The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas Day Four

Names

I've been thinking about my Names Project the past couple of days and how it all got started a few years ago (the first entry is here).  

I finally finished up the book of Jeremiah this week but before I move on to Lamentations I thought I would go back and review some of the names and descriptions that I have found for Jesus over the years.

The Sunrise from on high   Luke 1:78

Emmanuel or God With Us  Matthew 1:23

Redeemer   Multiple places but I think my favorite is Job 19:25

And finally, the one I most need to remember today:

The Stability of your times  Isaiah 33:6

May your heart and your home be filled today with 

                               His light, 

                                       His presence, 

                                                      His redemption, 

                                                               His stability, 

                                                                       and especially His peace.

The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas Day Three

Due to unfortunate pedometer problems no miles were logged in November.  Sad.  I did a lot of walking this past month.  Hopefully I will have the situation fixed and can resume my ocean travels this month.

Christmas Books

I love books.  I love the feel of them, the smell of them, the sound of turning pages.  I love being able to open a book and suddenly finding myself in a different place and/or time.  I love meeting new characters and discovering their stories.  I love going back to old friends and visiting with them.  

My books shelves tend to be rather full.  Mr. Marvelous has several book cases for his collection of theology, gardening and home-improvement/handyman books.  My books shelves are more eclectic and have everything from Good-Night Moon to The Lord Of The Rings.  And everything in between.

In my basement under the staircase there is a special box.  This box has my Christmas books.  I put them away in January each year and then bring them back out in December.  Partly because I don't have enough room to keep them out year-round.  Bringing them out for a limited time somehow makes them a little more special.  These are treasures!

What is in my box?

Everything from the sublime to the silly....and a few things in between.

There are things that are missing; I keep loaning and giving away the really good stuff because it is so good that I want to share it.

Last week my sister in law called.  She loves Christmas as much as I do; her home is amazing at Christmas time.  

She had been going through her Christmas boxes and wondered if I would like to look through some of her books.

Oh yes, please!

She knows me well.

What are your favorite Christmas books?

The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas Day Two

 Some Christmas Treasures

When I was in college my mother gave me a copy of Madeleine L'Engle's book: The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas.  It is not at all odd in my family to give an adult a "child's" book.  I think that year it was partly because I was taking a class in children's literature (what a class!).  It was also because that was the year that Mother and I were able to attend a guest lecture by Madeleine L'Engle at my college.

 

After Mr. Marvelous and I married, and after Mr. Marvelous Jr came along, this book was my motivation to celebrate Advent more fully.  I had a calendar and each day we would do something fun together as a family to prepare for and celebrate Christmas.
                                 
                                  Doesn't that sound wonderful?!

My poor men!  

This year is different.

This year I have discovered a little-known book by Mary Hinderlie and Edna Hong,  

The Festival of Christmas: A Book of Days.  

L'Engle's book motivated me toward the activities of the season.  This book calms me down.

The book is a small treasure.  It is a family book, intended for those with little children still in the house.  Yet because it is a book that focuses on the spiritual preparation in addition to the physical, it is useful for any home as we all look toward Jesus' coming.  Poetry, recipes, gift ideas, and Scripture reading, along with the sweet illustrations, fill the book.  Above all, it is filled with the call to withdraw from the busy-ness and spend time in prayer and meditation.

Here is a quote from the book, directed toward the Mother of the family but appropriate to each of us:

Often this week you will have to find a place, a lonesome place, fall upon your knees, and remember that Christmas is Christ ~ not the crowds in the dime stores, the long lines in the post office, and the clamoring demands of unfinished tasks.  Wrap the presents.  "Presents wrapped in prayer glow with a particular light."  Richardson Wright, in his Book Of Days For Christians, suggests that as we wrap our gifts, we pray for the person who is to receive them.  A blessed thought!

I'm praying today that you will find one or two quiet moments of your own.

In the middle of all the activity, may you find the peace of Christ at the center.

His peace to your home.

The Twenty-Four Days Of Christmas 2014

I love Christmas. 

I love celebrating the birth of my Saviour. 

