A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....11-23-04....Let the Holidays Begin!

Billie

[Billie]

Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us again! This weekend begins the busiest time of the year for most of us - from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. Two years ago, about this time, we asked for help from our readers in guest-writing a holiday thread, and your response warmed our hearts; you were such a big help to us, and got us through a very busy time with fun, interesting, and unique holiday threads.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

T wo days til' Thanksgiving....

Still time to try some great recipes for the big dinner. Two years ago, we featured FR's own chef, carlo3b, the day before Thanksgiving, and he was gracious enough to share some of his favorite holiday foods, including:

"Old Fashion New England Roasted Turkey"
(Orange-Maple Marinated)

"Turkey Stuffing a la Crockpot"

"Holiday Golden Apples and Yams"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Carlo3b - Dad, Chef, Author"

In the above link to the thread are many more recipes sprinkled throughout the comments. You might ask Temple Owl and his wife about the "Holiday Golden Apples and Yams" - they couldn't wait to try them!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and remember our men and women in uniform who are risking their lives so that we will always have our freedom to be thankful for.

"To God who gives our daily bread
A thankful song we raise,
And pray that he who sends us food
May fill our hearts with praise."

~ Thomas Tallie (1505 - 1585) ~

Countdown to Christmas

Thirty-two days til' Christmas.

Once again, if any of you would like to write an entire holiday post, or help in any way, our December schedule has not yet been filled, and we welcome your input. Below are links to all of our Holiday Threads. With thanks to our guest-writers in 2002, the days between Thanksgiving and the New Year were filled with the spirit of Christmas and love.

December 2002
Gingerbread House Contest
(FreeTheHostages/Billie)

Holiday Top Ten List Contest
(FreeTheHostages/Billie)

What Christmas Means to Me
(WVNan, JustAmy, Pippin, Diver Dave, Aquamarine, ST.LOUIE1 /Billie)

Places in the Heart
(Molly Pitcher/Daisyscarlett)

Christmas Pets
(Billie)

Profile of IssaquahKing
(Libertina/Dansangel)

Christmas Music
(Aquamarine and Daisyscarlett)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas
(Daisyscarlett)

Merry Christmas
(Daisyscarlett)


December 2003
Holiday Contest Rumsfeld Doll
(FreeTheHostages)

Name that Freeper Santa!
(Billie)

Oh Christmas Tree
(Billie)

A Bracebridge Christmas
(Mama_Bear)

Shop 'til you drop!
(Billie)

A Christmas Contest (Play Santa)
(FreeTheHostages)

Finest's Christmas Music
(Aquamarine)

Let Us Rejoice
(Billie)

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 11-22-04 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Click on the photo to view the album. To
submit your photo, please contact dansangel or .45Man
at
danbh59@yahoo.com
and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

CLICK

[Billie]

[Billie]

Good morning! I'm sorry to be so late getting today's thread up - I had *MAJOR* problems posting, but FINALLY we're here - door's open, coffee's on!

[dutchess]

Wow. What a jam packed thread! Just beautiful billie! Let the holidays begin! Have a great day! ((((billie))))

[dutchess]

P.S. What a sweet sweet pledge!

[The Mayor]

November 23, 2004

"Just As I Am"

Read: John 6:35-40

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. —John 6:37

Bible In One Year: Ezekiel 20-21; James 5

---

Charlotte Elliott learned an important lesson about Jesus one sleepless night in 1834. She was an invalid, so when her family held a bazaar in Brighton, England, to raise money to build a school, she could only watch from afar.

That night she was overwhelmed by her helplessness and could not sleep. But her sadness turned to joy when she realized that God accepted her just as she was.

Her experience inspired these well-loved words: "Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!" When she published the poem in The Invalid's Hymn Book, she included with it John 6:37.

Jesus always accepts people as they are. In John 6, the people had come from miles around to hear Jesus. When the crowd became hungry, He miraculously fed them with a boy's unselfish gift of five loaves and two fish. Then the Lord offered Himself as "the bread of life," promising that He would not turn away anyone who came to Him.

It's still true today. No one who comes to Jesus will be turned away. Come to Him with all your sin. He'll accept you just as you are. —Dave Egner

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come! —Elliott

No one is too good or too bad to be saved.

[The Mayor]

I still love this one..

[Dubya]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERY ONE. Back later.
Dub

[Billie]

Thanks, sweet sistah! Had to finish it this morning, and started trying to post it at 8 AM!!! You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to post this one - every time I previewed it, the tables were turned off in a different place! Haven't had those problems in ages, but I just couldn't find the bad command! Finally, the last time I forgot to include the topper, but it previewed right, so I just left it off!

[Billie]

P.S. What a sweet sweet pledge!

I think I made that pledge for the Music thread earlier this summer.

[The Mayor]

It looks great!

[Diver Dave]

Mornin' Billie. I was beginning to wonder if the turkey plucking you were engaged in had taken it's toll.

Glad to see you made it, turkey feathers and all.

Looks like we're gonna be busy re-visiting all those old thread. Pretty presentation to get into the holiday spirit. Time to throw out the calorie counters - It's Christmas time.

BTW, I started putting up my outdoor lights over the weekend. I grumble less doing it in the sunshine than I do in the rain.

[Billie]

I still love this one..

It's 'you'. :) That was a fun thread. :)

[lonestar]

This will keep us busy for a while. Love it!

[Billie]

Good morning, Dubya. Thanks for the good wishes. :)

[Billie]

It looks great!

Thank you. It is very frustrating to see it messed up - once the poinsettia background went all the way through the bottom links - photo album, calendar, etc. Hard to read the text over all those red poinsettias! LOL!

[Billie]

Mornin' Billie. I was beginning to wonder if the turkey plucking you were engaged in had taken it's toll.

LOL! Morning, Dave.

Saw your newest Logan pic on yesterday's thread. So cute!

Already putting up your outside lights?! You're an early bird - though we usually start right after Thanksgiving with our decorating. :)

[dansangel]

Sorry to hear you had so many problems this morning (((((((Billie)))))))

You managed to pull it off with grace and aplomb just the same!

Beautiful thread, although it makes my palms sweaty to think about Christmas coming so soon.....eeeeek!

[Billie]

This will keep us busy for a while. Love it!

Morning, lonestar! Good to see you today! I'm sorta thinking maybe I shouldn't have posted ALL those links to past Christmas threads. Might need to rerun one or two next month if we get in a bind. :)

[Diver Dave]

Mornin' Mr. Mayor. "Just As I Am"

Powerful message in that song, Russ. He received me just as I was, a mere lad of five when I raise my hand during the invitation prayer so many years ago.

Now with the holidays approaching, I'm reminded of thoughts of childhood.

In my mind, I had thought of getting a big box, wrapping it with Christmas wrap and ribbon with a tag that said, "To Jesus" and placing it under the tree. I couldn't figure out how to climb inside the box after getting it all wrapped and sealed.

Nonetheless, He accepted me without the fancy decorations - Just as I was.

[The Mayor]

He accepted me without the fancy decorations - Just as I was.

Amen!!