Friday Foto Friends "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

It's Friday night, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house...

Well, the tree is standing, and it has lights on it! Thanks to the kids coming over yesterday and bringing in the many boxes from the sheds, and they even set up the tree for us and then left the rest for us to finish...

Oh, I want you to see just what a wonderful daughter in law we have...while the guys were in the shed doing "something", who knows what, she loaded up all those boxes in the truck all by herself! Then they drove them over to our steps (no pictures of that) and yes, Benton and John did help unload them and bring them into the house.  But I just wanted you to see our super woman Rose at work!!!

Yes! She's definitely a "keeper".  

If' you've known me very long, you know I have this euphemistic dream of living in a log cabin, and since I don't think it's ever going to happen in real life, I can dream...and that becomes my "theme" for some of the Christmas decor...

Skating on the pond in front of the cabin...(at least that pond has some water/ice in it! LOL)

Sitting by the fire enjoying the view...

Oh, maybe my "real cabin" would look something like this...

Or this...

Or this...

But right now it's more like this...

Click HERE for more on the history of this little log cabin.

Complete with a tree house, another one of my childhood dreams...I always told my daddy I wanted a tree house, but he was never able to build one in our tall skinny pine trees in our back yard, so one year for Christmas after I was an adult and married with my own family, he gave me this tree house for Christmas!  I will always treasure it!

I think that little snowman needs some sled driving lessons!  Or maybe the deer ran out in front of him and caused him to run into the cabin!  Maybe the owl can tell us "whoooooo" did what!! LOL.

Speaking of water in the pond...the weather forecast says we are supposed to start getting some rain tonight around 9:00 p.m., and then we are supposed to have rain for the next three days!  Please pray that this forecast is correct!! That could help break the dry spell and begin the restoration of Still Waters Pond.

This is how is looked tonight when the Sand Hill Cranes and White Egret were out there hunting for some supper...

The clouds were building up in the western sky at sunset...

Although they say "red skies at night, sailor's delight"....I'm hoping these clouds mean sailors should take warning...

Time will tell...and you know I'm praying for that rain to come and stay around for a while...

I know these guys would sure appreciate it too!

Blackie was following me around while I was taking pictures of the clouds.  He's doing fine, but I know he's lonely since Sunshine left us.  He stays close to home and tries to get inside every chance he gets...

And today I received this very nice pet carrier for him from our neighbor's daughter across the street. This is from the home where Blackie and Sunshine were originally being fed, but the lady has since been moved to a Rehab/nursing home, and it's looking more and more like she will not be able to come back home to her house to live. I met her daughter there today, and she gave me this carrier so I will have it when/if I need to take Blackie to the vet. I am very appreciative of this!! Blackie probably won't like it, but still it's wonderful to have this available if needed.

Okay, back to the Christmas decorations...I finally was able to get to the box with the Nativity inside...

I always look forward to setting this up first, but I had to take things as I could get to them in the stacks.  This is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas, and without Jesus at the center of our home, there would be no reason to celebrate at all...

Hark the Herald Angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King"...

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled...

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,

join the triumph of the skies;

with th'angelic hosts proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! The herald angels sing! Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come,

offspring of the Virgin's womb:

veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail th'incarnate Deity,

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel. 

[Refrain]

Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,

born that we no more may die,

born to raise us from the earth,

born to give us second birth. 

"Hark the Herald angels sing! Glory to the Newborn King!"

(Last night's full moon. Tonight it's too cloudy, praise God!)

Well, friends, I think I will leave it here for tonight. There's more to show, but I'll save that for another day.  I've been working a little bit at a time, and still resting in between. Today I have felt better than I have in over a week, so I am very very thankful that the medicine is doing its job and God is doing His work of healing in my body day by day.   Thank you for your kind words and prayers on my behalf.

