things i miss this time of year

~ big old-fashioned lights ~ tinsel ~ Perry Como ~ Bing Crosby ~ being 10 ~ grandma's jelly candies and divinity ~ Grandma, both of them, and grandpa, too ~ getting together with the cousins, even though I was scared of all of them ~ not knowing what's in all the packages ~
What about you? What do you miss?

the sacrifice

The moment God the Son left Heaven and became a wee little embryo, the sacrifice began.

Every tear He cried because He was hungry, tired, or had a tummy ache was a sacrifice.

Every drop of blood from skinned knees and split lips.

Every time a neighbor died, every time He saw a loved one suffer.

Wearing shoes, having an itch, being stung by a bee, eating, breathing, sleeping were part of the sacrifice.

Every headache, every smashed thumb, every day – a sacrifice.

He was God. He didn't have to be here. He chose to be. He chose to leave Paradise and come to live among men. The sacrifice was in the coming and in the living.

We all know He sacrificed Himself in His death. When He hung upon that cross and bore terrible physical pain. The moment that He took my sin upon Himself and wore it as a covering; that was the greatest sacrifice of all. When God the Father looking down could no longer bear the sight of His own Son because He was wearing my clothes. Jesus looked like me hanging there in that filth and grime, the sins of my soul, and the Father turned away. God the Son forsaken by God the Father. God forsaken by God. Christ the man hanging utterly alone dripping with my wickedness mingled with His atoning blood. Then He could give to me His spotless robe so that when the Father looks at me, He sees Christ's Righteousness and I am accepted. The sacrifice.

But it began the moment He stepped into time. The instant He was conceived in a young woman's womb.

This is Emmanuel. God With Us.

God bless us, every one.

Merry Christmas!

Immanuel

I haven't been blogging very regularly, as you may have noticed. Until my mind comes up with something to say, I am going to re-use a few old posts.

God With Us.

Every Christmas that thought just floats around in my brain, tickling things. It's too huge to grasp.

In the Old Testament, God was often with people in a tangible way. Like the cloud and the pillar of fire that accompanied Israel through the wilderness. The glory that descended upon the Ark of the Covenant and filled the temple. But, God was distant.

Moses knew Him. So did Abraham and David and many others. But most people only encountered him vicariously, through the priests and the system.

God wants more. He wants relationship with us.

(Here I have to try to explain God: He is self-sufficient and all powerful. His word alone created a universe that extends beyond our reckoning. We can't begin to understand His vastness. Just a glimpse of Him, or even one of His messengers sends a person into a dead faint.)

So, this Powerful God stepped off of His throne, removed His glorious robe, and slipped down into humanity. He shed His royalty to wear rags and be born in a building full of animal dung. He became insufficient. He was as dependent upon His mother as any other babe. Completely helpless. Completely empty, naked, vulnerable and human. I can't get over that.

And yet that is really only a small part of it. Because the much bigger part is that He left behind His place of Holiness and purity to come and walk around in sludge and sewage. He did not ever sin, but He was affected by it just as every human is. And He was affected by it as only God can be. He felt every sorrow we have ever felt. Rejection, ridicule, loss of loved ones, disappointment. Don't think that because He was God He was above the pain and misery.

God came to earth. He walked with us. Ate with us. Talked and laughed with us. Wept, anguished, and suffered with us.

Now we can know God. Have that relationship He longs for and we need. He came to clear the way and He left His Spirit here, so that God is and always will be with us. All because of that little Baby in a manger.

God became man. Get it?

Neither do I.

Thanksgiving

Old post revamped.


That God loves me, deeply, faithfully, unconditionally, eternally.

That Jesus provided a way for me to be reconciled to God.

That God is always in control of all things.

That God allows circumstances in my life to test me, strengthen me, prove me, and purify me.

That I have been married for 16 years to the man God created me for.

That I have a brilliant daughter who loves the Lord and is wise beyond her years.

That I have a son who is quick as a whip and sweet and loving.

That my parents are still alive and married to each other 45 years. That they raised me to know Jesus. That they trusted me and were strict at the same time. That they are still there for me.

For my sister and her family. For my nieces and nephew. That things don't always go my way.

That God doesn't say yes to all my prayers.

For blue skies that take my breath away.

For mountains that reminds me of the Might and Power and Steadfastness of my King.

