Gardens along the way...39...outdoors Christmas decorations....

 Gardens along the way....39... outdoor Christmas decorations.... 

Gone are the graveyards, the witches, the scary masks and creepy music...now to be replaced by blowup Santas, snow globes, snowmen and lights...and, oh, by the way, a few nativities ...happy holidays and Christmas cheer...lost in the maze is the real meaning of Christmas....

My family put up my small outdoor nativity, silhouette figures of Mary, Joseph and a manger holding the Christ-child in front of my house...I came home the other night and way the light shines on them, only the manger shows up...I chuckled to myself, thinking, “ God will show Himself  even using a simple metal shape, He is there all around, thank YOU “....

In church, we are making our way in Genesis...the first book of the Bible, with prophetic words of a Redeemer...I am in the book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible... Jesus is there all throughout the whole Word...sometimes a picture, sometimes walking with men and women along the Sea of Galilee...speaking through the ages by His Word, He is the Word...coming in the form of a child in poor circumstances...announced by angels to lowly, smelly shepherds, laid in a manger...a King, a Savior, a Redeemer of all who believe, a Counselor, God with us...one who is found Worthy...

So amongst the decorations, make room for that manger holding the King of Kings, celebrate His coming...all the other decorations will pass away...only He remains eternal ...and we will bow before Him...thank YOU...

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 

Matthew 1-2

Luke 1-2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-5,9-14

Revelation 5

In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” 

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

Revelation 5:12-13

Solicitations....

 Solicitations....

Every time I retrieve my mail, I find solicitations for a wide variety of causes...and this year there are more than before...so many good organizations helping those in need of so much...food banks, toys, clothing, food boxes, plus the regular ministries seeking to share the Love of God in many ways, in many places around the world...so many needs... Christmas and the end of the year is coming ...

We don’t have to look far to find needs...I see them on my own block...those who have lost their jobs, health, family due to world changes...and the relentless COVID...

We, who have much, have the opportunity to give...to be servants of God’s Grace and benefits...it softens our hearts, gives perspective, creates joy both for us and those who receive...

Personally,  I love the stories of the gifts received, how a need was met, the sparkle in a child’s eyes, the answer to prayer...not for my benefit but brings me back to Giver of Life...who bestows so much...

Thank YOU...God loves us so much that He gave the greatest and most needed Gift, His Son...

 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:15-17 

SANTA IS ALIVE AND WELL

I remember my first Christmas party with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything.

As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill , wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about though, when I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's second grade class.

Bobbie Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobbie Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes," I replied shyly. "It's ... for Bobbie." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas. That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.

Forty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

Author Unknown 

Gardens along the way...38...bird nests...

 Gardens along the way...38...bird nests...

The trees are mostly bare, arms  reaching nakedly toward the sky, some twisted and gnarled, others weeping...it is fun to see that variety of limb growth patterns against the blue or gray of the sky. Undressed for the winter months, they look stark and skinny, cold and bare...but many hold the remnants of homes built by their feathered spring friends...

Homes of twigs, hair, leaves, lined with downy feathers..balanced meticulously on forked branches or woven amongst the tiny limbs...some the size of the kitchen table down to a teacup...

Those homes, who in the spring,  are teeming with life, now sit empty and forlorn, subject to the winter storms...

Looking up the word, “bird”, there are over 125 references, not counting the references to named birds...from Genesis to Revelation...

They are referenced doing so many things...feeding, proclaiming, warning, eating, caring, etc....

Those nests are a reminder to me how much God cares for me...a home, a place...care, worth...even in the stark times, He is there...providing, loving...He knows the need of the bird and how much more for us...we who are created in his image...

Thank YOU....

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

Genesis 1:21-22

After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

Genesis 8:6-12

Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

Genesis 8:17 

“‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon.

Leviticus 1:14

He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.

Psalm 78:27

The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.

Psalm 104:12 

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

Matthew 3:16

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26

I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.

Psalm 50:11 

24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

Luke 12:24

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Luke 9:58

Finishing once again...

 Finishing once again...

This year, one of my goals was the read only the New Testament chronologically...last year it was the whole Bible chronologically...I wanted to slow down, so added the books  of Psalms and Proverbs as well...but in a new Bible as well...an archaeological Bible...wow so much...

Now, I am getting toward the end as we are closing, maybe slamming the door on 2020...ending with Revelations, finishing the Psalms and Proverbs...

The Word is so descriptive both in person and words...Jesus speaks of himself in the book of John...but further describes Himself in Revelations...

One reference—-many others...

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

“Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 

26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

John 8:12,25-26,31-32,36,42,58 

Revelation, chapters 1-3 references....

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father —to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 

18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 

8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 

16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. 

