Countdown.....4 more to go...

Four more days to go!
I don't want to feel stressed or overwhelmed by the season...........seems like we prepare and plan for so long....contemplate gifts...lovingly and carefully wrap them...plan meals, bake...and poof!  It is over.....the living room is piled with wrapping paper...the kitchen is your worst nightmare and the dishwasher is on it's second round!    

I don't want the stress...I don't want the letdown feeling when it is over.....I want the season to last and savor the event....I don't want the gifts and hustle and bustle and messy aftermath to overshadow The Birth.   

I want peace in my home, peace within our family, peace on earth.....His perfect peace.
Looking forward to a candlelight Christmas Eve service.....our granddaughter is hoping for a plastic candle...she doesn't think she can handle a real one....

Think of that pregnant young girl....most likely in labor traveling by donkey...no hospital..no room even in the inn....how overwhelmed she must have been...so young...so innocent....no real idea of what the birth of her child would mean to us....centuries later...The stable most likely wasn't nice and clean like the one we see at a church nativity..it was probably stinky, dirty, straw is prickly....  The Shepherds who visited lived with sheep and goats on hillsides....they most likely smelled terrible, too.....

Take time to breathe....take time to read that wondrous story again....the story of
Hope, Promise, Joy and Love......

Bah humbug!

Just reading an article on the evil's of Elf on a Shelf.....come on people...it's just an Elf!
I suppose one could get carried away and put the fear of Santa into your children sending them quivering in fear to bed to have nightmares of evil tattling elves...... or you can just have a little fun.   We just hide our elf and the children have to find him each morning.  Sometimes he does get into a little mischief...........   One issue I do have however, the children are supposed to behave or Santa will hear about it, but the elf can make a terrible mess....how does that work?  Lighten up momma and have a little fun!

When we were growing up my mom was very big on tradition and beginning new ones.
We had a little angel that we would hide.   The person who found it got to be the next one to hide it.   Sadly, one year one of us hid it too well and we never found it again.   

The huge thing is to find a balance at Christmas.   Where do you put your emphasis?
The importance is not to let elves and santa over shadow the the real reason for the season.
Gaze in wonder at that beautiful manger scene...........savor the dazzling lights...contemplate the flames from the candles and the fire place...and remember our Saviour came to earth as a babe.... a true miracle!

Funny........

It's that Fall time again......the time before the s.......  At least it is still warm and pleasant, even tho' the trees are naked....
Funny.....as I read previous blogs that I wrote... I wonder where all those words came from....some even are quite profound...I amaze myself....
And this blog is an echo of the last one I wrote.........I feel so burdened and tired...so many people needing our help and prayer.....One is facing serious surgery....one has cancer....one is undergoing tests to find why they can't balance their electrolytes....a marriage is struggling....children are the victims of divorce.....a man is homeless and to proud to ask for help.....O, Lord, we just commit all this suffering unto You....You are the great Healer, You, the one who created us....You know our needs.............

So many tears...so much sadness and heartache...so much pain........... As many of us rejoice and celebrate the season and it's true meaning.....the other element is suffering.
A car accident and loss of a job....a dysfunctional person trying to get it together only to be evicted...a person who is in physical pain.............We are busy cooking, buying and wrapping gifts from the heart....helping the needy....giving to the food bank......
What should we be doing?  Are we doing it right?  Are we there for the suffering?  How are we helping them....a few wrapped gifts? ... a food hamper...sometimes that is enough...but not always....the child waiting for a heart.... the person with cancer......
......take time out to pray...to come before our Lord...to thank him...to lay our burdens down....ask Him to show us how to love, how to give...................revel in His wondrous love for us..............the biggest gift of all is love...............

Java....

No to mediocre beverages!  Research your coffee....consider free trade....and of course grind you own beans.   It takes time to prepare a great cup of coffee or latte' but worth it!   

Nothing like premeditated pee in a foam Elmo chair to start off the eve of the full moon!    I just have this feeling today will be one of those days...............that I need a double dose of grace..............

The cold wind blows..............

The wind is blowing from the north.....chilly....stripping the golden leaves....a reminder of what is to come......
I have this urge to bake, preserve, and shop for Christmas, but by mid-November I am sure the novelty will have worn off.   We used to have many traditions, but most have fallen by the wayside as the older generation fades...and the new becomes too busy.
I want to be motivated.  I want to create.  I want to read and learn.  I want to improve my ability to write.   

This little piggy went to market....or bring home the bacon....

'Bring home the bacon' or 'This little piggy...' took on new meaning today.............. not sure I want to see or smell bacon again for awhile............Caesar salad can do without!  Six pounds of bacon are resting comfortably in the freezer, all nicely cooked awaiting Sunday brunch....and four more to go!   Tomorrow on to sausage cooking.......8 dozen!   Insanity awaits!   Enough pork already!!!

In life so many things are futile....cleaning my windows and my deck...........

Often, I ponder how people can torture other human beings...or any living thing.  After today, I think we may be born programmed to torture.......have you ever watched tiny sibling children???  They definitely know how to torture...they do it every time Mama turns her back...... Have you not heard mother's in Walmart screeching at their child not to pinch their sister or pull her hair or spit on her?   I would call that mild torture, but when you are miniature, it is probably huge torture.  Bullying is torture.  Teasing can be torture.   We don't all tear the wings of insects and burn mice with lighters when we are kids, but do we go out of our way to make life more pleasant and easier for others???  We definitely need to grow in God's grace..........daily.....