For wind that reminds me of the Sweet presence of the Holy Spirit.

For clouds that remind me that some day my Jesus will be riding on one of them to come and get me!

For brooks and streams that remind me of the Water that quenches all thirsts.

For rain that reminds me of the mercies of God.

For thunder that reminds me of the voice of God. For the word Grace.

For each breath I take. I want God to receive each one as a Praise offering to Him.

For the moon and the stars that remind me of how small I am.

For the steam on my tea that reminds me of how short my time here on earth really is.

For the wonderful, amazing privilege of Prayer.

For my wonderful friends! God has blessed me with so many who meet different needs in my life!

For God's Word. The sharp sword that wounds my flesh and heals my spirit. The WORD of God. The WORD who was in the beginning with God. The WORD who became flesh.

For my health, my sanity, my intelligence, my personality, my failures, my desires and dreams. They are what make me who I am.

For my house and car and the clothes in my closet. For all of the material blessings that God has shared with me.


For these things and so many more, I give thanks.

Lost Mission by Athol Dickson

If you've read my blog long, you know I love Athol Dickson's writing. He writes with a unique richness and depth. His books are thought provoking and enlightening.
Lost Mission is no different.
In a story that spans hundreds of years, crosses cultural, economic, and political barriers, he tells us about missions.
A mission in the making.
A woman on a mission.
Men with a mission.
And missions lost.

There are many layers to this novel and my review is only going to address one--theme. Theme is an interesting thing in that it can be different for different people. It can be different for the author than for the reader. So this is my subjective opinion about the theme of Lost Mission.

To be honest, when I finished this book I felt discouraged, disappointed, and confused.
People who are committed to serving God, serving others, loving others so often get it wrong. So often we get a calling from God and mess it up.
I'll admit, part of the problem is that this book poked me hard in my "fear of failure" nerve. That part of me that thinks it's all up to me to get everything right. My perfectionism. My idealism. And it scared me.

It's been weeks since I finished reading and I've spent a lot of time thinking about what this book meant, about what it was saying to me.

I came to the conclusion that this book has the same theme that God has been pouring into me for months.
"What are you looking at?"
See, we can think we're doing the right thing, it can look like we're doing the right thing, but if we're looking at the wrong things, we're failing.

We should always be "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Heb. 12:1
Notice the word perfecter. We can't get it right. Ever. But He can. Always.

This book will make you think. It will make you re-think. I've begun forming some new opinions about things since reading it. It's one I will keep and read again.

I recommend you get a copy and tell me what you think. Or re-think.

thank you, for then... and now.

This is a re-post of something I wrote last year. I had WWI in mind when I wrote it since this date is the anniversary of the end of that war.

Only kissed a girl once. She gave you her picture. When it's quiet, you pull it out and look at it, especially when the other men are around. She's a looker.

When the other men aren't around, you pull out the picture of mama. You imagine her voice, telling you that everything will be alright. She reminds you to brush your teeth, no matter where you are. Eat your vegetables, you need to be strong. Stay warm. Don't let the others lead you astray. Read you Bible.

You tuck the picture back near your heart; pretend to sneeze so you can wipe your eyes.

Never been away from home before this. Some of the guys went to college, but you hadn't been out of Ohio. Now you hear people with accents so strong you have trouble understanding - the Scots, and Irish, and even the English don't seem to speak English. You hear French and sometimes - always bringing a chill - German.

Instead of the strings of crickets, the night music is percussion. And once, one hellish night, the air was filled with fire and screams and blood. Your best buddy lost his leg. Another one killed a German up close and personal and still has dreams about it.

You know it will be like that again. You know your turn for nightmares is coming. You look at the flag on your helmet, the flag hanging from a low pole, you think of mama, and you know. Whatever lay ahead, it's worth it.

coming along

Homeschooling: Coming along. Some days I feel entirely overwhelmed and am convinced we're making a huge mistake. But mostly, I feel good about it. We just finished learning about WWII and the kids actually learned some stuff! I did, too!
We're still working on how to manage writing and math, but we're getting there.
I do enjoy the time with my kids. It's going so quickly that they'll be outa' here before I know it.

NaNoWriMo: Coming along. I'm surprised and pleased with myself. I have been so very bad at writing regularly and with this challenge I have written every day for a week. And I am right on track in order to be finished on time.
My story is silly and bad and lots of fun!