Seeing the Beauty in Life

Yesterday when I was at school I found myself humming a song for no particular reason.  I often find myself doing this, but when I realized what song I was humming, it made me stop and think for a moment.  The song that I was humming was “Accentuate the Positive.”  I am sure most of you know this Johnny Mercer song, but in case you do not know it, I am sure you will recognize these first lines from the song.  “You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, but don’t mess with mister in between.”  When I thought about the song a little further, I began to see that that is what we all should really do.  We should spend most of our time accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.  

You see, the thing that many of us often forget is that there is still so much beauty and positivity for us to focus on in this world.  We often find ourselves focusing on all of the negative things.  This is easy to do because it seems that we are constantly reminded of all the negative things that are happening around us.  What we all need to try harder to do is focus on the positive side of life.  That is what God wants all of us to do, and He has provided all of us with positive things that we can focus on if we just take a moment to notice them.  

There is so much beauty in the world.  We all see the world through different eyes.  I see the world differently than another person does, and he sees it differently than I do.  We all have our own unique way of seeing the world.  However, if we are focusing on the beauty of the world, it is true that we may see the beauty in different places, but the feeling that we have because of the beauty that we see will be the same.

Some people see beauty in nature.  There are so many beautiful things to behold when we look at nature.  A misshapen tree, a flock of geese, a mother deer with her fawn, a sunflower, and the list goes on and on.  Others see beauty in their surroundings.  Maybe they see beauty in a painting, an antique piece of furniture, the sound of a loved ones voice, the sound of a child laughing, or the bark of joy that a cherished pet makes when we come home.  Others see beauty in acts kindness.  They see beauty when someone performs a random act of kindness, gives to a charity, smiles, calls an old friend, or tries to make someone else’s life better.  

Regardless of what makes us see the beauty in the world, the most important thing is that we see it.  When we see the beauty in the world, we will have a better outlook on life.  We will not feel so heavy and we will have more peace and PEACE MATTERS!  

~Dan~

Small Change Does a World of Good

If you are like me, the first few weeks after Christmas you get the decorating bug.  I am not sure if I get the urge to redecorate because it is the beginning of a new year or because the house looks so blah after the Christmas decorations come down.  Regardless of the reason, every January, I find myself redecorating.  Many times the changes I make are only minor, but those small changes seem to make all the difference when I do them.  

This year, I have found myself following the same yearly ritual, so I thought I would share a few pictures of what I have done with you.  As I continue down the road of making our house more early, I am amazed by the progress that I have made.  The house is feeling more and more cohesive, and every room I enter into makes me feel a little more peaceful.  As most of you know, our house is currently for sale and when it does sell, we will be building a saltbox.  So in many ways, the collections that I am adding to now and the way that I am displaying them is a practice run for the saltbox.  Even though it seems we are not making progress on building our dream house, we actually are.  I am making progress by realizing how I want to display my collections, and I am making progress by acquiring more early pieces that will look perfect in our future home.  

As I was thinking about making small changes in our house, I was reminded of how each of us should make changes in our own lives and in our relationship with God.  God does not want us to become stagnant in our relationship with Him.  He wants us to continue to draw closer to Him, and He wants our understanding of His plan for our lives to become clearer with each passing day.  That is the thing about this life that we all need to remember.  None of us are perfect and none of us will ever completely understand what God has planned for our lives, but that does not mean that we should not try to continue to improve.  God is so massive and powerful that the more we come to understand His ways, the less we really understand. However, in trying to understand His ways, we develop a closer relationship with Him, and that in itself makes all the difference.  

In many ways our homes are a symbol of our own lives and our souls.  We want our homes to be the best they can be and we want to update them and maintain them.  We want them to reflect a sense of peace, and we want others to see the joy they bring us.  We should want the same thing for our souls and for our relationship with God.  We should want our souls to be the best they can be.  We should update them and maintain them.  We should strive to have our souls reflect God’s peace, and we should want others to see the joy that having a peaceful soul brings.  Improving our souls is very much like improving our houses; sometimes it is the little changes that do a world of good.

I hope you will enjoy the pictures of our house with the small changes that I have made, and I hope that you will continue to try each day to improve your soul.  When we make small changes to the places in which we dwell we will have more peace and PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~

Family Relationships

Most of what we know today about relationships and communication we learned from our families. Family is critically important and should be nurtured.  Families should always stick together and support each other.  Although this life can be difficult at times, we need to know that we have someone in our corner.  Our families should serve that purpose in all situations.  We should be able to rely on our families for whatever we need, and they should be able to rely on us as well.   

Family relationships are one of the strongest bonds that we have on earth.  We long to be with them, we want to hear from them, and we think about them constantly.  God placed all of us in families to give us companionship and to teach us about life. Where would any of us be without our families, in particular our parents?  Parents have the ability to love unconditionally.  They love their children no matter what they do, and they want to help their children in anyway they can.  A parent’s love is as close to God’s love as we can get here on earth.   Good parents will love their children unconditionally and will always strive to support them in every way possible.  

Even though we do love our families and they are the most important people on earth to us, we sometimes disagree and argue.  We can disagree, but when the chips are down, we should stick together and build each other up.  We should be able to go to our families and discuss anything.  It is our safe place, and we should always be able to find acceptance there.

God has blessed each of us with families, and we should appreciate and hold on to them no matter what.  Most of us are able to look at our families and see beyond their faults.  God has given us that ability.  We may see their shortcomings, but we love them anyway.  This ability makes us stand up for our families at all costs and to defend them when we need to.  

God wants us to have a close relationship with our families, and He wants us to depend on them, much like we depend on Him.  He wants us to support them, and He wants them to do the same for us.  God gave us families so that we could experience the kind of love that He can offer us here on earth.  

So, cling to your family, cherish them, support them, and defend them.  Always try to appreciate them and always strive to get along.  If you do have a disagreement with a family member, try to resolve the issue quickly.  Be slow to anger and quick to forgive.  We all need our families. Our families can bring us peace, and PEACE MATTERS!    

~Dan~

Recognizing the Truth

We have all heard that the truth will set us free.  We have been taught from a young age that we are supposed to tell the truth, and we try to teach others the same concept, but when it comes to being truthful with ourselves, we often fail.  We are great avoiders.  We want to project a certain image to others and ourselves, so we often live in denial.  Living in denial does not lead to peace.  We think that it does, because when we live in denial we have a sense of false peace.  It is a sense of false peace because we are just delaying the inevitable and we are making our suffering private.  

We live in denial about a multitude of things.  Our marriage is falling apart, our spouse has been unfaithful, our child is on drugs, our child is getting a divorce, our child has a disability and will never lead an independent life, our father has a drinking problem, or our friend is taking advantage of us.  The list goes on and on.  For every situation we find ourselves in we make excuses and live in denial.  

We refuse to face them for a variety of reasons.  It is often because of shame and pride.  We want everybody to think our lives are perfect and that we have all the answers.  We think that if people really knew the truth they would not respect us or want us in their lives.  We sell people short, so the private suffering continues.  Many times, our denial is so deep that we do not even let God in.  We just keep living our lives and trying to deal with these situations the best way we can.  We make excuses and justify the situations in a million ways.  This goes on for so long that it eventually starts to affect our lives, and we find that we have no peace.  We begin to turn inward and pull away from everyone we know including God.  So the question becomes why would we want to face these situations on our own?  

God has placed people in our lives to help us, and even when we feel like we cannot lean on the people in our lives, we can always turn to God.  He is always there for us.  He will provide comfort and hope for us.  The first thing we have to do, though, is be honest with ourselves and admit that there is a problem.  Once we admit that there is a problem we are on the road to recovery.  The second step is to bring the problem to God and let Him direct our path.  If we allow God to direct our path in these situations, it will help us have confidence that we are doing the right thing.  God wants us to face our problems.  He does not want us to live in denial.  God wants us to wake from our slumber, face reality, and take the appropriate course of action.  

