Wednesday Treasures

 It's been a busy few days since I last wrote. Got a little Christmas shopping done, but still not done. It's coming together slowly, but I am trying not to stress over it and just enjoy the journey.  I've also been busy with decorations and am pretty much done with that, with the exception of the train and village under the tree. We shall see if that even happens this year. At this point, it pretty much depends upon whether or not the kids will come back and help put it together or not. If not, then it probably won't happen because that getting down on the floor business (and then getting back up) is a little more than us old folks can handle these days. LOL  

So here are a few snippets of what has been accomplished. Every day is kind of like opening a new window on the Advent Calendar! I may not show you everything at once, and save some things for the rest of the days to follow.  That way you won't be too overwhelmed with pictures!  

For today's Advent window we are looking in on the Carolers singing their songs:

I think they must be singing "Joy to the World, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King..."

"Let heaven and nature sing...let heaven and nature sing, let heaven and heaven and nature sing..."

Have you ever gone caroling?  I'm afraid it is becoming a lost tradition...but we truly enjoyed going back a few years ago, going around to the homes of people we knew who were shut ins, and we stood outside and sang Christmas carols to them. They'd come to the door and sing along or sometimes cry because it meant so much to them to be remembered. It's a lovely tradition, and it would be nice to keep it going.

And then this arrived today in the mail as a big surprise!  It is from a dear blogging friend who loves to send surprises in the mail! I am always amazed and humbled by her thoughtfulness and giving spirit.  

It's like a giant snow globe with carolers singing outside a church...really really sweet!!

Here is a video of it in action. 

The Carolers remind me of our choir...we are currently practicing for our Christmas Cantata, which will be presented on Christmas Eve morning at church.  Last night we practiced the cantata all the way through, and it really is going to be special.  We are very small in number this year as several choir members haven't been able to participate with us, but for those of us who are there, we are singing our hearts out! We pray that God will be glorified by what we offer in song, and that hearts will be blessed with the Christmas story once again.  We will be recording it the week before at our dress rehearsal, so maybe I'll be able to share it with you then.

Speaking of our church, if you recall I mentioned that we have recently been approved to  disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, and we are becoming a part of the new Global Methodist Church, which is Biblically conservative and follows the Wesleyan Tradition.  Since we are no longer affiliated with the United Methodist denomination we must remove all signs that have the logo of the UMC, which is the cross with the red flame beside it.  I am sad we have to remove the red flame, which signifies the Holy Spirit, but it is a requirement of the agreement.  So today our Building and Grounds manager planned to remove the small signs on the sides of the church bell tower. 

 He knew that I like to take pictures of all church events for our church Facebook page, so he invited me to come and watch and take pictures!  The Pastor was also helping by holding the ladder, and my hubby was there giving moral support.  It was a very chilly, windy day, but the job got done.

This little plaque will remain on the church as it gives historical information.  We may change the wording eventually to put the correct name, which is now Interlachen Methodist Church. That is actually the original name of the church. It didn't become a United Methodist Church until the denomination merged with the United Brethren denomination back in 1968. So now we have come full circle back to our original beginnings. There's a LOT of history in this little building. It has always stood strong for Christ in this community, and we pray it will continue to do so for many years to come.

Well, I guess that's enough for today's Advent Calendar Window.  We have great hope and joy in our hearts at this Christmas season. God is blessing our home and family with His peace and health and healing, and He is also blessing our little church with a glorious new beginning.

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

2 

2 The people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them a light has shined.

6 For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

And now to close this post with a little "levity"...The darkness in this photo is a little bit enhanced, but this was our sunset one day last week.  After I shared it on Facebook, my sister wrote and said it looked like Santa and his reindeer were already flying up in the sky...Do you see him?  "Well, you'd better watch out, you'd better not shout, you'd better not cry, I'm telling you why! Santa Claus is coming to town!" LOL.

And with that I will bid you good night my friends. 

Santa Claus may be coming to town, 

but Jesus is coming too...so we'd best be ready...

Until next time,

Good night and God bless you all.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is coming!

I have to tell you I really didn't think I'd be able to get the tree up and decorated this year. But yesterday our son Scott came home (after working for several hours in the early morning and then driving an hour to get here) and by the time we got home from lunch after church he had the tree already standing in the living room with the lights on it! That was a miracle to me! (And we brought him a nice hot cheeseburger and fries from the restaurant for his lunch too). As the afternoon progressed, I did manage to start putting the decorations on it, and by evening it was looking pretty good!

These pictures are a realistic view into our living room when the Christmas boxes come in from the storage shed...again, thanks to our son Scott.  He dodged a little bit of rain to get everything in just in time before it really started pouring.

Then, since he was still here with us, we called the other "kids" to come over to visit and have an impromptu "breakfast for supper"...bacon, sausage, eggs, and biscuits. It was pretty good and fun to be together before Scott had to hit the road to get back to Jacksonville.

