2008 Christmas Tour of Homes

That cute little button to the left signifies that I am going to participate in an online tour of homes. You can read more about it here.

Out on a (frasier fir) limb...

One of my "bucket list" entries is to write and publish a book. And one of the book ideas has been, for years, a book on preparing for Christmas.

I celebrate Christmas in a big way. I love the decor, the music, the cards, the gifts, the special foods, the entertaining....and I tend to do it all. I have it down to a *relatively* stress-free system, and actually ENJOY the preparation as well as the festivities. I have a passion to help women to enjoy the season rather than drown in it. Doing it ALL is so unnecessary -putting Christ back into Christmas is a really good place to start.

In recent years I've found a lot of good advent resources and have realized that perhaps the world does not need yet another Advent book. But the idea is still percolating within me. I've come to realize that I'm gifted in the area of organization, and truly I'd like to share that gift, and incorporate it into my passion for the Word of God.

And so...drum roll please...I'm going out on a limb (time wise and commitment wise) to kick off an advent blog: Advent-ful December is officially open. Each day in December, take a minute to turn your heart and mind upward to find Him in your preparation. It's not going to be linked to this blog as it will be open to the public. No personal info - just Advent. Share it with whomever you like!

Take a peek. The entries will simply be dated - jump in when you can. I'll be writing as time allows, so pace yourself! :) Perhaps I'll post a week ahead...you just never know.

Enjoy. Participate. And may God enrich your Christmas in a whole new way.

Thanksgiving

Psalm 73:25-28

Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.

The nearness of my God - for that I am so very thankful.
Amen.

Distractions

So, I got up before 6:30 am, knowing that I needed my hour on the couch with Bible, journal, coffee and Boomer before this busy and wonderful day.

I opened up the new laptop and LOGOS. I am loving this resource more each day, and marking up the NASB95 Bible with electronic colors, adding notes, reading the original languages (word by word...don't be too impressed...)

I decided to investigate a book on prayer and opened Handbook to Prayer by Kenneth Boa. Instantly hooked. Fabulous prayer guide for daily use, complete with three months of guiding through Bible verses and parts of prayer. Whew. Right here at the touch of a button.

Then I thought, hmmmmmm...is Libronix bigger than LOGOS? Libronix is the system of online storage. So I googled Libronix.

That somehow took me to www.librarything.com.

OH OH.

An online cataloging of owned books. It's quick and simple. But I own a lot of books. So far I just added what is sitting right here next to me, but that was enough trouble because from there you can see who else has that particular book on their shelf, read a review, and WORST OF ALL...see what else THAT person has on their shelf.

And there's more. But I put an end to distraction and closed after about 15 minutes.

And now here I am putting YOU at risk because if you love books you're gonna be HOOKED on this new treasure.

Misery loves company.

November Calendar

Happily Noted

It is humbling to see yourself in your children. Sometimes it is nauseating. Occasionally it is gratifying.

This morning as I headed downstairs to the treadmill, I heard water running and checked in the girls' bathroom. Anna had assured me that it was clean for Emily's Thanksgiving homecoming, but I hadn't inspected. I jiggled the toilet knob, and happily surveyed a very clean bathroom. Yes, she got that clean gene from me, but that was not the best part.

On the mirror were two post it notes. Upon closer inspection I saw a devotional quote and a Bible verse. My heart is full. Thanksgiving is real in me this morning. Our 16 year old daughter is imitating what she has seen me do with Scripture. Thank you Lord.

Sad Puppy

Boomer had a softball sized fatty tumor removed yesterday. It was benign, but large and growing. So today I have a very sad and dopey dog.

Snow Covered

We awoke to a world of white. The view from the bedroom window is magical - icing covering the brown of late autumn. Instant transformation.

That's how God sees me, and anyone else who confesses Christ as their Savior.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool."

He sees me through the blood of Christ, and He sees me as pure as the driven snow.


2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.


It is a beautiful mystery. Although I'm still trapped in my sinful flesh, in a sinful world, Christ's work is done and I simply need believe. And obey. Obedience is a part of my sanctification - becoming more like Christ - a process of growth which proves my faith. Obedience is not the way to heaven, but simply provides the landmarks assuring me that I'm on the right path...the only path. It proves my confession of faith.


John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." [-Jesus]


This world is more beautiful with the covering of fresh white powder. I am more beautiful as I abide in Him and let Him transform me. Obedience has a price, but what I surrender is worthless - dead and brown and withered in comparison. What I gain is eternal life, and peace in this journey.

