Going Home:

Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?  Man, it sounds awesome to me.

All of my life, my family has gathered for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas……Even when I lived hundreds of miles away, we always loved going HOME for these occasions.  It was a big deal…..to me anyway, and although I don’t speak for them, I’m sure it’s just as big of a deal to the rest of my family.  I loved going HOME.

Ria and I have been through a lot of heartache in our lives and when we had no other place to turn, we always knew we could go HOME.  It brings tears to my eyes to type that, but still rings true today.  If everything in our lives crumbled tomorrow, we could always go HOME.

Some day…….Yeah, some day……We are going HOME……to our eternal HOME.  Can you imagine that day, when we receive the final call?  We will look up…..and we’ll see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Just one question today…..

How many of you are going?

The whole family

Kinda inconsistent with the blog lately with Mom visiting, but got some AWESOME news today…..

We will have 10 people in this house for Christmas this year as my Dad and fam AND sister and fam booked flights today!

Last year was kind of a somber holiday season with my Grandma passing away on Thanksgiving.  My Mom and sister were here and Mom was supposed to stay for Christmas, but we all returned to the states early for Grandma’s funeral.  We did our best to celebrate the birth of Christ as we always do, but family always makes the season brighter.

And this year God is shining His light on us!

Christmas is always my favorite time of year, but this year will be extra special!

Can’t wait!

Nothing like some Christmas music a few weeks after Christmas, right?  Well, after you hear it, you’ll agree.  First, as my buddy Jay said, I don’t wanna toot our horn, but MAN DO WE SOUND GOOD!! Second, I have spent entirely too much time getting this video uploaded. For that reason, you’ll have to deal with the “evaluation copy” across the screen cuz I have ZERO intention on buying that DVD ripping software .  You’ll also have to deal with the video not aligning with music….It just happens sometimes with files that size.  The music is what ya want anyway…close your eyes and listen .  Anywho, without further ado, I give you The Voice of Faith Choir and KP3 childrens choir of Faith Baptist Church in Kaiserslautern, Germany.  We’re performing the Christmas Cantata Love Came Down.

Oh, to those of you who have no idea who I am, I’m the narrator guy in the front/center .  My wife is up a row and to the left a bit.

Enjoy listening!!!  We sure enjoyed singing for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!

Faith Baptist Church Kaiserslautern, Germany Christmas Cantata from Toby Keathley on Vimeo.

We should go on tour, don’t ya think?

Just wanted to say, from my family to yours, have a safe and Merry Christmas!!

Thanks for reading this stuff!!  New things coming from whatsthislifefor dot org in the new year!!

This is MAD Monday where I highlight an organization or a way for YOU to Make A Difference.

Today I would like to focus on Holiday Mail For Heroes. <Click that link to check it out.  Pretty simple, right?  This can be as simple as writing a letter, sending some pictures, or maybe a teddy bear.  You can click here for more ideas from squidoo.com.  The holiday mail site is sponsored by the American Red Cross and we know they do awesome things for our soldiers.

A few weeks back we got 2 big boxes in the mail from a friend of Ria’s family.  The boxes were full of STUFF….shampoo, soaps, towels, etc.  She sent them to us so Ria could give them to single soldiers at her clinic.  That was AWESOME!! They may not be in Iraq, but they are in a foreign country and will be away from everyone they love this holiday season.

Click the pic or any of the links above and take today to get MAD and Make A Differnce in the life of a soldier who makes a living making a difference in yours.

We made our weekly trip to the commissary tonight.  Usually Ria goes alone, #1 because I’ll spend twice as much and bring home 3 bags and #2, because our kids turn into maniacs when they step in there.  Well, tonight we all went together.  From the second aisle, there’s this kid, who seems to be doing whatever he can to see us.  He and Gabriel are talking and I’m messing with him.  He shows up in every aisle and grabs something from the shelf, runs back to his Mom in the next aisle over.  In no time, he’s back to return the item and I’d say something like, “man, she wouldn’t let ya have it?” or “hey, throw that in our cart.”  I ask him how old he is and he says, “I’m seven.” His two front teeth are missing, just like Gabriel.  A few aisles over, I ask him his name and he says, “Javon”.