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 

5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 

7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 

10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 1:5-6,8,17-18,2:1,8,12,16-18,26,3:1,5,7,10,14,19-21 

It just struck me...the power, the love, the care...the call for each the examine and respond...we all have the choice to respond to His “knock” as it says...He does not push His way in, bullying his way...but waits for each to answer that door, to answer welcome His entrance...to sit and dine with the Creator, the Alpha and Omega...

Thank YOU....

2020 thanksgiving...

 2020 Thanksgiving.... 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. 

And be thankful. 

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:15-17 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/ways-christians-can-still-give-thanks-in-2020.html

We, or maybe just me, are learning new normals, flexibility in quantum leaps, adjustments to life that I in my wildest dreams never imagined...

I am sure over the generations there have been times like these, and in other cultures it is a way of life...but being raised in “safe, comfortable” USA, if has been a really different year and looks like it will be this way for awhile...God knows the way and times, for which I am thankful...

I looked up “give thanks” for my own soul this morning, NIV translation...

We do have much to give thanks for...

Thank YOU....

Terminal depression...loss of purpose...

 Terminal depression...loss of purpose...

My father passed away in 2013 of “terminal depression” something that until then I had never heard or seen...it was a very cruel and hard time...

My father was the gentleman cowboy...happy, encouraging, cup-half full, smiling father, grandfather, great grandfather, son, husband, father -in-law, friend, teacher, organizer, Christian, can and bottle collector, timber man, Mr. frugality, traveller, harmonica player, letter writer, storyteller, woodcutter, hard worker, provider, sentimental, historian and so much more...He loved telling family stories, remembering all the details, laughing until he cried, wiping his eyes, then telling more...

He was not perfect, but he was perfect for our family...when my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, my father drove 9 hours to be with family, “because every daughter needs her dad in times like these”...( I was more worried about him driving long distances at 80+)...but it touched my heart and soul deeply...we daughters do need our dads to care and love us...

All this to say, watching him quickly and slowing succumbing to depression was a hard pill to swallow...he had given up, felt no purpose to carry on even though he was healthy in body...my take at the time, was that he lost his purpose, his work that he loved, his wife, his son in law and depression replaced the happiness that once exuded from every pore of his being...

What made me come back to those times, was our pastor’s sermon on “work”...this week...a purpose and a privilege...that God has given to each of us to fulfill...

Watching my dad in his last weeks and days..I wanted him to find that purpose again, to fight to find it...to pull out of his path of depression...to be “him” again...but, our minds can play tricks on us and he wanted to be with my mom, to find rest in the eternal rather than the temporal...and so he passed away...

Every time I have to fill out a personal questionnaire, there are boxes to check.   “Retire or employed”...I don’t know what to check...I am still cooking, cleaning, maintaining a household, overseeing my late husband’s business...have I retired?...I still feel I have a work to do, a purpose to fulfill...a life to live...a different season than before, but still working...I haven’t retired in the “worldly” sense...nor in the spiritual sense...

I want that sense of purpose to permeate my life...whether it is being a mom, grandma, friend, confidante, crafter, writer, business person, Christian...it is a privilege that God has given each of us, advancing His kingdom in the manner he has personally given each of us until he takes us home...

Thank YOU...

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15 

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:17 

Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.

Psalm 104:23 

From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.

Proverbs 12:14 

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,....

Ecclesiastes 9:10a

27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:27-29 

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

2 Corinthians 8:11 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

Hosea 10:12

Gardens along the way...37...an old song...

 Gardens along the way...37...an old song

“I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses,

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

• Refrain:
• And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
• And He tells me I am His own;
• And the joy we share as we tarry there,
• None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.”

Charles Mills 1913...

This morning I received a note from an old friend asking how I was faring through this year of change, another sent out this song, another called to check in, yet another wrote a thank you for being in their lives...etc...etc. I wrote notes to others, commented on several Facebook entries ...etc...listened...

we are all so interconnected...we are part of someone else’s garden in life and they are part of ours ...it maybe next door, across the nation or on the other side of the world ...it may be a fleeting special time of life  or life long acquaintances or friends...it maybe family or not...it may be a word, a song, an all night vigil ...something has been planted in those gardens...to bloom and grow...sometimes an annual, sometimes a perennial...the landscape may change, the different design ...a desert, or the tropics...but the garden remains...

Hearing this old song again...soaking in the words...Jesus has been in those gardens along the way , speaking, listening, cultivating, growing, creating, comforting, coloring, pruning...all that a gardener does...and most of all just being...just there...a burden bearer, someone in which to confide, to encourage...thank YOU...

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15 

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.....

Genesis 3:8a

“Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters.

Numbers 24:6 

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:11 

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Jeremiah 29:5-7 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 

2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 

8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

John 15:1-8