A Sweet Gift for You to Enjoy!

I am always so blessed listening to these old radio programs...

I hope you enjoy them as I much as I do...They have a way of putting things into perspective and how the world has changed don't they? I love the feel of these and in our family we really, really appreciate these and try to instill the sweet old time flavor in our home.

Just because the rest of the world is spinning on a turnstile of busyness we don't have to do we?

I'm trying so hard to reflect on Jesus as I commune with Him in a special way this advent season. He reminds me often:

Amelia I am the same Father who was who was with you when you were a little girl...

As I reminisce to my grandparent's home, and especially my little home as an only child with my sweet parents back then....
...so many sweet memories, maybe some not so perfect but still... prayerfully creating our own sweetness in our homes this Christmas.

I bring to you to also enjoy this most precious Bing Crosby Christmas program. I hope you and your entire family will enjoy this! Grab yourself some, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, something downright delectable and enjoy! This is wonderful for children of all ages to adults, sweet old fashioned but timeless music selections, also a precious, precious story of a sweet donkey as well...I love the sweet spirit of this Christmas story of one very special donkey...

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Have you all read any nice books so far this season? I'm reading (read) several:

* The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck

* A Simple Christmas, Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit by Mike Huckabee


These so far have been such a blessing, I sent the audio version of A Simple Christmas to my 80 year old dad, my dad has macular degeneration and sometimes it's hard for him to read. He loved that book and listened to it all in one day! I hope to be able to send him the audio of The Christmas Sweater as well. I read several chapters of The Christmas Sweater to our girls while they were cooking and my dd17 read the entire book the next day! It is a fascinating book with multiple life lessons!



Another dandy that is very practical but really helps put things in perspective as the rat race revolves around us this season is:

* Hundred Dollar Holiday, The Case for a More Joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben

I saw Hundred Dollar Holiday on LifeAsMom. The author of the book has a sweet way of putting things in perspective in a nice way if you know what I mean...I highly recommend this book!

Some sites snubbing any gift at all for Christmas almost make me bristle...They almost seem to be into a cynical reverse snobbery but I have found this book to be very nice.

I love Christmas and love the wonder of it but would like things to go back to a bit of a more simple time, perhaps that WWII era? At least when people had more of a normal perspective and value of material possessions.

Have you ever heard the old WWII radio ads about saving ration coupons for Kraft cheese spreads for entertaining in your home and how the nation was saving milk for our soldiers so they could have ice cream? I actually have an original magazine ad I believe from Carnation milk company about that, it's on the back of a Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon movie ad...It is fascinating.

One thing we always love doing as a family is reading...
* Reminisce magazine, you can read and be inspired by some wonderful Christmas stories of how things were for little children in more simple times in our country. Those children knew the wonderment of Christmas because fruit, candy and the like were something not taken for granted. Let alone toys.

One story in an old Reminisce I read was of a little girl young in the early 60s and even then, a more modern time this little girl's daddy, a farmer would make sure and buy she and her siblings some fruit so they would be like the other children. If he had a good crop the children would share one nice new toy for Christmas, they would flip a coin to see if it would be a boy's toy or a girls toy between she and her brothers. And if her daddy's crops were not good, they would go to the electric company's Christmas party and pick a used gift from the employee's donations. The story was so touching to my heart.

I have tried to keep things within a simple budget this year and so far so good. : ) I really prayed and asked God to help me and guide me. The Lord gently guided me to Walmart online and that was a great help! If you do go to Wallymart make sure and browse from lowest prices to high, otherwise you might blow a gasket. ; )

I so enjoy the wonderment of Christmas and am amazed at how the Lord helped me! Books are nice gifts too...decorating books, Bible study books, historical reproduction books, new or used as long as the person will enjoy them and they are in respectful condition. Last year I bought my dd25 a neat beautifully worn, old hardcopy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Please feel free to go back to my blogs from last December, I have similar thoughts, encouragements there too. : ) Just grab some coffee! lol I don't know about you, but I need encouragements this time of year and others blogs help me so many times.

Hope you are enjoying this sweet season as we meditate upon our sweet Savior, Jesus.