Our grandpup Sugar was enjoying sitting in her Daddy's lap and stretching her head backwards to look at the pretty tree...

It did look very nice. I love the lights most of all, don't you? There's just something about lights at Christmas...

We didn't try to put up the train/village last night as we were all a bit too tired to start that project. Still not sure if it will happen this year or not...time will tell.  If I can't get down on the floor and back up again, then it probably won't happen, unless the kids want to come back over and spend another evening playing with the trains. However, I must say, I truly believe I am starting to turn the corner with this arm/shoulder/back pain...little by little, day by day, I believe it's getting better...but I still have to pace myself and not overdo it. I do give thanks to the Lord for the improvement that seems to be happening.

Today I did a few more things...the Tea Cup tree is ready, 

along with the angels singing...

And tonight I had my first official cup of hot cocoa of the season (hot ovaltine,  actually...my favorite!)

It's always fun to sip a cup of hot cocoa while watching the skaters and the sleds on the little pond...(lol)

Poinsettias and candles and the little white church make the table look pretty and bright...

This little white church was a Christmas gift last year from my sister in law. I love it.   I love how it lights up and shines so brightly.  

It reminds me of our own little white church, and it "shines so brightly" as a light in the darkness around us.  

Yesterday we sang this song in the choir..."Christmas is Coming, let the church bells ring...people celebratin' the birth of a King...shoutin' hosanna 'til the heavens ring! Christmas is comin', let the church bells ring..."    You might enjoy listening to the song...this is not our choir singing, but we did our best to sound this good...

 Do you ever wonder why we have so many lights shining at Christmas?  Maybe it's because of the Star of Bethlehem that the Wise Men followed...or perhaps even more so, the lights of Christmas shine for Jesus..."The Light of the World"

John 1:1-14

"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

And in John chapter 8:12, Jesus declares to us:

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Yes, I believe that is why we love the lights so much at Christmas...because we celebrate the birth of Jesus, "The Light of the World".    So now, when you see those lights twinkling and shining so brightly everywhere, on Christmas trees, in the windows of houses and churches, on the rooftops and porches all across the land...wherever you may see the lights of Christmas, remember that Jesus is the Light of the World...and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life!  Praise God for that beautiful Light, Jesus, the Light of the world!!

Happy Advent!!

Saturday Wanderings in December

 Here it is the 2nd day of December, and we are back to shorts and t shirts and AC clicking back on.  We had a couple of days of wintry weather (for Florida), and I truly hoped it would stick around for a while, but I should know better.  I've lived in Florida most of my life, and there's been many a Christmas day that we were wearing shorts instead of ugly Christmas sweaters! LOL.  This morning started out very foggy

And now this afternoon it is just a rather humid, muggy, late fall day on Still Waters Pond.

Mr. Great Blue Heron doesn't seem to mind.  Must be a good day for fishing...

Normally if I step outside he will fly away, but today he just stayed perfectly still, not wanting to lose his place along the shore...

Perhaps he is practicing this scripture verse:  "Be Still and know that I am God..."  Psalm 46:10

All of creation knows that God is always near.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Cardinal was chirping away at me, perhaps inviting me to tea...

Yesterday morning it was Mr. Pileated Woodpecker pecking away and getting my attention:

We do not get to see them very often here as they are usually very quick and fleeting in their search for the perfect tree to find some choice bugs for breakfast.  

 I was happy that I just happened to be looking outside when this one flew in and stayed around long enough for me to find my camera, turn it on, focus, and get a few pictures. 

And then he was gone.

I feel honored and blessed when God provides such beauty for us to behold.  I am thankful that I was listening and paying attention!

If you've followed my blog for a few years you will perhaps remember that when we first moved here to our home beside Still Waters Pond that we had some areas cleared out a little bit so we could have better access to the pond.  This was in addition to the area directly in front of our house, through the little bits of woods that surround our property along the shore.  Over the past few years we haven't been able to maintain those  clearings very well, as the underbrush grows faster than we can keep up with it, and we really don't have the equipment to keep it clear.  But I've been getting anxious to take a little walk down to the pond again through that woodsy area, and mostly there were prickly vines and small bushes in the way.  I took along my pruning shears and managed to clear enough of a trail for me to get through almost to the water:

Take a little walk with me...this is a much easier way than the way I had to do it! LOL.

There are lots of little holly trees along the way

Oh, at last we can see the water!

I love the reflection of the trees over on the little island...

Yeah, it may not seem like much to some, but I really enjoy walking through here and seeing the pond from a different angle.  Each direction has its own natural beauty.

Thankfully I didn't step on this mushroom!  Maybe someone can identify it.  I'm thinking it is a Cortinarius Violaceus, "Violet Cort", but really it looked more brown than violet. However, it may have been more violet when it was fresh.   I don't think it is edible...at least I wouldn't try it even if it was...

