Hold your hat here comes 2011! We’re seeing the year out with a cold freeze. This is the last column for the year, I’ve pieced my psychedelic quilt together, and I’m putting the decorations away for another year of hibernation. I noticed last night that my gate lights were out on one side. I guess the cows were trying to tell me it was time. I don’t eat their grass; they should leave my lights alone. I’m not sure how it all worked out, but I’m having a very restful break. I just can’t believe that the year is gone. I suppose I should make a few resolutions, but as I told Chad today, there just isn’t any sense to resolving something if you know you intend to break it. For all you resolutions people; have at it! I for one am resolving not to resolve.

I watched a really neat program about the star of Bethlehem. The presenter has a website called Beth-lehemstar.com I think. He was a Christian lawyer who had delved into the astronomy, not astrology of the stars to determine if a star could have been brighter and could it have appeared to stop or stand still around the time of Christ’s birth. The program was very thought provoking, and I for one, will go to his site and probe a little deeper. I am never surprised when things in the Bible are proven true, but I love having that confirmation. I think they call that the Thomas syndrome. God is incredibly awesome!

Church was a little empty this week. Mike and Debbie Phelan had his son Mike and his wife Monique in for the weekend. Barry preached a great sermon even if there were only a few people there. I was overjoyed to see Bonnie in service. Her daughter Melissa stayed with Junior so that she could attend church. Bonnie said that being with fellow believers was refreshing. We spent a little time talking about the importance of staying in church. I don’t know what I would do without church. Judging by the emptiness of our surrounding churches, not everyone feels that way. I hear Shiloh is doing well, and their attendance is increasing. I’m very glad to hear that. So many of our students have no clue where the Bible and Christianity are concerned. It wasn't that long ago that every child knew the basic stories of the Bible, but not anymore. Our Christian heritage is fading away into oblivion. My fear is that it will be replaced by something much less kind and gracious.

Russ and I watched our favorite Christmas movies. You know the ones. "White Christmas," "It’s a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34

This column is going to be a little short today. I was working on my quilt last night and forgot to write the column. Mind you, working on that quilt is enough to blow anyone’s mind! I think I’m going to call it Skittles and Bits. I’m a plain sort of person, and this sampler quilt is driving me insane. The fault is mine. I should have stuck to my favorite colors and not tried to expand my range. I was successful in the expansion. This little quilt is happy, happy, happy! I just don’t think it can be used by anyone who wants to go to sleep. It’s a stay awake blanket. I showed it to my sisters on Skype and their oh’s kept getting more strained, as they viewed my artwork. Dee said I should call it abstract art. I think I should call it abstracted art, or distracted art. No matter, it is being finished and sewn, as soon as I complete this article.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know some will have been missing loved ones, and that is heart wrenching. May the peace of God be with you. Please pray for our troops and their families. Our government leaders are having a short rest.May God bless and prosper you in 2011, and may God bless America.

th Street." Those are just plain feel good movies. They look even better in color, instead of the old black and white. I have several movies I have to preview for my class. I bought one right before Christmas to show the kids and we made it about five minutes into the movie before I turned it off. I didn’t pay attention; it was a remake of an old movie. Remake means you put in lots of cuss words and suggestive remarks. I’m aware that many movies have those in, but I don’t have to watch them for entertainment. Some of the history movies I show are rough, but we talk about them before we watch. Much to the kid’s dismay, I have removed Gettysburg from our history movies. It is excellent, factual and poignant, but all the kids see is the gore. They are missing the bottom line, which is the horror and loss involved in this tragic war. The style of fighting was accepted, but to me it is just a massive slaughter of young men. I guess having a son in the Armed Forces lends a particular sense of urgency to my thoughts. Whatever the reason, we will find another movie to cover the Civil War. Unfortunately, "Gone with the Wind," is a little too long.