May we as we enter this ‘time’ of remembering… the story.
May we as we enter this ‘time’ of worship.
May we as we enter this ‘time’ of knowing~Who we remember
Who we worship and
Who we choose to know as our Savior.
Joining with Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.
( Originally written in 2010 revised version)
Advent has begun.
The remembering
is moving into a place in our minds and our activities.
We plan our decorations and our shopping and baking.
Oh can we plan a spiritual time too?
I so want to make it a spiritual season
not just filled with packages and stuff that most of us don’t really need.
Grandma will do fun special things for the children
but I want more than anything for them to know
that the season is not about more stuff.
It is about the story.
Matthew 1:18-24
The story of a young couple given a Divine order.
The story of a young couple choosing to be obedient.
Even when they didn’t really know what that meant
or what it would cost them.
The story of a young girl chosen to be a mom
the mom….of a saviour.
Her saviour and ours.
What did she feel like?
What did she think?
When the angel appeared and said to her ‘fear not.’
It would take your breath away.
Fear not… Mary Fear not…
I am standing in the presence of an angel
and I am told to Fear not?
Mary could have said that or at least thought it.
How can I not question
for I am pure of body and heart.
How did she do it and how did they both sleep at night
knowing there would be a son born to them.
I would toss and turn and be forever restless.
Perhaps since she was carrying the saviour of the world
she had an intense peace
‘that passes all understanding-deep within her heart.’
Perhaps as she sat with Joseph and whispered to him,
as he held her shaking hand…
“I am scared, I don’t understand it all but I choose… I choose…
Joseph choose with me…stay with me so we can see…
what the angels have told us.”
Oh what a moment between them.
The choice of obedience and trust.
What a precious little couple…
We sing, “Oh little town of Bethlehem and We three kings of Orient are.”
We sing, “Away in the manger and O Holy Night.”
But can we grasp the HOLY MOMENTS of the passage of time
when it began?
Where everything around them anticipated the birth of a special baby.
The moment when the stillness of the night and the light of the stars were so bright.
The moment and reflection of a scared girl becoming a mom
and a scared dad holding an infant
SO full of power
and yet so full of innocence
as it all began.
They were young.
They were beginning a life full of such uncertainties and yet
they loved the child just as we would love our newborns.
I have held my own grand children and I have seen
how precious
how miraculous
how innocent
how beautiful.
And this baby in the manger
was just like my precious grandchildren.
The difference…
When she held his tiny warm body
she held the SON Immanuel God with us.
Advent is here
may we never forget the journey to the manger
along the path leading to the story.
Lord Jesus Help us to remember
the most important story of all time.
Your story…
this O Holy Night…
as we remember
may we fall on our knees and praise you.
Love this song…we sing it at church and it is so deep and full of meaning.
Alelujah… shout it … tell it… and don’t ever be quiet.
I have had tears so many times… singing this song.
Shout it,
go on and tell it…
That HE is God.
As we enter into our ‘Christmas’ season let us remember the reason for the season.
Shout it…
we will cry out hallelujah…
For HE is our God.
Our reason.
For all we do … and all we are.
Time to take down the fall decorations and move towards the Christmas ones.
Changes are happening again.
Sometimes in the process we can do a little internal mood adjusting too.
Change is hard for me.
I don’t like change.
I don’t like the hassle of re-arranging and re-organizing but when
I finally get it done
I like it.
SO the fall oranges and reds will be packed away and the Christmas greens and burgundy’s will come out of the boxes.
The stockings will be hung on the mantle above and the music will play as the tree is decorated.
The traditions of Christmas will be with us soon.
As we wait for the Holy Night.
Joining with Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.
Photo by Sharon O of Oregon
The word for the Friday challenge was thank you.
The goal is to write for five minutes with no editing.
Then post your ‘writing’.
Thank you
From the time I remember it was always something I learned to say.
Please and thankyou.
Manners of etiquette and not only that but a pleasing sound to someone.
If someone gives you something you say ‘thank you’.
It is a gesture of kindness.
I am thankful for…
we just left a season of thanksgiving.
A day of giving thanks for many things.
For we are richly blessed.
We have food on our table when we want or need it.
We have hot water for showers or tea.
We have antibiotics when we get sick and washers and dryers to clean up the mess.
There is much to be thankful for.
We have homes that are warm and cars that are easy to navigate.
I have just received a letter from a little five year old in Haiti who says she carry’s water for her family and walks 25 minutes to get to her compassion school.
That is incredible for a five year old.
And she says ‘thank you for sponsoring me’.
I should be the one thanking her for giving me a new perspective that life is so much more than money in the bank and affluent neighborhoods.
Thank you is a gesture of kindness and humility.
I thank you… for being a great encouragement to me.
Always.