It will be difficult to face the reality of the situations because many of us have spent years hiding our problems and living in the altered reality that we have created.  Dealing with a problem with truthfulness and honesty will eventually lead to peace.  When we truthfully confront the situation with God’s guidance, we will come to terms with the situation, accept it, and our peace will be restored.  We have to pray to God and ask Him to help us.  He will help us.  God is powerful, and He can change any situation in our lives if we let Him.  

Praying to God doesn’t mean that the answer will be what we want, but it will be what we need, and God will even give us peace over the answer that He knows is best for us.  When we truly have peace in our lives and truly have faith in God and believe that He knows best, we can have peace over every situation, no matter how difficult it may be.  God can make a way where we think there is no way. We just have to let Him guide us and let Him solve the problem in His time.  

I know how difficult facing reality can be.  It is embarrassing, scary, and humbling, but we have to do it.  If we do not face reality and bring our private struggles to God, we will never have peace over it, and we will always struggle with it.  There comes a time in all of our lives where we have to lay the burden of denial down and say, “This is me.  I am flawed, but I accept my flaws.”  When we do that and take it to God, we will be on our way to peace.  When we face the reality of life we can be more honest with ourselves and others.  Others will find inspiration in our struggles and will look to us to see how we deal with them.  Hiding our problems from God is never a good idea.  He knows the truth anyway.  

So, let’s all try harder to face reality, to admit that there is a problem, to take it to God and let Him handle it.  When we do that we will be free of the shame, the embarrassment, and the fear.  We will have hope and peace in our lives, and PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~

Reflections

As the old year silently passes away and the New Year rises over the horizon, we often get reflective about the past year and our minds are drawn to the memories that the old year possessed as our hopes for the New Year begin to emerge.  I, like all of you, find myself reflecting on the past year and my mind is flooded with memories.  Many of the memories of 2015 are good ones.  As I focus on the good times of 2015, I cannot help but remember some of the challenges that 2015 held for me too.  All of our lives are made up of memories.  Our memories and the events in our lives help to shape us into the person that we are and into the person that we are yet to be.  Every experience we walk through, the good and the bad, make us the person that God has always intended for us to be.  It is difficult for us to realize that when we are walking through this life, but when we take a moment and reflect on all our experiences, we can see God’s hand working in our lives, and we can see that all of our experiences were intended to make us better people.  They have given us faith, and they have taught us that God has a plan for all of our lives.  

When I reflect on December 31, 2014, I am amazed at the progress that I have made through God’s help and guidance.  I remember being very reflective on New Year’s Eve of 2014.  I remember thinking of all the trials that 2014 brought my way.  I was making my way out of the hole that I was in, but I had no idea just how much God would do for me in the new year.  As 2015 dawned, I was filled with more questions and doubt than anything else.  I felt the hope and trust growing inside of me, but it was not fully realized.  I did not know it at the time, but I was on the cusp of a breakthrough that would change my life and set me on a course of newfound peace.  

I remember sitting in my apartment alone that New Years’ Eve and sending out a text to all the people I love.  I cannot completely remember the words of that text, but I thanked people for their support and the love that they had shown me during 2014.  I acknowledged that I knew that I had made mistakes and that I knew that I had to improve the life that I was living.  I ended the text message with the following quote.  "We ain't what we should be, we ain't what we gonna be, but at least we ain't what we was."  This was a quote from an episode of Designing Women that I had always enjoyed and it had really touched me the first time I heard it back in 1999.  It seemed very fitting for where I was in my life.  That is the thing that all of us need to remember about our lives.  We may not be who we should be, we may not be who we are going to be, but at least we are not who we were.  

We all should live our lives trying to improve ourselves, and in the process we will improve the lives of the people we know and eventually the world.  We often forget that change takes place one person at a time.  It is not something that happens overnight.  It is something that starts off as a distant goal and with each day that we try to live a better life, the change gets closer and closer until eventually we can see the change and then we start helping others try to change.  This life is very reciprocal.  One life touches another and another and another.  

2015 turned out to be a very good year for me.  It was the year that I found peace.  It was the year that I began to understand what all of us are called to do.  It was the year that I began to change, and in turn I began to change my world.  None of this would have been possible without God and the love of so many people.  None of it would have been possible without taking that first step in faith knowing that everything was going to be okay and that God had a plan.  I am far from where I hope to eventually be, but I am so thankful for every single step that I have taken so far on my journey to peace.  It has been a journey that has taken 43 year, and I know that I still have many more years to go through on my journey to complete peace.

None of us will ever experience complete peace here on this earth, but we can all have more peace in our lives than we do in this very moment.  That should be the goal for all of us.  Peace is the key that unlocks all the hopes and dreams that we all have for our lives.  Peace is what allows us to get up in the morning and face the struggles of the day with joy in our hearts and a smile on our face.  Peace is what helps us reach out to our fellowman and make the world a better place.  Without peace we have nothing.  Peace surely does matter.  

As I think about the year 2016, I am filled with excitement and anticipation to see what God has in store for me.  I know that there will be many good times, and I know that there will be difficult times.  There will be great highs and terrible lows, but through it all, I know for the first time in a very long time that God will be right there walking beside me and encouraging me to keep going.  I also know that if the way becomes too bumpy He will pick me up and carry me.  Just knowing that brings peace to my spirit and allows me to continue to have the hope that God has instilled in me during 2015.  

I am also excited to see where this blog goes in 2016.  I hope that it will continue to grow and I hope that it will continue to touch lives one person at a time.  Whatever happens in 2016 we all need to remember that God has a plan and that there are no coincidences in this life.  God is with each of us every single minute of every single day of our lives.  

I would also like to take moment to thank all of you for the love and support you have shown me since I began this blog in June 2015.  I could not ask to have been treated any better, and each time you visit and like the post or leave a comment, I feel your encouragement and it gives me the courage to keep going.  Many of you will never know what your words have meant to me, so all I can say is that I sincerely thank each of you from the bottom of my heart.  

I also ask that you help me spread the word of peace in 2016.  We can all make a difference, and we can all bring more peace to the world.  If you know of someone who you think would enjoy visiting Peace Matters, I hope you will share the blog address with them.  I hope you will continue to visit when you can, and I hope that you will continue to do your part in making the world a better place.  This may not be Heaven, but while we are here, we can make it feel a little more like Heaven.  

I hope that all of you have a wonderful New Year, and I hope that 2016 will bring you more peace, and I hope that you will begin to share the peace you have in your heart with others so that it will spread.  I cannot predict what 2016 will be like for any of us, but I can guarantee you this, God will be right there with us guiding our steps, encouraging us with His words, and illuminating our paths.  That certainly brings me peace for the New Year, and we should never forget that PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~  

I wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year.  I pray that 2016 is the best year you have ever had and I pray that peace will flood your life and your spirit because PEACE MATTERS.  Happy 2016!  

Do Not Resist the Urge to Do Something Good

As the Christmas season draws to an end, many of us find ourselves suffering from a certain amount of post-Christmas depression.  It seems that all of our efforts went into making this Christmas the merriest and best and when it is over, we feel a sense of loss or feel somewhat let down.  As we begin to take our Christmas decorations down, our houses do not appear as bright and cherry as they did before.  There seems to be a sense of darkness with the absence of all of the lights that once occupied our homes.  Many times, we feel this sense of darkness in our own lives.  We begin to feel a little lackluster, and it seems that there is not as much to look forward to as there recently was.  When we think about the coming months, all we can really focus on is the long winter ahead, and there doesn’t seem to be much of anything exciting to look forward to.  

