Jesus coming back soon

Imagine this. You are in your car driving home from work. Thoughts wander to the game you want to see, or what you're going to fix for dinner, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know... So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one.

The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are staring up at the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds. And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.

As if the sky was a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. Only a beautiful shaft of light filled with every hue ever seen and a million more you've never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet of angels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky. North. South. East. West.

Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the cherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, holy, holy. The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship.

Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is: JESUS.

Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and the world is surrounded by his declaration:

I am the Alpha and the Omega.

The angels bow their heads... The elders remove their crowns. And before you is a Figure so consuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else matters.

Forget stock markets and school reports. Sales meetings and football games. Nothing is newsworthy... All that mattered, matters no more.... for Christ has come.  Your knees tremble as it begins to sink in:  You are about to meet the Creator of the Universe.

This is a prophecy from the Bible, and just like 2200 others, it will soon come to pass.
Are you ready to meet Him?


If you are not sure, talk to God tonight. He promises us that if anyone seeks Him, they will find Him when they search with a pure heart. He offers eternal life to anyone who will spend the rest of their earthly days following Him.  Just as a tiny lamb would humbly follow a loving good shepherd.

Click here to learn more about a relationship with Christ.



More Prophecies about the Last Days....


Luke 17:22-26, Jesus speaking about False Prophets:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.


Revelation 1:7-8, the REAL second coming of Christ:
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Please friend, consider where you will spend eternity. 
This earthly life here is short, and getting shorter.

Merry Christ-mas, everyone!

Following is a poem that my Dad wrote for me when I was only 3 years old. He passed away 13 years ago, and I asked for his computer. When we converted the files we found a collection of Dad's poems. I remember Dad reading this particular poem to me several times over the years while I was growing up. Although I did not come to Christ until I was 19, the words of this poem sweetly shaped my view of Christmas as a child. I hope you will enjoy it as well. Praying you all have a bright and beautiful Christmas. Love, Vickie


MERRY CHRIST-MAS
by Robert Lee Murray (1967)

Centuries ago on our first Christmas day,
A star shown down brightly where Baby Jesus lay.
Shepherds and wisemen had come to pay
A visit to the miracle that had happened that day.

T'was a wonderful gift to the world He gave,
Through Jesus, He gave us the chance to be saved.
Jesus tried hard to give light to God's name,
Yet so many hearts remained evil the same.
He died on the cross to forgive us of sinning,
Seekers of truth could have a new beginning.

In the years as they passed, Christianity grew great,
And once in every year, Jesus' birth we celebrate.
Today we have Christmas, which we all do enjoy,
Especially when we’re blessed with a little girl or boy.

Yet - somehow in Christmas, our Christ is left out.
Not a purposeful thing, I'm sure without doubt.
Christmas means joy … yet "X" for his name?
"Xmas" instead of "Christmas" just isn't the same.

Now we have presents, turkey and always a tree,
Jolly old Saint Nick whom the kids all go see.
We all sing carols and wrap presents that night,
So Christmas for kiddies will always be bright.

There's nothing wrong with good old Saint Nick,
(How he makes that sleigh fly is a pretty good trick!)
When I was a kid, how I remember those years,
I always loved Santa and all his reindeers.
But I always knew the meaning of Christmas alright,
Mary, Jesus and Joseph were always in sight.

As I grew older, the Nativity scene
Reminded me of Christmas and what it really did mean.
Oh I'll still play "Santa" and tell the kids to "watch out,"
But I'll tell MY little girl what Christmas is about.
She knows Mary, Jesus and Joseph you see,
She doesn't completely understand, but then she's just three.

In another few years I'm sure she'll realize,
That instead of presents and jolly fat guys,
The Manger… with Jesus, Joseph and Mary,
Will bring joy to her heart that she always will carry.

You see, I love Christmas and presents myself,
But I don't believe in leaving Christ's name on the shelf;
This is the day, Christ-mas by name,
The day of our Jesus, the day that He came!

So after opening your presents, give thanks to the Lord,
A few precious moments we all can afford.
It was He that made possible the presents you hold,
So give Him your thanks, and let His story be told.

