“My soul doth magnify the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

Luke 1:45-55

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them…to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.    Zechariah

Somewhere in the past few years my sister and I picked up the habit of watching Christmas Hallmark movies. I know, I know…it’s cheesy, but you can only watch White Christmas so many times.

Faced with the delimma of watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the 4,067^th time and catchy Lifetime titles such as Annie Claus is Coming to Town, the DVR eventually won out.

For amateur viewers out there, these movies tend to have one of a few main themes:

• Switching places
• Someone needs a fake fiancé for Christmas
• A town who has forgotten the meaning of Christmas
• Someone is about to marry the wrong person
• Workaholics get a visit from Christmas ghosts
• A an animal saves Christmas

Moms on strike, people being hit on the head with snowglobes, people kidnapping reindeer…really, what’s not to love? Continue reading…

*Today marks the two-year anniversary of Coffee, Tea and Holy Water. It also would have been my grandmother Carlean’s 90th birthday. She passed away last year, but it only seemed fitting to post this blog from 2012, in her honor.

Turkeys and Banjos

This weekend I drove down to Alabama to take my 88-year-old grandmother out for a birthday dinner. She is my last remaining grandparent, and her birthday was earlier this fall. I have to say, when sitting down for a cup of coffee, there are few people on this earth I would rather drink coffee with than Tressie Carlean. Continue reading…

Today’s Blog of the Week is from Matt Walsh, who — love him or hate him, always manages to make his point with finesse and clarity.

Hopefully the celebrity photos/iCloud scandal is moving on and out of the headlines (at last!), but I’m a fan of Walsh’s recent post for the honesty it brings and the responsibility it puts on all parties:

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If you read one book this year, it should be Unbroken, the true story of Olympic runner Louis Zampirini.

Be warned, this book is more of  a war story than a sports story. If you like tales of inspiration, survival and unbeatable odds, this book is for you. It should be required reading for everyone in the human race, and I don’t say that lightly.

Continue reading…

You’ve all seen the celebrity quizzes…just for fun, here’s “The Blogmopolitan Quiz” with yours truly:

The Blogmopolitan Quiz

Thanks to Rebecca Chapman for sharing! You can check out her own fantastic blog out at: Rebecca Chapman.com

You can download The Blogmopolitan Quiz at www.twothirdshazel.com.

I hate to break it to you, but the era of Say Anything is so 1980s. These days there is a host of things you can’t say:

10 things not to say to parents with kids. 10 things not to say to single people. 10 things not to say to parents of adopted kids. 10 things Christians should stop saying. Things you should stop saying to working moms. 8 things you should stop saying to dads.  10 things to stop saying about working out. 15 things to stop saying to people with chronic illnesses. 8 things we need to stop saying to people in long distance relationships.

All I can think is, Man. When did America get so bossy?

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I’ve been reading this month about forgiveness – it’s a long story really. A series of situations made me realize I didn’t know as much about this Biblical mandate as I wanted.

I knew it was important, I knew we should practice forgiveness, and I wanted to forgive certain people in my life, but when actually trying to forgive, I sometimes found myself hitting a brick wall.

This made me take a big step back and ask myself, “What does it mean to forgive?” How do you keep forgiving someone who injures you over and over? Obviously it would be ideal to minimize contact with this person…but what if you can’t? Continue reading…

I graduated from high school…er, more than a decade ago, which means I can be part of the new generation mumbling about “what they’re teaching kids these days.” It seems the more complex our society becomes, the longer the list of basic things kids should – but aren’t – learning in school becomes.

To piggy back off last week’s blog Smart Money, Smart Kids (if you haven’t read the book – you should!), the following is a list of 10 things no one should graduate from high school without knowing, ranging from the profound to the not-so profound.

We’ll call them “basic career skills” every high school graduate should know:

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This book is long overdue. Millions of American families have used Dave Ramsey’s #1 bestseller, The Total Money Makeover, to get out of debt and plan for the future. But what if you could help the next generation before they go into debt?

That’s exactly the mission of Ramsey’s daughter, Rachel Cruze, and it’s one of the main points behind Smart Money, Smart Kids. Not only to help kids avoid debt, but proactively teach them how to be smart with money as they prepare for their life.

Continue reading…