73 hours, five minutes and counting...

Hi folks! Hope you all had a nice and Merry Christmas! I did. I hope you were able to spend time with loved ones. It's a bit hard to believe that 2007 is almost over. Where did it go?? I hope it was good, yet challenging in ways, for you. We all go through trials and tribulations but it is so nice to have a God that will carry us through those hard times. It says in 1 Peter 1:6-8, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,..."
Do praise Him for all the things He has blessed you with in 2007. May 2008 bring new joys and new challenges, which will bring us closer to Him who will, as I said, carry us through those hard times, as long as we trust in Him.
If you are wondering about the title, that is how much time is left of 2007. Oh, and one more thing...GO BLAZERS!!! We won again tonight, against the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-98. That makes 12 wins in a row!
TTFN until 2008!

The First Noel

"All returned to their own towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was obviously pregnant by this time. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn." Luke 2:3-7
The time has come this year...Love came into the world. That Love came from a baby who would be called Jesus, the Son of God. He was also known as Emmanuel, God with us. I pray that you would have a special time with your family this Christmas, and remember the First Noel, Christ's birth. I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Count it, 10 in a row!!!

Yes indeed! The Blazers have done it! 10 wins in a row! They beat the Toronto Raptors, 101-96 with Brandon Roy playing a lead part in that win and also Lamarcus Aldridge came back from being out a week with an injury. They win again against those 'shiny' Nuggets, 99-96. It got close towards the end but they pulled it out to win. No I was not at that game but 'watched' the last part on the internet. My coworker was at the game with her sister so I am glad that she got to be at a game where the Blazers won, and even winning their 10th straight game. Go Blazers!!!

Joy and Anticipation

As anticipated, this weekend was quite lovely. Friday I had the day off work and did some Christmas shopping. I was looking forward to the weekend as it was the Christmas Choir / Orchestra celebration at church. I played my clarinet in the orchestra and did quite well, despite having put a chip in my reed first thing Sunday morning. So I had to switch to a new reed which came with a few low-key squeaks but tried to keep them under control. The music was all for God's glory, anyway. Oh, I just remembered from a previous post that I had said I was a 1/7th a viola. That is because one of the songs we played, my part said clarinet 2 (substitute for viola). I thought I sounded like a viola, too. All who participated did a great job giving Him glory as I am sure He enjoyed every minute of every service. The thing that sticks out to me is how we should keep Christ at the center of Christmas amidst all of the hustle and bustle. The pastor did a very nice message on the song of Simeon.
Oh and also on Saturday morning, I went to my niece's last basketball game of the season where they beat the other team 31-10. She scored a couple baskets and had a nice save so the ball would not go out of bounds.
I know this next couple sentences are off the subject but I must mention it. The blazers win, the blazers win again!!! On Sunday, they played in Denver against the Nuggets and beat them. I was at the game tonight and we beat the Hornets 88-76. Eight wins in a row...how do they do it?? I see that we play the Nuggets again this Friday at home. Wouldn't it be nice if we win on Wednesday night and Friday night...that would be 10 in a row! We'll just have to wait and see.

Playing together as a team

The Blazers do it again!!! They win 105-95 versus the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. I happened to be at that game and it was very exciting watching the Blazers play...they were playing as a team, not just relying on 1 or 2 key players to score. LaMarcus is out this week with his right foot, but it's good that he is healing and getting rest. This was a FUN game to watch. Even Joel scored the first seven points of the game and he ended up with a double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds)...way to go Joel!!! Martell only played about 8 minutes in the first quarter as he was having the flu bug...get better Martell! The fans really got into the game...I think that was part of what made it so exciting. Ahh, that win gives us a five-game winning streak. Now, we play the Utah Jazz tomorrow night and if we win that game...whoa! Look out!
Work has been busy this week with month end. I have tomorrow off with which I will do some Christmas shopping. I am looking forward to the weekend as it is Christmas Choir and Orchestra celebration at church. Have a great weekend!

Mary's Song

'Hark the Herald Angels Sing, glory to the newborn King.
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled..'

Hmm, I'd like to say that is my song, well, it is my favorite Christmas song!!! There you have it...my favorite Christmas carol. Hmm...I wonder why they are called carols...Anyways, Mary's song is written in Luke chapter 1 which I will quote some for you now...
'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel as He spoketo our fathers to abraham and to his seed forever." Luke 1:46-55 NKJV
Okay so I gave you all of the song. One thing I learned from the message this weekend at church was that when Mary found out she would give birth to the Son of God, she went (sanely) crazy in worship to God. If you read and study about her in the Word, you will know that she was a true worshiper of God. I absolutely loved the message this weekend at church. I hope those that went, did also.

Oh, and what do you know, the very last song we sang in service was...Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Creepy cool, I say!!

The Blazers blaze by the Heat

Perseverance. Drive. Ambition. Teamwork. Control. That's what the Blazers had and felt at their game last night versus the Miami Heat. My dad, sister, and I attended the game which was also on TNT which was after the Denver Nuggets / Dallas Mavericks game. The Nuggets beat the Mavericks. I heard that Iverson had a great game and scored like 36 points to lead the Nuggets. Wait...why am I talking about the Nuggets? I am a TrailBlazers fan!!! Back to the important game. Okay, I'm not just a Trail Blazer fan but an NBA fan. Brandon Roy had 26 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had a good game as well. Travis Outlaw...my oh my! He had 20 points ( a couple of those were dunks). And Martell Webster...this was not a great game for him. The second quarter we went on a 8-0 or 12-0 run and were up by 14 at halftime, 56-42. 49 seconds into the game Shaq went towards the basket and Pryzbilla was guarding him and Shaq got off, elbowed Joel in his nose, and to keep from falling on Pryzbilla, he threw the ball down which hit Pryzbilla's face and he was down for a couple minutes. I was so hoping he would get back up and he did. He went out of the game and came back out to the floor right before halftime. The second half, the Heat caught up to within 1 point but we went on another run and held our lead. We were in control the whole game. Final score was 112-106...yea! Way to go Blazers!!!
On another basketball note (smile), I get to go see my niece play, with her teammates, at a basketball game tomorrow morning. I hear that she has been doing well, scoring, dribbling, rebounding, and some defense as well. Yea!
Hope you all have a nice weekend. TTFN

Happy December!

Can you believe it is the last month of 2007?!!! Where has the year gone?? I hope you all have a month of December. Tonight was another rehearsal for our Christmas choir/orchestra services at church. It went fine and I learned two things, at least. One, to not always listen to my cohort playing clarinet as we may not always have the same part to a song. Second, I learned that I am 1/7 a viola-ist for this service. More to come later??
The message this weekend at church was really good. MacMurray spoke on the Hope of Israel which is Jesus. I loved the part where he was talking about how little kids are on Christmas morning in anticipation of seeing what Santa Claus may have left for them under the tree and in their stockings. He was saying that we should have that same anticipation for Jesus on Christmas, and not only on Christmas Day, but also in anticipation of when He will be coming back.
Oh, and during 1.3 we talked about what drives our lives? I thought that was a very good thing to think about. It is good when we answer questions briefly and are asked to go into more depth. It gets us thinking deeper more on the subject.
Well, I am having a good start of December as...my Blazers won, on the road at Memphis! Final score 106-105...go Blazers!!!
Oh, and one more thing...I hope you all were safe the last couple days as it has been QUITE stormy here! It is interesting to hear and see all the flooding water on the roadways. Pray for those who have their houses flooded and for all the animals.
TTFN