This is a very common emotion that most of us feel to varying degrees, but this is an emotion that God does not want us to experience.  As I have said before, God wants us to feel as if everyday is Christmas.  God wants us to carry the spirit of Christmas with us all throughout the year.  One way that we can keep the Christmas spirit alive is by doing something to help our fellowman.  God is constantly urging us to do something good for someone, and we should answer the call instead of resisting the urge and ignoring the thoughts of goodwill that enter our minds on a daily basis.  

Imagine for a moment, if you will, what the world would be like if we all did all the good things that we feel like we are supposed to do but often do not end up doing.  If we all answered the call every single time we felt the urge to reach out to someone, there would be an abundance of goodwill for everyone.  We all need to remember that it is God who is causing us to feel drawn to do the good deeds that enter our minds, and we should strive hard not to suppress them.  These good deeds can take many forms, and often they do not require much of us.  Maybe we feel the urge to call, text, or email someone just to say, “I am thinking of you.”  Maybe we feel like we should donate money or unwanted things to a charity.  Maybe we feel drawn to give of our time to a sick friend or relative, an animal shelter, or a shelter for people who are less fortunate than we are.  Maybe we feel like we should smile at a stranger, open a door for an elderly person, or stop and help someone who is having car trouble.  Maybe, for no particular reason, we feel like we should send a card or a small gift to someone who means something to us.  Maybe we feel like we should take our neighbors a pie or cake.  

Whatever the urge is, when we feel it we should understand that the urge to do something good is coming from God.  When we feel the urge to do something good, we immediately start making excuses as to why we should not answer the call.  The most common excuses are that we are afraid the person will think we are crazy, that doing the good deed will take up too much of our time, or that the person may get too attached to us.  We all need to understand that these are lies that Satan tells us to keep us from doing the good things that God wants us to do.  If Satan can stop one good deed, then he is happy.  We have to not allow the lack of confidence that Satan tries to instill in all of us to keep us from doing the good that we are all called to do.  When we do answer the call and do something good for someone and it makes him or her feel special and loved, we will also feel special and loved.  When we continue to have a giving spirit all year long and not just in December, the lives of the people who our good deeds touch will change, and they will feel better about doing good for someone and the cycle will continue and eventually the world will be a better place.  

So, if you are struggling with the post-Christmas blues and wondering how you can keep the spirit of Christmas alive for a little longer, start answering the call to do something good for someone every single time you feel it.  If we will all live our lives with a giving spirit there will be no post-Christmas blues, just post-Christmas joy.  Now, doesn’t that sound a whole lot better?  We can all answer the call. and we can all make the world a better place one good deed at a time.  Living our lives with a giving spirit, heeding the urge to reach out to our fellowman, and spreading God’s love will lead all of us to peace and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~ 

The Best Christmas Ever

For today’s post, I am sharing the first writing that I ever did.  I had no idea when I wrote this story in 1999 how many stories and articles that I would eventually write.  I wrote this story sixteen years ago and gave it to my parents as a Christmas gift.  I had long ago forgotten about writing it until one evening last week when suddenly the memory of writing it came back to me.  I texted my mom and asked her about the story, and she told me that she had just seen it a couple of days ago.  She sent it to me, and I retyped it so that I could use it as my Christmas Eve post.  I did my best not to change the story as I typed it.  I did fix a few things like typos and misplaced commas, but for the most part it is in its original form.  

When I first reread it, I was quite surprised that the tone of the story is very similar to many of the posts that I have already written for this blog.  I know that I should not have been surprised, but I was.  This story and the letter that served as the introduction is proof that God continues to talk to us even when we are completely unaware of it and that His words do not change with time.  The only thing that really changes is our understanding of His words and our willingness to listen to His voice and go where He leads.  I hope you will enjoy this story, and I hope that it will help you achieve a little bit more of that much sought after Christmas spirit.  

                                                                                                                         December 25, 1999

Mom and Dad, 

This is a very special season in the history of our family, a time to be together and to show our love for each other through gifts.  As you know, the most precious gifts are those that come from the heart.  This is one of those gifts.

This story is based on a time in our lives long ago.  It’s about the most precious gift of all, the love shared within a family.  It’s about two parents who never knew the meaning of selfishness and sacrificed to provide for their family.  It’s about having faith in God and resting in His wisdom.

This story is not a masterpiece and if you look closely, you will find many mistakes, but it came from my heart.  I hope that it somehow brightens your day.  I hope that you always know that your many sacrifices have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.  Always remember, God has a plan.  He always does, but sometimes people forget and try to make their own imperfect plans.  People can only see a little way down the road, but He can see the whole trip.  I dedicate this story to both of you with all my love.

Dan

The Best Christmas Ever

The wind was unusually bitter as Darlene went to her car in the deserted parking lot of the grocery store where she worked.  Darlene had just worked the night shift, and the Thanksgiving rush had worn her out and made her feel much older than her 36 years.  Darlene had decided a long time ago that she would be a stay at home mom, a decision not very popular in the early 1980s.  But the situation she and her husband, George, were in now completely changed her plans.  George, a hard working coal miner, had been laid off a few years before.  The only way for their family to survive was for both of them to get minimum wage jobs to try to make ends meet.  

That night the wind sent a cold chill through Darlene.  An even colder chill was felt deep in the pit of her stomach.  The cold weather was an all too real reminder that Christmas was coming.  This would normally fill Darlene with warm thoughts, but on that night it brought her terrible dread.  For at home in their beds were three little boys.  Darlene thought of how much she loved those boys.  They were “the apples of her eyes.” She would have gladly given her life for them.  She and George wanted to give them everything, but finances seemed to make that impossible.  At this time of year it didn’t seem like enough to just clothe them, feed them, and provide a warm bed for them.  They wanted to make all of their Christmas fantasies come true.  

When Darlene arrived home, she went in to check on the boys.  They were fast asleep and had been for quite some time.  As tears filled her eyes, she whispered a silent prayer, “Dear Lord, provide for my boys this year.  George and I need your help desperately.”  Darlene finally got into bed after doing the dishes, packing lunches, and doing a load of laundry.  When she lay down in bed, she began to fall asleep when suddenly she was awakened by hundreds of ideas.  

Christmas was the season when anything was possible, and in the early hours of that morning Darlene really began to believe it.  She took mental notes of all the things she needed to do.  As she began to fall asleep again, she whispered another prayer, “Thank you Lord, I know everything will be okay.”  

The next month seemed to fly by.  Darlene and George were busy with their jobs and trying to raise their boys.  Still, somehow, they each found time to complete, one-by-one, all of the projects on Darlene’s list.  It seemed, at times, they would never finish.  Deep down they both knew they would.

Soon it was Christmas Eve, and the boys were in their beds trying desperately to go to sleep.  When the last gift was wrapped and placed under the tree, Darlene and George stood back in awe.  “This sure doesn’t look like a Christmas Tree of a family who was without money.  In fact, it looks like a tree of a prosperous family,” they thought.  Darlene and George went to bed satisfied and thankful for their many blessings.  

While she was laying in bed that early Christmas Morning, Darlene found it hard to imagine that her boys were having more trouble sleeping than she.  Finally, six a.m. arrived.  Soon the bedroom door opened, and she heard tiny footsteps.  Without opening her eyes, she knew who it was, her youngest.  The older boys always sent him to wake them.  He was the most persistent, a quality Darlene was sure would assist him in the future.  He spoke in a child’s voice, but sounded much older.  “Mom, get up,” he said.  “It is Christmas Morning and Santa has been here.”  Darlene nudged George and said, “Did you hear that, honey?  Santa’s been here.”  Darlene and George wanted to jump out of bed and run for the tree, but it was Christmas, a time when tradition is very important.  So, they both acted like they couldn’t possibly get out of bed.  They even suggested that they all go back to bed and get up later that morning.  Well, their youngest wouldn’t hear of it and almost demanded that they get up.  