Let it snow.

Jehovah rapha

Exodus 15:22-27

Ex 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
Ex 15:23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
Ex 15:24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
Ex 15:25 Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.
There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
Ex 15:26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
Ex 15:27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

Jehovah rapha. Is there a more appealing name for God in all of Scripture? Our healer.

It's interesting to read this verse in context. IF you listen to the LORD, IF you do what is right in HIS sight (the only relevant standard), pay attention to His commandments (the Word) and keep His laws...THEN...God will put none of the diseases on you. The bitter waters of the world can be sweet to us when we follow God's leading and do things His way. Or perhaps He'll move us to a safer Elim - and cause us to leave the world's waters. It's His call.

We just like the healer part, don't we? We want to shirk the responsibility for the rest. We want to be able to live however we want, do whatever we please and then run to God to fix the mess.

Let me be clear: physical illness is NOT all due to sin. In John 9:1-3 Jesus explains that a man's blindness is not due to sin. Jesus tells His listeners in John 11:4 that Lazarus' illness "is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” We live in a fallen world, and with each generation our flesh is farther from Eden, and more cursed with sin... illness happens. That's not my point...

The teaching in Exodus 15 shows a direct correlation between our actions and God's.

Some sexually transmitted diseases are quite obvious results of rampant sin. And yet it's easier to run to the doctor for the Rx than to fall before Jehovah rapha and change our behaviors.

Jehovah rapha's blessing is very real to me, a deterrent to sin in my life in a healthy way. My mother struggled with mental illness and God has used that as a safeguard in my life. When I start to feel oppressed, I do run to my Jehovah rapha, and ask Him to cleanse me again., to heal me. I lean in. My mother's struggle - I can learn from it - a blessing in disguise. Diabetes is a blessing in disguise in a similar way: I eat differently than I would otherwise because I fear the illness and its complications.

Am I guaranteed that if I follow Christ I will not have physical diseases like diabetes, or mental diseases - physiological malfunctions in the brain? No. But I can do everything in my power to eat properly, exercise and rest to avoid diabetic complications. And I can do the same, and more, to safeguard against compromising my mental wholeness.

Action and consequence. Simple, really. And yet we want to take a pill, have a surgery, figure out a way to not have to exercise self discipline and yet be healthy. We want the easy way out, and we want to be in control.

I don't think it works that way.

Grace

Yesterday I read a book. Cover to cover. Start to finish. Grace by Richard Paul Evans. I love a light read now and then, and well...I must admit a fondness for the title.

Sweet story. A look inside the adolescent male mind as the main character, Eric, experiences a relationship with a young female for the first time. I won't tell you the story line, but will tell you that the style is simple - an easy holiday read. But the plot? Nothing simple, nothing easy. It tore my heart out.

Do I recommend the book? Yes, but with the caveat that it becomes a heart rending read about a very difficult topic. In my opinion, it is difficult to marry a light holiday read with a real life issue of this magnitude. It sort of left me stunned...not knowing what had hit, and then it was over. Although it is fiction, the author is doing something about the issue in real time and at his very real expense...a noble and worthy effort.

My jury is out. Has anyone else read it?

The beginning of a dream fulfilled

I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I am going to begin the courses for my Master's Degree!

For decades I have known that I wanted to get formal Bible School training, but the time and the finances were never right. Recently I went to Elmbrook Church's Christian Study Center website and began to poke around. Today I talked to Dave Seemuth, and it appears that this degree is a perfect fit. I am going to register to get a Master of Arts in Christian Studies, and begin in January with the New Testament Survey class. Honestly, I am SO EXCITED that I want it to start tomorrow.

I'll take a break from teaching for this first semester, to pace myself and to have time to study for this four credit class. The fully accredited degree will be through Trinity Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, but I can take every class at Elmbrook church which is 5 minutes from my work. 42 credits total.

Issues:
Time: I study a lot now. I think it may be a wash.
Money: God has graciously provided through a raise at work. While there are a million other uses for money, this is a good one. Each credit at Elmbrook is $265, while the same class at the seminary is over $600 per credit hour. Such a blessing to have the resource of that church right here.
Home: My husband is all for it, as he knows that study is what fuels me.
Laptop: My work ordered me a brand new lap top today (mine is slow and dying a very colorful death...the screen is swirly pink much of the time...) and it will be my personal as well as my work laptop. It is FAST FAST FAST.
Logos Bible Software: All paid for (did the six months free financing) and I have learned how to really use some of it's features...this will be a big time saver as well as a space saver.

