This One Thing...

Morning sun across my knees,
I am sitting in my nighty,
On the couch...
With my Bible and a cup of tea.
And this one thing,
This infusing of the Word into my troubled heart,
Sets the pace for life.

Smooth...

There is this green glob in my blender these days...

The main ingredients are 2 of these bananas...

2 cups of this stuff...

And a 1/2 cup of this yogurt.

All mixed together, they make a pretty ok breakfast. The blender wakes everybody up, the looks of this in a cup drives people from the kitchen, and drinking it leaves me longing for toast and peanut butter, but those Christmas cookies are still hanging around and I want to get rid of them. No big steps, just some healthy changes. I did this last year too and it paid off. Plus I'm getting the old runners on in the early a.m. again too. I love walking out just before the sun comes up. Last year I watched spring arrive day by day and I will again this year. Not from the comfort of my couch with a cup of tea, but on the roads and pathways of our neighborhood. Lovely. 

Yesterday I Saw The Sun!

Sun through the trees

 

 

 

 

At the beginning of our walk.

Patrick loves the sun but found the wind a little cool.

And this beauty. Lichen under a microscope.

We went for a walk yesterday. It was too pretty to stay inside. The sun was out, although only in brief snatches of light here and there. I am tired of the gray. I want more sun, more blue sky, and some green, please! Everything to its own season, however. 

In homeschool, we are charting the weather on a lovely new *bird* calendar we purchased. Everyday we write down the cloud formations, temperature, bird sightings, and any other trivia we can come up with. Great fun, and a reason to look outside every morning, first thing. We are thankful for each day God gives us.

Sunshine, In and Out

O Worship The King

O worship the King
All glorious above;
O gratefully sing
His power and his love:
Our Shield and Defender,
The Ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendour,
And girded with praise.

O tell of his might,
O sing of his grace,
Whose robe is the light,
Whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath
The deep thunder-clouds form,
And dark is his path
On the wings of the storm.

This earth, with its store
Of wonders untold,
Almighty, thy power
Hath founded of old:
Hath stablished it fast
By a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast,
Like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care
What tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air,
It shines in the light;
It streams from the hills,
It descends to the plain,
And sweetly distils
In the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust,
And feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust,
Nor find thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender!
How firm to the end!
Our Maker, Defender,
Redeemer, and Friend.

O measureless Might,
Ineffable Love,
While angels delight
To hymn thee above,
Thy humbler creation,
Though feeble their lays,
With true adoration
Shall sing to thy praise.

I love this old hymn. It makes me happy when I sing it. It brings joy to my heart. We are committing it to memory in our homeschool so I use every excuse to bellow out the different verses. It echoes through the car, it slips from its position in the kitchen window and falls in the dishwater, it covers the fridge and runs across the whiteboard like water down hill. I love it, did I mention that?

My mother loved the old hymns. She sang them so often that we all learned them when we were still too young to read. And we were blessed to catch a glimpse of the  raw beauty of her relationship with her God, open, consuming.  

This hymn and many like it, are sunshine on the cloudiest of days, a dose of medicine for a winter worn heart.

Spring will come. The plants know...

So does my son's tree frog.

He basks in the lovely warmth of the sun whenever he gets a chance.

I can wait for spring. It will come soon enough. I am perusing seed catalogs, washing curtains, listening to crows stirring up the quiet of morning walks. And the sun...that glorious sun. It warms my outside as I stand by the patio door, while good hymns, quiet times with the Lord, and the encouragement of good friends warms my inside. And face it...Spring is a lot closer than it was in December!

Snow, Snow, Beautiful (treachorous) Snow

And so winter came, first freezing rain for a day, and then snow; white fluffy snow that over burdened the already ice laden landscape. It was beautiful, but dangerous too. Many in our area were without power. Fire trucks and police cars occasionally screamed through the whiteness, generators hummed all over our neighborhood. Our kids played out for a while but the 'gunshot' sounds of tree branches snapping, made me call them close to home. Once inside, we were cozy, the portable heater going and the gas stove in the basement chugging away.