I will close with these verses from our Advent readings from yesterday morning: (12/4/2025)

Jeremiah 33:14-16  NKJV

14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

15 ‘In those days and at that time

I will cause to grow up to David

A Branch of righteousness;

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

16 In those days Judah will be saved,

And Jerusalem will dwell safely.

And this is the name by which she will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

Our blogging friend Mary at Visits With Mary posted this wonderful list of Advent Readings for the 24 days of Christmas on her blog on December 1st.  You can click on that link to go to her page and see the list and perhaps you may want to follow it for your own Advent devotional readings each day. It's not too late to catch up!

However you may choose to celebrate the Christmas season, my prayer is that you and yours will celebrate the true "reason for the season"....the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord and Coming King! Amen.

When Things Start to Fall Apart...Just Get Back Up and Shine!! Repeat Performance...

Original post written a few years ago...but it seems like I relive this "repeat performance" every year about this time...How about you? Is the pre-Christmas stress starting to get to you? Are things feeling more like they are falling apart than put together?...Read on and maybe we can get through this season together...

12/20/2017:

This morning was the day for our home Bible Study, and we have been lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath each week.  Because our wreath is made of real pine boughs attached to wet florist's blocks, I keep it outside on the back porch during the week in between our gatherings so it won't dry out so much in the warm, dry house.

This morning after replacing some of the pine boughs that were starting to die with fresh ones, I brought the wreath into the house to get it ready for our service.  As soon as I set it down around the candles on the little table in our living room, it literally fell apart...some of the foam blocks fell to the floor, with the pine needles falling all over the place...and it was a MESS!!  I quickly gathered the pieces back up and stuck them all back together as good as I could since I didn't have time to start over.

So here is the poor lopsided Advent Wreath, looking rather disheveled and worn...Kind of the way I feel about this time every year as we get closer to Christmas and I am not really ready...

I woke up this morning and said out loud (while still lying upon my bed) "I hate myself!"  My husband was just barely awake and didn't quite understand what I said, so he asked me to repeat it. So I did...and he was quite perplexed, surprised and concerned. This is not a normal state of affairs for me, especially to say out loud before I even get out of bed! Actually, I don't think I've ever said that in my head or out loud.  That's just not me.  But I went to sleep last night thinking about all the things that I still need to do in the next few days before Christmas (too numerous to list here and I don't want you to know exactly how much I still need to do...)...and I woke up thinking about all these things and I just said out loud "I hate myself!"  Why? Because I do this every single year!  You would think I would have learned by now not to put off so much until the last week before Christmas and then end up in a panic having a meltdown in the middle of a department store because I can't find what I want and I don't even know what I want even if I could find it and when I do find it I know I really don't want that after all, but in desperation I have to get something!!!  And just like that Advent Wreath, I fall apart and look disheveled and worn and just wish I could crawl away somewhere and hide until Christmas is all over.

I wonder how Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt the week before Christmas.

There she was, technically a betrothed but still unmarried young woman, great with child...(not by her betrothed husband to be, but by the Holy Spirit, so you can imagine how difficult that had been to explain to everyone...) and wouldn't you know it was time to travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the census?  I'm not sure just how long that trip was, but you can only imagine, even five miles would be too far to travel on the back of a donkey when you are nine months pregnant.  And then, to finally arrive in Bethlehem only to discover that all the hotel rooms were taken, and there was no room for them in the Inn, so the only place they could stay was in a smelly, dirty animal stable, with the dirty, smelly animals standing by. Can you imagine how Mary must have felt?  Talk about being rather disheveled and worn and weary...and then to go into labor and actually give birth to your baby right there in that stable with the animals watching?  And there were no midwives or doctors or nurses available to help with the labor and delivery...no medicine to block the pain...no clean bed to lay upon...and only your betrothed there to attend to you...a man whom who truly have not known in that kind of intimate way...

Can you imagine how Mary must have felt...she had no clean, soft blanket or diapers to comfort her newborn babe?  But somehow she found some "swaddling cloths" to wrap around him, and she laid him in the hay in the manger.