"Adoration of the Shepherds" Gerard van Honthorst, 1622 courtesy Wikipedia

I love Advent, the season of preparation for the coming of Christ.  I love the thoughtfulness of preparing my heart and my home to celebrate not only the first coming of Jesus, but His return.

I grew up celebrating the month of December.  It's one of the joys of a big family with an incredible Mama and Daddy.  They have always made sure that Christmas is a season of delight for their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren ~ for everyone they know!  That is pretty amazing when you consider that my Dad is a pastor.  When we were little, he pastored a pretty large church, and until I was ten, he had no assistants/associates/interns.   That meant that Mom stayed rather busy helping him.  Yet with all that goes on in a church during the Christmas season, my parents made sure that our home was prepared for Christmas, as well as our church.

Mr. Marvelous still refers to me as his Child Bride.  I think the Christmas season reinforces that title.  I still get downright giddy this time of year!  Why not?  Think about the history of God's people.  After centuries of failing to honor the Creator God, of constant failure to keep even the most basic commandments, after the 400 silent years when God's people did not hear from Him at all, suddenly the Messiah came!


Stop and let that sink in for a few minutes.

He came to fix, to heal, to restore, and to glorify God.  Because we are broken, sick, and separated from God, completely incapable of bringing Him anything but dishonor.  He lived, suffered, was crucified to death, buried and then...

...He rose again! 

This little baby in a manger was to become my glorious, beloved Saviour. 

So yes, I celebrate Advent (Latin, "to come").  I celebrate the fact that Christmas is coming and I celebrate the memory of the birth of Jesus who came to rescue us from our sins.  I also celebrate the fact that He is coming again to rescue us finally and permanently when He takes us to heaven. 

In the past I have written about taking the month of December to celebrate the Twenty-Four Days of Christmas (here is the link).  This is my time to prepare my home to celebrate, to spend time with family, to enjoy the traditions of the season.  This is my time to meditate and think and pray; to focus my attention and my affections beyond the light-hearted.  This is my time to remember just exactly Who He Is, why He came, and to remember that He is coming back. 

Join me for the next twenty-four days.  There will be child-like celebration, some thoughtfulness and meditation, some music, some poetry, some art, and a whole lot of joyful preparation.

Friday

Whether you are traveling today...

...or just hanging out with your "peeps"....

I hope you have a relaxed day....

....and a wonderful weekend.

Get ready; Advent is almost here!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Chapel: Photo by DH Parks from Creative Commons

A tradition was begun by George Washington in 1789 and then re-established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 ~ in the middle of a Civil War.  This was the tradition of the Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation, calling on Americans to stop and spend the day in giving thanks to God, and in prayer.

 I did a little research and discovered that the Pilgrim Hall Museum maintains these presidential proclamations, from Washington all the way to Obama.   It is interesting to browse through these and read what each president has had to say; I think it provides great insight into the character of these different men.

Today as you prepare to spend a day with your family and friends, as you sit down to a meal, whether it be scanty or plentiful, I challenge you to remember to give thanks regardless of your own external circumstances.  Give thanks if you are having a good year.  Give thanks for the blessing of the trials.  Give thanks for the family and friends who are with you, the ones who are far away and not able to be home, and the ones who are celebrating at God's table this year, where over-indulgence is not possible.  Give thanks with a grateful heart not only because of what He has done and given to you, but just because He is God and He alone is worthy of our praise.

Here is one of my favorite presidential proclamations:

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

The celebration of Thanksgiving Day is one of our Nation's most venerable and cherished traditions.  Almost 200 years ago, the first President of these United States, George Washington, issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation under the Constitution and recommended to the American people that they "be devoted to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be." He called upon them to raise "prayers and supplications to the Great Lord and Ruler of Nations," not merely for continued blessings on our own land but on all rulers and nations that they might know "good government, peace, and concord."
A century ago, President Grover Cleveland called for "prayers and song of praise" that would render to God the appreciation of the American people for His mercy and for the abundant harvests and rich rewards He had bestowed upon our Nation through the labor of its farmers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen. Both of these Proclamations included something else as well: a recognition of our shortcomings and transgressions and our dependence, in total and in every particular, on the forgiveness and forbearance of the Almighty.