When they were all in front of the tree and Darlene and George saw the expressions on the boys’ faces, they knew that all of the hard work they had put in was well worth it. It seemed like the boys would never finish opening their presents.  Each new gift was greeted with a loud cry of joy, especially from the oldest and youngest, who had the most trouble controlling themselves.  Darlene and George could tell by the looks on their faces that they were happy and a little surprised.  The boys had always been aware of the circumstances and had often wandered to themselves what Christmas would be like.  It never, in their wildest imagination, was as good as this Christmas.  Throughout the day, the boys could be heard saying, “This was the best Christmas ever,” and it was.

It would not be until years later that the sacrifices of that Christmas would be truly realized.  Darlene and George had used their birthday and Christmas money that they had received from their parents.  Even though they could have used the money for themselves, it was never considered.  Darlene and George also made things for their boys, a tradition that would be carried on throughout the years.  

George finally got another job in a coal mine, and Darlene was able to quit her job.  The boys quickly grew up to become men, and they all went to college, another sacrifice made by Darlene and George.  The oldest child, Rob, became an English teacher at the junior high in their hometown.  Dan, the middle child became a special education teacher.  The youngest, Andy, will graduate, with honors, in the spring with a major in Political Science.  He will then go on to law school and become a lawyer.  Even though the boys are adults now, they still think of that Christmas when their family was struggling and they will still reply, to this day, that it was The Best Christmas Ever.  

The picture above is of my brothers and me.  (Left) Andy, (Center) Rob, & (Right) Dan

Post Script

As with any family, a lot has changed in the last sixteen years.  My dad was able to work for many years as a coal miner and never lost his job again.  He was finally able to retire in July 2015 after 44 years of being a coal miner.  My mom continues to make gifts for us each year and each gift she makes is truly a gift that comes from her heart.  She has been blessed with many gifts and she uses those gifts to bring joy to the people she loves.  

Rob was married in 2000 and has two grown stepdaughters.  He has been a wonderful father to his two girls and has given them a life that they would have never had had he not entered into their lives.  Sadly, we do not see Rob anymore.  He has chosen to live his life separated from us.  We all hope that one day he will come back and be a part of our family.  Until that day, we think of him and have fond memories of all the Christmases that we spent together as a family.  

Andy, who we now call Andrew, did indeed go to law school and he is a very talented and dedicated lawyer.  He met his wife, Amy, while they were both attending law school and they were married in 2004.  They have three children, Katie is 9, Jake is 6, and Tessa is 2.  The addition of these four people has made our family even better, and we have made and will continue to make many wonderful memories together.  

Of course, you all know me, Dan, the middle child.  I am still a special education teacher, and I also write and do photography for the magazine A Primitive Place & Country Journal magazine.  I met Jeff in 2002, and we will finally be married on September 17, 2016 after being together for 14 years, proving that love certainly is patient.  

When I look at how far our family has come in the last 16 years and think about all the good times and the bad times, the joy and the pain, the triumphs and the tragedies, there is one common thread that continues to bind us together, and that is love.  The love we share for each other is strong and real.  It has allowed us to overcome the bad times, the pain, and the tragedy.  It has made us appreciate the good times, the joy, and the triumphs a little more.  It has given us an ability to continue to move forward, always knowing that there is someone there to catch us when we fall.  It has reminded us that the love of family is a gift that God gives to each of us.  It is one of the many gifts that God has bestowed on us, and it is one that will sustain us throughout our lives because it is the memories of the good times, the sacrifices, and the thoughtfulness that we hold onto.  

Those memories remind us of the important things in life and remind us of the love that God has for all of us.  The love that God gives us will change our lives if we will just accept it and do our best to make the world a better place.  It is a love that will bring peace to this world and PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~

From my family to yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and pray that 2016 will be a year of unyielding peace for you and your entire family.  May there be peace on earth because PEACE MATTERS!

Merry Christmas!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

For as long as we can remember, we have all been dreaming of a white Christmas.  This feeling has been intensified by the popular song by Bing Crosby that we have grown up listening to.  Many of us have been experiencing unseasonable warm temperatures lately, making the chances of having the proverbial white Christmas very slim.  I have heard people talking about this and have even read posts that people have put on Facebook saying that the weather is not putting them in the Christmas mood.  We all find ourselves saying, “It will not feel like Christmas if there is no snow.”  

I have recently found myself thinking the same thing this year.  Then one morning on my way to school, I heard the song “White Christmas” and as I was driving and listening to the song, a thought occurred to me.  Do we really have to have snow on the ground in order to have a white Christmas?  I thought about the question for a moment and then decided that no, we did not need to have snow to have a white Christmas.  I started thinking about God and what He has called all of us to do during our time on this earth.  We all have a calling on our lives, and while each person’s calling may be different, we all, every single one of us, are called to make the world a better place and to help our fellowman.  

As I thought about this, I realized that when we fulfill our calling to make the world a better place and to help each other, we bring light to the world.  Then I thought to myself, “What color is the light?” and of course my answer was white.  In that moment, I realized that it is up to each of us whether we have a white Christmas or not.  We can choose to answer our calling and bring light to the world.  When we do, the world will be a better place and we will feel more positive about the world in which we live and the lives we are living. God’s love and His goodness is light and of course His light is the whitest of all, so if we have God’s love in our lives then we once again can have a white Christmas regardless of the weather.  

So, the next time you feel the urge to say that it will not seem like Christmas without snow, think of ways that you can bring light to the world.  Think of ways that you can spread the joy that God wants all of us to feel and think of ways that you can help your fellowman.  If you do that, then you most assuredly will have a white Christmas.  Spreading the light that God shines on all of us, seeing the world with positive eyes, and helping our fellowman will bring each of us peace and PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~

Living in Peace and Harmony

Christmas is time when we gather with our families and celebrate the season we look forward to all year long.  During the Christmas season, we try harder to find the time to spend with the people we love.  We set aside our differences, and we try our best to get along with each other so we can enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.  

There are many different kinds of families, and all of our families look different on the outside.  However, our families have one very important characteristic in common.  We love each other.  We all show our love for our families in different ways. How we choose to show our love for our families is not that important.  What is important is that we all know that we love each other, accept each other, and have each other’s best interest at heart.  

The holidays can be a stressful time for all of us, and sometimes that stress causes us to experience friction with people in our families.  We try hard to give everyone equal attention, but it seems that many times people feel slighted and feel that they did not get as much time as someone else.  When we feel like we are not getting what we need from someone, we often lash out at them.  When we do this the peace and harmony that we are supposed to feel at Christmas is overshadowed, and our gatherings become something that we dread instead of something that we look forward to.  

God has called all of us to accept each other.  Sure, there are things that others may do that irritate us, but we should always do our best to overlook one another’s faults.  Think about it like this.  We all have faults.  We all do and say things that we should not do or say, and God overlooks them and loves us anyway.  If God can do that for us, shouldn’t we do the same for the people we love?  Sometimes it is hard to do, but it can be done.  It can be done by letting go of the expectations that we all have.  We have to realize that the people we love are not perfect, but we have to accept them for their imperfections and love them anyway.  More times than not their behavior has nothing to do with us.  It has everything to do with how they feel about themselves.  If we can remember that, it will make it so much easier for us to overlook the little things that typically irritate us.  

The most important thing is that we all are able to be together and enjoy each others’ company.  We can do that even if we do not agree with each other 100 percent of the time.  When we choose to give people the benefit of the doubt, we have more peace in our lives.  When we refuse to believe that someone’s actions is a direct reflection on us, we can easily let things go.  When we accept people without trying to change them, it will be easier to get along with them.  Christmas is a time of joy and peace.  We all know that, and we all strive to make that happen.  Christmas should be a time that we enjoy gathering with our families.  It should not be something that we dread.  The only person we can control is ourselves, so if we go into a family gathering remembering that, it really will not matter what someone else does because we will still have peace.  Satan wants to destroy our peace all the time, but particularly at Christmas.  We all have to stand firm and be ready to fight off the urge to get angry or get our feelings hurt.  Living in peace in harmony is something we should strive to do every single day. 

