Christmas Blessings!

Merry Christmas...I hope that everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!  I love this time of the year. Despite all of the bad things that are going on in the world, Christmas feels so magical to me.  It's probably my favorite holiday of the year.  I love everything about the season from all of the movies to the decorations.  I absolutely love decorating my home for Christmas.  The day after Thanksgiving I'm ready to go!  The season started off a little sad for me because I thought I wasn't going to be able to decorate due to financial reasons.  I was down because this was me and my husbands first Christmas as a married couple and I wanted to make our home special for the holidays.  But I told myself that I wasn't going to worry about it and that it would work out.  My youngest brother gave me a call and told me that he would take me shopping for decorations.  Ahhh...oh the joy!! I guess he felt sorry for me because he knew how much I was looking forward to decorating.  I was so very excited.  Once they were up, my husband told me that he saw the extra effort that I was putting into making our first Christmas in our apartment special and that he appreciated it.  That made me even happier!  I was so thankful that God laid it on his heart to do that for me lol.

My husband and I wanted to do a random act of kindness for someone this year.  We chose an elderly family that lives in our complex.  It's a son and a mother and the son cares for his mom who is 100+ years old.  We have never met the mom but we have met the son.  He is a very nice man. My husband says that he is the nicest person that he has ever met in his entire life.  Through conversation we learned that he loves Target.  So for Christmas, we bought them a Target gift card and put it inside of a Christmas card.  We were so excited to give it to him.  The first day we stopped by his house there was no answer.  The second and third time we went by there was no answer either.  My husband told me not to worry about it and that he would catch.  We were literally stalking his apt lol.  My husband finally caught up with him and oh his reaction was priceless!  He was so grateful and thankful that we thought of them.  There is no feeling like being a blessing to others.  It is one of the greatest feelings ever.

Another thing that I enjoy about the Christmas holiday is my family's Christmas morning tradition that started when we were very young children.  My parents, siblings, and I would all gather around the Christmas tree first thing in the morning and my dad would say a prayer of Thanksgiving.  We would then begin to exchange gifts.  We still continue this tradition and it was a blessing to have my husband  and stepson there with us this year.  I look forward to our family continuing to grow and continuing our tradition.  It's a blessing to be able to spend the holidays with family.  That means more to me than any material gift ever will!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Happy Happy Birthday!

On Friday, December 11 the Lord blessed me to celebrate my 34th Birthday!  It's always a blessing to have the opportunity to live to see another birthday.  I give God all of the praises for allowing me to continue to grow in wisdom and for allowing me to the opportunity to continue to fulfill the purpose that He has placed on the inside of me.

I was blessed to celebrate with my wonderful husband on Friday.  He woke me up with kisses as he told me how much he loved me.  He then told me that I could sleep in and that he would make his own breakfast and lunch.  I was very grateful for that lol but I got up and helped him out anyways. While at work, my sister, who is also my supervisor, presented me with a balloon and gift card.  After work my husband presented me with several pairs of beautiful earrings that he picked out all by himself lol.  He took me to dinner and we had a wonderful time talking and laughing.  It was a great night!

On Sunday, we were able to celebrate with the entire family.  We have several birthdays in December so we had a party for everyone.  I'm sending Happy Birthday shout outs to my dad, my uncle, and my father-in-law!!!  Needless to say, we had a great time at our party.  Good food, fun, & laughs!  I love mi familia,

I thank God for the blessings of these birthday & I pray that he allows us to see many more!!!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Suddenly & Abundantly

Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly. 2 Chronicles 29:36

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. Ephesians 3:20

Recently, there has been a lot of social media attention surrounding a video in which a guy gave his opinion on a product that was made by a famous singer.  The video went viral and brought a lot of attention to the singer's product. As a result the singer was able to make tons of money off of the product.  I was already following the guy that made the video because he is very talented and funny.  But this video in particular changed his life. Social media of course, chose to focus on the negative and debate about whether or not the singer owed the young man money for boosting sales.

