This Too Is Christmas

The weather people are predicting snow for us tomorrow. SNOW!! I lived up north for the first thirty-six years of my life. When we moved to Texas I considered the possibility that I would never see snow again. After thinking about it for about thirty seconds I decided I was fine with that. So under ordinary circumstances my plan for tomorrow would be to stay strictly indoors, dress warmly and drink lots of hot tea.

However, tomorrow is not an ordinary day. Tomorrow is the day of our annual Christmas Bingo Party. After hearing the forecast I thought perhaps I shouldn't go. After all, Mary's house is a forty minute drive from mine. If the snow should actually amount to something, it could be a very exciting ride home indeed. I sat myself down and had a little talk with....well you know....me. "Linda," I said, "this is the Christmas you've been thinking and praying about. It is spending time with those who are dear to us - giving, not things, but something from the heart."

These women have been a part of my life since the first small group Bible study we attended more years ago than I can count. We are no longer together in that group. Our lives have gone in different directions as our children have gotten older, but on this day every year we gather together.

After the hugs and greetings, the conversation flows as though we had seen each other only a day or so ago. These are friendships built on the foundation of our shared faith. We have laughed, cried and prayed together as we've walked through the best and worst of times. These precious women are my sisters.

So I will venture forth! Actually....knowing how precious this time is for us, my husband has offered to drive me there and my friend's husband also offered to take the day off from work and pick up every one of us and deliver us back home.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Blessings,
Linda

Moving Slowly Through Advent

Monday was a dark, cold, rainy day here. We ventured out to do the grocery shopping - dashing from the car to the store in the wet chill. When we got home, the little head cold I had been brewing made me just a bit weary so I decided to give myself the afternoon off.

The darkness of the cloudy day permeated the house. I slipped into the living room and knelt in front of my little bookcase to choose a movie. For some reason I didn't pick one of the Christmas DVDs - instead I found my hand reaching for "To Kill A Mockingbird". It is one of my all time favorite books and movies. Harper Lee is a master story teller.

Within a few minutes I was lost in the story - for truly it is a gripping one. When it was all over I found myself thinking not so much of the story itself but of the atmosphere of the time and place - the scenes on the front porch in particular.

In the peaceful quietness of a summer evening Atticus sat on the front porch listening to the voices of his children as they talked to one another from their beds. He wasn't busy with anything; he simply sat rocking in the old rocking chair.
On another occasion, he sat with his little girl as she told him what was troubling her.

The whole rhythm of that time was slower. There was no hurry to run to the store or get the children to practice of one sort or another, no rushing off to a meeting or out for a quick bite to eat. The pace was slow and peaceful - time to simply sit and perhaps talk over the day.




I have purposed to make this Advent Season a step back in time. We have pared down the gift-giving this year - less frantic looking for something we don't already have. The calendar has only a few important dates marked off. I want to walk slowly through this time becoming more mindful of what this miraculous season is really all about.

I don't want to miss what He wants to whisper into my heart.


Please visit Ann to read more about seeking Christ this Christmas Season.

Blessings,
Linda

If you haven't visited the Christmas Change blog yet, you really should. You will be abundantly blessed.

One Last Look Back

Before my heart dances into the Advent Season, I want to cherish one last look at fall. She comes slowly to South Texas, quietly making her way among the cedar trees and live oak. The Master Artist has saved just enough paint on His palette to dab His breath-taking colors onto this vast green canvas.

Whenever we have friends or family come for a first time visit from the north, they are always astounded that we aren't set in the middle of desert country with cactus and tumble weed our only vegetation. If that is your image of South Texas, I want to give you just a glimpse of what it is really like.



This is our very own little red oak. We guard her carefully, knowing the reward she brings us in the fall.






















Blessings,
Linda

Walk With Him Wednesday

Ann has suggested that we write a Psalm of Praise for Thanksgiving.


"To be grateful is to recognize God's hand on everything that touches your life. Every breath you draw is a gift of His love; every moment of existence is a gift of grace..."
James MacDonald



Grateful Praise

Father in heaven, we lift our hearts to You in praise.
You are high and lifted up and Your glory fills the heavens.
You are righteous and perfect in all your ways - never changing.
Your wisdom is beyond our understanding; Your power beyond our imagining,
And yet You are mindful of us.