When we have peace in our hearts and on our minds, we can withstand any irritation that may come our way, and when others see the peace we have, it will help them to have more peace in their lives.  Peace is the key to a happy family, and peace will help all of us enjoy each others’ company more than we ever have before.  So, when you gather with your family this year, have peace in your heart and on your mind, because PEACE MATTERS. 

~Dan~

Here are a few pictures of the people that I will be spending Christmas with this year.

Jeff

Peyton and Paycee

My parents, George and Darlene

Jeff's parents, Bob and Donna

My grandma, Ruth

My brother and sister-in-law, Andrew and Amy

My niece, Katie

My nephew, Jake

My niece, Tessa

Jeff's brother and sister-in-law, Greg and Stephanie and Jeff's nephew and niece, Gabe and Maura

Making the Good Outweigh the Bad

Christmas is such a special time for all of us.  We all have many fond memories of the Christmases of the past.  Although we may be stressed during the holiday season with the added pressures of shopping, baking, decorating, and 101 other important tasks, what remains in our memories when we reflect back on Christmases of the past is the wonderful time we shared with our family and friends.  As I was reflecting on the Christmases of my past, I realized that I, like everyone else, choose to remember the positive aspects of the season.  Then a thought occurred to me. If we can do that with Christmas, why can’t we do the same with all the other days of the year?  

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all could try a little harder to focus on the positive days in our lives and the positive experiences we have instead of allowing the negative days and negative experiences to drag us down?  Of course, we do learn from the difficult times in our lives.  We all go through valleys in life, but once we are through the valley, it is over.  We should never forget the lessons we learned, and we should never forget how thankful we are that the bad times are over, but we all need to try to live with a more positive outlook and try to focus on the positive side of our past.  After all, we all have positive memories to hold on to.  

So, let’s all try to do this.  Let’s remember the lessons we learned from the valleys of life.  Let’s continue to share with others what we learned in those valleys, but let’s not live in the negative past.  Really we should all live in the present more.  The present is a gift that we often take for granted.  Let’s choose to remember the good times in our lives.  Let’s choose to see the positive side of life, and let’s spend less time focusing on the negative.  

We all have the power to make the world a better place.  It is a process that starts within each of our hearts, and when we share that with others, it will spread like wildfire.  Maybe if we can all do that more, the positive side of this world will begin to outweigh the negative side more and more. 

Focusing on the positive aspects of life, doing good for others, and trying to make the world a better place will bring more peace to the world and PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~

When Our Homes Reflect the Spirit of Christmas

Today I am sharing a few more pictures of our house decorated for Christmas.  I am posting pictures of the keeping room, which is a little sitting area we have off of our kitchen.  Jeff, Peyton, Paycee, and I spend most of our time in this area.  I am also sharing some pictures of the basement.  The basement is still a work in progress.  I am trying to make it have more of an early feel similar to the upstairs.  I am not there yet, but it is a fun process.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Also, if you have not read the post I did to honor Parker, please read it.  It is called “The Gift of Life” and it will appear below this post if you continue to scroll down.  I am hopeful that as many people who can will donate to their local animal shelters, so I would really appreciate it if you would read it and share it with anyone you know who has a love of animals.

As you prepare for the upcoming Christmas Season, remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas. If we do that, we will all have a little more peace, and PEACE MATTERS!  

~Dan~

The Gift of Life

On Thursday, December 7, 2006 Jeff and I became parents.  We did not become parents in the traditional way, but we became parents nonetheless.  We became parents to a sweet little girl, who we named Parker McKenzie Weaver-White.  Parker was a gray Miniature Schnauzer who would change our lives.  In the months leading up to us adopting Parker, Jeff and I had been seriously contemplating becoming parents in the traditional way.  We had been together for four years.  At the time that we were discussing our future as parents, I was 34 and Jeff was 32.  We felt as if we were the right age to have children.  We were secure in our relationship.  We had good jobs with no fear of losing them and we had love.  We knew that there were children who could benefit from the environment that we could provide for them, but the more we talked about it the more it just did not seem right for us.  We knew we had love to give, but we really did not want to make the lifelong commitment that comes with raising a child. So, we decided that having children was not right for us.  

I have to say that once we decided that children were not in our future, I was relieved, but I was sad at the same time.  I felt there had to be a way that we could share the love that we knew we possessed, but I really could not figure out what we should do.  The morning that the idea of Parker was born, I was driving to school.  I came to a stoplight, and as I was sitting there these words enter my mind as clearly as anything I had ever heard.  The words were, “You may not be able to have children, but you can have dogs.”  At the time, I thought it was my own idea and my own thoughts echoing in my head, but as the years have gone by and I have developed a deeper appreciation and knowledge in the ways that God works in our lives, I know now that the voice I heard that morning was the voice of God telling me what to do.  

When I got to school, I immediately called Jeff.  This was in the days before texting, and told him that we needed to get a dog.  Jeff had wanted a dog for a long time, and I had given him every excuse under the sun why we should not have a dog.  So, when he heard me say that we should get a dog, he sprung into action to make it happen.  I think in some ways, he was afraid I would change my mind.  Jeff had always wanted a Miniature Schnauzer, so he started looking in the classifieds for someone who was selling them.  It did not take him long to connect with a lady who had two Miniature Schnauzers left from a litter that her dog had recently had.  They were twelve weeks old, which is fairly old for a puppy not to have been adopted.  

In the days leading up to us going to look at the dogs, Jeff and I began discussing names.  We knew that we would get a girl, so we were talking about all sorts of girl names.  We talked about naming our little girl Doris, after Doris Day.  We talked about naming her Harper, after the show Mama’s Family, but nothing seemed right.  I was in the shower thinking about what we should name our little girl, when this name came to be as clearly as the message that we should get a dog in the first place had come to me.  The name was Parker McKenzie, Parker after Sarah Jessica Parker and McKenzie, which was the last name of the family in the movie Peyton Place.  Our little girl would have the initials P.M.  She would eventually have a brother and sister with the same P.M. initials, and now I am telling you this story from a blog called Peace Matters, which also has the initials P.M.  I am sure you get the connection. 

I remember the night we went to look at the dogs.  We stopped at Petco on the way and bought a leash and a collar.  I was very apprehensive to say the least.  I was not sure at all that we were doing the right thing.  When we pulled up to the house, an older woman named Ruthie greeted us at the door.  She was a rough character who only removed the oxygen she was connected to long enough to smoke a cigarette.  Ruthie asked us some preliminary questions about our experiences with dogs, all of which I am assuming we answered correctly.  She then said, “Well, I have to tell you something about Miniature Schnauzers.  They will look straight into her eyes, and I believe when they do, they can see clear through to your soul.”  

She then asked us if we were ready to see the dogs.  We both said yes, and I was thinking to myself, “I hope we are doing the right thing.  I hope we are doing the right thing.”  When Ruthie opened the door to the room where the dogs were kept, these two identical dogs rushed out of the room.  They were wild as they could be.  They were running and playing with each other and getting into everything.  This only encouraged the thought that kept running through my mind, “I hope we are doing the right thing.  I hope we are doing the right thing.”  To be honest, I was ready to go home, but I looked at Jeff and could see how excited he was, so I remained quiet.  Jeff looked at me and said, “Which one do you want?” like the decision had already been made.  I looked at the dogs that really did look just alike except one was chubbier than the other one.  I said, “Well, I do not want a fat dog, so let’s take the skinny one.”  We told Ruthie which one were wanted, we paid for her and made our way to the car.  Jeff drove and I held the puppy in my lap.  The whole time thinking that I knew I was going to fall in love with this little girl and I knew that the day would come that I would have to give her up.  I looked at our new bundle of joy and said, “Your name is Parker and we are your new daddies.”  

