The house is bursting with the excitement of Christmas. Do you ever wonder where did summer go? How is it life seems to go by so fast? We are trying to get ready for Christmas from decorations to shopping. Trying  to balance our priorities in spending time with our family and friends. The hardest thing lately for me has been giving my Savior His deserved time with me. Yet, this is really “His Time” not “My Time”. I was thinking the other day how did God take all His Glory and all His Majesty and put it in such a small baby boy? How did Mary ponder all these things (carrying the Messiah) to herself? I was reading in Luke 1 when Gabriel said  to Zacharias “I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God” how I marvel and think how awesome that must be to be standing in the presence of God and yet, I get the privilege of entering into His presence every day in prayer. The angels marvel at redemption. Don’t you think they wonder what is it about mankind that Jesus would leave heaven and be born of a woman to die for the very ones He created.  Yes, I’m  celebrating His birth knowing that He was born to die for me. Wow! what a gift! a gift  I cannot buy for myself!If I don’t get back to this blog before Christmas, I certainly will be praying that you will enjoy this time as you celebrate the birth of our Savior. Why does He love us so? I have no idea but I’m so thankful He does!Merry Christmas!Dot 

Wow! we are so excited here at Cup of Joy about our next retreat. we have a waiting list and I’m praying that God will open up more rooms for everyone. It appears that we can have rooms outside the campus which is only a few miles away.  The truth is that we can be together with everything except sleeping. (I doubt you want to share a bedroom with 100 women anyway). My heart is if God is leading you to have some quality time with Him, what does it matter where we sleep. I know the leadership has given up their rooms so that more women can be on campus and I’m so proud of them! If you feel like you are suppose to be at the retreat, don’t allow this to be an issue.I hope you all have a great Christmas. It’s hard to believe how close Christmas is and how quickly the retreat will be here. I love you all and I’m praying for you during this time of the year to “Pause and reflect on His greatness.