Anticipation

In recent years, in my learning about the tradition of Advent, it became important to me to display a lit star outside of our house during the weeks before Christmas.

I think that's my reminder of what we're celebrating here.  It kind of keeps me grounded during the Christmas season.  And i can hope that others will see it and be reminded too.

I ran out of batteries, so i don't have pictures.  But we are enjoying the advent season this year with a front-of-the-house full of Christmas lights (including advent star), an antique Christmas tree i found in the attic, and a couple strings of Christmas lights draped around our bedroom, which i'm thinking of keeping year 'round because they're so nice. Somehow we managed to do all of this the day after Thanksgiving.

I don't know if that has ever happened before.  But there's something peaceful about being in celebration mode.  To be getting ready for something fun and exciting.  To be thinking of others and what they might like for Christmas.  To be anticipating.

That's the point of Advent, by the way.  In the same way that the Israelites were anticipating the coming of Christ that we read about in the New Testament, Christians now await His second coming.  Christmas should be a reminder of that.  And a reminder that the most important way to get ready for that event, is in the condition of our hearts before Him.

Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- He is the King of glory.

~Psalm 24:9-10~

The Most Thankful Time of the Year

Today is Thanksgiving.

You probably knew that.

Thanksgiving is my favorite "holiday," partly because it seems to be the least infiltrated by commercialism and whatnot. It's about giving thanks, hence the name.  It was about giving thanks in the very beginning, and it is about giving thanks now.  I think it might be God's favorite holiday too.

O.k., for some people, it's about eating as much as possible and then yelling at a football game.  But even those folks generally get some thankfulness in there somewhere.

Let's pretend for minute, that we're all at a Thanksgiving table together, and we're doing the thing where you go around the table, and each person tells what he or she is thankful for.  And right now it's my turn.  You're welcome to take your turn in the comments, by the way.

Recently i read (yes, i'm telling you what i'm thankful for) Psalm 106, which at first glance, is a little tedious and boring in comparison to many of the other psalms, which are normally flowery and poetic.

This one chronicles, in a way, the pickles the Israelites got themselves into (from the beginning of the time that there were ever Israelites), how they acted about it, and how God responded to them.

Let me sum it up.  God pours out amazing blessing and generosity on His people.  His people tell Him how awesome He is and pledge their undying love and devotion.  Next, the people completely forget about the provision and love of God and start doing abominable things like worshiping golden calves or sacrificing their children to foreign gods.  In response, God lays off on the blessings a bit, until the the people take notice and remember which God is the real one and start asking for mercy.  God hears, has great mercy on His people, and restores them to fellowship, demonstrating His unfailing love.

Repeat times infinity.

Does any of this sound familiar?

As much as i don't want it to be, on some level, i think this is true of many or all of our lives.  We might not go sacrificing our kids on a stake to a non-existent false god, but we do forget how great is the love of the Lord for His children.  And we pull away.

And God is merciful enough to allow it to be brought to our attention that we need Him.

And that's why i'm thankful.  I need Him so much, and i love Him so much, and He loves me so much more - that He allows me to feel the pain of His absence when my mind and heart begin to wander to the things of this world.  And then He restores me to His fellowship and His heart, and i again know the joy of His presence and unbelievable awe of His love.

I hope you do too.

All of God's indelible love to you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Time to Be Still

Before anything, it is my desire to honor God.  With my life, with my blogging, with my words, though i sometimes mess that up pretty good, it is my desire to honor God.

To that end, in response to what i believe to be the urgings of the Holy Spirit, i am about to get very quiet...blog wise.  After several years of blogging, and almost two years of blogging semi-daily (is that really a term?), i don't have anything to say but that i think the Lord wants me to get quiet.  And i don't think i'll be able to go to sleep until i obey.

Writing this blog has been a great joy to me, but to everything there is a season.

I have learned what it means to live with the consequences of disobedience, and  won't live there again if i can help it.  While i usually write here only once a day, it does take up many of my thoughts.  Perhaps the Lord wants to be more wrapped up in those thoughts than He has been.

I don't know.

I know i love Him, and i want to do what He wants because i know He sees the big picture, for real.

Thank you for reading.  There's lots to read still.  I've been blathering on here for years.

I will write again when i'm told.

Many many blessings to everyone who reads this.

Be silent and know that I am God.  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.

~ Psalm 46:10 ~

Sneaky Sneaky

At my house, we have a whole lot of these groovy hollow logs sitting about here and there.  They're pieces of a hollow tree GSSH, or in this case CWSH (Chainsaw Wielding Super Hero), cut down last year.  They make great decoration, in my countrified opinion, and i simply like looking at them.

Yesterday, i was wandering around, calling a wandering dog to come home, when i looked down and saw this.

Really pretty scene.  Very sneaky chickens.

Learning Things and Other Random Information

Yesterday, i canned a pumpkin.  That was fun.