Parker was the perfect little girl.  She was patient, she was loving, and she wanted to please us.  She personified the word peace from the get go.  And of course, I was right, I fell head over heals in love with her, but as much as I loved her, Jeff loved her even more, and she loved him with the same enthusiasm as he loved her.  They were inseparable. 

I truly do not believe there is any coincidence that the word dog is God spelled backwards.  I believe that the love that a dog gives to us is the closest thing to God’s love that we can have on this earth.  Dogs love us unconditionally.  They do not judge us.  They do not love us because of who we are, what we have, or what we look like.  They love us in spite of our faults.  They truly forgive and forget the wrongs that we do, and they want to be with us all the time.  God feels exactly the same way about every single human on this earth.  It is important that you never forget that. Living with Parker and watching her grow and become such a huge part of our lives was truly life changing.  She literally gave our lives meaning, and in many ways she gave us the gift of life.  

Fast forward 8 ½ years later and we arrive at March 18, 2015, the last day of Parker’s life.  I have written about the last day of her life in a separate post that can be read under the tab Parker’s Legacy, so I will not go into many of the details here.  However, there are some highlights that I would like to mention.  When we knew that Parker was not going to make it and we made the decision to take her to the doctor, we knew that her life was about to come to an end.  We knew that when we returned home, she would not be with us.  

Jeff drove us to the vet’s office, and Parker once again sat in my lap just as she had on her first car ride with us.  I remember looking at her and wondering why the time had gone so quickly.  I was reminded of how she was as a puppy and what it had been like to be her daddy for the last 8 ½ years.  Parker had been there for us in the good times and in the bad.  She had been a constant and loyal companion.  She had brought us joy when we needed it the most, and she had given us a place to direct all the love we felt we had. She was more than willing to accept it, and always gave us more love in return than we had ever given her.  

After we arrived at the vet’s office and talked to the doctor and she confirmed that Parker’s time was coming to an end, I found myself repeating a familiar phrase.  I kept saying, “I hope we are doing the right thing.  I hope we are doing the right thing.”  Even in Parker’s final hour, she was showing us what we needed to do.  Jeff’s mom always said that Parker was a lady.  I have to agree with her.  Parker was a lady, and a lady always knows when to leave.  Parker led us through her final moments with the grace and courage that she had always shown in her short life.

Parker was peace, and her passing was one of the most peaceful and beautiful things that I believe I have ever experienced and, I am so thankful that I was able to be apart of it.  I am thankful for so much.  I am thankful that Parker was brought into our lives, and I am thankful that I was blessed enough to receive her love.  I am thankful that she saw us through the valley that we experienced, and I am thankful that she was there to climb out of it with us.  December 7th will always be a special day to us.  It was not the day Parker was born into this world, but it was the day that Parker came into our world. 

So to commemorate this special day, Jeff and I have decided to honor Parker’s memory by making a donation to our local animal shelter in the amount of an adoption fee. We would like the shelter to identify a family they believe will make an excellent home for a pet but that does not really have the money for the adoption fee.   We would very much like to encourage you to do something to support animals in your area.  You can donate money or supplies to your local animal shelter.  You can pay for the adoption of a pet for a family who cannot afford it.  You can adopt a pet yourself, or you can simply donate your time.  No charitable act is too small.  We will be making our donation in memory of Parker McKenzie Weaver-White.  If you choose to make a donation, I encourage you to do it in the memory of a pet that you loved, and if you do not have a pet to be memorialized, please feel free to use Parker’s name.  That would make Jeff and me both very happy.  When we do something to help a dog, it is just like helping a dog that we love or have loved.  Taking care of each other and the creatures that God has placed on this earth to bring us love and comfort is what we are all called to do.  It will make a difference in so many lives, and it will ultimately bring us all peace and PEACE MATTERS.   

~Dan~ 

What Are You Going to Do with What You Have Been Given? Part 2

It is impossible to navigate our way through this life without encountering difficult situations and roadblocks.  God has promised us peace, but He did not guarantee that the road to peace would not have a few potholes.  Sometimes the path is bumpy and makes turns that scare us and shake our faith.  God uses these potholes to build our faith and draw us closer to Him.  When we profess to believe in God and make the statement that we want to follow Him, the world begins to take notice of us.  They are watching us even if we are unaware of it.  They are looking to us to be examples of how to deal with the difficulties and strife that life brings our way.  We are told not to conform to this world, but to be transformed.  God wants us to be an example to the rest of the world.  He wants others to see what He has done in our lives and desire the same blessings for their lives.  

One way we can show people the influence of God in our lives is by how we handle our challenges.  When we cling to God and have faith that He will direct our steps, we can face the challenges with a different spirit.  His love and peace and our faith in His love and peace can ease our worry and doubt, which makes facing challenges easier.  We have to allow God to carry the worry and doubt for us.  He is far more capable of doing that than we are.  Now, I am not saying that we will not have worry and doubt in our lives, especially when we are facing a challenge, but it can be greatly reduced.  When we have faith that God will see us through and when we let God know how we feel and let Him guide our path, we will see challenges differently.  We should talk to God and let Him talk to us all the time in the good times and in the bad times.  If we spend the good times talking to God and letting him talk back to us, it will become a habit. Then when we face difficult times, we will naturally talk to God and let Him talk to us. If we only talk to God during the difficult times, and not during the good times, we may not be in the habit of listening for Him during the challenges that we face.  

Like I said before, the world is watching us, especially the skeptics.  They want to see how we handle the challenges in our lives.  If they see us face the challenges head on with peace in our hearts, they will begin to realize that our relationship with God is real.  They will begin to see that God is love and that He wants to comfort us and renew our hope.  They will see that what we have is an amazing gift, and they will begin to want the same things for their own lives.  So, the next time your path gets bumping, do not fret.  Lean on God, talk to Him, and let Him talk back.  Thank him for the challenge and rest in his promise of peace.  

We are supposed to pray without ceasing.  He wants us to do that in the good times and the bad times.  He wants us to be an example to the world of what His love can do for everyone.  Turn your worries over to God and be thankful for what you have been given.  Stand up straight and proud and continue moving forward.  Let God be your guide.  After all, He is in front of you, beside you, behind you, and in you.  He will sustain your peace and PEACE MATTERS. 

~Dan~

Christmas: When Our Homes Reflect the Warm Glow That We Feel in Our Hearts

Christmas has always been a very special time for me, and I know I am not alone in my admiration of the season.  It seems that all of us find a little more time to be at peace during the Christmas season.  We try harder to see the good in the world, and we strive to be at our best and do for others.  At Christmas, our homes have a warm glow from all of the decorations that we display each year.  Whenever we get our decorations out, our minds are flooded with memories of the people who purchased them or made them for us.  We can quickly recall when we first saw each decoration, and we can easily remember each Christmas that we used the item.  The peace and joy we get from each decoration that we display is so strong that we continue to add to our collection, and our homes pay homage to the Christmases of the past.  

I, like so many others, have many Christmas decorations that are near and dear to my heart.  My decorating style has changed a lot over the years, and my Christmas decorating has evolved over the years as well.  I strive for a simpler look now, and I try to use my Christmas decorations as accents to all of the other collections that I display in our home.  Jeff and I have been decorating off and on for a couple of weeks now, and while I still have a few more things that I would like to do, I thought today would be a good time to show all of you what we have done so far.  Today, I will be showing you the decorations in the living room, office, and dining room.  I really like how everything has turned out, and I hope you do too.  

As you decorate your homes this Christmas season, I hope that you will be warmed by all the fond memories that each decoration evokes in you.  I hope that you will be reminded of the Christmases that have already past, and I hope you will look forward to the Christmases yet to come.  Most of all, I hope you will focus on the current Christmas season and do your best to make this season one of the best that you have ever had.  