We keep shopping and he keeps showing up and I keep saying to Ria, “man, that kid looks familiar.” She tells me that I’ve probably seen him when I was picking up Gabriel from school or maybe I’ve seen him at the dental clinic where she works.  I have no idea!

We’re getting ready to check out and there he is again.  I said, “hey Javon, what’s your Daddy’s name?”, thinking maybe I know him from church or something.  Javon says, “Ummm Sgt. something…Uhhh, I mean, I’m really not sure, I haven’t seen him in 2 years, he’s in Iraq fighting a war.” I had to walk away as tears ran down my face.  Sometimes I forget where I am.  Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to be together this Christmas.  Sometimes I forget that I am surrounded by these kids who have Mommy’s and Daddy’s that won’t be home next week.  It hit me like I hope it hits you.  Our words may not help much, but I know God’s Word will.  James 5:16 seemed fitting today.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (NIV)

If you know a child like this one or know someone who knows someone, pray for them tonight.  If you don’t know anyone, you can pray for Javon tonight.  I know I will be.

Don’t forget….Don’t EVER forget!

What’s new? Rather than focus on one organization where we can Make A Difference, we’ll try a different one each week.  There will be some weeks where an organization is not highlighted and an individual’s need is focused on instead.

That’s where we will start this week and I’m gonna rip some info off of Andy’s blog to try and help someone out.

If you’re familiar with the blogging community, you realize it is exactly that….A community of people, basically pouring their hearts out online.  In this community, we come across a wide range of personalities.  We meet some that are gone as quickly as they came by and we meet some where relationships are cultivated and maintained.

Today I want to talk about just one.  Her name is Kris Kelley and if you’ve been coming here for awhile, you’ve seen that name before.  Kris is a friend of Andy’s and I’m guessing she found her way here from seeing my blog mentioned on Andy’s blog. That’s how this community grows….You meet interesting people and you want the rest of the world to meet them too, so you blog about them.  Kris doesn’t know me from the man on the moon, but as I was trying to tweek the design of this blog, she made me a new header.  She did what my simple mind couldn’t have and developed a header that truly speaks to what this blog is all about.  The four seasons of life and whatsthislifefor.org are still represented up top.  Then I wanted a banner for Testimony Tuesday…She made me two.  I wanted one for Friday Reflections….she made it.  Did I mention that I have never met this woman?  Did I mention that I haven’t paid her a dime?  She is currently working on a complete redesign of this site…and why? Cuz she’s good people!  Jesus said to give and Kris listens.  I’m just one of the many lucky folks who benefit from her talents and I appreciate it greatly.

So, when a person who gives so much is going through a rough spot, what do we do?  I don’t have to answer that for you.  See, Kris is a single Mom, trying to work full time, start a business, take care of her kid and deal with an ex that doesn’t appear to be in the running for father of the year.  Kris just recently was involved in a car accident and her only car is gone.  That’s what insurance is for, right?  Well, if you’ve ever dealt with insurance companies, you know it’s just not that easy.  Cut to the chase: I’m not asking you to send her a wad of cash, although I’m sure she has a paypal account, if you’d like to do that.   In helping Kris, you can help yourself too.  See, the business Kris is starting is Kriscrafts.  You can CLICK HERE to check it out, but I know there are some ladies reading this blog that love the bath and body works junk.  Ok, OK, it’s not junk, but I know ya use it.  This stuff is that kind of quality and SHE MAKES IT HERSELF!!!  Also, there are some guys who won’t get out to Christmas shop until Dec. 24th.  Now you don’t have to get off your big butt.  Just CLICK HERE and hook your wife or significant other up.  If I didn’t want it to be a surprise to my wife, I would say that I’m about to do just that .  Anyway, here’s a few things you will find over at KRISCRAFTS…..

Go check it out, help Kris out, make your or your wife’s skin soft.  EVERYONE WINS!! NO CASH?

Problem solved!
Get over to Kriscrafts TODAY!! Oh, did I mention Bath and Body Works quality? Yes, yes I did, but NOT THEIR PRICES!! I just realized how OUTSTANDING those prices are.  Doubling my order!  You should do the same!

Next, for those who will inevitably send hate mail because my 3 year old daughter is running around in her underwear:  GET OVER IT! She doesn’t like to wear clothes, and well, I don’t blame her.  I don’t either, but fortunately for you, I’m not on camera much .

Enjoy!