December 2017 – Kat's Eye View

Gone, but not forgotten on Christmas

The song ‘s declaration is indeed true because Christmas isn’t the same without your family around to share it with you. I can no longer run to them and see their happy faces during the holiday season. I can always think back to our last Christmas together, but it’s nothing like actually touching their warm skin and hearing their gentle voice as we talk over dinner and tell jokes.

This time of year truly is the most wonderful time of year. The “feeling of Christmas” is all around…just breathe it in AND avoid the news. Christmas seems better when you can spend it with the ones you love and care for. This creates more great memories. This year also brings with it memories spent with those no longer living close by, or that have passed away.

The other day I was listening to a song by a popular Rhythm and Blues group from the 70s, called the O’Jays. The song says, “Christmas just ain’t Christmas, Without the One You Love”. As I was singing along, I couldn’t help but to think about family and friends that are no longer here. I attempted to turn my thoughts elsewhere because I didn’t want to think about all of the loved ones I lost in the last two years and on. I’m still not able to think about them without my eyes “sweating”.

I will do my best to never forget those times. They may be gone, but they are definitely not forgotten. We can’t allow those memories to take away the joy this time of year brings with it.

Make the most out of this time with family that are still around. Let them know that you are grateful for them and that you appreciate all they do. Some of this may be an exaggeration of the truth, but let’s just say that we are “calling those things that be not, as though they were”. Sometimes when the time gets rough, they are the only ones you can rely on to be there for you.

Enjoy those walks down memory lane with them. Enjoy that uncle that makes you shake your head at what he wears, because he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. Enjoy that mother or father that continues to embarrass you with all that they say, because they are right and everyone else is wrong. Be grateful for the horrible food that your aunt, who doesn’t realize she’s lost her anointing to cook years ago, makes for the family. One day you are going to miss all of these people because one day they will not be there with you.

Family is the same no matter who or where you are. You didn’t pick your family, but you do the best you can to love and tolerate them, even if you don’t understand them. Especially if you feel they don’t understand you. Love on them while you still can. Smile as you remember those gone and those here. You may cry, but don’t forget to smile. Cherish the memories of yesteryear and continue to make new ones for the years to come.

Thank you for reading & I hope you enjoyed it! Please Like, Comment, Share, & Subscribe.

Featured Image from Rainforest Islands Ferry

A Divine Perspective 12: Christmas, A Recipe of Emotions

The holiday season brings about a recipe of emotions. Depending on what you prefer for this mixture, take about 5 cups of excitement, 7 cups of perfectionism, and 2 cups of stress. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of “This is too much”, 1 Tablespoon of family getting on your nerves, and ½ a teaspoon of “Oh no, I forgot the…”. You may add or takeaway other ingredients and change measurements according to your taste.

Usually everyone that participates in this season or any holiday can understand. We want everything to be just right and we don’t want anyone to try to shake our dream of a perfect Christmas. “Who cares how much money we spend on decorations, lights, gifts, food, stocking stuffers!,” we say. Then empty bank accounts bring us back to reality or unexpected hospital stays because of stress. Don’t allow this season to erase how you have drawn Christmas in your head, but don’t make this into a fantasy because you are so busy trying to make this Christmas better than the non-fairytale Christmases of your past. Yes, enjoy this time with family and friends, but don’t get yourself worked up over it. Remember to be anxious for nothing…when you feel the burden of perfection coming on, pray for the Peace of God.

Keep your focus on who and what this season is truly about. The birth of Jesus, the Savior of this World and how he was born into it, to teach man-kind His ways, so that we might have a better life. Don’t allow the commercialism of Christmas to snatch your joy and add unhealthy pressure to this glorious holiday time. Don’t allow what you can not do, to get you down. Enjoy what you have and who you are with! May God Bless you and Keep you & Yours.

Philippians 4:6-7New King James Version (NKJV)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Thank you for reading. Please Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe.

Santa Isn’t the Only One Coming to Town

As the days of December seem to swiftly drift by, we are getting closer to the Big Day! Are you ready for it all that the day brings? Not only is Santa Claus coming to town, but for many, so is family! This means mental preparedness at the ready.

As the days of December seem to swiftly drift by, we’re getting closer to the Big Day! Are you ready for all the day brings? Not only is Santa Claus coming to town, but for many, so is family! This means mental preparedness at the ready.

These are people we love, but didn’t choose. They can bring joy and pain, sunshine and rain. They know how to push your buttons because they know you. Mom is still fussing over you and reminding you that “she knows more than you so listen to her”. Dad continues to encourage you with, “You know how your momma is”. Siblings don’t want to help out with anything because they are your siblings…. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents talk about memories of past Christmases. The same stories you have heard all your life, but they are still enjoyable and you do look forward to them. This is the Christmas you have grown up having. This is how Christmas and the Holiday Season have always been for you; but now you are a married couple.