Today, cognizant of our American heritage of freedom and opportunity, we are again called to gratitude, thanksgiving, and contrition. Thanksgiving Day summons every American to pause in the midst of activity, however necessary and valuable, to give simple and humble thanks to God. This gracious gratitude is the "service" of which Washington spoke. It is a service that opens our hearts to one another as members of a single family gathered around the bounteous table of God's Creation. The images of the Thanksgiving celebrations at America's earliest settlement-of Pilgrim and Iroquois Confederacy assembled in festive friendship-resonate with even greater power in our own day. People from every race, culture, and creed on the face of the Earth now inhabit this land. Their presence illuminates the basic yearning for freedom, peace, and prosperity that has always been the spirit of the New World.

In this year when we as a people enjoy the fruits of economic growth and international cooperation, let us take time both to remember the sacrifices that have made this harvest possible and the needs of those who do not fully partake of its benefits. The wonder of our agricultural abundance must be recalled as the work of farmers who, under the best and worst of conditions, give their all to raise food upon the land. The gratitude that fills our being must be tempered with compassion for the needy. The blessings that are ours must be understood as the gift of a loving God Whose greatest gift is healing. Let us join then, with the psalmist of old:

O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him, Tell of all His wonderful works!
Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 24, 1988, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon the citizens of this great Nation to gather together in homes and places of worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the many blessings God has bestowed upon us.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

RONALD REAGAN

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Names

I have gotten back to working on my Names Project (if you are just joining us, you may read some of the background here).  Hopefully I will be finishing up the book of Jeremiah this week. 

 

I have realized something interesting about myself during the Names Project.  I don't think I am unique in this situation, although I might be.  When it comes to talking about God, I am always a little cautious about presenting Him as a God of wrath and anger.  For a long time, I was afraid that someone might hear that and then have trouble understanding His mercy and grace.  I have finally figured out that God's mercy and grace really can not be understood apart from His anger.  You know what else?  God really doesn't need me to polish up His image for Him!

When I was little I understood that sometimes my Daddy got angry.  There was a level of anger that was reserved for those who practiced wickedness.  The people who hurt or neglected children.  The preachers who preached something other than God's word and misled their church.  A person who was consistently defiant and disrespectful of authority.  And heaven help the one who threatened or harmed one of his children.  We knew that if anyone tried to harm us, they would have to go through our Daddy to get us.  There was great security in that knowledge.  His anger was directed toward badness.  It was a tool for our protection. 

In this way (and many others), my Dad is really good at reflecting God as a Father because God's anger is directed toward evil.  It is directed toward the evil that would harm His children.  More importantly, it is directed toward the evil that comes against His honor. 

We need to understand that any and every sin is evil ~ even sinful thoughts ~ and that God can not tolerate any sin at all.  Then we come to the realization that we sin; therefore God can not tolerate us.  When we catch hold of that truth, it changes our understanding of grace and mercy.  It makes the grace and the mercy so much deeper and richer!

So my name/description for God this week is one that is found throughout the book of Jeremiah: Angry.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, ³ because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.   
                                                                                                                                    Jeremiah 44:2-3

May God protect us from the sin of idolatry ~ making anything more important than Him ~ or from any other sin in our lives.

His peace to your homes.

Jack South

Last week I told you about our trip to South Carolina. 

Jack enjoyed the trip back home as much as the trip over.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that he enjoyed the trip back even more.  Probably because he got more attention.

We stopped at the rest stop just over the line from South Carolina into Georgia.  I walked into the Welcome Station and introduced Jack to the young lady who was working there.  She was so impressed with Jack that she volunteered to hold him for a picture with the Georgia Peach!

I still can't decide if it was because she was captivated by Jack's charms...

...or afraid of the crazy lady he was traveling with.

Jack was quite comfortable at the welcome station

The best rest areas have rocking chairs.

...because it is the home of the Masters' Gold Tournament, that's why.

The next stop was at the home of my dear friend Susan and her family.  Susan's Mr. Marvelous is a gardener just like mine.  Except mine grows vegetables and hers grows everything else.

Jack was disappointed that we did not have a picnic.

It was a little too cool.

Jack says he is the one who is too cool!

Jack also met my friends' cats.