Hope to get some new recipes or something of the sort pretty soon on thats-italian.blogspot. Maybe even some homemade gift ideas...Who knows? ; ) Right now I have a neat jar gift recipe posted and just some good ol' practical gift ideas from a George Bailey wife.

Edit 12.03.10: I now have some great vlogs our 25 year old daughter did a couple of years ago on making some wonderful homemade natural fragrance gifts along with a wowee Molasses cookie recipe at my thats-italian.blogspot.
I want to thank each one of you for the sweet comments from the last post, you all know who you are who took the time to encourage me. Thank you.

Let's pray for one another this Holy Season. Let me know what you are doing this Christmas to keep things sweet at your house if you get a chance... Hugs and notes of encouragement are always welcome here. I appreciate it greatly and perhaps could use it on certain days. ~Amelia

12.03.10 I'm starting to leave some great old 30s & 40s movie suggestions here in the comment section for Christmas viewing or anytime.

Our Words DO Matter & Say YES to home!

Yes Our Words DO Matter. The Bible speaks so much about this, be careful how you speak to others and how you even speak to yourself.

Would you be friends with yourself if you had a person speak to you the way you speak to yourself?

Both my husband and I remember words that stuck to us that were spoken years ago. Let's lift one another up, WORDS MATTER...




This is a fascinating video. Please feel free to mute the music at the bottom of the page.


Fall is here, I love the pic below it reminds me of our sweet little doglet, Minnie Pearl who passed away several years ago this time of year. I loved her and still do. She looked very much if almost exactly like this sweet doggie.
~Photo by Classicstock

I hope you all are enjoying this most beautimous fall weather....My daughters and I had a delightful day today, they took me out to enjoy desert and coffee at the historical district. Wowee! So fun!

We now shall dine on Chicago pizza artfully made by my 27 year old daughter, hope to post that recipe one day on thats-italian.blogspot.com along with my 25 year old's molasses cookies and just all kinds of goodness. Yes indeedie.

Edit: 11.10.10 I haven't been able to seize that Molasses cookie or the pizza recipe yet, but I do have some sweet do-able gift ideas there. : )

Enjoy your families and enjoy your homes. Be content in Jesus. Remember ladies, despite popular rumor even by some who are labeled "conservative" ... No we cannot do it all. God did not make us that way. I cannot believe feminists would have us to believe they are liberated? Liberated? Looks like bondage to me. Oh the lies of the enemy of our souls to so many women! Just. Say. No.

It is NOT neanderthal to know a mother's place is in the home! Heaven forbid!

I think many of the lies started during WWII....Women buying the Rosie the Riveter Lie going to the factories to work leaving their children at home. I recently watched a secular series on Turner Classics station, and even back then, the secular documentary was sharing major concerns of latchkey children during WWII as mom left to work. So sad. It's interesting that back then, the secular media had more sense than much of the church today.

~Photo by Classicstock

Speaking of wives and moms at home. Here is a recent series on Time Management. The author is featured on Dave Ramsey. She and her husband have been married for 8 years, have 3 children and lived on $35. weekly for groceries while her husband was in law school, having babies in diapers.

One of my favorite mom blogs is Life As Mom. The author of the blog is very nice, and gives many opportunities for moms to share their thoughts and ideas along with a wealth of recipes and money saving ideas too.




One thing I realized years ago....No lack of a vehicle was worth me leaving my precious little girls to work. What for? To have a car? Ridiculous.

Let's see, some think we are supposed to go to work to afford the nice car to get to work to pay for the upper end house they never are home to live in; leaving their children in part-time orphanages.

Just some serious food for thought. : )

This is all said to encourage moms to think and not buy the lie...it's not ever meant to bring any condemnation to single mothers.

Here is an encouraging site that will encourage single moms, an amazing testimony and ebook: here. This lady was a single mom making only $500. per month.

Be blessed be good! You are made to be wonderful in Christ! ~Amelia

It's a Battle Between Life & Death

It is a battle between life and death... What side are you on? ~Gianna Jessen, Abortion Survivor.

Please feel free to mute music at the bottom of the page.
Part I

Part II


We have removed our emotions and become harder...

Will you be willing to be hated? ...Or at the end of the day is it all about you ...

~Gianna Jessen, Abortion Survivor



Election day is coming, Sunday's coming too if you know what I mean.


