Kaylea Hutson's Blog, page 45
December 16, 2011
12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 3
Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!
Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Babbie Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)!
Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
***Where is Comfort and Joy Found?
By Sandy Ralya
The year 2006 ushered unwelcome emotions into my life. My husband was unhappy in his job, two of my grown children were making poor choices, my mother-in-law was showing signs of Alzheimer's, extended-family issues were surfacing, and I was writing a book. Things only got worse. Much worse.
Early in 2007, I was asked to represent the mentoring ministry for wives I founded, Beautiful Womanhood, and lead a women's conference in Uganda, Africa. My husband wasn't sure if traveling to Africa was a good idea, so we committed it to prayer. While we were listening for an answer, I sensed God asking me to fast from spending, except for groceries, for thirty days. Sometimes you know that you've heard God's voice because you'd never have come up with those words on your own. This was one of those times. I'd never heard of a fast from spending. Tom needed no convincing that a fast from spending came directly from the mouth of God. He still gets excited just thinking about it!
During the fast, it became clear I had used spending as a way to gain a comfort fix. When I was spending money, I felt carefree and lighthearted. Instead of dwelling on the unpleasantness in my life, I was thinking of my purchases and how they would bring me pleasure. Not until I stopped spending did I realize how short-lived the fix really was. During the fast, when I felt the urge to spend—to anesthetize my pain—I pictured myself running into the arms of Jesus, the Great Comforter. Oh, what comfort I received!
One night, I told good friends my experience of gaining comfort through the power of the Holy Spirit rather than money. I exclaimed that I had never felt so comforted. One friend then told us about a dream he'd had shortly after hearing about the invitation from Uganda. After the dream, he had awoken and recorded the following thoughts:
". . . this is for Sandy. Christ's redemption of women is beautiful. Beautiful Womanhood is a result of redemptive wholeness. The visuals the ministry uses on the books, etc., are like a piece of beautifully veneered furniture. There is something going on with the ministry to the brokenness of abused women. In Uganda, there are hurting, abused women, and something is connecting their need and Beautiful Womanhood. Though there is nothing wrong with veneer, it is only the topping—the covering, and without good structure it is shallow and will not hold up. It is time to add a new depth to the ministry."
Then these verses came to my friend's mind:
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NL
When my friend was finished sharing, everyone in the room broke down in tears, praising God for His work in my life. I'd learned to listen and God had spoken. I'd obeyed, and He'd acted. When He acted, I was changed.
Needless to say, I packed my bags and experienced some of the best days of my life in Uganda—offering God's comfort to His troubled women.
***
Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980 and live near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have three adult children and a growing number of grandchildren. When not writing and speaking, Sandy enjoys shopping at yard sales for vintage clothing, cooking, travelling, and drinking really good coffee (black is best) with her husband.
For more information, contact Sandy at sandy@beautifulwomanhood.com. Subscribe to Sandy's blog at www.beautifulwomanhood.com/blog. Find Sandy on Facebook at Beautiful Womanhood. Follow Sandy on Twitter @MentoringWives.
Note from Kaylea: The following is a series of thoughts, from some of today's Christian authors, designed to help you find a "pearl" of faith during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season. – Enjoy!
Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Babbie Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)!Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
***Where is Comfort and Joy Found?
By Sandy Ralya
The year 2006 ushered unwelcome emotions into my life. My husband was unhappy in his job, two of my grown children were making poor choices, my mother-in-law was showing signs of Alzheimer's, extended-family issues were surfacing, and I was writing a book. Things only got worse. Much worse.
Early in 2007, I was asked to represent the mentoring ministry for wives I founded, Beautiful Womanhood, and lead a women's conference in Uganda, Africa. My husband wasn't sure if traveling to Africa was a good idea, so we committed it to prayer. While we were listening for an answer, I sensed God asking me to fast from spending, except for groceries, for thirty days. Sometimes you know that you've heard God's voice because you'd never have come up with those words on your own. This was one of those times. I'd never heard of a fast from spending. Tom needed no convincing that a fast from spending came directly from the mouth of God. He still gets excited just thinking about it!
During the fast, it became clear I had used spending as a way to gain a comfort fix. When I was spending money, I felt carefree and lighthearted. Instead of dwelling on the unpleasantness in my life, I was thinking of my purchases and how they would bring me pleasure. Not until I stopped spending did I realize how short-lived the fix really was. During the fast, when I felt the urge to spend—to anesthetize my pain—I pictured myself running into the arms of Jesus, the Great Comforter. Oh, what comfort I received!