And thank Him for children who make our lives bright,
And always make sure that they see His light.
Someday we'll rely on them for the same,
So that our grandchildren will remember His name.

When someone says "Xmas" to you, as they call,
Tell them, "Merry Xmas" is wrong … Merry Christ-mas to all!"

Recipe: Tortellini Soup

I took a double-batch of this soup to the Basketball Game last night, and we served it in the "LAKEWOOD BISTRO" snack bar. So many people asked for the recipe (including our principal, Mr. Robertstad!) so I promised to put it on the school website. I will paste it here as well, since it's already in blog format. This soup is wonderful-- I got the recipe from my Mom's friend Del in California. It is fabulous on a cold, wintry night and really fills you up.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE SOUP WITH TORTELLINI

1 lb. Jimmy Dean Italian sausage
1 link of Lean Cuisine sausage, cut into 1/2” pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, smashed
5 cups beef broth (I use “Better than Beef” concentrate, dilute to 5c.)
½ cup water
½ c. dry red wine (I use a cheap Cab. Sauvignon)
1 medium green pepper, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 bag of shredded carrots, or 1 cup of diced carrots
2 cups chopped zucchini
Huge can of Hunts Diced tomatoes
Huge can of Tomato Sauce
½ tsp. basil leaves
½ tsp. oregano
3 T. chopped parsley
Medium size bag of Frozen Tortellini (my bag says 42 oz.)

Directions: Brown both sausages in a big soup pot. Add onions and garlic, and sauté until onions are tender. Add diluted beef broth, water, wine, carrots, spices, tomatoes, zucchini, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Then stir in: Frozen tortellini, parsley, and green pepper chunks. Simmer another 35-40 mins. – or until Tortellini is tender. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired, before serving. Yum-O!

Christmas Card Photos

If you are checking this new blog site, that means you have probably just received our Christmas Card!

My apologies to everyone: we were soooo late in getting our Christmas cards out this year!! We were going to skip it this year. But then we had some portraits taken at our church (they are putting together an online directory so they organized a photographry session for each family). Our pictures got accidentally mailed to another family though, so we didn't receive them until yesterday, December 22nd. I am working on the cards now, will mail them soon after Christmas--- so we hope you enjoy the New Year's greeting!

Here are the pictures we had taken at our church. They came out pretty good, I love this one of Hayden and Matthew together. I wish Hayden would have smiled nice and big, so you could see those beautiful braces! Anyway, Hayden is 14 years old this year, and our little Matty is 8 already. It's just amazing how fast they are growing!! Hayden is already taller than me -- 6" even -- and SHAVING!!! -- aaaack!!! He's only in 8th grade, what is the deal -- maybe I need to stop sprinkling that Miracle-Gro on their cereal? Matthew is in 3rd grade this year, still sweet as can be and still loves to snuggle with his Mom. They are such great kids -- bright, sweet and healthy -- we are blessed and so thankful to God for our little family.

Here is another shot we had taken, with my husband Stephen and me. It came out okay, although I must tell you that in REAL LIFE I am 20 lbs thinner --- and he has 20% more hair :) Stephen is off work for 10 days, we are really looking forward to a lonnnng Christmas vacation together. He really needs a break, work is crazy since they layed off 30% of the company last month, and they adjusted the food chain so that now he has 6 nervous engineers reporting to him -- in addition to his regular design projects -- pretty stressful. We are all looking forward to this chance for Daddy to unwind and have a relaxing Christmas break at home. We just saw both our families in November, so this is the first Christmas we have spent actually in town, for at least 8 years?? Should be interesting.... relaxing for sure.

Well anyway -- Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for checking out our new family website! If I can figure out how to extrude these photos and videos from our new video camera, I will post them here!! I have 3 months of stuff on this camera -- Basketball games, Thanksgiving trips to Philadelphia and NY City, several Christmas programs and Piano recitals --- yet I am CLUELESS on how to squeeze it all out of that camera! Will make this a priority so I can post them here for our friends and family. Thanks again for visiting and hope you'll come back soon.

Love and Christmas Hugs --
Stephen, Vickie, Hayden and Matthew