For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ~Romans 8:6

Let's pray for our nation and vote our Christian conscience. Please remember the innocent babies in the womb who should have reproductive rights and a chance to live without an unjust death sentence. Even a criminal receives a trial.

~Amelia

For my blog with old 40s retro movie suggestions, bargains, old fashioned thoughts and recipes you may enjoy: thats-italian.blogspot

A Most Important 15 Minutes of Your Time

The Second Coming Compilation by David Wilkerson & Others

This is a most important 15 minutes. Some things to ponder for your soul. Please feel free to mute the music here at the bottom of the page.

BibleTube.tv

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A Morning Ponder....

Are we free to celebrate our feminity in a God glorifying way? I hope so. The following poem I found this morning. Enjoy and be blessed, may we be free indeed in Jesus. Blameless in our Father.

That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. ~Phillipians 1:10

Free Indeed

The Adornments

Written by Krislyn Shank (age 17) From: TrousseauChest.net

You say you are free; Yet you are bound To pleasure, To hate, To the opinions of your peers. I say I am bound; Yet I am free For service, For love, For submission to the will of my God. And in this my bound liberty, I am far more free Than you are In your liberated bondage. .................................................................................. Hoping to have a wowee ravioli recipe on thats-italian.blogspot.com soon. : ) Have a sweet week friends. Be blameless, in and out.

Is Our Life a Peaceful Protest?

Our daughter Marianna...

~Marianna

Photo taken by our daughter, Rebecca


...Marianna showed me this neat site, and one of the articles was:

To Set a Standard or Not

This is really good. What is our standard, what is our foundation? So many these days will follow a herd but not the Word, the Father's love letter to us.

The herd may be going after something that looks good, and it may make us feel included to be included in that herd, but all of that can dissipate if we are not firmly rooted in our relationship with Jesus. Sometimes the herd can recite the Word but it is cold, not in love or concern. It's rules with no relationship with Jesus.

I've noticed that some families who used to look so conservative now look like the mod squad. I wonder if they followed a herd mentality instead of the Word? That is so sad to me when I see that...

Are we following the Lord Jesus, our anchor, and spending time with Him? Do we know the Lord, our Father? Have we strayed from our Father? Much like drifting far away, little by little as we go into the water at the beach. Before we know it, we can't even spot our starting point....how far we drifted without realizing it.

How do we know the Lord? We spend time with Him. We read His love letter to us, the Bible daily. If you know someone, you spend time with them and listen and share with them your intimate feelings and thoughts, our questions and problems in life and our praises too!

Here is a wonderful blog entry by our daughter Michelle on prayer, a much needed message for today.



I ask this question.... Are our very lives a peaceful protest to a crazed world? Does our very life and our demeanor represent Christ?

The way we dress, the way we talk, the spirit of things we watch and listen to, how we treat others...

Oops! Your philosophy is showing!

My daughter Marianna will share at times on modesty. She uses this picture of this celloist playing his beautiful music in the midst of war ruins as a peaceful protest. Pictures paint a thousand words...

We too can be a Peaceful Protest by our lives showing what our philosophy is by the way we dress and act...What picture are we painting?


From the blog of Chris Rice...

Sara (Groves) continued to introduce the song with the story of Vedran Smailovic, a cellist with the Sarajevo String Quartet. In 1992, in the middle of the war in that country, Smailovic witnessed a bomb attack that took the lives of 22 of his neighbors standing in a breadline at a bakery. In protest of the chaos, hatred, killing, and stupidity of war, the cellist immediately brought out his cello, sat in a chair in the middle of the crater, and filled the air with beautiful music for 22 days (one day for each person killed on that spot).

As Sara told this story every night, she emphasized the importance of BEAUTY as a protest in the face of all that is wrong in the world. While bombs were still exploding and sniper fire rang through the street, a lone cellist risked his own life, and protested the ugliness by holding up beauty in its face.

The ideal still matters, even when reality does not reflect it. Love conquers hate. Light pushes back dark. Beauty matters.

Some people can't see God unless a Bible verse is included. They are blind.

~Chris Rice



Here is the song Sara Groves wrote about this Peaceful Protest:

Why it Matters ~Sara Groves

Sit with me and tell me once again
Of the story that's been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty, of the beauty
Why it matters

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters

Like the statue in the park
Of this war torn town
And it's protest of the darkness
And the chaos all around
With its beauty, how it matters
How it matters

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissention
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters

Like a single cup of water
How it matters

Show and Tell Time...

