From My Journal

  TODAY IS: 4 December 2023

AROUND ME:  Although it isn't raining at the moment, we are predicted to have another rainy Monday! :)  It's all good.  We did our shopping the middle of last week, the house is decorated for Christmas, and we can just sit inside and enjoy the coziness that a rainy day brings with it.

I AM PONDERING:  this article by Jacob Crouch on Dead Orthodoxy.  It's so worth a read!

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS:  A day of shopping with my sweet husband.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING: I finished The Grumbler's Guide to Giving Thanks by Dustin Crowe.  What a wonderful book! 

gilead by Marilynne Robinson.  I've had a slow start to getting super interested in this book, but now that I'm further in, I'm enjoying it.  I've found places that make me tear up because of the tenderness with which this man is writing to his son and then there are times when I have to chuckle...especially when he shares stories of his parents and his grandparents.  

I'm also currently reading Sticks and Stones by Susan Meissner.  This is a sequel to Widows and Orphans that I read previously.  Rachel is a lawyer and while I enjoyed the first book, this second one is moving at a faster pace and is filled with suspense.  

How Does God Change Us?  by Dane C. Ortlund is the "condensed version" of Deeper by the same author.  I already have Deeper...real change for real sinners and it is an excellent book.  Both of these are put out through Union Publishing (Union School of Theology where Michael Reeves is President and Professor of Theology in the UK). 

 Last but definitely not least is Heaven and Nature Sing by Hannah Anderson.  It's an Advent devotional and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  I've read several of Hannah's books and none have ever disappointed.

I AM THANKFUL FOR:  memories that take my heart and mind back to times spent with loved ones who are no longer with us.  I put up our little Christmas tree last week and with the exception of three ornaments, the tree is totally decorated with my grandma's Christmas ornaments...the old Shiny Brights by Christoper Radko. 

 I also put out the nativity that my dear mother and I worked on painting.  I'd commented to her one time that I would love to one day own a Lenox nativity and before I knew it, she had found a source where we could paint and have fired one that, in my humble opinion, is just as beautiful as the Lenox one.  Plus I have the memories of the two of us sitting at my kitchen table late into the night working on it.  My brother recently gave me the manger that Mother had always used...so that made it even more special.  The runner that is pictured was a Christmas gift to me that my oldest granddaughter made.

God is so kind to give us memories!

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  Joy to the World wasn't written as a Christmas hymn primarily.  The birth of Christ certainly is much to cause heaven and nature to sing, but the focus behind the hymn actually has to do with Christ's second coming. An aspect that I have enjoyed focusing on during this Advent season is because we have the opportunity to think on His first coming, as a babe in a manger Who came to die and bring us redemption,  we also who believe are able to look ahead at the Advent of His second coming!  As the hymn says, "Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!"  What a glorious time that will be.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Chicken Soup...I feel a cold coming on.

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  We met with some friends for lunch last week.  They surprised us with this beautiful decoration.  I know the picture won't do it justice, but it is so pretty in person with the lights inside the glass.

  

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER:  "When meaningful reflection rather than mindless ritural describes our thanksgiving, we know God in deeper ways."  Dustin Crowe

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:  Launder the bed linens, plant care, work on labeling and making cloth lid covers for the jars of jam I made for our church family.  I want to take them to church on Sunday to make certain everyone has opportunity to have some.  With the holidays some will be traveling.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12