 In Job 38:22 God asks Job,"Have you entered the store houses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?" Nice to know that God is in control, even when the weather seems chaotic!

All in all, it was beautiful. Words can't describe it as good as pictures, so enjoy.

Inside, looking out through ice.

Ice.....

And more ice...

And some people that really enjoyed the whole thing...

Trees in our woods.

And beyond our side yard.

FRESH......

Last of the Christmas candles

Last night, I burned the last of the Christmas candles. They were orangey-red and smelled like cloves and ginger. I pried its stubby self out of the fire place candle holder and put it on my kitchen stove while I cleaned up after dinner.

Christmas has gone fast this year, faster than any other...and it was a rather strange one. Our house is for sale so I didn't go all out this year. Our children are mostly grown too, so Christmas looks and feels different. Our daughter-in-law Kaitlin graciously offered to put on Christmas dinner (and what a marvelous dinner it was) so that was a very pleasant change, but we ended that evening on a somewhat awkward note, since one of our sons ended up going to hospital by ambulance for chest pains. He was okay in the end, still....a bit unnerving.

On January 2, the tree came down..and the snowflakes...and everything else 'Christmas".

And so on to a new year! Lamentations 3:22-23 comes to mind. "The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease for His compassions never fail, They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness." I am so glad that the God who has been there all through my life is still there, still caring, entering this new year with me, knows what 2012 holds for me and will guide me through it.

What does this year hold? I am down to 2 children in my homeschooling.  We are being blessed with another grandchild in the early summer. Our house is for sale. I want to downsize considerably. Looks like a wedding might be on the horizon...again, but last year it was a daughter so this son will require less work. ;) We will be married 32 years next month. Lots going on.

As every year, I long to grow in my relationship with Jesus Christ. And I do...looking back, I can see where He has changed me, strengthened me, grew me, in 2011. But I want more...it never ends. The closer I get to Him, the more I want. And I want to see it in my children and our family life.

My new years resolutions? I resolve to spend more time reading my Bible, more time praying for my loved ones and those around me, and more time reaching out.

Hope your 2012 is great too and hope it is a year of growth and change! Blessings, Anita

A summer friend who stayed too long. (Picture by Patrick)

New year...new calendar. Oh the possibilities!

It's Almost Here!

We are counting down the days 'til Christmas. The manger scene is up, the trees are decorated, home made luminaries grace our front step. Today we made dozens of paper snowflakes to adorn our front windows. The grass however is still green in places, and I often go out for the mail in bare feet. I have mixed emotions. I like that I am not out shoveling and that it is not too cold for my morning walks. I miss the white stuff though. It really adds to the festive feel.

One thing doesn't change though. I love to read the Bible stories with my boys and talk about how wonderful it was that Jesus came as a tiny baby to that long ago stable in Bethlehem. I know, I know....we need to keep Christmas in our hearts year round. That baby should be our daily focus. However, with all the talk of Holiday trees, and Season's greetings, I think it has been good for us as Christians to be able to put a special focus on this birth one day a year even if no one knows when the actual day was. It has heightened our urge to share this wonderful gift God gave us, it has been an opportunity to share the gospel message over and over.....I think it will be sadly missed when it sinks into the mire of holidays that have nothing to do with the birth of that special Child. I will miss Christmas all around us when the political powers that be, wipe it out. Did you buy a 'Holiday' tree instead of a Christmas tree? Did you wish the people at work, "Best of the Season"? Are you listening to the songs of the season pumping out on the radio and realizing they have nothing to do with Christ? I will celebrate His birth as long as I have breath to do so, and I am not ashamed to wish you a Merry CHRISTMAS.

A little candle light makes for a very cozy home.

Nativity made by 3 year old hands 25 years ago.

My...um...lovely Christmas village. It was invaded by those plastic 'Homies" from gum ball machines, years ago and every year they return.

Home made luminaries! Lovely, lighting the way up our front step.