If I had been Mary, I wonder if I could have been so cool, calm, and collected at the birth of my first child? Probably not, judging by the way I've been acting this week before Christmas...

But perhaps if the angels had come to tell me about the birth of my baby in the first place...and then if the angels had come to sing praises at His birth...and the shepherds had come to bow down and worship Him

...maybe I would have a different attitude...perhaps I wouldn't be so focused on the peripheral "stuff", but would be truly worshiping and adoring the Child sent to me by God...God's Gift to me...and to the whole world...and I would be singing with the angelic choir..."Gloria in excelsis Deo"...Glory to God in the Highest...and Peace, Goodwill to men...

So, after thinking about this, maybe I just need to pull myself together, get my self organized, and just get out there and "shine"...

Like this Advent Wreath, after  straightening up the candles, pulling the pine boughs back together as well as possible, we read the verses about the Angels announcing Jesus' birth to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds...and then we lit the candles and let it shine forth in the darkness.

Yes, that's what I need to do. There isn't much time left...but after giving myself this little "pep talk", I think I can go out with a new and brighter attitude...and a song of joy in my heart as I go about my activities of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior and Lord!!!

"Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the Newborn King!"

The Third Sunday of Advent...Mary Magnifies the Lord, and Joseph Has A Dream...

Happy Third Sunday of Advent! 

 

(Photo from a previous year in our former home)

Today's readings for Advent:

"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on the lowliness of His servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.'" Luke 1:46-49

Today we remember Mary, innocent and powerful, sacred and scared, worried and waiting as the Savior of all grows in Her womb.  She sings boldly when she might be meek; she bears her role in history with the confidence of a warrior; she is the beginning of a mighty revolution as the proud are brought down and the lowly lifted up.

Today we give thanks for the Mary's among us, who step out of the roles society has planned; unintended pioneers determined to do as God asks; fearless and fearfully stepping out in faith, and beckoning us to do the same.

On this third Sunday of Advent, we light this candle a symbol of Mary, mother of Christ, bearer of the Way.

Won't you sing along with us today as we sang 

"Hark The Herald Angels Sing"

Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.

Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies

With th'angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem!

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King

Christ, by highest heav'n adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the Virgin's womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th'incarnate Deity

Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King

Hail, the heav'n born Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings, Ris'n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, Born that men no more may die,

Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King

Today we learned about the angels talking to Joseph regarding the birth of Jesus and to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, as well as warning Joseph in a dream later to take the child Jesus and His mother Mary to Egypt to flee the wrath of King Herod.  (Matthew 1:18-2:18)

So thankful that Joseph was a righteous and obedient man of God. This is a wonderful story.

Click HERE for a previous post about this same topic from a couple of years ago...different Pastor's message, but still the same wonderful story!

We are getting closer to Christmas day each day.  I love this time of preparation of our hearts and minds to receive the Christ Child into our hearts and lives anew.

This past week our church ladies had a Christmas gathering to celebrate the birthday of Jesus.  I was happy that I was able to participate and that the Lord was with us as we fellowshipped together .

We sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus" as this beautiful cake was presented in His honor:

We exchanged gifts with one another:

This was in our church Parsonage, which is currently not being used by our Pastor, and so the ladies have decided to make it our special place for Bible Studies and our UMW fellowship each month. It is a lovely place and we are thankful to have it since we are using our church Fellowship Hall for our worship services currently due to the need for social distancing and our sanctuary is too small to do that properly.

As is the norm at any church gathering, there is always more than enough food...

This was actually our first such gathering in almost a year, and we were so thankful to be together.

God has been very gracious to our church group and we are very, very thankful.

Today, let us be like Mary and "magnify the Lord" and boldly trust God when He leads us in a strange new direction, for He had done great things for us, and He will not lead us astray.

And let us also be like Joseph, and obey the Lord when He shows us His plan, no matter how unusual it may appear to be at the time. 

Have a blessed Advent season.