going to clean all of the windows and wash all of the rugs in the house, on Tuesday I am going to clean out all of the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator, on Wednesday I am going to wash all of the baseboards, vents, and walls in the house, etc. or you could do it a room at a time like Monday the living room, Tuesday the bedrooms, Wednesday the kitchen, etc instead of looking at all of the house as whole and trying to figure out how in the world am I going to get this done. Then if I completed my goal for the day, then I would give myself a little treat. Maybe a special dessert after supper or maybe just relaxing longer with a good book. You can apply this method to any task that needs done not just your housework. Like student having projects and homework assignments. Do not wait until the last minute to do them like I know so many do. If you know you have 5 assignments do the first week of May, then make goals for yourself and space out when you are going to work on the assignments and do not wait to the week before or even the night before they are do to get them done. This only leads to a ton of stress and frustration. 

The Bible tells us in Colossians 3:23 "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;". "Do it heartily" is the phrase that I wish to focus on here (and there is nothing wrong with the rest of the verse). Now just like most words heartily has many different definitions; one of which is "with gusto and without reservation" another is "with all the heart; sincere". So we are supposed to put our whole heart into our work and work with gusto and without reservation whether we like our jobs or the task we have before us or not. This can be very hard to do, I know. But the Bible tells us to do so. I have found that if I put my whole heart into something that I usually enjoy doing it more. I know it is very difficult to put your whole heart into cleaning your bedroom, but we need to try to do so if we do not want to dread the entire job. The Bible also tells us in Ecclesiastes 9:10a "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;..." So now the Bible is telling us to work hard. Not just to work hard at things we enjoy like planning a party for your Mom or decorating for Christmas, but work hard in all that we do. Yes I know that it is easier to work harder at some things than it is others, but the Bible doesn't say we get to pick and choose the jobs that we give our best to. We are supposed to give our best to all that we do.

So how can we Have A Wonderful Day? Work hard at whatever job, task, or duty you have been given and enjoy doing it. Yes it can be challenging at times, but the more we try to have a positive outlook on the things we have to do, the easier it will become to Wok Hard and Enjoy It. 

Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Easter. While you are having fun with your families and friends, hunting for Easter eggs, opening Easter baskets, or whatever your Easter traditions may be, please do not forget the true meaning of Easter: the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST! Without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would have no reason to celebrate anything or for that matter to do anything. So please do not forget the true meaning of Easter.

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. "
Matthew 28:5&6

Have A Wonderful Day!!!

​Stephanie

I want to apologize for getting this up so late. I promised that I would show what HEATHER A. won for the Christmas contest, and I meant to show you a lot sooner, but things have been hectic. So I apologize. Here is a picture of what she won!

As you can see, she won a stocking full of goodies. Included in the stocking was Christmas cookies, a Christmas dish towel, Christmas necklace, Snowflake earrings, Penguin snow globe, Thin Mints, Candy Canes, The Night Before Christmas Story Collection Book, and Handmade Christmas ornaments. So congratulations once again to HEATHER A. 
​
Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Today I would like to share with you how I am doing my Bible Study this year. I have never really been one to use Bible devotional books, I usually just read my Bible and see what pops out at me. Last year, I chose a different topic for each month and studied different verses on the topic of the month; as well as my normal Bible reading schedule(which I shared with you last week). This year I felt like I needed to do more in regards to actually studying the Bible instead of just reading my Bible. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to go about doing this, so I began searching different Bible studies and plans and asking God which one He wanted me to use. I finally came across the H.E.A.R.T Ministry online. After much prayer, I felt like this is what I was supposed to use for my Bible studies. They have many different topics and lessons to study with free printable worksheets, and I admit it was hard for me to decide where I should begin. I finally chose the Practical Christianity lessons. Each lesson topic has 25 questions for you to answer as you study them.  This is my third week using these lessons, and I have already learned quite a bit. (They are also good to use for your Church ministries.) So, if you are looking for something to use for your Bible studies, then I encourage you to check out the H.E.A.R.T Ministry. I would love to hear what you use to help you with your Bible studies, and if you do check out the H.E.A.R.T Ministry, then let me know what you think. Have A Wonderful Day!!!

Have you ever tried to read the Bible through in a year? If so, have you ever had difficulties in doing so? Well for the longest time, I was never successful in reading my Bible all the way through in a year. I would always get stuck in Leviticus, the Kings, the Chronicles, or Judges. Sometimes I would make it through those, but it would take me forever to do so, and I became discouraged. Finally I realized that it would be better for me to NOT read the Bible in order from Genesis to Revelation. That sounds bad, I know. I felt guilty at first, but then I realized that I was reading my Bible and was getting more read by not reading the Bible in order. So I learned that as long as you are reading the Bible, it doesn't really matter how you are doing so. Some people are able to read the Bible in order, and there it is great. However, if you are like I was, then I want to suggest that you find a way that works best for you. Here is what I found that works for me: I read a Psalm and a Proverb everyday, then I read a chapter in the New Testament everyday, and then I split the Old Testament up into two sections: the first section is Genesis-Job and the second section is Ecclesiastes-Malachi - I will then read at least one chapter from each of those sections everyday as well. So I read at least five chapters everyday. In order to get the entire Bible read in a year, I will read several chapters from one of the Old Testament sections at least once a week.(usually more) I have found that dividing the Bible up this way helps me to read the Bible through in a year. Now that may not work for you, but it definitely works for me. If you have a Bible reading plan that works for you, then that is wonderful and I encourage you to continue to use it. If you haven't found a plan that works for you, then try me or keep looking until you find one that does work for you. Please do not give up. Keep trying and God will show you a plan that will work for you. Next week I will share with you how I am studying my Bible this year. In the meantime, I would love to know what sort of Bible reading plan you follow. Have A Wonderful Day!!!

First of all I want to apologize for not posting the winner sooner. I had every intention of doing so, but I had to rearrange my schedule. So I am very sorry that I did not announce the winner before the end of the year. So without further ado I want to congratulate HEATHER A. as the winner of our Countdown to Christmas winner. I will get your prize to you within the week. All I ask is that you send me a picture of the prize so that I can post it on the blog. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to everyone who participated. Have A Wonderful Day!!!