One night, I told good friends my experience of gaining comfort through the power of the Holy Spirit rather than money. I exclaimed that I had never felt so comforted. One friend then told us about a dream he'd had shortly after hearing about the invitation from Uganda. After the dream, he had awoken and recorded the following thoughts:
". . . this is for Sandy. Christ's redemption of women is beautiful. Beautiful Womanhood is a result of redemptive wholeness. The visuals the ministry uses on the books, etc., are like a piece of beautifully veneered furniture. There is something going on with the ministry to the brokenness of abused women. In Uganda, there are hurting, abused women, and something is connecting their need and Beautiful Womanhood. Though there is nothing wrong with veneer, it is only the topping—the covering, and without good structure it is shallow and will not hold up. It is time to add a new depth to the ministry."
Then these verses came to my friend's mind:
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NL
When my friend was finished sharing, everyone in the room broke down in tears, praising God for His work in my life. I'd learned to listen and God had spoken. I'd obeyed, and He'd acted. When He acted, I was changed.
Needless to say, I packed my bags and experienced some of the best days of my life in Uganda—offering God's comfort to His troubled women.
***
Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980 and live near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have three adult children and a growing number of grandchildren. When not writing and speaking, Sandy enjoys shopping at yard sales for vintage clothing, cooking, travelling, and drinking really good coffee (black is best) with her husband. For more information, contact Sandy at sandy@beautifulwomanhood.com. Subscribe to Sandy's blog at www.beautifulwomanhood.com/blog. Find Sandy on Facebook at Beautiful Womanhood. Follow Sandy on Twitter @MentoringWives.
Note from Kaylea: The following is a series of thoughts, from some of today's Christian authors, designed to help you find a "pearl" of faith during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season. – Enjoy!
December 15, 2011
Nativity Told Through Facebook
Here's another nativity story, as told through social media (aka Facebook). Enjoy.
Giveaway Results: My Favorite Bible
Congrats to TammyIsBlessed for winning the drawing for the copy of My Favorite Bible. The results were generated using Random.org.There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order:TammyIsBlessedmaddiemommieMickeyreneeTimestamp: 2011-12-15 15:51:51 UTC[image error]
12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 2
Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
*** Advent
By Sibella Giorello
Consider the bride's walk down the aisle. We all know where that woman in the white is going but somehow waiting for her to arrive at the altar is an essential part of the ceremony. In fact, the waiting is so essential that even cheapskate Vegas chapels include wedding marches.
Why?
Because the wait adds meaning to the moment.
At Christmas time, we tend to forget this essential truth about anticipation. We're lost to shopping malls and checklists, rushing toward December 25th so quickly that we forget the quiet joy of the month's other 24 days -- and then we wonder why we feel so empty on the 26th, amid ribbons and wrapping paper and our best intentions.
Because the wait adds meaning to the moment.
And that is why Advent is so important to Christmas.
I'm as guilty as the next harried person. This Advent was particularly tricky because just six hours before it started, I was still trying to finish a 110,000-word novel that was written over the course of the year -- written while homeschooling my kids, keeping my hubby happy, and generally making sure the house didn't fall down around us.
It's an understatement to say my free time is limited. But waiting adds meaning, and Advent is crucial to Christmas, so I've devised several Advent traditions that are simple, powerful and easy to keep even amid the seasonal rush.
When my kids outgrew the simple Advent calendars around age 7, I stole an idea from my writer friend Shelly Ngo (as T.S. Eliot said, "Mediocre writers borrow. Great writers steal." Indulge me.)
Here's how it goes: Find 24 great Christmas books, wrap them individually and place then under the tree. On the first day of Advent, take turns picking which book to open. When we did this, we would cuddle under a blanket and read aloud -- oh, the wonder, the magic! We savored "The Polar Express," howled with "How Murray Saved Christmas," and fell silent at the end of "The Tale of The Three Trees" (note: some of the picture books I chose were not explicitly about Christmas but they always echoed the message that Jesus came to earth to save us from ourselves and to love us beyond our wildest imagination. In that category, Angela Hunt's retelling of The Three Trees definitely hits the Yuletide bull's eye).
This Advent tradition lasted for about five years. It gave us rich daily discussions about the season's real meaning, without being religious or legalistic, and it increased family couch time. But like the lift-the-flap calendars, my kids outgrew the picture books.
Because the wait adds meaning, and Advent is crucial, I prayed for another way to celebrate anticipation of Christmas. By the grace of God, last year I found an enormous Advent calendar on clearance at Pottery Barn. Made of burlap, it has large pockets big enough to hold some serious bounty.