We really enjoy the Duggar Family and purchased their book after two of our daughters had checked it out from the library. This is such a great book, there are cute recipes, their house plans and most of all, poignant thoughts of how the Lord has dealt with them in their personal lives. For me, it has been a bit of a support group in a book. So refreshing to me. My husband and I were reading it and it was such a renewal for our souls....

The book:

The Duggar's: 20 and Counting

Christian Books.com has nice pricing for a new copy as well.

Here is a question in the book the Duggar family is often asked:

Q: Seeing how you all dress so much alike, I'm wondering how the children in your family are allowed to expres their individuality.

A: We always laugh when a question like that comes in! As one of my sisters said, "Mom, when we go out to an event somewhere, we often see groups of teenagers who are all dressed alike -- sometimes they're all in black, or they're all wearing jeans, or they're all wearing the same kind of T-shirt. Sometimes they all have nose rings and tattoos!" We're just like them; all of us Duggars wear similar kinds of clothes. But instead of being influenced by peer pressure, we're guided by our family's standards of modesty and what we read in the Bible.

~Jessa Duggar, age sixteen


Let's Wrap it Up...

I would like to add to the Beauty how about you? : )

I hope you enjoy this additional Sara Groves song as well...
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Let's add to add to the Beauty...

May our lives be a Peaceful Protest unto the Lord.

Hope to add to beauty on thats-italian.blogspot.com soon, maybe a new recipe or something? Have a blessed week! ~Amelia

P.S. For a nice booklet that hits the nail on the head on the subject of modesty, we suggest this booklet: The Look: Does God Really Care What I Wear?

Just Give Me Jesus

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

~II Chronicles 16:9a

In this day and age even in the homeschool realm, it can be grievous when examining what has happened through the years. Many Homeschool Hearts for the Lord have been traded for the arena of academia, a badge of busyness, the world and selfish gain for many.

It's our choice, which path will we take? Every day is a journal page. What will we compose? It's so easy to become immersed in what is around us, and not check in with the Father on things.

Many have even moved to pet doctrines instead of the simple gospel.

There may even be times when we say the lovely, sweet name of Jesus and we are looked upon as a fanatic by the Pharisaical.... This is a frightening reality and symptom today of what has happened to hearts.


Will we stand for Jesus?

Who do you say Jesus is?

What is our heart? Are our hearts divided?

The Lord's eyes search to and fro....Looking for a perfect heart.



I just loved this video with Anne Graham Lotz and others....I thought it was so beautiful. I was looking for the words to her talk last week, Just Give Me Jesus and I came across this beautiful video. I hope you enjoy it too, the conference is over and done with but I think you will be ministered to just the same.

Just give me Jesus...

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I can't get Him out of my mind....And I can't get Him out of my heart...

The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but found they couldn't stop Him...


What are you looking for?
Who are you looking for?

As Mary said to the gardener....
Just give me Jesus and everything will be alright....

Just Give Me Jesus.



And now for a good old retro sermon, just as timely for today as it was then in the 50s.

Billy Graham Retro Sermon from the 1950s.

Even in the 50s only eight missionary candidates out of 100 were spending daily prayer time. I doubt very seriously it would be any better today. It's interesting that the Communists have more dedication to their "gospel" than many Christians.

Let's remember our homes are our first ministry. : )

We listened to this sermon a couple of weeks ago in our homechurch. You can find wonderful sermons like this on SermonIndex.net. My husband subscribes to the sermonindex weekly podcasts. This Billy Graham sermon was one of those podcasts.

It's been a while since I've been able to blog much, we are terribly overloaded lately trying to build a house in the country. Thank you for the kind comments on past posts, I appreciate them so.

God bless you all, ~Amelia

P.S. I do hope to put a wonderful recipe up soon our oldest daughter made for us on thats-italian.blogspot.com

Time To Wake Up Compilation

Excellent Message, 10 Minutes.

BibleTube.tv

"Even if you have to bury your theology Sir, just bury it tonight and get right with God"

Please feel free to mute music at bottom of page.