Heaven and Nature Sing: An Advent Devotional—Reviewed
I’m DOUBLING DOWN, friends—putting my posts here and everywhere on hold for a few weeks while I wrap up edits on NOVEL #3 . . . and make a few pies.:)
But before I do, let me tell you about the advent devotional I’ll be giving away to a Saturday Letter subscriber this week. (Click HERE to join us—and ENTER to win!)
Heaven and Nature Sing: An Advent Devotional
Rich with observations from the personal lives of nine authors, this book is helping me prepare not only for Christmas, but for intentional, observant living year round. Using each word of the title as a singular emphasis in each of the four weeks preceding Christmas, the authors provide activities, scripture, and reflections that encourage readers to pause and reflect on four themes:
HEAVEN—how heaven is present on earth even now;
AND—how the “and” between heaven and nature is a tendon contracting my “now” into my “not yet” and a ligament holding the two in holy tension;
NATURE—how the creation itself points to our Savior; and
SING—how, because of those aforementioned truths, hope blooms as music we can’t help but sing.
This is a tender, thoughtful, nourishing collection just right for small groups, individuals, and families alike. Whether you’re celebrating Advent for the first or the sixtieth time, this accessible, fresh exploration of the season’s meaning will take you deeper into understanding and joy.
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Hope you win!
I’ll be back with you in no time, but until then, here’s a feast of favorites to ponder:
Down to bones.
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt . . . And you forgave me!”
—Psalm 32:5
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Focal Point.
“I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
—Psalm 32:8
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Where the reception’s good.
“He went out to the field one evening to meditate . . .”
—Genesis 24:63
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When you’re haunted.
“Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord.”
—Psalm 25:7
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Last week.
Blink and everything changes.
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Boat mountain steams through a choppy sea.
(Mt. Baker sunrise. Find the fumaroles’ vapor trail?)
“. . .if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
—Matthew 17:20
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Sometimes you hear growling.
A badger den like this Palouse one plays an ominous role in Leaning on Air—Sugar Birds’ sequel.
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Sprint or stay?
Palouse whitetails.
“So that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.”
—1 Corinthians 12:25
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Late in the day. Our truck was moving as the red-tail stood in a Palouse field. I grabbed my camera as he launched.
Fuzzy capture, but the moment was otherworldly.
“Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south?”
—Job 39:26
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“At the hospital, I asked the nurse if I could put in my own stitches. She said, ‘Suture self.'” 
(Alice Mills 
)
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Three-in-One.
Maple, Douglas Fir, and Western Red Cedar, conjoined but separate.
“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”
—1 John 5:7
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here!
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
Order Sugar Birds HERE…
PREORDER the Sugar Birds sequel Leaning on Air HERE!