But my husband and I didn't want the kids focusing only on the materialist stuff for Advent -- we already fight that on Christmas day. We decided to fill the daily pockets with simple necessities and small gift cards. We also printed out the nativity story from Luke 2:1-21 in a large-sized font and cut each verse out. From Day 1 to Day 21, there is one verse to read aloud. The kids memorize it, then get to open their present (again, on alternating days for each person). Then we tape the verse to the wall in order. By Day 22, all the verses are on the wall, in order, and the kids now try to recite the entire nativity story from memory. That's not as difficult as it sounds because they've been memorizing one verse each day. Still, the entire recitation -- verbatim -- usually requires Day 23 and Day 24. Whoever does memorize the entire thing -- without mistakes -- earns a bonus gift of $25.
Does that sounds extravagant?
It is.
Because we want our kids to understand that God came down and humbled himself and taught us about love right before He suffered and died on behalf of the undeserving -- which is every one of us.
"That's" extravagant.
And in the waiting, we find even more meaning.
***
Sibella Giorello writes the Raleigh Harmon mystery series which won the Christy Award with its first book "The Stones Cry Out." She lives in Washington state with her husband and children, and often wishes there were 36 hours in a day.Note from Kaylea: The following is a series of thoughts, from some of today's Christian authors, designed to help you find a "pearl" of faith during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season. – Enjoy![image error]
December 14, 2011
A Digital Nativity
Discovered through a friend, good enough to share! Enjoy!
Like I tried to tell the second graders a couple of weeks ago - God used messengers to spread the good news oh so long ago, just imagine what could be done today, with Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and more!
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Like I tried to tell the second graders a couple of weeks ago - God used messengers to spread the good news oh so long ago, just imagine what could be done today, with Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and more!
[image error]
12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 1
Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!
Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more!) Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
***A Christmas of Kindness
By Suzanne Woods Fisher
"You can give without loving, but you can¹t love without giving." Amish proverb
I do it every year.
I plan for a simpler, less stressful Christmas season and, every year, by Christmas Eve I'm exhausted! After our delicious and very-time-consuming-to-make traditional Swedish meal to honor my husband¹s relatives (think: Vikings), it's time to head to church.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the last few Christmas Eve's, I have sent my husband and kids head off without me. The pull to spend an hour of quiet in the house feels as strong as a magnet.
It's odd. My children are young adults now. Wouldn't you think that Christmas would be simpler? Instead, it's just the opposite. Jugging schedules to share the grandbaby with the in-laws, trying to include our elderly parents at the best time of day for them, dancing carefully around recently divorced family members whose children are impacted by the shards of broken relationships.
The thing is: you can simplify your to-do list, but you can't really simplify people. We are just a complicated bunch.
Here's where I borrow a lesson about simplicity from the Amish. It's easy to get distracted with the buggies and the bonnets and the beards, but there's so much more to learn from these gentle people if you're willing to look a little deeper.
Yes, they live with less "stuff" and that does make for a simpler, less cluttered life. But it's the reason behind it that is so compelling to me: they seek to create margin in their life. Not just empty space - but space that is available to nourish family, community, and faith. Their Christmas is far less elaborate than yours or mine, but what they do fill it with is - oh so right.
Christmas comes quietly on an Amish farmhouse. There is no outward sign of the holiday as we know it: no bright decorations, no big tree in the living room corner. A few modest gifts are waiting for children at their breakfast place settings, covered by a dishtowel. Waiting first for Dad to read the story of Christ's birth from the book of Luke. Waiting until after a special breakfast has been enjoyed. Waiting until Mom and Dad give the signal that the time has come for gifts.
Later, if Christmas doesn't fall on a Sunday, extended family and friends will gather for another big meal. If time and weather permits, the late afternoon will be filled with ice skating or sledding. And more food! Always, always an abundance of good food. Faith, family, and community. That is the focus of an Amish Christmas.
And it's also how the story begins for A Lancaster County Christmas, as a young family prepares for Christmas. A winter storm blows a non-Amish couple, Jaime and C.J. Fitzpatrick, off-course and into the Riehl farmhouse.
An unlikely and tentative friendship develops, until the one thing Mattie and Sol hold most dear disappears and then. Ah, but you¹ll just have to read the story to find out what happens next. Without giving anything away, I will say that I want to create a Mattie-inspired margin this Christmas season. Mattie knew inconveniences and interruptions that come in the form of people (big ones and little ones!) are ordained by God. And blessed by God.
Creating margin probably means that I won't get Christmas cards out until the end of January, and my house won't be uber-decorated. After all, something has to give.