But when it was all finished, i knew something was amiss.

See how there's liquid only half way up?  It was supposed to be all the way up.  And it was when i started.

When i started canning the pumpkin, knowing i plan to use it before the year's out, i said that i would do it as a learning experience.  I sure did learn something.

Here's what i learned:  when using a pressure canner, it is important to allow the pressure to decrease slowly after canning, leaving the weight in its place.  Otherwise, the pressure decreases faster in the canner than in the jars, and some rule of physics forces the jars to give up their liquid.  And that's what happened to me.

Successful learning experience.

In other news, i let my chicks out of their pen today.  It has been a whole week since i put them in it, but there were flaws in my system, and they escaped a couple of those days.  The point is...tonight, which was the test, they still went back and slept under the brooder, where they are not supposed to sleep.  Argh!

For a moment i considered letting them sleep there and see how it went.  But then i decided to make it fun.  I knew i needed to get them back in their pen in the coop, but i have also been needing to get a good inventory of what i have, i.e., breeds, genders, ages, etc.  This sort of thing, sorting, listing, knowing, excites me a lot.  I think i was out there for over an hour, sorting chicks into separate cages and then examining them to determine gender and then writing down my results, and then finally returning them to their reinforced pen.

Poor things.  It's going to be another week.

Poor me.  It's going to be another week.  We really must beat this into their little brains somehow.

But i am very happy that i got my inventory.

On yet more random information, tomorrow, i am participating in a community garage sale.  I'm hoping to make money and friends.

I'm getting very sleepy, and i have more work to do before bed.

Goodnight, friends.

Thanks for reading.

Winter Sleep

The winter chill seems to have settled in, here in the woods...finally.  We haven't run the air conditioner for several days now.

There's something very nice about darkness at 7 pm.  It means animals in bed and fed, and me in my pajamas by  8pm.

And that means plenty of time to work on Christmas presents and whatnot for the holidays.

The chill also means i can bake and can and all sorts of things, without breaking a sweat in the house.

And that's what i did today.  And i crafted after dark for way too long, so that now i don't have much to blog because i have grown sleepy.

Good night.

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

~ Psalm 4:8 ~

God Lessons From the Chickens

I've been wanting to tell you this little story for a few days, but first i need to explain a little bit about chickens.
I have two full grown roosters.

  

Rocky is the oldest, the head honcho.  He has proven himself as the great protector, food finder, and romancer.

Edgar is the junior rooster, most likely a son of Rocky.  He's really just reached maturity, and he's definitely still learning the ropes.  

Now i need to explain about the prime directive.  God made chicken brains very small, but He packed information in there very efficiently.  In the brain of a rooster, He packed the importance of watching for danger, looking for food, and in both cases, warning or calling to then hens to let them know what's going on.  If you ever see this exchange, it's very cute.

But most dominant in the mind of a rooster, is the prime directive, the importance of keeping hens fertile, which isn't nearly as cute.  Also, in the social order, if you are a rooster, is the importance of keeping underling roosters from fertilizing "your" hens.  What this normally means is that if Rocky sees Edgar trying to romance one of his hens, Rocky kicks Edgar's butt.  Poor Edgar.  He's really trying hard, but he has no idea what he's doing.  And besides, most of these hens are old enough to be his mother.  Actually, one of them IS is his mother.  (I know this seems disgusting, but in the chicken world, it's o.k.  God did it, not me.)  So the ladies don't have much patience for Edgar's learning curve, which often results in a squawking fit that can be heard all around.

Now to the real story.

When i let the chickens out of the coop in the morning, Rocky and Edgar both go into immediate "prime directive" mode.  I was standing outside, watching the chickens, when i heard the characteristic squawking of a hen protesting Edgar's advances.  I also saw that Rocky was very very closeby, and i watched, expecting Rocky to go over there and kick Edgar's butt.

To my surprise, Rocky just watched.  He stood still and looked at Edgar.  Then i noticed that all the hens, except the one who was protesting, were standing behind Rocky, in relation to Edgar.  And they were carelessly scratching around and being happy chickens.  A moment later, the protesting hen realized this too and made her way to the other side of Rocky....an area where Edgar didn't dare trespass.

Herein lies the God lesson.  God is very interested in keeping His people safe and protected and happy.  And there are many times when He will go to great lengths to kick the tails of those things that enter our lives to harass and torment us.  There are also times when He makes it easy for us to stay away from the tormenter by standing guard over our lives.  But when we choose to go outside of the protected area, we're a little bit on our own.  A quick run to the protected part of the yard (obedience) will keep us safe and happily doing the things we were made to do, instead of using up our energy protesting unwanted advances.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.  Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.  Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.  You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.  "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
~ Psalm 91 ~

The First Big Holiday of the Year

I've just finished making notes on my sample ballot, so that i'll remember who i do and don't want to vote for when GSSH and i go to the polls this afternoon.

This is Election Day.