You now have family that comes with “for better or for worse”. You chose your spouse, but this means you also chose them…the in-laws! You have grown to love them, but they are not what you’re used to. They do things…differently. You have grown to love them, but there are things about them you are continuing to get used to. Hopefully they are making an attempt to get used to you and how you do things.

Now, for the Holidays, we have two moms trying to advise you on what you need to do to make that meal just right for the family, which means cooking or preparing food the way they do! They are battling over their turf (their child in the coupledom). They both know what’s best regarding everything, while the dads are just trying to stay out of it. Everyone wants and believes their way is best, while you, the married couple or single adult, are doing your hardest to show that you are an adult and you have it. Whatever “it” may be in this case.

The goal for this time of year is to survive. It may feel like “Survival of the Fittest”, because it’s really the Long Night. Unfortunately Winter has Come. You just have to be ready and remember to breathe….

Merry Christmas to You & Yours!!!

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to Like, Comment, Share, & Subscribe!

Featured Image from the movie Home Alone and Twentieth Century Fox

Photo from Facebook page Winter-is-coming.net

The Christmas List

The Christmas List. Pretty much everyone has had experience with creating one. From the time you could write and read, you created a Christmas List to give Santa or to give your parents. You wanted the powers that be to know what you wanted for Christmas.

Years ago, as a child, all I wanted for Christmas was my 2 front teeth and a Cabbage Patch Kid Doll. I moved on to wanting a bike, the latest Nintendo game, or a Baby Alive. I also wanted the newest microscope set for my many experiments and scientific analyzing of any and almost everything. As a teenager, I grew into only wanting money for shopping, or shoes and clothes. Now as an adult, I am at the point that creating a Christmas List is a dreaded ordeal. It has become a challenge. I can’t always think of anything to want.

For some people in my family, I’m not allowed to not want them to buy me anything. This is exhausting, because now I have to create something to want, just to appease them. I feel that a Christmas List should be for things that you want or things you feel that you just have to have. Those things that, for the moment, you can’t seem to live without. You don’t realize that you can actually live without it, but it’s a current desire that you are excited about. I am now at the point in my life where I don’t desire anything that I can’t live without. If I want it, I can go and get it. Why wait till Christmas if I can get it when I want to? *Kanye Shrug*

giphy — Kanye West Shrugging GIF found on Google

Thinking about Christmas Lists is so bad, that I don’t even think about Christmas Lists from others until a week or two before Christmas. I don’t desire gifts anymore and I don’t think about actual presents. It’s not about presents for me anymore.

The present that I want to give is to make the Christmas Holiday memorable. I want the Christmasy-ness of this time of year to spread to all those I am sharing the season with. I want all to feel excited! I want to make this time enjoyable for the friends and family I am with, especially if I am hosting it. That’s the gift that’s on my mind, (but I do give actual gifts).

I want to sing my favorite Christmas Songs, play games, have snack attack, watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas, The Christmas Story, Home Alone (only the first one), The Grinch…, watch Hallmark, look at Christmas Lights, and drink hot cocoa! It all seems more fun if everyone participates in this. That’s it! I’ve got it! On my Christmas List, that’s what I want…For all those spending Christmas with me this year, to experience a Katherine kind of Christmas!!

Don’t allow the pressures of Holiday Shopping leave a damper on your spirit this Christmas Season.

Before

After

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to Like, Comment, & Share!

A Divine Perspective 11: Speak “IT” into Existence

When watching a recent interview of Tiffany Haddish on the Ellen Show, she mentioned that she saw Ellen at the VMAs and told her that she wanted to be on her show, even though Ellen DeGeneres didn’t even know who she was. She ends the story by stating she “spoke it into existence”. Tiffany Haddish has accomplished a lot this year and has finally garnered recognition from her many years of being a stand-up comedian. Many personal things in her life have been stepping stones that helped her to continue to pursue her dreams. Like many others, she didn’t allow life’s situations to halt her goals. She is now living the life that is beyond what she dreamed.

We too can speak our desires into existence. The Bible instructs us to “speak life” over ourselves and our situations. New Agers call it the power of positive thinking/speaking, but this has always been advice given in the Bible. It states that we have what we say (Mark 11:24) and that …the tongue is the pen of the ready writer (Psalm 45:1). What are you going to write into your life? Are you going to speak life or death over what life brings your way?

