Love Coffee..!

I am a coffee drinker as many other people in this world. And why do we love this dark brown drink so much? The first thing we notice about this lush drink is its aroma! Waking up in the morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee is surly something which puts a smile on my face. And on cold winter mornings a warm cup of coffee is a wonderful way to start your day. If you are one of the lucky ones, you also get it served in bed!!
There are so many things to be said about our "national drink" as some people might call it her in Norway. Also heard some negative sides to it. But these might be overshadowed by the following statements!

• Coffee
  
  is legal and socially acceptable.
• Coffee drinkers usually get better service in restaurants.
• Coffee gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
• Coffee has only a few calories (unless you add sugar and some sort of dairy product or facsimile thereof)
• Coffee warms you up when you come in from the cold
  
• Coffee is a vegetable (it comes from a bean).
• Coffee opens up the blood vessels in your brain, to help you to wake up and get to work. It also gives you warm fuzzies when you are stuck in bed days you are sick.

Of the three most indulged legal vices, coffee is the least harmful to others. It doesn't cause health problems for non-coffee drinkers who smell the aroma, and it won't make a driver dangerous to self or others, unless you spill it on your lap. So don't hold a paper cup of coffee between your knees, get a cup holder. Some drivers shouldn't be allowed to drive without the influence of coffee.

And another thing which is so great about coffee...... chocolate tastes even better with it!!!!

Mmmmm..... need I say more :))

The Love of Winter...

The beauty of winter is absolutely breathtaking. The way the snow glistens or the sparkle of frost first thing in the morning. Every thing just feels and looks crisp and fresh. Winter is filled with beautiful gifts in the form of icicles and delicate snowflakes - and seeing the snow that has collected on the tree limbs is peaceful. Heading out doors to play in the snow - build snowmen or make snow lanterns. Go sleighing, iceskating or cross country skiing. Some people migh even think that it is God's way of hiding the shame of the world and show us something magical - showing us that this world still holds its beauty.

Winter is also a time for romance where you can take days off work and spend it with someone you love. To snuggle up infront of the fireplace and enjoy a nice hot cup of chocolate! But it is also a time to spend with your friends and family. As the cold sets in, you gather all your loved ones and share with each other all your hopes and dreams for the new season which is just around the corner.
The reason for me writing this today was to turn my mind around after having a struggle with shoveling my roof! It sure is hard work, and not something i particulary like... But something that follows with winter. We dread all the extra work we have with the snow every year, so why not turn our minds to all the beautiful and magical splenders of this season?


http://bloggurat.net/minblogg/registrere/fa11065a75dee938f4e00457e0cdb4a162f8c8af

7 Steps toward Filling Up Your Spiritual Tank..

You have the best of intentions when it comes to connecting with God, yet somehow, you never seem to do what you hope to do. Maybe you’ve gotten up extra early in the morning planning to have an extended prayer time, only to get distracted by the day’s to-do list. Perhaps you’ve scheduled regular times to read and study Scripture, only to find that you don’t open your Bible nearly as often as you’d thought you would.

When your spiritual expectations fall short of reality, it’s easy to feel guilty. You know that you need to refill your spiritual tank regularly to have the energy you need to live well. But despite your best intentions, you keep missing your connection with the One who wants to fuel your life – God.

No matter how you’ve struggled with devotions in the past, it is possible to fill your spiritual tank every day. Here’s how:

• Get rid of unreasonable expectations. Stop trying to fit plans into your life that don't naturally fit. There's no magic formula for connecting with God; just because a certain devotional program worked for someone else doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you. If a certain plan you’ve tried proved unsustainable in your life, accept that reality and move on.

• Stop feeling guilty. You’re not a bad Christian just because you don’t have a traditional time for devotions. Remember that Jesus came to set you free, and He wants you to approach God in freedom rather than through obligation and guilt. God is far less interested in religious demands than He is in the state of your heart and your desire to connect with Him.