But it will mean I make time for a leisurely visit with my dad at his Alzheimer's facility. And time to volunteer in the church nursery for a holiday-crowded event. And time to invite a new neighbor over for coffee. Hopefully, it will mean that my energy won't get diverted by a frantic, self-imposed agenda. Only by God's agenda-the essence of true simplicity.
And that includes taking time to worship Christ's coming at the Christmas Eve service. You can hold me accountable! This year, I will be there.
***
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, The Search, and The Keeper, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award nominee and is the host of an internet radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California. www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.Note from Kaylea: The following is a series of thoughts, from some of today's Christian authors, designed to help you find a "pearl" of faith during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season. – Enjoy![image error]
December 13, 2011
12 Pearls Of Christmas Begins Tomorrow
Note from Kaylea: The following is a series of thoughts, from some of today's Christian authors, designed to help you find a "pearl" of faith during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season. - Enjoy!
Welcome to the3rd Annual Pearl Girls™ 12 Pearls of Christmas blogging series!
We've gathered several of today's most beloved authors to share their Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom!" Please follow along beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec. 14) through Christmas day as Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Rachel Hauck, Sandy Ralya, Sibella Giorello, Susan May Warren and more, share their heartfelt stories of how God has touched their life during this most wonderful time of the year.
If you'd like to share the 12 Pearls of Christmas with your blog readers too, just email Christen and she'll send you the series.
AND of course there is a giveaway! Beginning tomorrow you and all your friends can enter to win a PEARL NECKLACE and EARRINGS valued at $450! The winner will be announced on New Year's Day! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.
***
Just a quick note before the series begins on Dec. 14 ...As I write this, I imagine that we are sitting at my kitchen table and chatting over a cup of coffee while familiar Christmas carols celebrate the Season. My twelve year old Chihuahua, Pongo, barks for a pinch of pound cake while my Shih Tzu, Lilly, patiently sits by the chair and waits for a crumb to fall.
My name is not Martha Stewart, and I will never receive a neighborhood beautification award. Just look at my front stoop. Yes, my never-had-time-to-carve-the-pumpkin-that-now-suffers-from-frostbite slouches next to the front door which is decorated with a Christmas wreath. I plan to roll this large orange ornament to the garbage pile tomorrow. For now, however, I will pretend that my front stoop is a contemplative modern art exhibit capturing the essence of contrast.
Actually, I love the concept of juxtaposition – placing things together that don't seem to belong together, yet somehow ultimately make sense being paired.
A personal example for me this season is the phrase: "comfort and joy." Having just completed my manuscript for New Hope Publishers about the aftermath of grief, I fully understand the contrast of those two words. How can comfort bring joy? How can one find joy in loss?
Perhaps, dear reader, you have experienced loss this year – loss of a loved one, loss of friendship, loss of health, loss of financial security, loss of trust, loss of love, or loss of direction.
Even with the best intent, words of encouragement shared by others can somehow seem insufficient to address an inconsolable loss. A spoken word cannot fully restore joy to a broken heart; however the Word can.
And that's the bottom line message of Christmas! God gave us the most amazing gift: His Son - the Word of God, the Holy Comforter.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life." (John 3:16).
You are not alone this Christmas, dear friend. Juxtaposed to the unexpected grit in life is the gift of God's grace wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
This year I purposely placed a pearl in the Nativity scene as a metaphoric reminder. When we place our grit into the hands of the Lord, His grace transforms our pain into a pearl.
"Joy to the world!"Thank you so very much for sharing the JOY of the Season with us this year.
God Bless, Margaret
@mcsweeny***Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. She is the founder and director of Pearl Girls. For more information please visit www.pearlgirls.info. McSweeney is fast at work on several fiction manuscripts. Her book Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace was written to help fund the Pearl Girl Charities. She is also the host of weekly radio show, Kitchen Chat. Connect with Margaret on Facebook or Twitter.
Welcome to the3rd Annual Pearl Girls™ 12 Pearls of Christmas blogging series!
We've gathered several of today's most beloved authors to share their Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom!" Please follow along beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec. 14) through Christmas day as Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Rachel Hauck, Sandy Ralya, Sibella Giorello, Susan May Warren and more, share their heartfelt stories of how God has touched their life during this most wonderful time of the year.
If you'd like to share the 12 Pearls of Christmas with your blog readers too, just email Christen and she'll send you the series.
AND of course there is a giveaway! Beginning tomorrow you and all your friends can enter to win a PEARL NECKLACE and EARRINGS valued at $450! The winner will be announced on New Year's Day! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.