I however, chose to look at things from another vantage point.  I didn't focus on the debates about money and what not.  I was too busy being in awe of how God was working in this young mans life.  How quickly God catapulted this young man's career...overnight!  This young man was just doing what he loves to do, which is making videos to make others laugh.  And it opened doors for him that he probably never dreamed. I'm sure he didn't have any idea that this one video would change his life forever.  I continue to follow him and the opportunities that he is being blessed with are amazing.    

Following his story has strengthened my own faith as it made me think of God's amazing abilities. How we could be just going about our day-to-day as usual, then suddenly God opens a door that changes our lives forever.  God has the ability to do amazing things far above what we could have ever imagined and he has the ability to do it quickly.  Life can get a little tough at times as we face various tests and trials.  Sometimes life can feel boring and mundane...even purposeless.  But if our hope and trust is in God, He has the ability to do great and mighty things in us, through us, and for us.  One touch from God and our seemingly impossible situations can be turned around in an instant.  God can not only turn our situations around suddenly, He can far exceed our expectations.  Cause our wildest dreams to become a reality.  He is miracle working God!   Whether you are facing tumultuous situations or just wanting more out of life, invite God in and allow Him to work on your behalf.  He is able to work suddenly and abundantly!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Give Thanks

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Ps. 118:1

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I look forward to the three "f's"...Food, Family, & Fun! Typically, my family gathers at my parents house and we enjoy a big family dinner with amazing food and lots of laughs.  I love my family and spending time with them is one of favorite things to do. I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season.  My family and I are alive, well, and healthy. This will be my husband & I's first Thanksgiving as a married couple!  I am excited to spend the day with my family as well as some of my husband's family that will be joining us this year.
As we embark on this holiday season, I give THANKS to the Lord because He has been so incredibly good to us.  I thank Him for blessing me with a wonderful family and allowing me another opportunity to spend this holiday season with them.  Family is everything and worth more than any type of material thing.  So I thank you so much Lord for the Blessing of Family.

Happy Thanksgiving from My Family to Yours!

With Gallons of Love,

J. G.

Dinner & Devotion Date Night!

For the past month and a half, my husband and I have started a new tradition of having a Dinner & Devotion Date Night!  One night per week we sit down to a candle lit dinner that we have prepared together.  Well actually I usually prepare dinner on these nights and hubby will help if I ask for assistance lol.  We eat and talk about our day and afterwards we have devotion!  It's nothing fancy, we just pick a devotion out of one of my daily devotion books.  We pray, read the scripture and the author's explanation, then we have a discussion.  We discuss important points that were made, lessons learned, and how we will apply it to our lives.  We then pray and ask God to help us put into practice what we have learned.  Afterwards, we usually just hang out at home and watch movies/t.v. together.

I look forward to our Dinner & Devotion Date Night every week.  It's a chance for me to spend quality time with My God and My Guy at the same time.  I enjoy my devotion time everyday but it's extra special when I get a chance to share it with my husband!  We are learning a lot and we feel as though we are growing individually and as a couple.  It is my prayer that we always keep God at the center of our relationship because a three-stranded cord is not easily broken Ecc 4:12.

So, I encourage wives and husbands to start having a Dinner & Devotion Date Night with your significant other once per week.  It will be a wonderful time spent with the two most important people in your life...Your God and Your Spouse!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Cooking and Cleaning and Laundry Oh My!

I grew up in a household in which my dad did most of the cooking and cleaning all while working 2 jobs to provide for a wife and 4 kids.  I can't discredit my mom though (or she'll get upset lol) because she did do her share of the household duties.  But I mainly remember my dad taking on the majority of the household responsibilities. After a long day of school for us kids and a long day of work for my mom, we would all come home to beds that had been made, clean rooms, a  spotless house, and dinner on the table.  My dad completed all these tasks before he left to go to his evening job in which he worked 4pm-12am.  As we grew up, of course my dad stopped cleaning our rooms but he continued to cook and keep the house clean.

