Encouraging Deep Roots

Epiphany is the manifestation of God in human flesh; God with us. And it is God's manifestation not just to the Jewish people, but to the Gentiles. Today is Epiphany Day and Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate it.  The message that was communicated to me when I was growing up was, "Make something of yourself." "Don't settle." "You are better than this." and "Be somebody." That same message is prevalent in our society. It's as if there is a collective fear of being mediocre or insignificant. And yet, the God of the Universe, humbled himself and made himself less, and willingly took on this frail human form. He allowed himself to experience emotions, pain and exhaustion. He came under the care of two human parents. He was betrayed by friends who were fickle. And ultimately he was tortured by arrogant men and died on a wooden cross which was a symbol of humiliation. Why would He do that? We go out of our way to avoid those neg...

There are just two more sleeps before Christmas! The anticipation has been building like a crescendo and I'm looking forward to the quiet reflection tomorrow night during our Christmas candlelight service at church and then the raucous celebration on Christmas day. I often reflect that Jesus came into this world on a dark and quiet night and yet, we have ramped up this holiday crazy loud chaos. At times, it doesn't feel like it really would be Christmas without the craziness. I often wonder, "Could I still feel the same joy during Christmas without all the noise?" However, as I read the passage in Luke this morning something new struck me. I realized it probably was not as silent a night as we think.  Luke 2:8-20 ~ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t...

I overslept this morning and am moving slowly, but am allowing myself the space to do that. It was such a busy weekend and I kind of feel like I was run over by a truck. I hosted Emily's bridal shower and it turned out lovely. I certainly underestimated how much work goes into planning and implementing it and in just six short weeks we will be doing the same level of activity for her wedding. Here are just a few pictures of the day. The only negative was the lighting in the room was terrible so they all came out on the darker side. We had a fun activity where everyone had to paint a picture of Ryan from memory. It produced some hilarious results. On Mondays I generally look back over the previous week and reflect on the many blessings. 💓I'm thankful we got to shower Emily with love this weekend.  💓 I'm thankful for the beautiful weather we had this weekend. 💓 Nathan and Dan helped tremendously by lugging things back and forth from the house to the church. I am thankful f...

In John 8:12 Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” This proclamation was said while he was in the temple complex and possibly soon after the Festival of Tabernacles. This was a time when the great Menorah or lampstand was lit, reminding people of the pillar of fire that led them through the wilderness. Jesus, however, is letting them know that He is the source of all true light. His light is what will lead the way in the darkness and His light will never be extinguished.  There are so many people today stumbling around in the dark. They are lost, confused, discouraged, and depressed.  They struggle just like you and I do, but they don't have the light of Jesus in their life.  They are wandering through life, totally blinded by the darkness. I love the celebration of Christmas because I'm reminded once again of the wonderful gift we have received.  A savior was born so many yea...

  I have Found Joy in Simple Things by Grace Noll Crowell I have found joy in simple things A plain clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread, A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings, The shelter of a roof over my head, And in a leaf-laced square along the floor, Where yellow sunlight glimmers through a door. I have found such joy in things that fill my quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace A potted plant upon my sill, A rose fresh-cut and placed within a vase, A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair, And books I have long loved beside me there. We are a week ahead than most churches on our Advent themes as we are having a Christmas play on the 24th. So we decided to go ahead and start with the Advent candles and themes the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This past Sunday we lit the candle of joy and Dan spoke on having joy in the midst of our mundane, hard lives. The reality is no matter what people say, joy is difficult at times. Dan asked the question, "Is joy being happy all the time or...

Our denomination has a world-wide ministry and I was asked to speak for a Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration that the Alliance World Fellowship of Women's Ministries was hosting. That took place this morning and the theme was Jesus, the Light of the World. I put together a video for them to use as part of the zoom celebration.  There were women gathered from all over the world and it was neat to see a group from the Congo, Gabon and Burkina Faso there.  I sent the video back at the beginning of November so the leadership had time to translate it into French and Spanish. It also allieviated the stress of my internet not working at a crucial moment. I do have to say that it was hard to video myself speaking to an empty room! I definitely enjoy having a live audience better.  However, I thought I'd share the message here which was Reflect the Light of Jesus to a Dark World . You can click on the link to watch it. 

The tree is up and looking beautiful I blame this sign on the lake effect snow warning we have for this morning through Wednesday. Thanksgiving was wonderful. I made pumpkin soup at my son's request. Delicious! Dan and the boys had Stromboli the other night for dinner. By the end of Thanksgiving weekend everyone is a bit tired of leftovers so I made a vegetarian chili last night. Thanksgiving is over and we are hurtling towards December 1st and Christmas. The tradition in our family is putting up the tree and Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. It's very different now that the kids are grown and not always here.  I probably would have waited, but Stephen was here and asking about it, so up it went. He did help me get the ornaments on it so it went fast. I'll put the rest of the decorations out a bit at a time. It's been a busy week because not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving and get our decorations out, but on Saturday we were at the church putting up t...

This week is going to be a busy one as I prepare for a weekend retreat in which I'm the main speaker. I'm putting the finishing touches on 4 sessions which also include breakout times. It was a bit irritating to me when I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and was unable to get back to sleep. But I guess I should view it as a jump start on the day! :-) I'm thankful for many things today. 💗 Pulling the last bit of beauty from my flower gardens and bringing it indoors.  💗 A wonderful worship service yesterday. 💗 Safety traveling this past weekend. 💗 Exciting times ahead.    💗 Cuteness on nature walks. 💗 Continued weight loss and learning new ways to cook. 💗 Coffee with a friend. 💗 Challenging conversations which stretch me.  💗 Getting back in the sewing room.  💗 My thanksgiving cactus is beginning to bloom. I'm thankful for this reminder of my mother each year as we are coming up on the 3rd anniversary of her passing. This plant was in her house and was not doing very...