• Don’t compartmentalize your life. Seek to live out your faith in every part of your life – not just in church, but also at work, at home, with friends, etc. Invite God to speak to you about each aspect of your life. Listen to what He tells you, and cooperate with His work transforming every part of your life. Don’t hold anything back from your relationship with God. Aim to live consistently as a Christian at all times and in all situations. When you fill your spiritual tank every day, the pressures of daily life won’t stall your spiritual engine.

• Stop. Create pauses in your day where you stop to refuel your soul. Realize that, even though it may sometimes seem like you don’t have enough time to stop for spiritual refueling, you actually do if you rearrange your priorities. Make your relationship with God your top priority, and fit everything else in your life around that. Go ahead and say “no” to activities that don’t fit in well with what you value most. Don’t wear busyness as a badge of honor. Although our culture may give you the message that being busy equals being important, that’s a lie. From God’s perspective, you’re just as important when you’re not doing anything at all than when you’re extremely busy. So stop justifying busyness, saying yes to everything, occupying your life with trivial things, and filling your life with too many good things and living with no margin. Instead, decide to stop at various times each day during your normal schedule to check in with God. Practice stopping during different activities throughout each day – from taking a break at your office to waiting in the line of cars to pick your kids up from school. After you practice enough, stopping throughout each day will become a habit for you.
  

• Be quiet. When you turn down the volume on all the noise in your life that distracts you from thinking well, you’re likely to hear God’s voice speaking to you. Find pockets of silence throughout each day that you can use to connect to God. Turn off your cell phone and Blackberry so you’re not always accessible. Refrain from checking your e-mail when doing so isn’t necessary. Turn off your TV at home, and shut off your radio in the car. Get rid of attitudes that create the noise of unhealthy distractions in your life: worry, constantly wanting more than you have, and procrastinating. When you deliberately focus your thoughts away from the distractions of each day, move them toward God and listen to what He may say to you.

• Make a connection. Even if the connections you manage to make with God are brief and messy, that’s fine with Him. God simply wants you to connect with Him however you can. God cares more about your desire to connect with Him than any sort of competence in connecting. God’s grace will cover your weaknesses. Thank God that you can approach Him with the confidence that He cares and will listen to whatever you have to say at any time. Express your gratitude to God for His work in your life. You can always count on Him to meet you wherever you are – even if it’s in the middle of a huge mess – and help you. Trust God in spite of your fears, doubts, questions, failures, inadequacies, pain, loneliness, anger, frustration, and loss. God has begun a good work in you to accomplish good purposes, and you can count on Him to finish what He’s started. Expect God to take your messiness and transform it into holiness if you cooperate with His work in your life. When you make connections with God during each day, those connections can take different forms: thinking about Him (such as pondering what you know about Him and what you’d like to discover about Him), reading about Him in the Bible (especially meditating on one particular verse or passage), and praying to Him (sharing any of your thoughts and feelings and listening for whatever He may want to say to you). Connecting regularly with God will give you the spiritual fuel you need by accessing His love and promises.

• Ask key questions to keep growing. Ask yourself these questions from time to time as you connect with God more and more frequently: “What do you need to put down in order to follow Jesus?”, “What are you doing to learn more about Jesus and His ways?”, “How are you experiencing excitement in your life because you follow Jesus?”, “What difficulties in your life might God be using to change you?”, “Where are you personally sacrificing convenience for obedience?”, and “Where do you see God rewarding your obedience?”. Let the answers to these questions motivate you to be more intentional about connecting with God so you can experience the joy of a spiritually full life.

,

To my love!

You came into my
life so unexpectedly..

Little did I know
what was to lie ahead

For the longest time
you were a click
of a mouse,
words on my screen

Hugs that warmed
my days..
and secured my nights

Within the many hours
of our time together,
You showed me strength,
when I showed you
my weaknesses.

You taught me
the importance
of believing in myself,
When I thought
there was nothing
to believe in

You taught me so much,
in ways I never knew

You stood behind me
when I began to fall.

Along side of me when
I needed a friend

In front of me when I
needed a guide

You showed me
my ability to fly...

How to reach
places I had
only dreamed of

You saw me
with your heart
and not your eyes

But more importantly
you gave me
a piece of you

A gift worth far more
than money could buy

You gave me your heart..

Beauty in its purest form.....