Voting is a right, responsibility, and privilege, which is held in high esteem in this household.  I think that voting is sacred and something very few, if any of us really understand the true importance of.  Thus, as i made my picks for all the different positions, i prayed.  My God knows everything about every candidate and every race, including the future.  So i mostly want to vote for Him.

All that was just to say that i hope your vote is counted today too.  And if, for some reason, you're unable to vote today, i hope you'll make certain you're able to vote next time.  It's too important to let it go.  So many lives have been paid to give us this freedom.  Let us not ever let that be taken for granted, or it may be taken away.

Tonight at my house, will be a little like a football game, with the excitement of watching the votes being tallied up in each race.  It's very exciting and very important and very solemn, all at once.

May God's will be done and His name be praised.

Amen.

Happy November First

I usually forget the significance of November 1st until it arrives, and then i think, "Hey!  This is a special day, isn't it?"  Eleven years ago today, we were on our way home to Texas, for the first time as a married couple.  We had no idea what would challenges would meet us by the end of the day, but at least we would be in Texas.  I thought i had written this story before, but i can't seem to find it, so here's a walk down memory lane.

When GSSH and i got married in 1998, we lived in Ohio.  And by October 1999, our youthful stupidity (i tried to think of a nicer word; it just wouldn't come) had us facing eviction from our high priced apartment, and we decided it was time to make the move back home to Texas.  We stuffed every corner of our poor beautiful LeSabre with as much of our belongings as we could, kissed my mom and dad goodbye, and drove off.  With less than $300 between us (gas was cheaper back then, y'all), one set of keys, and everything we now owned, we left on a 1000 mile trip.  Thank God for His angels protecting us.

I remember that we drove through the night.  Well, mostly GSSH drove through the night.  It was dark and storybook stormy.  Besides the horrible storms and the dark of night, we were driving down narrow roads through construction zones.  I remember that i had been driving for a while, but when the dark and stormy night-type circumstances arose, i thought it would be good to pull over and wait it out.  That's when GSSH took over for the rest of the trip.  I did some sleeping, and it's so good that i did because i remember the scenes i saw each time i woke up. And i could never figure out how GSSH could see where we were going.

Eventually, morning came, and the storminess broke, and we pressed on.  And sometime in the evening, we broke through the Texas border (there was nothing to break, but it sounded good just now) to familiar territory.  If your'e a Texan, and you've ever left Texas and come back, you know this.  There's this wonderful ease of breathing when you cross the line onto Texan ground.  It smells better, it feels better, and everything looks better.  It's like Texas knew you were missing and reached out and gave you a big hug when you came back home where you belong.  (I think Heaven must be a little bit like that....only times a gobillion plus infinity).


Texarkana, as the name might imply, is a small Texas town that sits all the way up in the corner of Texas that juts into Arkansas, right on the border.  It is also the intersection between two major highways, and where we would turn south on Highway 59, toward home.  Having pushed so hard for so many hours, now finally in Texas, we decided to stop for gas and a little break.

For some reason that i cannot recall or deduce, i recommended to my husband that i take the keys with me.  I took our key chain - two keys on a chain with a yellow smiley face - and my pocket book.  When i went inside, to the ladies room, i placed the pocketbook on the back of the toilet, and the keys on top of the pocket book.  Then i did my business, flushed, turned around, and picked up my pocket book, but not my keys.  I forgot about the keys.  And as i picked up my pocketbook, the keys tumbled straight down the already flushing toilet.  Gone.  Gone forever.

You cannot imagine my panic.

You also can't imagine my husband's angry face panic when i told him.

We tried to fish it out.  That didn't work.
We tried to find a late night plumber.  That wasn't going to happen.
We spent anguished hours making phone calls from the gas station - and me periodically apologizing.
Then, finally, we decided to get a locksmith.

We spent the night in the car in the parking lot next to the gas station, my husband forgave me, and early in the morning, a very kind man, whose name i wish i remembered so i could thank him, came and disassembled our steering column - which was necessary to get us a new key for our very fancy coded key - and charged us a very discounted fee for his trouble.  (He also reassembled the steering column/steering wheel and got us back in working order with a key that worked).

That was November 2.  Then we drove home.

Eight years later, we drove through that same intersection, and we stopped at the same gas station, and i took a picture, just 'cause.  But i didn't take the keys to the bathroom.  I don't think i was allowed to hold the keys at all while we were there.

I thought about taking a picture of the infamous toilet that stole my keys, but that seemed weird.

So Happy November First!  Our eleven year anniversary of our return from non-Texan exile.  It was an adventure, but we really like it here.

I hope you enjoyed the story of how we finally made it home, how i got us stranded in Texarkana overnight, how God is faithful when we're ridiculous, and how marriages can survive all sorts of weird things.

Oh!  If ever you stop at that gas station in Texarkana, i might suggest you let someone else hold your keys while you go to the bathroom....just in case.