My Gift to You: A Christmas Prayer

*Fyi, I’ll be taking a blogging break until after the first of the year. Hope you have a joy-filled Christmas with your loved ones. See you back here on January 2nd, 2024!

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others . . .” 1 Peter 4:10 NIV

I’d love to gift you with a prayer this Christmas season, friends. May these heartfelt words offered to the Father on your behalf bring comfort and joy to you today and help you worship the One who alone is worthy of worship and praise!

“Father, you know each one who will read this prayer. You know our needs, our joys, our hurts, our desires. May you surround us with your all-encompassing presence and peace this Christmas season. Meet each of us, please, at our point of need or rejoicing. We know you’re ever willing if we will only turn to you.

Thank you for walking with us through every experience of life. Thank you for being the loving and mighty God who sent Jesus to be our Savior. Thank you, Father, for the extravagant love you showered down on us on that holy night in Bethlehem and for the love you keep showering down upon us each day. We love you. We honor you. We worship and adore you. And not only during the Christmas season but each day throughout the year. In the glorious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.”

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” Matthew 2:10-11 NIV

*Do you have a special prayer request this holiday season? Please feel free to share.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, comes out in early February. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Flickr photo by Alan Cleaver, Creative Commons License

A Thanksgiving Gift for the Mother of the Bride

In our busyness, though—whatever it may entail—let’s not fail to experience true thanksgiving of the heart. I don’t know about you, but I have much to thank God for this year. He is worthy of all my thanks and praise.

I pray this little gift—a poem of mine—will help you express your heart to God today too. Happy Thanksgiving!

With Thankful Hearts

With thankful hearts we come to you
With thankful hearts we bow,
You’ve blessed in double measure, Lord,
You keep giving even now.

Your goodness overwhelms us
Your love it doesn’t fail,
You walk with us through good and bad
Over every hill and vale.

And in return we give to you
Hearts filled with thanks and love,
And ask you, Lord, to pour them out
As gifts to others from above.

“let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” Hebrews 12:28 NIV

*What would you like to give thanks for today? I’m thanking God for an above and beyond blessing he gave me last week. I signed a book contract for the Christmas devotional book I’ve been working on! B&H Publishing is going to publish it and it will hit store shelves Fall 2025! Thank you, Lord, for this great blessing!

*You might also like to read A Mother of the Bride’s Thanksgiving Prayer.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, came out earlier this month. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

Wedding Cake Idea: A Gift Box!

Mother of the Bride, are you or your bride-to-be daughter on the hunt for a unique wedding cake idea? I might have just what you’re looking for today!

How about a wedding cake that looks like a gift box? The one pictured above is just one example of a multitude of possibilities. The fresh flowers make a lovely topper, but a ribbon and giant bow would look great too. As long as your cake designer coordinates the design with the wedding colors, the details can be up to you. And I’m willing to bet your designer will have some great ideas too, right?

Be sure to share this idea with your daughter, MOB. Who knows, the hunt just might be over!

*You might also like to read Unique Wedding Cake Idea: Word Search Cake! and Wedding Cake Idea: A Crepe Cake!

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, came out earlier this month, but it’s not too late to receive it. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*Flickr photo by Graceful Cake Creations; Creative Commons License

A Pearl from the Word to Make Your Heart Sing

Consider with me, if you will, a little pearl from the Word of God today. Since the Psalms are jam-packed with treasure, I didn’t have to look far to find a real gem.

Psalm 87:7 says, “As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you.’”

I love both parts of this verse. Notice it doesn’t say “if they make music.” It says “as they make music.” Making music comes naturally to many of us—that’s how God made us. But I think believers also want to make music and sing because of the joy of knowing God as our Father. Music is an overflow of our hearts, a spring bubbling up that we can’t contain.

In fact, the second half of the verse alludes to that bubbling spring as the Psalmist says, “All my fountains are in you.” And there’s the real pearl in this passage. The living waters of our lives and the refreshment we daily need are found in God. Life is found in him.

Some of us may be seeking that life and refreshment in other things. If we do, we’ll eventually find that those things don’t satisfy our thirst the way the Lord does. Sure, our families, our friends, and the activities we love may bring joy and refreshment, but who gives us those blessings? Yes, the Lord is the Giver of all good gifts.

I don’t know about you, but all my fountains are in him. And that makes my heart sing!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

*What fountain or blessing in your life makes your heart sing in a special way today?

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is FREE! *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Flickr photo by jenny downing, Creative Commons License

God’s Countless Outfits of Beauty

Outfits of Beauty

Beauty dresses in countless ways
With outfits never the same.
Sometimes she sweeps across the skies
With heaven’s own hues unfurled,
Other times she drapes the landscape
In breath-taking mountains majestic.
But sometimes beauty comes up close
Approaching on butterfly wings,
Granting a glance at her delicate side
Displaying miraculous design.
No end can be found
To the outfits of beauty
They’re as infinite as their Creator,
And he shares them all
With all of us—
His gift dressed in countless ways.

“How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all . . .” Psalm 104:24 NIV

*What outfits of beauty have you noticed lately?

*The current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, came out earlier this month. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign-up is FREE. *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*My photo