***
Just a quick note before the series begins on Dec. 14 ...As I write this, I imagine that we are sitting at my kitchen table and chatting over a cup of coffee while familiar Christmas carols celebrate the Season. My twelve year old Chihuahua, Pongo, barks for a pinch of pound cake while my Shih Tzu, Lilly, patiently sits by the chair and waits for a crumb to fall.
My name is not Martha Stewart, and I will never receive a neighborhood beautification award. Just look at my front stoop. Yes, my never-had-time-to-carve-the-pumpkin-that-now-suffers-from-frostbite slouches next to the front door which is decorated with a Christmas wreath. I plan to roll this large orange ornament to the garbage pile tomorrow. For now, however, I will pretend that my front stoop is a contemplative modern art exhibit capturing the essence of contrast.
Actually, I love the concept of juxtaposition – placing things together that don't seem to belong together, yet somehow ultimately make sense being paired.
A personal example for me this season is the phrase: "comfort and joy." Having just completed my manuscript for New Hope Publishers about the aftermath of grief, I fully understand the contrast of those two words. How can comfort bring joy? How can one find joy in loss?
Perhaps, dear reader, you have experienced loss this year – loss of a loved one, loss of friendship, loss of health, loss of financial security, loss of trust, loss of love, or loss of direction.
Even with the best intent, words of encouragement shared by others can somehow seem insufficient to address an inconsolable loss. A spoken word cannot fully restore joy to a broken heart; however the Word can.
And that's the bottom line message of Christmas! God gave us the most amazing gift: His Son - the Word of God, the Holy Comforter.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life." (John 3:16).
You are not alone this Christmas, dear friend. Juxtaposed to the unexpected grit in life is the gift of God's grace wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.This year I purposely placed a pearl in the Nativity scene as a metaphoric reminder. When we place our grit into the hands of the Lord, His grace transforms our pain into a pearl.
"Joy to the world!"Thank you so very much for sharing the JOY of the Season with us this year.
God Bless, Margaret
@mcsweeny***Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. She is the founder and director of Pearl Girls. For more information please visit www.pearlgirls.info. McSweeney is fast at work on several fiction manuscripts. Her book Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace was written to help fund the Pearl Girl Charities. She is also the host of weekly radio show, Kitchen Chat. Connect with Margaret on Facebook or Twitter.
December 6, 2011
2011 Christmas Card
Thanks to a friend's gift code (from a House Party) I was able to put together a Christmas card...something I usually don't do.
So 10 friends will get this in person, but I can share it with everyone here!
Stationery cardView the entire collection of cards.
So 10 friends will get this in person, but I can share it with everyone here!
Stationery cardView the entire collection of cards.
December 5, 2011
Truth
What is the truth?For the last few weeks, this verse has been bouncing around my brain.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Philippians 4:8
I describe it as the "garbage in, garbage out" verse, because it challenges me to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable - and basically put good things into my brain.
One way I do this, is to re-read a list of "truths" that a wise pastor friend gave me when I was in junior high. It was a series of truths he wanted me to remember, when life started throwing curve balls.
I've kept that list in my Bible for years. It's a well-worn hand-written note full of things he observed in my life and character that I try to read, especially when self-doubt or negative self-talk beings to fill my thoughts.
So what truths to do you need to remember today? If you made a list of truths, what would appear on it?
(FYI - This post is kind of inspired by last year's Reverb10 project - which gave people a series of questions each day during December to kind of "wrap up" the year. When the creators of Reverb10 chose not continue the project this month, I came up with my own "reflection" challenge. Each day, for the next month, I'm going to try to write - focusing on a single word as my theme!)
December 3, 2011
Notice
Notice: to perceive; become aware of.It's amazing the things you notice, when you stop and simply watch.
During thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to observe my niece during basketball practice.
Yes, I know, going to a high school basketball practice on a Saturday morning probably doesn't sound fun, but I enjoyed it for one reason - I got to notice things about my niece.
I loved watching the determination on her face as she ran through the drills.I also liked having a chance to see her in action and interacting with her teammates.
While I'm not a huge sports person, I can appreciate the lessons you can learn by being part of an organized team.
And, well, it was cool to be in the "new, new" gym at my old high school. For the record, the "new" high school is WAY cooler than the building - that no longer exists - that used to house my high school classes.
Going to this practice was a chance for me to sit back and really take note of a few things that were important to my niece, and experience a piece of her life..I don't often stop and "notice" things. A lot of times I kind of "move" in "full speed ahead" mode - just getting things done.
Sometimes, I need to remember to stop and notice the small things taking place around me, because in reality, the little things can bring great joy.
So what do you need to notice today?
