Showing posts with label lessons in Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lessons in Advent. Show all posts

Friday, December 18, 2015

She Could Do Anything. . . Really.

The waiting. 
Our hearts. 
Preparing. 
Adoring.
Longing;

For Hope. 
Eternity. 
Love came down. 
Incarnate. 
Flesh. 
For me. 
For you. 
Once. 
For All. 


14 years ago today a beautiful woman bowed low as
 she journeyed to meet Jesus. 
Her presence is missed everyday. 
The lessons she lived, still in our hearts. 

Here is a tribute to her from last year. 
She now resides with 2 of her beautiful grandchildren; whom she loved and adored with all her heart. 

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December 18, 2014


I can still feel the peace I felt when I entered her home. 
The country charm. 


The warmth. 
The smells. 
The open door. 
Oh, how I loved and admired her. 
She could bring a calf to the barn as easy as whipping up a tasty meal. 
There was always room on her lap for one more. 


Room at the table for another to sit. 
Always time for coffee.
There was always a solution to every problem. 
Life was a journey with God as her companion. 
Her creative touch transforming gardens and rooms into things of beauty. 
The light left her 13 years ago today. 
In a moment; she was gone. 
At 65 it seemed too young. 
Her husband just 16 months before her. 


The ache we all felt; still felt today. 
I miss her laugh and the twinkle in her eye. 
I miss her encouraging words and support on the farm. 
She accepted me; this city girl. 
She never laughed at my inabilities or lack of knowledge. 
She taught by example. 
She lived what she believed. 
Her hands, never idle.
Her heart, always full. 
So, my dear Shirley I miss you greatly. 
I am grateful for the legacy you left. 
I am thankful for the farmer you bore, the strength you modeled. 
I know I am the woman I am, because you believed in me. 
Because you shared a life surrendered to Christ and to your family. 
I know you're rejoicing with the King of all Kings and sitting at the banquet table with my red head.
This assurance brings me peace and fills my being with strength. 
Heaven holds so many of my dear ones. 
There have been days I have longed for your wisdom or to hold my hand when
 my heart can't take the pain anymore. 
For now I will continue as you modeled; though not nearly as adequately as you. 
My eyes are lifted to the cross. 
My soul surrendered. 
Life breathed into my weary heart by the Giver of all life. 
Thank you for giving. 
Thank you for loving. 
I was blessed to have been a part of your family. 


I was blessed to have you in my life. 

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The End And A Beginning - Day #30 of Thanksgiving

30 days of Thankfulness. 


A practice. 
A journey. 
A life attitude. 
Purposely seeking. 
Work. 
Changing. 
Becoming more like Christ in all we do. 
Having eyes to see beauty where none exists. 
3o days to establish a habit. 
A commitment to desire more. 
To yearn to be molded and shaped into the child God wants us to be. 
Displaying a heart in submission to the  path placed before us. 
A season of Thanksgiving leading into the season of Preparation. 
It's not too late to begin the walk of Thankfulness. 
Dig deep. 
Find the beauty amid the ashes. 

See God is doing a new thing. 

Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Do you have eyes to see? 
Have you pulled back the veil enough to see beyond the pain, beyond the grief. 
Because, God is there. 
He reaches down and pours out his riches. 
We are free to walk in His grace. 
Hope.
The word for the day.  
The Advent candle lit.
The final day of November, the first day of Advent. 
Such close proximity. 
Thankfulness - Preparation. 
Hope. 
A season. 
 Hope of all Nations. 
Good news. 
Living in us. 
All around us a need. 
Choices made to live; in hope. 
Hope, when there's uncertainty and each step feels weighed down. 
Hope, when the pain of missing threatens to shatter the resolve. 



This Season set apart to grow deeper.
For some, hopes have been dashed. 
Faith rocked. 
Life; challenged.


Stepping into the first lesson in Advent opens our hearts to the possibility
 of what is to come. 
Let Hope guide your path this week. 
Hope in all that is to come and all that will be. 
Hope that the finished work in Christ is proclaimed. 

Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
 they will walk and not be faint.