The spirit of Christmas that lives in all of our hearts is something that we should allow to come to the surface everyday.  We do not have to wait until December 25th to experience the spirit of Christmas.  It can help bring us peace and joy throughout the year.  Keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in our hearts, no matter the season, will bring all of us peace and PEACE MATTERS. 

~Dan~

Keeping the Spirit of Christmas Alive Throughout the Year

Most of us would say that Christmas is our favorite holiday.  It has often been said that Christmas is for children, and while that is true, it is also for adults.  Even as adults we anxiously look forward to the arrival of Christmas.  We find ourselves becoming more and more excited as the day draws near and the decorations begin to appear.  It is that one time of the year when it seems people can lay aside their differences and live harmoniously with each other.  During the Christmas season the air seems fresher, our demeanor seems more optimistic, and we want to do good for our fellowman.  During Christmas, we speak of peace more than any other time of the year.  We become more generous, and we want to make our lives and the lives of others a little better.  You cannot listen to a Christmas song without hearing the words believe, peace, hope, love, and joy.  We hear these words all year long, but they seem to have a special meaning at Christmas.  

As Christmas approaches, we find ourselves going out of our way to do nice things for people.  We tend to smile more, and we feel a warm glow inside.  Even though the preparations for Christmas can be stressful, we find ourselves rising above them and doing them with joy in our hearts.  We reflect on the meaning of Christmas, and in general we try to be better people.  Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  

However, why do we think that the feeling of Christmas has to be relegated to one day during the year?  Why do we rob ourselves of that feeling for all the other 364 days?  Why can’t every day be Christmas in our hearts?  We celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Jesus.  There are so many lessons that we can learn from the story of Jesus’ birth.  We can learn to be patient and to believe in something that is miraculous.  We can learn to be generous, hopeful, and obedient.  Jesus is, after all, the gift of peace that has been given to the entire world.  It is a peace that can last all year if we allow it to.  With God and His goodness, every day can be and should be Christmas.  The miracle of Christmas can be evident in our lives every single day.  

We do not have to wait until December 25th to be at peace.  We do not have to wait until Christmas to do for our fellowman and put the needs of others ahead of our own.  We often hear stories of people doing wonderful things for others during Christmas.  We collect money for the needy, we think about those who are less fortunate than we are, and we are encouraged to help them.  We can do that all year long.  We do not have to wait to be generous.  A generous heart is a peaceful heart, and when we do for others we do just as much good for ourselves as we do for them.  So, I ask you, what is wrong with walking around with a smile on your face, joy in your heart, and peace on your mind all year long?  

The answer is absolutely nothing.  Christmas may be one day, but it can be a way of life.  It should be our goal to make it a way of life.  We can feel that joyous feeling all year, and that is what God wants for our lives.  He wants us to be at peace, to have hope and faith, and to believe in something far bigger than ourselves.  So, how can we do that?  We can do it by living our lives the way God intends us to.  We can do it by having faith that God is in control and letting Him be in control.  We can do it by allowing other people to live their lives and not trying to control them.  We can do it by looking for opportunities to help others and going out of our way to perform random acts of kindness for people.  We can do it by allowing God’s peace to fill our hearts and truly believing that He can do that for us and all the other people in the world.  We have often said, “I really need to do this; after all, it is Christmas.”  Maybe we should be saying, “I really need to do this; after all, it is another day that God has given me.”  

As Christmas approaches and we begin to feel ourselves getting that Christmas glow, let’s say to ourselves that we are going to make this feeling last all year.  But let’s not just say it . . . let’s do it!  Let’s try to see the world through our Christmas eyes instead of our everyday eyes.  Let’s try to fill the world with peace, faith, hope, and love every day, and let’s go out of way to be good to the people we love and even the people we do not know.  If we can truly do that, then every day can be the most wonderful time of the year, and the world can be a more peaceful place, because PEACE MATTERS. 

~Dan~

A Thankful Heart: A Thanksgiving Message

As we all busily prepare for Thanksgiving each year, we find ourselves using words like thankful and grateful.  They seem to flow out of our mouths with such ease that it seems that we use them every single day.  There is something about preparing the biggest meal of the year and gathering with our friends and families that puts the words thankful and grateful at the forefront of our minds.  When we gather together on Thanksgiving many of us relay to others all of the blessings that we have in our lives.  We go around the table and each person recites his list of things for which he is thankful.  In school, we encourage our students to tell us what they are thankful for, and in our churches we sing songs and give testimonials about all of the blessings that we have received from God.  We seem to think that it would not be Thanksgiving if we did not go through this yearly ritual.  

Being thankful on Thanksgiving is a hugely important thing to do, but often once the turkey is eaten, the pumpkin pie has been sliced, and the dishes are washed, we go back to not being as thankful as we know we should be.  It is not that we do not have anything to be thankful for, but the ordinariness of our lives and the negative things of the world begin to quickly weigh as down again, and we find ourselves focusing more on the negative things associated with this life than the positive things. 

Having a thankful heart and being grateful for all that we have should not be something that we do once or twice a year.  It should be a way of life for all of us.  When we have a grateful heart we have more peace in our lives.  When we have a grateful heart we have less negativity in our lives, and we see events and situations in a different light.  When we live our lives with a thankful heart, we feel lighter and happier.  We feel that life does have meaning and that we can overcome all of the obstacles that come our way.  

I know that in my own life there have been times when it has been a struggle for me to think of something that I am grateful for, but looking back on the valleys of my life now, I can see that there certainly were many things to be grateful for.  If the valleys of life do nothing more for us, they teach us just how much we have to be thankful for.  Of course the valleys of life teach as far more than that.  They teach us to have faith, to be strong, and to lean on God.  They show us that God is still in the miracle- making, prayer-answering business, and soon we realize that had we not walked through the valley we would not have all the blessings that we now have.  

I, like so many people, become very reflective during this time of year, and I have increasingly found myself being thankful for the valleys in my life.  When we gather on Thanksgiving, we find ourselves being thankful for the same things year after year.  The things that we list are so very important, and they certainly are blessings from God that we should be thankful for, but maybe we should try something a little different this year.  

Maybe in addition to reciting our usual list of things for which we are thankful, we should find ourselves reflecting more on the things that we did not think were blessings when they first occurred.  Maybe we should say that we are thankful for the valleys and turbulent times in our lives.  Maybe we should say that we are thankful for the pain that we endured this year be it physical, mental, or emotional.  Maybe we should list the times we have been disheartened or depressed as a blessing that happened to us this year.  I believe that if we all would do this, we would see just how far we have come because of those trials.  I believe we would see how much God was with us during those times, and I believe that other people will begin to see their own struggles in a very different way.  When they see that we can actually be thankful for the valleys in our own lives, they will begin to see the valleys of their lives differently.  

We have all been called to bring light to the world.  We have all been called to show what miracles God is capable of doing, and sharing our struggles and being truly thankful for them is one of the many ways that we can answer our calling.  Being thankful for the struggles in this life and realizing that with God’s help we can overcome those struggles and be better, stronger people because of them will help all of us live everyday with a grateful heart.  We will find ourselves sharing what we are grateful for, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day that we live.  Being grateful and truly living with an attitude of thankfulness will lead to peace and PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~

I would like to thank all of you for your support and encouraging words that you have given me since beginning this blog.  When I think of all the blessings that I have to be thankful for, each of you is among that list.  I hope that this Thanksgiving is filled with love of family and friends, hope for the coming year, and most of all peace because PEACE MATTERS. <3 

Dan, Jeff, Peyton, & Paycee

A Bedroom Facelift

As many of you know, our house is for sale, and we believe that it will sell in God’s timing.  While we are waiting for the house to sell, we are still living in our house and using it like we always have.  I, like all decorators, like to improve my house when I can.  Anyone who has a passion for decorating will say that his or her house is never finished.  We are constantly tweaking and changing things.  