I am feeling total peace about signing up. And SO excited. We went to Elmbrook tonight to look at the text books in the book store, but I can order them at a substantial discount through Amazon.

Woo hoo. I just can't wait!

King David

I'm not doing so well on blogging about the Advent study. At the moment I'm juggling two studies: Advent and the Names of God, and while I'm LOVING it and almost keeping up, the time to blog has been usurped. But here I am for a quickie before bed.

Today I was reading about David, the shepherd boy, the slayer of Goliath, the adulterer and murderer, and the man after God's own heart. What a character! One of the assigned verses was this one:

1 Ch 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

How blessed for David to be able to tell his son to "know the God of your father." We can't fool our kids! I want our children to know, without a doubt, Who is the God of their mother. (and father) And not only who He is, but I too want them to know Him. That is the most important legacy there is.

Whole heart and willing mind. Willing mind. Are we willing to do what He tells us?

For the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. This phrase gives me great comfort as well as reason to pause. The comfort is that unlike people, God always understands me and my intentions. When I'm trying, successfully or not, to do His will or carry out His best plan, He knows it. When I totally blow something, He knows that that was not my intention, and He understands my original intent. That is comforting. HOWEVER, I can't fool Him. I can fool a lot of people, but I can't fool God with any false religiosity...He searches my heart and knows my intent. Give it up, Grace.

If you seek Him, He will let you find Him. Wonderful comfort. Warm fuzzies.
If you forsake Him He will reject you forever. No sugar coating here.

Life is all about choices. The Bible is all about choices. Choose God and choose the path of blessing. Choose other than God and choose the path of curses. It's simple.

Simple though the choices be, I find it reassuring that God so used David in spite of himself. Gives us all hope, doesn't it?

Purse Addiction

A friend sent me this card and it cracks me up.
Um...have I mentioned a penchant for classy bags?

Savoring Sunday

Yes, Sunday should have been blogged BEFORE Monday... sorry.
After church I was blue. Mainly tired, but blue. The sun was bright, so I decided to just snug in a sun puddle and read and nap the afternoon away. It's been a rough week, so that seemed a good plan.

I brought the "Queen Chair" in to our bedroom to the wall of south facing windows that overlook a garden path area and the woods beyond (an amazing view to which to awaken) . It's a slingback folding chair that I used to take camping; it reclines at just the right angle, has a perfect pillow...it fits me just right. Somewhere along the way my buddies named it the Queen chair as they'd see me relaxing in style at the campfire. Ha.

So as I sat basking in the sun and pretending to read, I saw a few birds swooping about. Since I have not baked more seed for the feeders, I thought I should at least clean out the bird bath. I went out and scrubbed it, hosed it and filled it. Having spent a good chunk of Saturday pulling out annuals and putting away garden decor, the bird bath was all that called me on Sunday. Back to the queen chair.

What happened next can only be described as a God given pocket of joy. Over a dozen birds arrived. A couple robins, a couple woodpeckers, one ruby red cardinal, and a mixture of sparrows: some brown, some with reddish heads and chests, and some with blue. The bird world must be thirsty because my little bird bath was THE place to be. For a good 40 minutes I rested while being mesmerized by the shenanigans of my feathered friends. The sparrows had the most fun: they hopped right in, fluffing their feathers and taking full baths. In 5 years of owning this birdbath (my mother loved it so...I had to keep it when I cleaned out her home) I have occasionally seen a bird take a sip. Yesterday it was a veritable bird spa.

The whole experience energized me, and I ended up washing the bedroom windows inside and out, and also the master bath window. I hung three little beaded snowflakes in the bathroom window where they will catch the light all winter. Tiny things, really, but part of my refreshment. The tiny little details in a room bring me such pleasure. Today, Monday, I've literally been "lifted" by seeing those sparkling clean windows with tiny beaded ornaments. Details. Pockets of Joy.

Thank you Father for lifting my spirits. Thank you for health, for relative wealth, for a home, for the gift of time. I am so blessed. Even on a bluish day.

Marvelous Monday

Today is delicious.

Perhaps because I’ve had fewer days off recently, I am increasingly appreciative when I have a whole day to putter.

