This morning as the first shades of pink painted the morning sky I watched the dawn and contemplated the passing of another year. If I had to come up with one word to describe 2007 it would be CHANGE.
My husband finished his first year of retirement. Tough changes! But, we haven’t missed a meal or failed to pay our bills.
In June medical changes came to light that God used to get my attention. I’m 20 pounds lighter than I was in June. A few days ago I realized I can touch my toes, something I haven’t been able to do for several years.
Tom and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary last week. Our two precious daughters are growing up, middle of high school and college. Tom’s parents are getting older. They both turned 86 and celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary during 2007. Things are changing for all of us.
The most important changes this year for me have been in my ability to trust God more than I did twelve months ago. I don’t know what changes await us in 2008, but I know God will continue to be faithful.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Enough?
“If I knit fast enough does it count as aerobics?”
Those were the words printed across the spacious tote bag my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas.
Through the years nearly everyone in the family has gotten at least one winter scarf as a Christmas gift from my knitting needles. So, when my sister-in-law saw the bag she couldn’t resist. It was a perfect fit.
The idea was not that I “actually” try to knit fast enough for weight loss! But, isn’t that a good picture of what many try to do to purchase salvation?
“If I do enough niece things does it win me favor with God?
No one can knit fast enough to earn an aerobics workout by their efforts. Nor can any one do enough niece things to earn salvation.
Here is an acronym my pastor uses that summarizes well. There is no “Enough” . . . only GRACE.
G – God’s
R – Riches
A – at
C – Christ’s
E – Expense
Those were the words printed across the spacious tote bag my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas.
Through the years nearly everyone in the family has gotten at least one winter scarf as a Christmas gift from my knitting needles. So, when my sister-in-law saw the bag she couldn’t resist. It was a perfect fit.
The idea was not that I “actually” try to knit fast enough for weight loss! But, isn’t that a good picture of what many try to do to purchase salvation?
“If I do enough niece things does it win me favor with God?
No one can knit fast enough to earn an aerobics workout by their efforts. Nor can any one do enough niece things to earn salvation.
Here is an acronym my pastor uses that summarizes well. There is no “Enough” . . . only GRACE.
G – God’s
R – Riches
A – at
C – Christ’s
E – Expense
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
A Reader's Delight
This Christmas was a reader’s delight for our 17 year old book worm, a paradise of comfort. In case you didn’t catch it, my daughter loves to read!
Fluffy robe and slipper from Mom and Dad . . .
Two books from the top of her wish list, also from Mom and Dad . . .
Fleece throw from her Aunt Tracy . . .
Mugs and hot cocoa mix, also from her Aunt Tracy . . .
And lest we run out, more cocoa mix from a church friend . . .
She’s been scooting around the house since yesterday morning in robe and slippers with her nose in a book every moment not snatched away by family visits or other duties. And what book, do you suppose has taken her heart of a teenage girl of 17?
CHRIST IN THE CAMP
Written in 1887 by an Army Chaplin who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, J. William Jones. (The volume I found is a reprint put to press in 1986 by Sprinkle Publications.)
As I write she just scurried past to curl up on the sofa under the fleece throw and get in some more reading. I can hardly wait for her to finish so I can borrow it
What would make Christmas (or any other day) a Reader's Delight for you?
Fluffy robe and slipper from Mom and Dad . . .
Two books from the top of her wish list, also from Mom and Dad . . .
Fleece throw from her Aunt Tracy . . .
Mugs and hot cocoa mix, also from her Aunt Tracy . . .
And lest we run out, more cocoa mix from a church friend . . .
She’s been scooting around the house since yesterday morning in robe and slippers with her nose in a book every moment not snatched away by family visits or other duties. And what book, do you suppose has taken her heart of a teenage girl of 17?
CHRIST IN THE CAMP
Written in 1887 by an Army Chaplin who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, J. William Jones. (The volume I found is a reprint put to press in 1986 by Sprinkle Publications.)
As I write she just scurried past to curl up on the sofa under the fleece throw and get in some more reading. I can hardly wait for her to finish so I can borrow it
What would make Christmas (or any other day) a Reader's Delight for you?
Friday, December 21, 2007
A Christmas Wedding
Today is Tom and my twenty-second wedding anniversary.
I chose maroon and mauve for our wedding colors, and mauve poinsettias to decorate the church. Small white poinsettias made up my bouquet. The wedding had a hint of Christmas, but we didn’t want the holiday to over power the ceremony.
