Friday Foto Friends Already?

It's been a rather busy week and Friday Foto Friends kind of crept up on me! Here it is Thursday night, and it just hit me that I really haven't planned anything for this post.

So I will start out with some photos of a few of the Christmas decorations I've been doing this week.

If you are a Facebook friend, you've probably already seen some of these.

As you enter our foyer of our house, this is what you will see. I want Jesus to be the focus of our Christmas decorations.

We've had some chilly weather this week, and our little electric "wood stove" has felt pretty good, especially early in the morning...

I absolutely love this cabin picture that lights up, with the deer standing on the snowy banks alongside the frozen stream.   I've said that I'd love to live there...but maybe just for a little while...not sure I really want all that ice and snow to deal with at this stage in life.

When you step up on our front porch, this is what you will see...our little wild grapevine wreath, made with our very own grapevines the first year we moved to this house in the forest.

Here is how it looks at night....

And again, "Jesus is the Heart of the Holiday"

Changing scenes a little bit...Just a few pictures from the week...

Out on our road someone put up this new sign below the speed limit sign.   Our road has a different street name now, but for many years it was known as Kerr Key Road, as it winds around through the woods out to a "key" into beautiful Lake Kerr. We live at the beginning of the road, not out on the lake.  But it is still beautiful, and I can understand why it could be called "Paradise".

Okay, on a different note, I may have shown this picture below before....it was an unripe persimmon:

Well, we visited this place again, and here is that same persimmon...looks like it is ripe for the picking now....

And I thought these azaleas were lovely...it may be a little early for them to bloom, but I believe these are the type that bloom throughout the year.

I've mentioned that we are anticipating selling our house sometime in the near future, and this week we have had some serious "lookers", but no contract yet. Someone will be here tomorrow (Friday) about the time you are reading this, so please say a little prayer that if they are they ones who will love this house like we do, then they will make a reasonable offer that we cannot refuse.

Because it is becoming more apparent that our house could sell all of a sudden and catch us with no place to go, we have been seriously thinking about what to do. We can't buy anything until our house has a solid contract on it.  We don't want to get the cart before the horse and get ourselves in a bind if things don't work out.  However, that doesn't keep us from "looking". There is one particular house that we have had our eye on for a little while...the same one where that persimmon is ripening and the azaleas are blooming... anyway, as we decided to take a little ride just to go look at the house again (from the outside), we noticed this big "X" up in the sky as we rode along.  Hubby and I both were remarking about it being "X Marks the Spot", and wouldn't it be funny if it was over that house?  Well, at first it appeared that it was way too far to the west of where that house would be, but as we got closer, we realized that it was pretty much right over the house...

Pretty interesting, huh?  Well, time will tell if this was truly a "sign" from God or just a funny "coincidence".  Gave us a good chuckle anyway.

Today we read in our morning devotions about "signs in the heavens..."  Luke 21:25-28 is where we were reading about the return of Christ to earth at the close of the tribulation.  We are not in the Great Tribulation yet, but there are many signs that would lead us to believe that the Lord's return could be soon. Luke 21:29-33 explains it this way:

"Then He (Jesus) spoke to them a parable: 'Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.

When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.

So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

Now look back at verses 27-28:

"Then they will see the Son of Man 

coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Now when these things begin to happen, 

look up and lift up your heads, 

because your redemption draws near."

As we enter this Advent Season, we are focusing on the first Advent of Christ to the earth as a humble little baby in a manger. We remember how the Wise Men saw the star in the sky, and they followed that star until they came to the place where the Christ Child was born. Little did they know at the time that He would be the very same One, returning to the earth at the end of the age, coming in a "cloud with power and great glory", and that He would be the One Who would redeem our souls from death and hell.  Yes, we need to be watching the skies for the signs of the Second Advent of Christ's return...and to be sure that our hearts and souls are ready to meet Jesus.  That is what Christmas is truly all about...preparing our hearts to make room for the Savior to enter in, for eternity!

Is there room in your heart for Jesus this Christmas? Are you watching the signs for His return?

Some things to ponder as we prepare for Christmas...

Okay, friends...I do hope that you have had a wonderful week and that you will be blessed in every good way today.  Now let us travel over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to this week.