Christmas is all about your focus. If you focus on the temporary aspects of this season – you will certainly be filled with happiness but you may never experience the true and lasting joy that Christmas was always meant to bring. If you are entertaining visions of sugarplums, fruitcake, a tree laden with gifts and a snowman that dances – you are focusing on all of the wrong things. However,...
I Have a Table
I grew up in a blended family, the youngest of seven. Holidays were full of family, laughter, nieces & nephews who were like cousins. The dinner conversations were loud with everyone talking at the same time. Everyone in my family had an opinion and we shared them freely. When James and I started our little family in North Carolina, 950 miles, 16 hours away from family, we soon discovered the...
The Gift Everyone Wants
Christmas is about giving. We search high and low – Macy’s, Amazon, specialized boutiques, the local Mall – for the elusive perfect gift. We scour everywhere looking for the gift that will put a smile on our friends and families faces. But before you bundle up in your coat, scarves, and gloves, and brave the weather and holiday shoppers, allow me to share with you a gift idea that you...
How The Riot Started at Thanksgiving Dinner
The holidays at the Bolden’s home are all about the food. After a traditional dinner the desserts begin. My daughter makes delicious cheesecakes. I make my mom’s sweet potato pie, a favorite of my husband’s. Although he says it is not as good as my mom’s. But since she is in heaven, he must either die to get hers or live with mine. He has chosen the latter. Now according...
All Oppression Shall Cease
Last year, I was in a funk. My favorite uncle passed away at the beginning of December, my daughter and her new husband could not come home for Christmas, and I was disappointed about the lack of growth of MBolden Ministries. So I was in a funk – going through the motions of the Holiday season without joy. One Sunday morning during my period of funk, the worship band sang,...
It’s a Love Story
The Christmas Story is simply a love story. Not a cheesy, predictable, assembly-line-produced Hallmark love story. No, it is a beautiful, timeless love story for all ages. It’s cast consist of relatable, everyday, non-perfect people. People with hopes and dreams, fears and reservations, faith and trust. But like all good stories, it has a Hero. This Hero is flawless, beautiful, kind, generous, compassionate. He was born on the wrong side...
The Best Christmas Gift Ever!
God loved; therefore He gave. He gave his Son… Not to judge but to demonstrate mercy. Not to remind us of our sin but to extend grace so we could choose better options. Not to inflict pain but to heal. Not to condemn but to forgive. He came to bring joy, hope, peace. He came to love us back to God. Jesus was the first and ultimate Christmas present. And...
Got Wine?
Jesus has come! The Savior of the World. God incarnate. Love personified. To announce His coming, He performs His first miracle – Turn Water into Wine. Why wine? Wine symbolizes life. Jesus came to give us life abundantly. In turning the water into wine, Jesus took the ordinary and made it extraordinary. He wants to do the same with us. He has come to take our day-to-day, ordinary lives and...