He wasn't afraid...

...just cautious.

We did not stay as long as I would have liked.  If we had, I would still be there.  (as long as Mr. Marvelous were there too).

We left on a Saturday and headed back toward Alabama.  

Every time I drive through Atlanta with Mr. Marvelous, or even with Mr. Marvelous, Jr., I always bug/beg them to make just one extra stop.  I promise I would not be more than an hour or three.  Maybe six. 

They always roll their eyes and keep driving along I-20.  

This time it was just me and Jack.  Guess what?!

 I sent these two pictures to the marvelous ones. 

 They tried to pretend that they were not consumed with envy.














We were disappointed to find them closed.  We had hoped to at least get onto the Dahlonega Mine Train and maybe even the Scream Machine.  Maybe next time.

We left our happy place and kept on driving toward home.

Before long, we came to this.

You bet we do!  Jack does too.

Personally I thought he was a little old for this pose but he insisted.

In the south, if the temperature drops into the 50's a fire is a necessity.

And before too much longer, we were home.

Jack is excited about Thanksgiving.  He is looking forward to learning about not only the holiday, but the traditions behind it.  He has big plans so stay tuned!

Guest Post Thanksgiving 2014

The First Thanksgiving At Plymouth by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe picture from public domain

Today my favorite writer is sharing his November meditation with us.  Dr. Gordon Reed is a pastor, conference speaker, professor, and author of some of my favorite books.  He is the best preacher I have ever had the privilege of hearing and the best writer I have ever had the privilege of reading.  

He also happens to be the best Dad a girl could have!

There is a hymn we only get to sing one time each year but we really should sing much more often.  "Come Ye Thankful People, Come" is a call for God's people to joyfully praise Him for all His incredible goodness to us.  Since it is set in the context of the fall harvest, we associate this hymn almost exclusively with our national holiday called Thanksgiving, and sing it at no other time.  That is really a shame, because like so many hymns of that era, it was not only a call to thankful worship and praise, but its content also taught biblical truths we need to hear.  When Mr. Henry Alford wrote this Hymn, "Come Ye Thankful People, Come" he wanted those who would sing this hymn to think beyond the immediate fall harvest, to another time of harvest at the end of the world.  So he pointed us to the parable of the wheat and tares which Jesus told as recorded in Matthew 13.  In this parable Jesus said that the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but at night, an enemy came in and sowed bad seed.  The word "tare" is probably the weed called bearded darnel, which looks very much like wheat early on, but is host to a poison, dangerous for any who eat it.  The good seed, the wheat, is identified as true believers, and the tares as false professors.  Skipping over the rest of the story and the interpretation, at the very end, the angels separate the wheat from the tares.  The "tares" are burned with fire, but the "wheat" ~ the true believers ~ are brought into the glorious kingdom of their Father.  The last verse of the hymn reflects that hope and that longing that the Lord will come quickly and gather in His people, "free from sorrow, free from sin".  So when you sing this hymn at Thanksgiving, as many will, reflect on the deeper reasons for our praise, the final harvest when the Lord will come and call us home.

With love and thanksgiving for each one of you!

From Freehymnary.org: this hymn is in the public domain

Friday

 

It is one of my favorite weekends of the year.  In just two days I get to attend Handel's Messiah.

The Alabama Civic Chorale will do this for the 67th consecutive year.  It is the second longest running performance in the United States (the Handel + Haydn Society of Boston ~ of course! ~ holds the record having started in 1853).

Bebe Clark Kok continues the tradition that her parents began in 1947.

I began my personal tradition of attending after we moved to Alabama in 2008.  When I discovered that this free performance is available to "whosoever will", I was hooked.  I wrote about my first visit here and a couple of years later here

Sometimes other people go with me (Mr. Marvelous, Jr., my friend Bobbie and my friend Beth have all accompanied me).  Sometimes I go by myself.  I always take my own copy of the music.

Every single time they get to the Hallelujah chorus I try to sing with them.  After a few notes I can not sing any more.  The tears start flowing and I am too caught up in the glory of the music to do anything more than breathe.  I have to remind myself to do that.

Thank you, Alabama Civic Chorale.

Thank you, Mrs. Kok.

