Christmas Gift Ideas

The basket in this picture was a gift filled with pomegranates from a friend’s tree and a present I received this year. The fruits are from Costco since the original fruits were consumed earlier this year. It was a great gift that I so enjoyed and were picked off her tree.

I’ve posted a Christmas Newsletter Video with other ideas like this that can help you save on your Christmas budget. Another idea in the video is to take plant cuttings to make inexpensive plants for friends and family. Pothos is a particularly hardy plant that is easy for just about anyone to grow. You do need to water it, but it’s quite forgiving if you forget from time to time.

We also have some discounts going for this month that are announced in the short video. Music is a wonderful gift to give friends and family. We have kids worship guitar lessons for the little ones and of course our main Christian guitar lessons too. We have quite a few programs now. Including Christian lessons for piano/keyboard, percussion, voice and even a praise violin book.

For me, the main reason of this season is to celebrate the day God stepped down to earth and was born as a baby named Jesus. What an amazing world He has made! Even in the diversity of the foods we eat. For example, the pomegranate. What an unusual hard to open fruit filled with tiny seeds bursting with flavor and color. We have much to be grateful for!

In my 20′s I used to run 6 days a week and ran a few marathons. But running long distance takes a lot of time and may not be so good for your body. There has been quite a bit of research showing that interval training can bring results much faster than spending hours on a treadmill. I’d rather spend hours playing worship songs on my guitar, or creating new Christian guitar programs for you!

The website is fit10.com and if you use the discount code ‘blessing‘, you’ll get an additional $10 discount. I’ve been using the DVD and equipment for one week and love that it’s an intense workout… for just 10 minutes without having to drive to a health club! The program is also good for those with back problems because it puts no stress on your back.

Ed’s friend was on duty one night and gave a ticket to a speeding driver. When he went to the car, he sensed something evil. He told Ed that as he walked towards the car, the hairs on back of his neck stood up.

The next morning, this highway patrolman got a phone call from the head office inquiring about driver he had given a ticket to. Turns out, that driver shot a policeman later that night.  When the police caught him, he told them he wanted to shoot a policeman that night.

They saw the traffic ticket from the first policeman on his car seat. and when asked why he didn’t shoot the first one, he replied that there were too many in the car. He said the car was filled with policemen.

Ed’s friend was asked how many were in his car. He replied that there was no one with him. He was driving ALONE. His wife, also a Christian, always prayed for his safety. Were they angels or did God just change the driver’s vision to look like there were others in the car? I don’t know. But I do know that God does answer prayers and that nothing can touch us without going through His permission first.

Kindness – A Fruit Of The Spirit

I love God stories and love sharing them. This is one from a Pastor we know, in a country that persecutes Christians. He told us about one of his church members that had gone to jail for her faith. Although there wasn’t much food, she would always share it with the other prisoners. They could not break her kind spirit.

When she was released, a policeman was assigned to follow her. After following her for an entire year, he became a Christian too!

He told her that he had seen her kindness in prison and that he had been watching her for a year and had never met anyone with such a wonderful kind spirit. Then he asked her to marry him!

Surprised, this woman asked our friend, her pastor, what she should do. They did get married and are now serving the Lord together! Kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Sam, a Christian lawyer, had stage 4 cancer 11 years ago. The Doctors said he had 3 months to live. Instead of accepting their words, he chose to fight it.

With much prayer and a life change, he is still here. Sam headed ‘Advocates International’ which is a group of Christian lawyers helping those without a voice. He lists lots of resources in one of his newsletters at http://advocatesinternational.org/newsletters. Read the June 2010 part 2 Newsletter titled ‘Sam’s Update on Cancer, Health, and Healing’.

In it, he mentions a book that he found most useful. He said that he read 6 times in 10 days. It’s called Cancer Free.