This is the top of it...isn't it interesting?

And a little further down the trail was this interesting discovery.  I am thinking it is some kind of "scat" of a wild animal, but I haven't been able to identify it yet. I thought perhaps a deer at first, but now I'm not so sure.  It looks like something has been enjoying eating the berries...

Well, I hope you enjoyed that little walk with me. I find myself wanting to go back again every chance I get. Meanwhile,  our son Scott wasn't able to come home today to get the Christmas things out of the storage shed. He said he will be here tomorrow afternoon.  So I did manage to pull out this one item to put on the front porch...this is the wild grapevine tree that son Benton and I made several years ago from the wild grapevines growing on our property in Salt Springs. It was quite a task to do this, but it has lasted all these years and was well worth the effort.  Today all I've managed to do is re-string some lights on it after removing the old dead ones.  The ornaments are still in the storage shed, so I will have to finish decorating later.  

If there has been any theme to today, it would be:

Yes!  "Let Heaven and Nature Sing!"....as we enter into this time of preparation for the celebration of the Lord's Birth...may we be tuned into all the ways God's creation is singing his praises around us!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns

Let all their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

And wonders, wonders, of His love

Have a blessed and joyous Advent season!! 

Friday Foto Friends~ It's December!!

Happy December 1st, 2023!  Can we believe that December is finally here? I know, for some it has seemed like a very long year...but for many of us, we can't figure out where all the time has gone. The year has just flown by, even with all of its ups and downs, goods and bads...(is that a word?)...There may be a few happy to see the year coming to an end.  But let us enjoy this month first...

I'm sure many of you have already put up your Christmas tree...I wonder how many still go out and cut a real tree...or do you purchase a live tree from a lot somewhere...or I expect the majority of us have artificial trees that we have to pull out of storage and put back together...with or without lights attached already?    

John Sloane "Country Seasons" 2023 Calendar for December

Some of my fondest memories are of when our little family went out to find "the perfect tree".  When we lived up north we often went out in the freezing weather and snow...like those sweet children above (but without the draft horses and big wagon, sadly...I would have loved that!)...and my hubby and children patiently waited on me to find that perfect tree. Every side, up and down, had to be inspected for bare spaces and proper fullness, the right height and perfect shape.  It was a toe and nose numbing experience...but once the right tree was finally found we cut it down and dragged it back to our car and tied it on top and away we went...hoping it would actually fit inside the house!

This fuzzy picture below is an example of one of those special Christmas trees...That tree you see standing in the background behind my hubby and our three sons on Christmas morning in Ohio many years ago...that tree was originally about 20 feet tall, and we cut off the top 10 feet of it for our tree! We had 10' tall ceilings in that old house, and I was determined to find a tree to reach the top even if we had to cut down a whole big tree, which we did...probably much to the chagrin of the tree owner...but he actually didn't mind and was happy for us to have it.  You can see it helped make our Christmas merry and bright!

If you want to hear the whole story of that Christmas, you can read about it HERE, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".

Here's a link to a more recent search for the "perfect Christmas Tree"

And another link to see that tree actually in the house...it's a happy ending...LOL.

So December also is the beginning of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Advent of our Lord.  It's not just about Christmas trees and gifts and shopping and baking and all of the "fun stuff", but it's about the most special gift ever...the "Gift" of God's "only begotten Son", sent to us with love from God the Father.

And that perfect gift was sent to us so that we might have peace...

Yes, in the world we do have much tribulation, but we can be of good cheer, because Christ has overcome the world, and through Him we too are overcomers! Praise God for this amazing gift...free to all who will accept it.

I continue on with the pictures from my December calendars...this one is on the Teapot Calendar:

I wonder how often we have felt "relieved by a summons to tea"...or dinner or a call to come away from whatever we are doing that may or may not be so pleasant to come to that which gives us a time of rest and refreshment.  I know that during the busy times of this month it might be a nice idea to take some breaks and enjoy a little tea time either by yourself or with a friend...it can certainly refresh our spirits and help us keep things in perspective...

I haven't done much decorating yet, but here's what I've managed so far...

I love this little "Recipe for a Happy Christmas"~

I love those happy thoughts, don't you?

And what a thought provoking "thought for the day" this is:

I like this idea...yes, we need to laugh often and sweetly...and "radiate widely your pleasure and health."

I think that goes along nicely with the idea of the verse I shared recently 

"The Joy of the Lord is your strength."  Nehemiah 8:10.

When we know the Lord His joy bubbles up from within us and radiates out to everyone we meet.

That should be our goal for this season of "comfort and joy".  

God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's pow'r When we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy In Bethlehem, in Jewry This blessed Babe was born And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn The which His Mother Mary Did nothing take in scorn Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy From God our Heavenly Father A blessed Angel came, And unto certain Shepherds Brought tidings of the same, How that in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name. Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy

 Have a blessed December/Advent/Preparation for the Advent of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!