Joining Lisa Jo and the link on friday.
As a little girl our tradition at thanksgiving was to go to our grandparents house.
Grandma made the entire dinner by herself and it was a wonderful tradition I sometimes miss.
I remember the table set with china and crystal and other beautiful dishes one would have to hand wash later.
The lighting in the dining room reflected a multitude of colors onto the white ceiling and walls.
It’s beauty just accented the already beautiful table. As a little girl I remember being in awe of the kaleidoscope of colors.
There were candles lit and coffee poured.
The women were often in the kitchen chatting and grandpa and our uncle would stay in the living room watching a game or something. As children we could stay in the kitchen and listen to the women chatter or sit quietly in the room with our grandpa being careful to not be loud and disturb them.
The table when dinner was ready seated everyone. The children were seated between the adults so we wouldn’t create an ‘issue’ while eating.
It was often our grandfathers birthday too as his day was so close to thanksgiving.
The table would always have roasted turkey, potatoes mashed, brown gravy, green beans with bacon inside, cranberries, dressing, pickles and olives, rolls and veggie tray and always pumpkin pie with real whipping cream.
It was our tradition for many years.
When we were little our mom and us three girls would anxiously watch the Macy’s day parade before we left for the special dinner.
I so remember our hair fixed in curlers and pressing our clothes to wear for the special day.
We were never allowed to wear jeans or tee shirts. We had been taught that it was a special day to dress up and so we always did.
Later as we married and continued the tradition with our children they learned to arrive dressed up the same way we did.
I am not going to say it was always a warm fuzzy hallmark moment but we did have tradition and it taught me to enjoy the finer ‘table settings’ and to this day I try to recreate that with our children and grand children.
Holidays are full of tradition.
Can you remember some of yours?
I pray that today was a good day for you.
A day of remembering times in the present or in the past spent with loved ones.
We always always have a reason to be thankful.
“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.
None of this going off and doing your own thing.
And cultivate thankfulness.
Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house.
Give it plenty of room in your lives.
Instruct and direct one another using good common sense.
And sing, sing your hearts out to God!
Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”
Colossians 3:15 Msg version
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other… Isn’t that a wonderful beginning?
In step with each other… that means you are not walking alone you are alongside each other going in the same direction.
And cultivate …
dictionary.com says it means to prepare and work on. to promote or improve growth. to develop. to tend and harvest. to break up
(as one would do with hard clumps of dirt) with the intention of good results.
to give special attention to. thankfulness.
I see it as an attitude change~ an intentional desire for a better outcome.
Let the word of Christ… permeate your household.
(pass into every part of).
Give it room in your lives just as you would give room for television, radio or cell phones.
Instruct as in teaching and encouraging each other.
And sing. Nothing really touches a heart more deeply than words put into song.
Let EVERY detail… in every detail… of your lives remember to thank God
for everything.
Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens.
That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.
1st Thessalonians 5:16,17,18
May we on this day of Thanksgiving… evaluate all that we are thankful for and sing a song of praise to the one who gives us life, breath and hope.
It’s God’s breath that forms the ice, it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way.
He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that— commands them to do what he says all over the world.
Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark.
Job 37:13
Joining with Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.
photo by Sarah B from Oregon (used by permission)
There is a five minute blog challenge every Friday and today’s word is Stay.
The rule is to write for five minutes without editing the word or topic.
Let the prompt begin.
Stay:
When I bring my dog Emma in I tell her to sit and Stay. She listens to me and obeys and quietly goes back to her blanket and lays down. She doesn’t argue with me nor does she disobey. She stays simply because I am her boss and I tell her to do it.
When someone tells me to do something I bristle. That is the difference between her attitude and mine.
She wants to obey and please me. I perhaps want to please myself.
When I think of God and his faithfulness to us the word stay is a constant.
He will stay with us as long as we want him to.
He walks with us and stays closer than a brother. I have never had a brother so that concept for me is empty but I have had friends and I have had some go and some stay.
Stay is a powerful word.
Stay… don’t leave. Don’t abandon. Don’t walk away.
Stay.
In marriage it is for better or worse.
In friendships it is a heart choice.
For my Emma Rose dog… it is a pleasing attitude to make me happy.
How does the word stay form in your mind?
Is it strong or not so strong?
I will stay with you forever so long as I live and so long as I can…
when I began counselling that was one of the first questions I asked my counselor,
how long are you going to stay around?
It is a logical question.
participating in Lisa Jo’s five minute friday. word challenge.
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his loving kindess is ever lasting.
Psalm 136:12
Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold,
there was a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Zehariah 2:1
(I was not sure if these verses actually go together but I wanted to use this picture and was not sure how to integrate into a ‘blog post’ hopefully it worked.)
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community
photo by PapaO from Oregon.
Simplicity
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