I don't remember us having very many chores at all.  Needless to say, this resulted in what some may call very "spoiled" children lol.  Some people, including my husband, say that I am the most spoiled out of all of us.  I beg to differ!  Although I can say that I enjoy things being done for me, but hey who doesn't?! Before I got married, I would always say that I wanted a man like my dad.  One that would work and provide for me and do all of the cooking and cleaning while I set back, kicked my heels up and watched television.  Oh the joy!  But being married gave me a reality check and my previous way of thinking was tossed out of the window.  Since I've been married I've cooked, cleaned, and done more laundry than I ever have in my life!!! My husband is great because he helps out with all three.  Especially with the laundry because he says that he's better at doing the laundry than me lol.

What changed my way of thinking was the fact that my husband works extremely hard to provide for our family.   I wouldn't dare allow him to come home to a filthy house and no dinner.  And on his days off I like for him to just sit back and recuperate because he does very physical work.  Every now and then I'll ask him to cook  but I take on most of the household responsibilities.  Do I always enjoy doing it...no.  Most days when I get home I'm exhausted and just want to relax in front of tv.  Do I enjoy making my husband happy...YES!  So regardless of how tired I am I somehow am able to muster up the energy to make sure the house is clean and make sure hubby has some food.

It wasn't until I was married that I realized how much work it takes to keep up a household.  It can be exhausting, especially when you're leaving from chasing behind toddlers all day.  Even when I'm at work, I'm planning in my head what needs to be done when I get off.  I'm constantly online looking for recipes and I've never been to the grocery store this much in my life!! I did learn that I'm a pretty decent cook (I guess I get that from dad...sorry mom lol).  Although I do find all of this to be exhausting & overwhelming at times and I never would've thought in a million years that I would be a domestic, but what I do keeps my husband happy and that's all that matters.  Now when we begin to have children I think I'm gonna need help lol.  Taking care of my husband is enough.  I can't imagine how much more cooking, cleaning, and laundry I'll have to do once the children come. Oh my!  I think I'll be getting tips from my friend the "The All-American Mom" (she knows who she is lol) ;-)

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

ONLY THE STRONG

Throughout the first chapter of Joshua, it is mentioned four times that we should be Strong & Courageous!  The book of Joshua begins with God charging Joshua to take the children of Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.  Moses had died and Joshua was given the task to lead the Children of Israel to the land that they were promised many years ago.

I can imagine that as God was giving Joshua his charge, God may have sensed feelings of fear and inadequacy trying to take root in Joshua's heart.  Rightfully so...this was a huge and important task that affected the lives of millions of people.  I imagine that it was all kinds of scary!  Therefore, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous. God didn't just tell him, He commanded him.  "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Strong by definition means having a lot of strength, not easy to break or break or damage, not mild or weak.
Courageous by definition means very brave, mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. 

When we are faced with difficult and scary situations, God wants us to be strong and courageous, knowing that he is with us every step of the way leading us to victory. "I will be with you, I will not fail you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5 

We have all been given a charge and purpose. We have all been chosen by God to complete a specific task for His kingdom.  Sometimes we will face difficulties, fears, worry, feelings of inadequacy, etc. as we pursue the things God has for us.  During these times God wants us to depend on Him to give us the strength and courage we need to go forth knowing that He is with us and will help us.  He does not want us to give up, falling in surrender.  There are people out there counting on us to succeed!  Who knows the number of lives that can be negatively affected if we are too afraid to do what God is calling us to do.  Can you imagine what would have happened to the Children of Israel if Joshua had decided to give in to his fears?  Who knows how much longer it would have taken them to reach the Promised Land.

As we walk in the calling on our lives, let's be strong and courageous as God commands us!  Our decisions may impact the lives of countless others.  We all have others that we are meant to bless with our gifts and talents.  Know that God does not expect us to do it alone.  He's right there cheering us on as we enter into our Promised Land!


With Gallons of Love,

J.G.