Thank you! 

I'm looking forward to being with you once again.

Gardening In Winter

Winter has hit Alabama this past week.

Remember those tomatoes we were hoping to baby through the winter in the hoop house?

 

They froze.

 Oh well.

For a few years Mr. Marvelous has been trying to persuade me to agree to put plastic up on some of the windows and perhaps even around the back porches.  I was less than enthusiastic.  

Until I started worrying about the rosemary.

I had an idea.  Mr. Marvelous could build out a window ledge from the kitchen window that looks out onto the back porch.  Kind of a miniature bay window.  Then he could glass that in, add shelves, maybe put a grow-light under one of the shelves for the plants on the bottom shelf, and then I could have an herb box year-round!  Doesn't that sound like the perfect idea??!!

I still can't figure out why he was laughing so hard when I was trying to describe it to him.  I thought it sounded reasonable and well within his marvelous capabilities.

We compromised.  We (and by "we" I mean "He and Junior") put plastic up around the lower back porch one morning and around the upper back porch that afternoon.  

With supervisory help from Jack South.

The back porch is now staying consistently 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside.  That might not help the plants that much if it gets down into the single digits, but it is making a difference now.

So far we have the rosemary out there and the fairy garden.  

I'll get some lettuce planted in plastic bins and foil pans this weekend

 and maybe move the parsley in from the beds outside. 

Yes, the chickens are safely tucked away into their tractors.

They will NOT be spending the winter on the porch!

Mr. Marvelous is getting new catalogs and some seeds in the mail every week.  Some weeks that seems like a daily event!  

He'll be starting seeds in pots before too much longer.

We are planning on an extensive raised bed system this next year.  As those seeds are germinating, he will be building frames.  

To Mr. Marvelous, one of the best things about gardening is that it is a year-round endeavor.

He does love his gardens!

The Adventures of Jack South

Last week Jack South accompanied me back to South Carolina for a visit.  Even though he had to ride in the back seat (he's too short for the front), he is good company.

We stopped at a rest stop

 where we enjoyed the leaves

There were two young princesses there who were quite taken with Jack. 

We had a busy and productive time while we were in South Carolina.  My father planted some guava bushes a year or two ago and they had a bumper crop of guavas this year. 

Mom says they got one hundred and one ~ she didn't count the last three I picked up. 

That made 16 half-pints of jelly.  I think Mom is set for a while.

Jack likes guava jelly!

We also went to visit the ladies at the Cut-N-Up Hair Salon.  Mary and Lynn are sisters who grew up near my parents.  They are remarkable ladies!  I still remember when Mary would come to my house to cut my hair for me because I was too sick to get into town.  They have shared not only their skills, but their babies children and their sweet spirits with my family for many years.  I'm convinced that the song Angie's Chair was written as a tribute to these ladies!

Jack fully agrees with this!

We had a wonderful time visiting with these ladies and with my parents.  I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted, or see all the people I wanted to see.  But as my mother says, that just makes us look forward to heaven that much more!

Christmas Village Part III

I love all kinds of fiber arts.  I have wanted to learn to spin ever since I read Sleeping Beauty.  I haven't tried it yet because I neither knit nor crochet, so I'm not at all sure what I would do with the yarn after spinning it.  Still, every time I see a spinning wheel I want to give it a try.

Another new vendor at the Christmas Village this year was Humming Star Alpacas.  Wouldn't it be fun to raise alpacas?  Andy and Cheryl Bowen live in Silverhill, Alabama and currently have 10 female and 6 male alpacas.  They use their wool to make socks, dryer balls and birds' nest bags.  They will be having a Family Farm Day this coming Saturday, November 22 if you are down that way.  I did not get pictures of their booth, but their website is here and there are lots of lovely photos on that page.

The EZ Vane company makes all kinds of weather vanes.  These are not poor quality imports but are crafted in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The owners have been working hard this past year to have an inventory; here are just a couple of pictures of what they had on hand.  Their website here has even more (and I have to admit, better) pictures.

Next up; my dress goes back for its annual visit to the ladies who made it.  And finally, I met the lady who I'm pretty sure was a Christmas Elf in disguise.  You won't believe the little machines she has created!