My mother-in-law and a group of her friends gave me a Christmas/Wedding shower. It was a lot of fun. Each guest brought Christmas decorations and holiday serving pieces. The gifts even included a small artificial Christmas tree, just the right size for the two room apartment were we spent our first Christmas together.
For our honeymoon we stayed in a hotel downtown. Tom’s parents gave us tickets to the Nutcracker, and we took a horse and buggy ride in the snow.
Christmas is a busy time for a wedding, but each year we get to take a day off from holiday activities and preparations to reminisce. Later today we are going out for dinner to celebrate.
I chose maroon and mauve for our wedding colors, and mauve poinsettias to decorate the church. Small white poinsettias made up my bouquet. The wedding had a hint of Christmas, but we didn’t want the holiday to over power the ceremony.
My mother-in-law and a group of her friends gave me a Christmas/Wedding shower. It was a lot of fun. Each guest brought Christmas decorations and holiday serving pieces. The gifts even included a small artificial Christmas tree, just the right size for the two room apartment were we spent our first Christmas together.
For our honeymoon we stayed in a hotel downtown. Tom’s parents gave us tickets to the Nutcracker, and we took a horse and buggy ride in the snow.
Christmas is a busy time for a wedding, but each year we get to take a day off from holiday activities and preparations to reminisce. Later today we are going out for dinner to celebrate.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Removing Stumbling Blocks
You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:14 - NKJV)
One evening I came home from a women's meeting at church to hear our oldest daughter (who was only a toddler at the time) screaming from the bathroom. My husband was giving her a bath. He was frustrated and confused by her constant cries. I walked into the bathroom, turned on the light and the happy cheerful child he had been playing with just before the bath returned. She was content to splash and laugh while Daddy finished washing her.
Daddy is blind. The idea that our bathroom has no windows or source of light apart from the switch on the wall was foreign to him and our daughter was too young to tell him she was afraid of the dark. Our family has lots of stories, like a few years later when the same daughter was confused to find out that other Daddies drive cars!
In our home we try very hard not to put stumbling blocks before the blind. When our older daughter was small I even put bells on her shoes so Daddy didn't trip over her while she was crawling around and playing on the floor. When the second daughter came along the older one dutifully appointed herself the job of keeping her little sister out from under Daddy's feet.
The way we live our christian lives scatter either stepping stones or stumbling blocks all around us. The unsaved are watching how we live out our faith. Young Christians who are less mature in the faith are looking on.
Precious Heavenly Father: Remove any stumbling blocks we inadvertently leave laying around. Give us hearts of compassion desiring to lift up instead of confuse.
One evening I came home from a women's meeting at church to hear our oldest daughter (who was only a toddler at the time) screaming from the bathroom. My husband was giving her a bath. He was frustrated and confused by her constant cries. I walked into the bathroom, turned on the light and the happy cheerful child he had been playing with just before the bath returned. She was content to splash and laugh while Daddy finished washing her.
Daddy is blind. The idea that our bathroom has no windows or source of light apart from the switch on the wall was foreign to him and our daughter was too young to tell him she was afraid of the dark. Our family has lots of stories, like a few years later when the same daughter was confused to find out that other Daddies drive cars!
In our home we try very hard not to put stumbling blocks before the blind. When our older daughter was small I even put bells on her shoes so Daddy didn't trip over her while she was crawling around and playing on the floor. When the second daughter came along the older one dutifully appointed herself the job of keeping her little sister out from under Daddy's feet.
The way we live our christian lives scatter either stepping stones or stumbling blocks all around us. The unsaved are watching how we live out our faith. Young Christians who are less mature in the faith are looking on.
Precious Heavenly Father: Remove any stumbling blocks we inadvertently leave laying around. Give us hearts of compassion desiring to lift up instead of confuse.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
A Thankful Christmas
If we do not dwell on our blessings, we will fall into covetousness and greed. (Tabletalk-Friday, November 23, 2007)
My number one goal this Christmas season has been to fill it with thanksgiving.
It is tempting to dwell on loved ones who are no longer with us for the holiday season. Those thoughts will leave us lonely and depressed.
It is easy to spend most of our energy trying to make THIS CHRISTMAS the best ever. That only accomplishes setting ourselves us for disappointment.
One of the ways our family is working on having a thankful Christmas is by memorizing Isaiah 53 together. It is hard to read through the twelve verses of this eloquent passage without thoughts of praise swelling inside for all Christ has and is doing for us.
As I write cookie dough is chilling in the refrigerator. Boxes wait to be packed and carried to the post office. Gifts sit in hiding to be wrapped and placed under the brightly decorated tree.
