Where's the Line to See Jesus

About the Song by Becky Kelley

While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus"?

My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios.

It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goose bumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville ... still no response.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothing. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here we are today.

Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults cannot understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.

Faithful Dog

A Faithful Dog Will Play With You
And Laugh With You Or Cry
He'll Gladly Starve To Stay With You
Nor Ever Reason Why
And When You're Feeling Out Of Sorts
Somehow He'll Understand
He'll Watch You With His Shining Eyes
And Try To Lick Your Hand
His Blind Implicit Faith In You
Is Matched By His Great Love
The Kind That All Of Us Should Have
In The Master, Up Above
When Everything Is Said And Done
I Guess This Isn't Odd
For When You Spell Dog Backwards
You Get The Name Of God

Unknown Author

Old Halloween

Jack Pruim II, Dianne Pruim, Jason Pruim
circa 1988ish

The Clinging Cross

A thoughtful gift, this wood-look cross is 3" x 4" with an inset dove in the center. It comes boxed with a card that shows how to hold the cross and Jane's poem: 

When my mind is fuzzy 
And my eyes are dim with tears, 
I need to feel Your presence, Lord, 
And know that You are near. 


When my heart is racing 
And my thoughts have such a sting, 
I tightly grasp this little cross 
And prayerfully I cling. 


It's not a magic piece - 
This cross Your father planned, 
But when I cling to it I feel 
Your nail-scarred hand. 




The Clinging Cross, with its inset dove, is a constant reminder that God is with you, any time of the day or night, in any and all of life's situations...you are never alone. 


How to Hold the Clinging Cross: Place upright cross into right hand; dove facing palm. Wrap pointer-finger around right side of cross and over cross bar. Wrap 3rd finger around left side of cross and over cross bar. Wrap thumb, and fingers 4 and 5 around base of cross. Cling.


The Clinging Cross can be purchased at
http://www.notsoplainjane.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=9

Apple Pie Dessert Drink

4 Cups Apple Juice

1 Cup Water

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

4 Teaspoons lemon juice

1 Teaspoon vanilla

2-4 Tablespoons packed brown sugar 

     (depending on how sweet you like it)

dash of nutmeg (ground)

dash of cloves (ground)

dash of ginger (ground)

Whipped cream

Caramel or Butterscotch ice cream topping

• Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 10 minutes

• Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream & drizzle with ice cream topping

Also wonderful without the whipped topping and ice cream topping. You could also add the ice cream topping into the mix, instead of topping with it. Refrigerate leftovers, then warm in microwave or on stove top. For parties, gatherings, and holidays, you can make this in the crock pot and keep it warm all day. Also, I'm sure if you are so inclined, you could splash a little booze in there, if that's your thing.

—compliments of Sugar Bean Bakery

Sno-Ball Cake

12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

6 eggs, separated

pinch of salt

(2) 16 oz. Cool Whip

1 tsp. vanilla

1 large angel food cake (or make packaged 2 loaves)

1 package coconut

Melt 1 large package chocolate chips with 1/3 cup water in double boiler.  Add 1/3 cup sugar.  Beat 6 egg yolks (keep whites) with pinch of salt, then stir into chocolate mixture.  Cook until thick.  Cool.  Beat 6 egg whites until stiff.  Fold into cooled mixture.  Fold in 16 oz. Cool Whip plus 1 tsp. vanilla. Break angel food cake into pieces and alternate layers of cake and chocolate mixture in large bowl lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate (usually overnight).  Turn out, flat side on large plate and spread with 16 oz Cool Whip and sprinkle with coconut.

Stromboli w/ Cinnamon Twists

To make one stromboli, you will need:

2 loaves frozen white bread

8-10 slices hard salami

1 pkg sliced provolone cheese

1 pkg (about 50 slices) pepperoni

1 pkg sliced mozzarella cheese

1 pkg (about 50 slices) Canadian bacon

1 small sweet onion

chopped green olives, sliced

parmesan cheese

1 jar marinara sauce

1 stick real butter

garlic salt

black pepper

The fastest way I have found to defrost the frozen bread is to smear it with butter, wrap them  in plastic wrap, and then put them in the microwave for 5 minutes at defrost temperature. After the 5 minutes, poke your finger in the center of each loaf and see if it goes all the way through.  If not, put them back in for another 5 minutes on defrost and keep doing this until they seem totally pliable.  The BEST is to follow bag directions and leave it out.

Take the stick of butter and spread it on a pan about 12" x 18" then put one of the loaves in the center of the pan.  With your very clean hands, start to flatten the bread dough out to the edges of the pan.  It will take a bit to work the dough out evenly so there aren't any thin spots...you want the dough to be fairly even in thickness.

Now place the second loaf on a clean countertop and spread out to the edges like you did with the one in the pan.  This will be the top of the stromboli.

Next you are ready to put the meat, etc. on.  You can do this in the order they are listed in the ingredients.  Optional ingredients are onions, olives, green peppers, mushrooms, sausage or anything else you might put on a pizza.  Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top your ingredients. Pick up the second piece of dough and lay it over the first.  Go all around the edges, being careful to seal the top dough to the bottom as much as possible.  I usually pinch them together and then tuck the top under the bottom just a little.

Bake the stromboli at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and take out of oven.  Take the stick of butter and drag it across the top so it melts over the crust (don't skimp on the butter).  Then sprinkle with garlic salt and black pepper.  Put the stromboli back in the oven for another 10 minutes until it is nicely browned. Warm the marinara sauce to have ready.

I think that's everything, but if anything doesn't make sense, leave me a comment and I'll try and get back to you in a timely manner.

CINNAMON TWISTS

Defrost 1 loaf of frozen bread like you did above.  Mix about 2 scoops of sugar with enough cinnamon so it looks like cinnamon sugar : )  okay, about 1/2 teaspoon.  Butter your glass 9x13 pan.  Break off a small chunk of bread dough and roll it between your hands into a stick, then put into cinnamon sugar and twist before putting into buttered pan.  Continue until all the bread dough is used up.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until they look done.  Melt 1/2 to 3/4 of a stick of butter in with the remaining cinnamon sugar and pour over the baked twists before serving.