It began slow. As I contemplated getting out of bed, I wondered if I’d get anything done at all today. I realize that the stress of last week is weighing on me a bit, so I took it slow – because I could. I gave myself a break. A cup of Nescafe began to wake me as I threw in a load of wash. I try to work on my Bible studies first thing, so I set up at the dining room table.

And that is when the magic began. I would read and write a bit, and then do a chore or two. When I needed to sit, I did…more studying and pondering the amazing names of God. This is now my preferred pace rather than a list: whatever gets done gets done. And wow…the day just stretched on and on. That is the definition of a delicious day: the hours stretch out as I putter.

It is SO warm out, (72!) so washing windows became a priority. The living room, kitchen and half bath are done, inside and out. I moved a mulch pile and redug the earth to balance the bird bath…little garden putters that I see out the bedroom window. The winter is long, and I will appreciate having taken the time to add beauty to the gardens. The wash is done and even put away. Meals are sort of planned, papers are recycled, items picked up and put away…all at a snail’s pace while sipping coffee and studying for 20 minute breaks in between. Oh, there's plenty left to do - but it's been a good days work.

Days like today need to be savored and recorded. The blessings of a warm fall day, a lovely home (with a zillion windows) and time in silence to think and ponder. No music, no tv, no phone…just me and God and His word and our home. Perfection.

Advent

Our SAMBS group (Saturday AM Bible Study) (Sassy lambs) began our new study, Preparing My Heart for Advent yesterday, for the second consecutive year. While it doesn't seem possible that we should be preparing for Advent, it is so very lovely to begin the journey in the relatively stress free month of November.

My plan is to share some of the Advent journey via blog.

Day Two today. The assignment is to read Luke 1 through 2:40, and write questions. Who, what, why, how, where. The purpose? To slow down and study. Savor. Savor His word and His company.

They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizbeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. Luke 1:6-7

Righteousness does not guarantee perfect circumstance. Righteousness does not preclude longing. Longing does not preclude living within God's will.

Sometimes the wait is long, even when the longing is God given. They were both advanced in years.

Tears fill my eyes as I highlight the angel's message:

Do not be afraid...your petition has been heard...You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice... Luke 1:13-14.

My heart is full from just these few verses. Live righteously in spite of the longings. Keep praying. Live expectantly. Keep hope. God hears.
Amen!

Starbucks

Words and Coffee...a winning combination.
Here are some wall murals I've found at Starbucks:

Signs of the Times

I do love words, so I stop and take pictures of great signs. Enjoy.

At a local hospital:

At a restaurant in Lacrosse:

In Kenosha:

At a shop in Genessee:

Mod Podge

Mixed media art intrigues me. That's about as far as it has gotten...the intrigue. Actually, I have made a few cards this fall, using some ribbon, some stickers, sewing a few seed beads on... they turned out well, and I enjoyed the minorly artistic endeavor.

Recently Emily, our college sophomore, sent me this card, proudly sharing that it is made of almost all recycled materials. I'm impressed. The card itself is made from a grocery bag, and the leaves on the tree are individually cut from colorful magazine ads...she herself called it a major bit of "study procrastination." Works of art do take time you know!

The glitter is held in place by...you guessed it...Mod Podge.


I remember Mod Podge from junior high. My friend Karla and I would decoupage pictures onto small wooden plaques. Do you remember that fad? Who knew that Mod Podge still existed?

Today I bought two jars - one plain matte and one in hologram gold glitter. (we didn't have that in junior high!!) Tonight, while watching an old movie, I cut up a magazine to create two cards: photo collages of autumn flowers, pumpkins, and gourds, all compliments of Better Homes & Gardens. Both are glittered Mod Podge style, and I'm feeling quite accomplished...

At Borders Bookstore earlier I was perusing magazines on mixed media art. It's simply amazing what people think to do. One article detailed the process one artist goes through starting with a photocopy of an old family photo. She adds layers of paints, pencil, fabrics, tulle, blush, crayon, feathers, whatever...until there is a work of collage art rather than the photo. Such creativity. I do, however, wonder who might buy this type of art. With the time involved I can certainly understand the phrase, "starving artist." I've written before about "The Artful Blogger" magazine which touts some fabulous pages from artist's blogs. A whole blog world is out there, an online gallery. Is mixed media art relatively new? Crazy quilts preceded it - were there other forms of mixed media?

Creativity is good for my spirits, and I hope that the card recipients feel special for having received a one of a kind message from me. Recycled contents. That's good too. Rather than buy alphabet stickers I can cut and paste podge. The possibilities are endless!