We love our sweet iced tea here in the south. I always say I hate drinking my calories. In keeping with that, I have sweetened my tea with Sweet and Low for years.  Last year I switched to Stevia, a natural non-calorie sweetener, but have found that it left my tea with a funny taste.  I thought maybe we’d get used to it, but nope –  we didn’t. 

So, in an attempt to improve my iced tea, I recently tried a product I hadn’t seen before – Domino Light.  It’s half real sugar and half Stevia.  It has half the calories of real sugar and it doesn’t take as much to sweeten as real sugar would.  I used about half a cup in a half gallon of tea.  It tastes like “the real thing” ladies and gentlemen!  Yum!  It is expensive, but I had a coupon, and like I said, it doesn’t take as much as regular sugar.  I’m going to save it just for iced tea. 

If you’re looking for a way to sweeten your tea and save on calories, you need to try this!  This will freshen your tea and your diet plan (we all have one at the end of the year, don’t we?).

Have a glass of sweet tea and
Be refreshed,
Denise

Here we stand on the brink of a new year.  Turn around and look behind you.  How will the life you lived last year be remembered by others?  I didn’t ask how your circumstances pleased you, nor how good your year was, but I asked about your life.  How will you be remembered for the way you lived your life last year? 

As I was recently reading through Mark 14, I read about Mary pouring the costly ointment on Jesus’ head.  Judas reprimands her, saying that the ointment could’ve been sold for much and then the money given to the poor.  However, Jesus answers him in verse 9, Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.  Mary will always be remembered for this act that she did for Jesus.  It showed her great love for Him.  That is how we remember Mary of Bethany…she loved Jesus!

This passage made me stop and ask myself, “For what do I want to be remembered?”  Knowing that God’s Word reveals His Son, and that it is the Mind of Christ, my answer is that I want to be remembered as a woman who loved, knew and obeyed the Word of God.  After answering that, I realized that there has to be a plan of action in order to accomplish that goal.  How will I gain a greater love, knowledge and desire to obey the Word?  I am asking God to reveal the process so I can follow through in the year to come.

We can’t do anything about the time that has already passed.  If we have regrets about last year, we must let go of it and look forward to 2012.  We must each ask what we want to be memorialized for in this next year, then set about a plan to accomplish that, with God’s help.  What will be spoken of as a memorial of you next year?  Today is the time to plan for that!

I’ve shared my desire for my memorial, now, tell me – for what do you want your life to memorialized?

With love,

Christmas celebration at The Cunningham’s started the week before Christmas.  We celebrated early with Alli before she left for Antigua.  Here she is getting dishes for the table from the china cabinet…

We came home from church and finished getting dinner ready.  I don’t know what I would have done without my two assistants – Whitney and her dad!  I’m really good at giving orders asking for help.