You hear us when we pray, bending low to listen.
You answer every prayer according to Your perfect will,
A will that seeks only to do us good.

In times of difficulty, You are there - measuring grace sufficient.
In sorrow, Your tears are mingled with our own,
Bringing comfort and peace beyond understanding.

In times of happiness, You rejoice with us - pouring out Your love.
You dance over us with radiant joy,
And cover us with Your wings.

It was Your love that drew us - a love that held nothing back.
It is Your love that holds us - though we may wander now and then.
With hearts filled with love we praise You and give thanks
For all that You are.


Happy Thanksgiving. I pray your day is filled with love and warmth.
Linda

Thanks to God

Thanks to God

Thanks to God for my Redeemer, Thanks for all Thous dost provide.
Thanks for times now but a mem'ry, Thanks for Jesus by my side.
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime, Thanks for dark and dreary fall.
Thanks for tears by now forgotten, Thanks for peace within my soul.

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered, Thanks for what Thou dost deny.
Thanks for storms that I have weathered, Thanks for all Thou dost supply.
Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure, Thanks for comfort in despair.
Thanks for grace that none can measure, Thanks for love beyond compare.

Thanks for roses by the way-side, Thanks for thorns their stems contain.
Thanks for home and thanks for fire-side, Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain.
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow, Thanks for heav'nly peace with Thee.
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow, thanks thro' all eternity.

(an anonymous Swedish hymn)
picture: Norman Rockwell

Blessed Thanksgiving,
Linda

Multitude Monday

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."
I Chron. 16:34

Yesterday a portion of our church choir and orchestra gathered in the parking lot of our church. Within a few minutes the three buses cruised slowly down the hill and came to a stop. Like a bunch of excited high school kids going to the "big game" we climbed aboard.

Once everyone was seated and accounted for, the buses began the journey to a little town about an hour and a half north of us. We were on our way to an event we had been anticipating for months. The congregation in this little town had just moved into their brand new church building and invited us to sing during their evening service.

The people were waiting for us when we arrived. They had prepared a meal that was absolutely amazing. It was a complete Thanksgiving Dinner! The tables were just groaning under the weight of turkey, ham and all the sides you can imagine. And the deserts!!! I could hardly make a choice.

We were served first and then the rest of the church family joined us. I have always loved fact that when people have Jesus "in common" - there is an immediate connection. We may not know each other well, but we know the One who has given us everything and it binds us together. I am a naturally shy person, but that commonality puts me at my ease.

I am thankful for the unity we have in Jesus. I am thankful that no matter what our life story, when He is the common thread we are family. It fills my heart to see the difference He makes in a life. It is, for me, the greatest testimony to the truth of the Gospel.

It is not a set of beliefs that binds our hearts together. It is not a philosophy or a new way of looking at things. It is a relationship with the great God of creation. It is that which gives hope and joy and meaning and purpose to life. It is that which takes a life that was full of despair and pain and turns it around. It is the true and living God whose lovingkindness is everlasting."

An elderly gentlemen closed in prayer when we were finished singing. My heart overflowed as I listened to his voice, a little weak with age but strong in the faith of a lifetime. Nothing speaks more eloquently than a life lived for Jesus.

I am so thankful.
Linda

Please visit Ann's and become part of the Gratitude Community.

Burdens

I am here, but I am weary. There are lots of things running around my little mind, but I find I just don't have the energy to get them out and onto paper. I'm not sure what it is. I certainly haven't been over-doing things in the physical department. It is just a sort of "mind weariness."

I have been carrying the cure around with me - written out on an index card in a little spiral notebook. Matthew 11:28-30 were my very first memory verses for this year. I believe, without realizing it, I have been carrying burdens around which were never meant for my feeble shoulders. Whenever I have recited these verses, I have felt the tears starting. It is time to let the words do their heart-work; time to let Him carry the burdens.

It is one thing to bring the burdens to Him; it is quite another to leave them there and not pick them back up. It is even possible, I have found, to think you have not done that - but the heart knows better. It feels the weight and grows weary.

So once again I come, sit at His feet and lay it all down. I feel the stirring of joy, of hope. I find Him faithful - always faithful.

Blessings,
Linda

picture: flickr -b4b2