What have you spoken into existence? Are you speaking positive or negative thinking? Are you writing your dreams, goals, or plans into existence? This interview reminded me of the power of the tongue, so I began to again speak life over the vision I believe God has placed in me. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Join me and speak life over your God given dreams and desires. Speak your hopes and dreams into existence. Write, with your tongue, the dreams God has given you. Your time is not over, no matter your age!

Video from Youtube.com/The Ellen Show Channel on Youtube. *****I do not claim any rights to this video.*****

Thank you for reading! Please Comment, Share, Like, & Subscribe.

It WAS beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Waking up this morning, I immediately looked out the window. “Wow, I thought. It really did snow”! I can’t lie, I was excited! The little girl in me began to emerge so I quickly got out of bed to go out into the snow.

My 2 pups had never seen snow, and were baffled at this “stuff” covering the grass. By now you could see the grass underneath, but there was still snow. I was hoping they would play in it, but they were confused.

There wasn’t much snow left to create a snowman, but I could make a few snowballs. I chose not to because I wanted the snow to last. Roofs all around were covered in snow. By now there is little evidence, but it came, we saw, and we screamed in delight, “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!!!!”

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share, like, comment, and subscribe!

Photos courtesy of Me and the Huz-Band!!

Pizza+Chocolate Shake=A Bad Night for Wife

So many thoughts will come to my mind, I know that he loves me, but I am beginning to have my doubts because his actions are smelling louder than his words!

We all have things we need to stay clear of. You know, the temptations of life that we all must work hard to resist, by whatever healthy means we must take to achieve this. Resisting temptation is the goal. I for one, try my best to resist the outdoors even though I love nature! This is an impossible case, so in order for me to survive through the torment of seasonal allergies I strive to take Zyrtec every day. By doing so, this medicine is in my system so that allergy attacks can be stopped or not as serious…right mom? She would be so proud!

As I sit typing this, I see the one that I love dearly is now giving in to his temptation without a second thought. I have learned in these last 10 years of my life, that being Lactose Intolerant is very real and can seriously affect all those in close proximity. If someone has this allergy, they either deal with it by taking Lactose pills, or staying away from all things that have Lactose in it. In other words, leave the dairy alone. I don’t have this allergy, thank God, but many that are close to me suffer with this “debilatating disease”. For me, Cheese is a favorite food of mine and drinking a glass of milk or a bowl of ice cream is a treat! If I have ranch or bleu cheese with my salad or hot wings, it’s no big deal. For the one I love, this is not the case. Depending on the form of dairy depends on the magnitude of, let’s just say, the “reaction”.

As he enjoys his meal of a cheese pizza with a chocolate shake, I am now preparing to endure the shock and awe of what is to come. So many thoughts will come to my mind, I know that he loves me, but I am beginning to have my doubts because his actions are smelling louder than his words!

“Dear God, please protect me from what is to come. I speak a hedge of protection over my huz-band because soon I will want to bring him harm in retaliation of future events, but I am asking you to hold my mule. I proclaim that no weapon formed against my nose shall prosper. Amen”.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe.

Photo from nature.com

Featured Image by Katherine of deardiary.biz

A Divine Perspective 10: December is Finally Here!

Christmas Time is finally here! Where did the time go? No, never mind…let’s not turn back the hands of time. Let’s continue to move forward—>

Yesterday was a bit of a struggle between my huz-band and I while we were out shopping for more Christmas Décor. He, for some reason, decided that it would be okay to tell me no. How dare he! Everyone that truly knows me, is aware of the fact that I detest the word “No”! I didn’t want much in decorations, I just wanted to create a Winter Wonderland mixed with Santa’s Workshop mixed with Classic Christmas infused with Greenery and Holly Berries? I haven’t found any “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed” decorations that I like or look authentic enough to represent Christ and his mommy, so I don’t have that yet (wink wink).

What I’m saying is, I WANT IT ALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! I understand why he felt he had to tell me no. I mean there is a possibility that I can have the tendency to maybe possibly go a little overboard with shopping, but it is for a good cause…Christmas! But then again, I really don’t want to go hungry because of the hypnotic powers of the glittery, sparkly, holiday cheer of red and green, even for Christmas. He has to bring me back to reality every now and then to remind me of what this holiday is truly about.

This entire season needs to be brought back to reality…we often forget that the true purpose is to remember that our Lord and the Savior of this world came to earth to become Flesh, so that he could teach us His ways, and die on a cross so that we could be set free from hell, including the hell we can experience on earth. Remember that the Elf on the Shelf, Santa Claus, Frosty, and Hallmark are not the reason for the season…Jesus is. In all that you do during this time with family and friends don’t forget to take some time to remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Share this:

Like this:

Thank you for reading. Please Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: