GOODBYE JANUARY – HELLO FEBRUARY

I should probably change the titles to these newsletters to use the name of the month that is coming up next instead of the one that we just passed. You may have noticed that I never seem to do anything the ordinary way; but there is always a good reason.

The other order would make sense to most people because we ARE giving you a preview of the next month in this newsletter – BUT we are ALSO reviewing the month that just passed. I simply love looking back before moving ahead; that is the real reason I keep the past month as the title month. Looking back with all of you helps me prepare to emotionally move on to February from January. Try not to laugh; okay?

Hence it is that I still choose to keep the past month in the NEWSLETTERS even though it can be a bit confusing and misleading for those who are not quite familiar with this blog and the inside out/upside down way I think.

Thanks for bearing with me in this little title/newsletter indulgence.

So now we come to look back and say goodbye to January of 2018; and after a little pause in the present moment; we are ready to move on to a happy new February.

Time sure flies when you are having fun!

REMEMBERING ALL THE WONDERFUL OF JANUARY

WHILE ANTICIPATING THE LOVELY MONTH OF FEBRUARY

THINKING ABOUT COME AS A CHILD – THURSDAY ON-LINE CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE STUDY

I think we looked at winter in a whole new way this year.

We actually embraced the whole concept of the season by enjoying the beauty of a fresh new snow and appreciating the blue, blue skies that can only show up this way against the winter snows.

As the coldest season of the year began to pass us by, we participated in the warmth from the Exodus in the COME AS A CHILD bible study. Our goal in this study is to look at the scriptures with the pure un-judgmental and trusting hearts of a child. We are prayerfully trusting God to show us and teach us what He desires for us to know. Every lesson turns out to be a new unexpected surprise treasure. Most of these January lessons were about Moses returning to Sinai and receiving the final set of the ten commandments from God.

As February approaches we have a little more to cover in this study of Exodus; then we will be moving on into the book of Leviticus!

Wow! Genesis and Exodus took forever! We took our time and pondered a lot and savored the meals that God was feeding to us. They were delicious!

We were determined not to leave anything out; but I’m sure it happened anyway.

These Old Testament lessons have been slowly and deliberately winding through Genesis and Exodus and now we are about to turn another corner and step into a fresh new book of the bible. January was all about turning pages and moving into a new year; so this is very appropriate.

We will turn the page into Leviticus sometime during this month of February. Here is one of the first mile markers for us for the year of 2018. How strange to already be reaching goals so early in the year.

Join us every Thursday so you don’t miss a single new lesson. Be looking forward to some exciting new discoveries about The People of God. Our lessons will cross the 200 lessons mark soon! I can’t believe we’ve already completed that many.

Yes; I am still compiling the books on our Genesis and Exodus lessons into nice, pretty summaries and hope to offer the manuscripts all together in one publication to you soon. It will be fun to look back and review and have them in booklet form. This will also be handy for future bible studies for small groups; if you enjoy such things.

That we could already be this far is unbelievable to me!

We only have 64 more books of the bible to go! LOL. Here’s to a million more!

THE HOUSE DOCTOR – (MAKING A HOUSE A HOME)

During January THE HOUSE DOCTOR shared some lovely suggestions using blue decor for the winter art of making a house a home. Blue just seems to be a very special color this year and it certainly cheered us up during those very cold, cold days when the sun forgot to shine and we were peaking outside our windows at the ice cycles and snowfall.

February will keep just a little bit of the blue sky colors going. We will need it in the background so that some of our most-loved and favorite seasonal birds, those lovely red cardinals of winter, can fly into the decorating schemes of our month.

THE HOUSE DOCTOR will bring in some February photos of a lovely February Home; which might just spark a few new and imaginative ideas. We are even pondering the thought of giving you a peek at some scenes from a pretty February baby shower.

Who knows?

Keep reading to find out what THE HOUSE DOCTOR is up to this February.

Whatever happens; it will be fun; plus we have some great new ideas for The IN SEASON Family tree to display in your February home. Probably not what you are anticipating at all.

As for the deeper thoughts on turning a house into a home; we are going to explore the meaning of “sanctuary” a bit more this month. This has become a subject dear to my heart. I think you will enjoy the comments and it is guaranteed to make you think a lot harder about what goes on inside the four wall of your beloved home.

SEASONS – CELEBRATING LIFE IN SEASON

This winter has certainly been full of many multi-faceted, ever-changing days of the season. The past month was full of wonder and the coming month is going to be just as full. So many seasonal events have graced our calendars and our hearts with celebration.

In January we celebrated The New Year, Epiphany, Tu Bishvat and Martin Luther King Day.

You would think things would slow down in February; but no! It may be even more eventful.

We will be looking at Valentines Day, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Mardi Gras, Lincoln’s Birthday, President’s Day, Washington’s Birthday and Purim!

You know my thoughts about most seasonal holidays and holy days don’t usually fit the “norm” of the general population and culture. I have many things to tell you about all of these days of February, some things are good news, some things are bad news; and some things are just news. Keep reading to see how we plan to celebrate or not celebrate.

AN APPLE A DAY (365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE)

In January we were determined to start the new year off right by getting more organized with our time. Now in February, we are still determined to be more organized as we continue to travel through the days of 2018. This month we will concentrate on organizing our “stuff.” Need some help with this? I know I do! I’ve been cleaning out clutter for a few years now. Hopefully this year will be the year I get to say “I’m done! I did it!” It will be a lot more fun to reach the goal if you are walking with me. We could all benefit from this effort to eliminate all the unnecessary “stuff” that is cluttering up our spaces and using up our time to maintain. Hang around; because we are about to continue this winter quest of making order from chaos.

MONDAY MENUS – MAKING COOKING AT HOME MORE FUN AND EASY

In January we brought you some great new recipes. Lots of cakes and desserts and lots of good appetizers. We also threw in some comfort food for your New Year’s Day meal.

This month (February) we want to give you some suggestions for romantic dinners to prepare for your Valentine. Later in the month we want to offer some good winter soup recipes; since we are still into the cold days of winter and the soups are SO GOOD this time of the year. They are also so good for you.

PEN ART

Pen art for January offered some great books for your winter reading. For February this topic of the blog offers some lovely romantic poetry. We are going to suggest some books of poetry which we highly recommend as Valentine’s gifts; or for anytime when you can share the art of poetry with the one you love. We are thinking of some new and creative ways to get artsy with the color red. Let’s take a look at some “red” artwork and see what we can use it for in this month of love. We will go on a scavenger hunt for red artwork in one of our local cities and see what we discover.

GROW OLD WITH ME

In reality; January was probably a big month of “recovery” for most grandparents out there. There is so much scheduled to do around the holidays in November and December that January brings a welcomed little breather for some grandparents. It is a time to slow down and just do ordinary things together that will allow all of us to catch up a bit on the ordinary day-to-day moments of our lives.

However; February brings some crafty fun. Kids love making valentines cards and that is a wonderful thing to do with them when they visit this month. Hopefully we will have a few fresh ideas and crafty suggestions to give you.

Also; the end of February ushers in the celebration of Purim. Purim is really a fun time to share with your grands. Let them dress in costumes and have puppet shows for the whole family to enjoy. Teach them to make Hamenthachins. Stay tuned for some good articles on Purim toward the end of the month. There is a lot about Purim also in our PIECES OF THE PUZZLE section of the blog.

I’ve really enjoyed looking back over our January memories with you!

Now it is time for us to begin to make some awesome February memories.

Stay with us for a whole month of wonderful IN SEASON celebrations.

God bless;