In the mist of all the preparations I pray our hearts look beyond the pretty wrapping we call Christmas to Bethlehem’s Manger.
My number one goal this Christmas season has been to fill it with thanksgiving.
It is tempting to dwell on loved ones who are no longer with us for the holiday season. Those thoughts will leave us lonely and depressed.
It is easy to spend most of our energy trying to make THIS CHRISTMAS the best ever. That only accomplishes setting ourselves us for disappointment.
One of the ways our family is working on having a thankful Christmas is by memorizing Isaiah 53 together. It is hard to read through the twelve verses of this eloquent passage without thoughts of praise swelling inside for all Christ has and is doing for us.
As I write cookie dough is chilling in the refrigerator. Boxes wait to be packed and carried to the post office. Gifts sit in hiding to be wrapped and placed under the brightly decorated tree.
In the mist of all the preparations I pray our hearts look beyond the pretty wrapping we call Christmas to Bethlehem’s Manger.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Fences
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5, NKJV)
The only one in our family getting an expensive Christmas gift this year is our four legged moppy terrier. Why? Because, she has decided the grass is greener outside our fence. The chain length fence that was her hedge of protection for the last four years is no longer enough. As I write a man from the “Invisible Fence” company is busy installing an electric cable around the perimeter of our property.
Fences are for keeping some things out and for keeping others in.
In the first chapter of Job an interesting conversation takes place. Satan wants to prove Job can be enticed to turn away from God if Satan is allowed to bring enough trials into Job’s life. One of the most interesting things about this discourse to me is that Satan cannot touch Job without God’s permission. Why? Satan gives the answer in the form of a rhetorical question to God.
Have You not made a hedge around him . . . ? (Job 1:10a, NKJV)
David looks at the same hedge of protection from a different perspective. There is nowhere David can hide from God’s presence. It encircles him like a strong wall of confinement keeping David in the right path.
If we are God’s children there is a hedge around us. Do we see it as a hedge of protection or a barrier?
And laid Your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5, NKJV)
The only one in our family getting an expensive Christmas gift this year is our four legged moppy terrier. Why? Because, she has decided the grass is greener outside our fence. The chain length fence that was her hedge of protection for the last four years is no longer enough. As I write a man from the “Invisible Fence” company is busy installing an electric cable around the perimeter of our property.
Fences are for keeping some things out and for keeping others in.
In the first chapter of Job an interesting conversation takes place. Satan wants to prove Job can be enticed to turn away from God if Satan is allowed to bring enough trials into Job’s life. One of the most interesting things about this discourse to me is that Satan cannot touch Job without God’s permission. Why? Satan gives the answer in the form of a rhetorical question to God.
Have You not made a hedge around him . . . ? (Job 1:10a, NKJV)
David looks at the same hedge of protection from a different perspective. There is nowhere David can hide from God’s presence. It encircles him like a strong wall of confinement keeping David in the right path.
If we are God’s children there is a hedge around us. Do we see it as a hedge of protection or a barrier?
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Important Lessons
A few days ago our 20 pound moppy terrier found a new activity. I guess she’s having a midlife crisis or something at the ripe old age of five.
She has found a way to bore through our chain length fence. Mind you not under or over but through. Now we are occupied with having to take her out on leash to do her business in our fully fenced backyard, and today it is raining! No fun!
Tuesday a man from the “Invisible Fence” company is scheduled to come out to install an electric fence and train us to train her out of her new occupation.
Independent stubbornness can sure get us in trouble!
Is it just coincidence or providence that God would put this safety concern for our fury friend in front of us at the same time He is trying to get my attention? I think not.
Today my husband and I came to the hard decision that it is not safe for me to drive after dark. Voluntarily accepting this new limitation is better than waiting until I have an accident.
Pray we both learn our lessons!
She has found a way to bore through our chain length fence. Mind you not under or over but through. Now we are occupied with having to take her out on leash to do her business in our fully fenced backyard, and today it is raining! No fun!
Tuesday a man from the “Invisible Fence” company is scheduled to come out to install an electric fence and train us to train her out of her new occupation.
Independent stubbornness can sure get us in trouble!
Is it just coincidence or providence that God would put this safety concern for our fury friend in front of us at the same time He is trying to get my attention? I think not.
Today my husband and I came to the hard decision that it is not safe for me to drive after dark. Voluntarily accepting this new limitation is better than waiting until I have an accident.
Pray we both learn our lessons!
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