Recently Jeff and I decided to replace some of the carpeting in our house.  We have lived here a little over seven years, and carpet tends to start wearing out and looking bad in that amount of time.  We replaced the carpet on the stairs going to the basement, the upstairs guest bedroom, and the master bedroom.  I would have loved to put hardwood floor in the master bedroom, but since the house is for sale, we decided that would not be a wise investment.  While we were replacing the carpet in the master bedroom, I decided to paint the trim in that room.  The previous trim was a grayish blue color.  I never really liked the trim color as much as I thought I would, but I thought I should live with it for a while.  

When the carpet came up, I decided it was time to change the trim color.  The color I chose is called backdrop.  It is a Sherwin Williams paint color, and I really like it.  I first saw this paint color when I photographed a home last year for the 2015 winter/holiday issue of A Primitive Place & Country Journal magazine.  If you have that issue, the house I am referring to is Louie and Georgia Leinberger’s home.  The title of the article is “Christmas in the Land of Lincoln.”  When I walked into Louie and Georgia’s home, I was immediately struck by the trim color.  I told Georgia that I have been looking for a good gray color to paint some trim in our house for years.  Georgia gave me the paint sample that she used, so this trim color will always be called Leinberger gray to me.  

After we painted and had the carpet installed we decided to rearrange the room.  We placed the bed in front of the windows.  I really did not think that I would like it, but I did.  It makes the room feel bigger and cozier at the same time.  I was concerned that the bed in front of the windows would detract from their beauty, but I was wrong.  So today, I am sharing some pictures of our newly tweaked master bedroom.  I really like how it turned out, and since the bedroom has been tweaked, there seems to be a deeper since of peace in the room, and I am even sleeping better than I have in a long time.  

One thing that God wants us to do with our lives is to continue to improve them.  He has given all of us particular interests and hobbies that help to improve our lives and fill our hearts with joy.  Decorating is one of the interests that fills my heart with joy.  It may seem strange that we are continuing to invest in and improve our house while it is for sale, but I feel this is God’s way of keeping me occupied and satisfied while we wait.  I know that our house will sell in God’s perfecting timing.  That may be next month, next year, or it may be five years down the road.

The old me would have driven myself crazy with questions and would have become very discouraged by this point, but God has helped me see that we all have to be patient and wait for things to come our way.  If we received everything we wanted in an instant, we would not appreciate the gifts that we receive, and we would not learn the lessons that we are meant to learn during the time of waiting.  Being patient, allowing God to be in control, having faith, and surrendering to His will will bring all of us peace and PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~

What Are You Going to Do with What You Have Been Given?

Every human on the earth has been given a gift from God.  Some of us are aware of our gifts, but many of us are not.  People see gifts as an ability to do something extraordinary or an extreme talent, but that is not always the case.  We think that people who can play an instrument, sing, give inspiring speeches, draw, or paint have been blessed with a gift and that the rest of the population has been left out.  Humans see gifts as something that can only be seen by the eye or heard by the ear.  

However, God views gifts in a very different way.  Many of the gifts that He has given people cannot be seen or heard.  The gift of talking to people, the gift of love, compassion, empathy, generosity, prayer, and influence are some of the most important gifts that people can be given.  Our job is to discover these gifts and use them to serve our fellow man.  We should use these gifts to help people who are less fortunate than we are.  In doing so, we are doing a great service to God, and we are honoring Him and the gifts that He has given to us.  Many of us feel like we have nothing to offer the world or God.  We feel like all we can do is live our lives and try our best to be the best person we can be.  While that is a very important goal and something that we should all aspire to, we should also realize that we have been given a gift that we can use to help others.  

We have all been placed on this earth for a purpose.  God has a grand plan, and the plan has been in motion for centuries.  We were placed in this moment of time for a reason.  We were not just haphazardly placed here without any thought.  God placed us here to fulfill His purpose and to make the world a better place.  We are supposed to help other people.  Life on earth can often be difficult, and we need help in navigating it.  While God should be and is our ultimate guide, He has placed people in our lives to guide us along the way too.  We all have people who we depend on and turn to when things get difficult.  We often do not realize that God has placed those people in our lives for a reason.  While we can acknowledge that those people exist in our lives, we often find it difficult to realize that we have been placed in people’s lives to help them too.  It is not that God is too busy or not interested in helping people, but He wants to use us to help others. 

 Many people can accept help from other people, but they have trouble having faith that God can help them.  When they do accept help from the people in their lives, they are accepting help from God.  Hopefully, in time they will realize that, and their relationships with God will be strengthened.  So, as you have probably figured out by now, we have all been given many jobs to do on this earth.  We need to discover what our purpose is and what gifts we have been given and use those to help others.  When we help others, we make God proud.  We not only make someone else’s life better, but we make our own lives better too.  

I cannot express enough how much God wants us to help others and how much He wants us to discover the gifts that He has given us.  Sometimes we may use these gifts and be completely unaware of it.  Not knowing what our gift is does not keep us from using it and blessing other people with it.  Many times the gift we have is something that we always known we possessed; we just never thought of it as a gift.  God can and will reveal our gift to us when we ask Him to.  

The most important thing to remember is that we have all been given gifts to use as armor to help others and ourselves.  We have a purpose, and we are important to God and countless others.  When we realize that, it will bring us peace, and PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~ 

A Kentucky Homespun Christmas: A Look Back

Jeff and I are back from the A Kentucky Homespun Christmas Folk Art and Antique show in Cave City, Kentucky, and the show was a huge success.  I really enjoyed every minute of it.  My parents traveled with us, and it was so nice to be with them and for them to see a side of me that they rarely get to see.  The show could not have been more perfect.  Stacee Droit and Wilma Gilbert did a wonderful job organizing everything.  Whatever we needed was there for us, and if we needed something extra all we had to do was ask.  Setting up our booth went very smoothly.  My mom, dad, and Jeff were an enormous help.  We started setting up at 8:00 a.m. and we were finished by 12:00 p.m., which was record time! 

There was a large crowd on Friday night, and it was so nice to see so many familiar faces.  I met people who I knew through Facebook, and many of the homeowners of homes that I have photographed for the magazine A Primitive Place & Country Journal were there as well.  It seemed that everywhere I turned, there was someone I knew.  On the second day of the show there was another good crowd, and it was nice to connect with even more primitive lovers.  

Overall the show was an enormous success.  Did I sell everything? No.  Did I make a bunch of money? No. However, I accomplished my goal, and I did the show and had a booth full of completely handmade items.  It was an enormous success because had someone told me two years ago or even a year ago that I would ever make anything again or ever be able to participate in a show like this, I would have thought he was crazy.  I would have said there was no way that that would be possible, but here I am.  That is the thing about God that we all need to remember.  He can restore what we thought was lost.  He can make a way where there seems to be no way, and He can give us the strength to endure the struggles of this life so that we can appreciate when the sun begins to shine on our faces once again a little bit more than we did before.  It is the valleys of life that make us appreciate the good times.  It is the dark days that make us appreciate the light.  It is the hopelessness that makes us realize how important hope is, and it is the lack of peace that makes us know just how much PEACE MATTERS.  

~Dan~

A Kentucky Homespun Christmas: Packed and Ready

We are all packed and ready to make our way to Cave City, Kentucky tomorrow to participate in  A Kentucky Homespun Christmas Folk Art & Antiques show at the convention center.  I am so excited about being able to be a part of this show.  I am nervous and have been constantly trying not to forget something.  I know it will be a wonderful show, and I hope that if you live close by that you will stop by our booth and introduce yourself.  

As I was preparing for the show yesterday God reminded me that when we are overwhelmed and stressed about the things that we need to get done, we should take a moment and look back on all we have already accomplished.  This certainly helped me yesterday.  Looking back and realizing how far we have truly come will bring us peace and Peace Matters.  

~Dan~