5 Gold-en Rings

Wouldn't you know it? The furnace humidifier bit the dust last week. We called right away, but with the holiday, the repairman didn't show up until today......4 hours late, but he DID come. I'm grateful. My lips are chapped and my skin is flakey, but I am grateful.
When he finally arrived, he entered the house and spoke, as if in total amazement ..."Your Christmas Tree is still up!"
Now, folks, it's only the 28th of December. Good Lord, it's only the fourth day of Christmas. My true love has just given me 4 calling birds, for Pete's sake. I'm waiting for all of the other stuff! The 12th day isn't until the 5th of January.
Don't rush me. I want this season to last. It is not my fault if most Americans have their trees up and decorated by Thanksgiving. Go ahead and put it up on Labor Day, for all I care. We will continue to decorate our house after Thanksgiving, and put up our tree one week before Christmas. We will enjoy it until after the first of the year.
So, please, don't mess with my holiday and I won't mess with yours.

Happy New Year.

Dear Jesus: We are celebrating your birth. We do it in many ways, but as birthdays go, you always have a wonderful one. We are thankful for your birth. Let us always remember to make you the center of our Holiday plans.
We glorify your name.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney...."

I am hanging a new pre-lit galand around our front door. This "new-fangled" decoration will take the place of the well-worn and out dated GIANT lights, that for years, outlined the roof of our ranch-style home. The time is right for a change and both Scott and I agree that a new entry is the perfect way to greet holiday guests.
Other changes are happening, too. This year, for the first time, all of our kids and their spouses have children old enough to create family traditions of their own. Santa will come to each of their households on Christmas morning and some of them will spend part of the day with one set of grandparents or the other. This is the way it should be.
But, Santa plans to stop by our house, too. Our granddaughter, Sophia, will be visiting and the Jolly Old Elf will know right where to find her. Her stocking will be hanging right where her daddy used to hang his.

Great and glorious Savior. We celebrate Your birth and the joy that is Christmas. Be with all of our families, wherever they are this holiday. Our lives change. Time passes. But, You are with us always, every step of the way. We praise Your Holy Name.

"You've got the cutest little baby face"

This has been a week of events.
On Tuesday, 12/12/12, a new grandbaby was born to our family. Her name is Penelope Violet, and she is tiny and beautiful. Her birth date is special, of course, but to add to the specialness, she was born at noon.
This time of year we are in the midst of celebrating the birth of another tiny child. We  know next to nothing about the grandparents of Jesus, but I feel in my heart that they were just as excited about his birth as I am about Penelope's arrival.
Scott and I have seven grandchildren and each one is "practically perfect in every way". Every grandparent, I know, feels the same way.

Precious Lord. Thank you for bringing us grandchildren. They are a special blessing. Watch over them and keep them all safe and out of harm's way. Guide them and lead them in the way that leads to life eternal.

"The Very Best"

My friend gave a devotion yesterday that really seemed to pinpoint the true meaning of Christmas. Judging from the teary eyes, around the room, her words must have been meaningful to many of us in attendance.
Her story was personal. And briefly, without going into too much detail, it involved a large family without any gifts, right before Christmas. A local church gave a new gift, with the child's name on it, to every one of those children. And, fifty years later, each child could remember their specific gift.
The point of the devotion was "give your best".  Those kids, with only one gift that year, were thrilled because that church gave them a wonderful Christmas.
Let's remember this story when are asked to give. The store brand, out-dated pureed pumpkin, is worthless to a needy family. That half-used bottle of perfume, or a piece of broken jewelry won't make very nice gifts.  No matter how needy, poor folks don't want what you don't want!
As Hallmark says, "When you care enough to send the very best...."
Remember the gift that God gave to us at Christmas. He sent his very best.

Holy Christ Child: You have come to save us, it seems, from ourselves. Have a blessed birthday.

"Simply having a wonderful........"

On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I crept into my car at wee-thirty in the morning to start my drive into work. Creeping was my mode of transportation, because I was almost too tired to walk. On Tuesday, I had greeted 1800 folks at our annual Thanksgiving grocery give-away, at work. My face hurt from smiling. My feet hurt from walking. My back hurt from standing. Believe me, I was one tired puppy.
But, I bravely headed out of the neighborhood, aiming and hoping to merge into the inbound commuter traffic. Just as I hit the major thoroughfare, I realized that my morning radio station was not giving me the local or national news. It was not even giving me an oldie or even the latest sports scores. Coming from my car's dashboard was .......Christmas Music.
Did I oversleep and miss Thanksgiving, altogether? Had the stress of 1800 frozen turkeys, 1800 cans of cranberry sauce, 1800 cans of green beans, etc., etc., etc., caused me to erase from my mind, the preparation of our own Thanksgiving Feast? Was I so tired that I didn't even remember cooking?
NO. It was Wednesday. Thanksgiving 2012, had not yet occurred.
However, the first Christmas tune of 2012, was playing on my radio, and it was, as fate would have it, one of the most annoying songs of the season.
I changed the station.

Oh Lord. We are so blessed. We should take time to thank You for Your bountiful mercy and and Your steadfast love. Indeed, there is a time for every season and every purpose under heaven.

A Pair of What?

One of my favorite activities is solving the daily New York Times Crossword Puzzle. In a perfect world, my daily routine would allow for enough time to solve the puzzle, correctly, every single day. But, because the puzzle gets increasingly more difficult, from Monday through Saturday, my attempts at the the late-week puzzles often go unfinished. That Saturday puzzle is generally an "all-day" brain teaser.
While solving the puzzles, I will sometimes have occassion to pull out my trusty Webster's, to look up a word (spelling or definition). I don't use the computer because that's just too easy...for a old pro like me.
Last week, I needed the definition for "Paraclete". According to Webster, a "Paraclete" is an advocate or intercessor. And in its Christian context, it describes the Holy Ghost.
So, I have added another word to my vocabulary. Right there in print, between "parachute" and "parade", was the Holy Spirit.
It shouldn't be a surprise, you know.

Holy God: You have so many names. You are our Great Advocate and our Ultimate Intercessor. Watch over your children and lead us along the path that You would intend for us to follow. Remind us to focus on listening and hearing Your Word.  Sometimes, we need a reminder that we don't know all of the answers.

One man's trash ....

    Trash day is Tuesday, in our neighborhood. Bright and early, every week, we follow the same routine of placing our trash bag at the curb. Next to the trash bag, we carefully put our bin of recyclables. We are always very neat and deliberate about our trash. Then, we head off to work.
    So last week we did just that. However, when I came home after work, I was in for a surprise. There,  next to the curb, was our empty blue bin AND two bar stools. Some creep had dumped old furniture in our yard! How totally trashy was that?
    Believe me, I was hot. Parking the car, I stormed into the house. Poor Scott got the brunt of my anger. I must have carried on for 30 minutes about the worthlessness of our neighbors and the meaninglessness of doing "the right thing".
    His response was to tell me not to worry about it. How stupid was that? Because then I started to worry and fume, devising my plan to get rid of the two abandoned stools.
    An hour or so later, I went out to run an errand. The bar stools had mysteriously disappeared. Some one had spirited them away. How great was that?

Oh, my Lord. Life is a marvelous mystery. We think we have everything so planned and departmentalized. We know how it is all supposed to be. We make our plans. Then....you show us what life is really all about. You are in charge, Lord. You are the One with the plans. "Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to thee."