Home

This time of year always makes me think of home.  You know…..the Martha Stewart version of home.  The logs crackling in the fire place.  The perfect centerpiece for my dining room table.  The warm fragrance of baking bread.  Happy, apple-cheeked children playfully skipping by…. mmmmmmm   The holidays are coming!!!

 I am anxiously awaiting the holiday season.  Every year I look forward to breaking out the Christmas CD’s & drinking hot cider.  The first Christmas magazine of the season is a big deal! 

 Christmas & home are synonymous!  We always think of being at home with family for Christmas.  Take at look at Christmas music.  There are songs about home & family & what we’ll eat while we’re there.  “I’ll be home for Christmas”,  “White Christmas”, “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays”,  etc., etc.  Even our traditions emphasize hearth & home.  We go home…..we decorate our homes…..we have open houses……  I have even heard about people who have a “house stocking”  for gifts like vacuum cleaners & dishwashers.  So Mom gets something just for her & not for the house.  We’ve all heard people say “All hearts go home for Christmas….” 

I got to looking today, & was struck by something.  When Gabriel told Mary that she would bear the Christ she went to visit Elizabeth for three months.  When it was time for His birth Joseph & Mary had to go to Bethlehem.  They weren’t nestled around a tree sipping cider.  The shepherds were abiding in a field keeping watch over their sheep.  The  angels left the presence of God to bring the tidings of The Savior’s birth.  The shepherds went to Bethlehem to see Jesus,  then went abroad to make known what they had seen & heard. 

The wise men traveled from the east.  I don’t know the time frame, but God had Joseph take  Mary &  Jesus to Egypt!

Don’t forget that Jesus left His home in heaven to come to earth.  He laid aside his glory & became flesh & blood. 

No one involved in the Christmas story was at home. 

Christmas isn’t about going home.  It’s not about anything but Jesus bringing us home.  Sacrificing His life blood to make it possible for us to be home with Him for eternity. 

Home…..I’m looking forward to going home. 

The ABC’s of God’s Character

Able; Available; Advocate; Beloved; Beauty; Bridgroom;

Creator: Compassionate; Counselor; Deliverer; Defender;

Delight; Eternal; Exalted; Everlasting; Faithful; Forgiving;

Friend; Gentle; Giver; Guide; High Priest; Holy; Husband;

Indwelling; Inviting; Infinite; Just; Joy; Jewel; Keeper; King;

Kind; Light; Life; Love; Maker; Merciful; Majestic; Nourishment;

Near; Nurturer; Owner; Omnipotent; Omniscient;Protector;

Provider; Powerful; Quiet; Quick; Quotable; Refuge; Reward;

Rock; Shepherd; Strength; Sufficiency; Teacher; Truth; Tender;

Unchangeable; Understanding; Unconquerable; Victor, Virtuous;

Vindicator;Wonderful Counselor; Worthy; Willing; X-tra Good!

X-cellent! X-treme Love! Yahweh; Yours; the Same Yesterday,

Today & Forever; Zealous; Zestful;

A to Z

—Cheri Fuller

      Adapted from “When Children Pray”

Tuesday

Today is Tuesday.  I know, I know,  Tuesday just isn’t a big deal. 

Sunday is the day of rest (depending on your faith)

Monday is back to work day.  The hardest day of the week.

Tuesday is……????

Wednesday is hump day, & also anti-procrastination day at my house.

Thursday is almost the weekend.

Friday—Thank goodness it’s Friday.  The weekend is here!!!   Yahoo!

Saturday is relax & work in the yard day. Family day.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut, Tuesday is nothing.  I think we should do something about this.  Maybe Tuesday could be Tough Beans Day.  The day we do the tough things.

Or maybe …   Any suggestions????

The Answer to the Universe

According to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 47 is the answer to the universe.

47 Random Things

My daughter tells me that 47 is the most commonly used random number.  (Don’t ask me how she know this……she knows alot of things that us mere mortals don’t.)

So, in random honor of the randomness of 47 I give you 47 things that I know.

1. 47 is the most commonly used random number.
2. The Chinese symbol for chaos is two women under one roof.
3. Coke Zero is much better than diet coke.
4. Dr. Pepper will kill you.
5. Clutter cannot be organized.  It must be gotten rid of.
6. God is faithful!
7. People will say anything.
8. Routines & calendars are lifesavers.
9. Prayer is more important than sleep.
10. Church attendance is more important than rest.
11. We all need down time…..a sabbath rest.
12. When you get sick (no matter the malady) drink all you can & sleep all you can.
13. Love is a choice not an emotion.
14. Hurting people–hurt people.
15. Excellence is a far better virtue than perfection.
16. Learning to read is by far the most important skill that I have ever acquired.
17. True friends are few & far between, so hang on to them.
18. God’s mercies are new every morning.
19. Dream big!  More often than not big dreams come true.
20. Laughter is good for your soul.  A merry heart doeth good like medicine.
21. The older I get the quicker time goes by.
22. NO ONE likes green bean casserole.
23. Most women are as pretty as they can be.
24. The people that sing the worst always sing the loudest.
25. Talent has nothing to do with singing at church.
26. Don’t judge people by their relatives.
27. Old hymns teach church doctrine.
28. Being a mother is about teaching your children to stand on their own.
29. Honoring our parents is a life-long requirement–not just when we are children.
30. Political correctness makes me angry.
31. I can do anything for 15 minutes.
32. My favorite book is The Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund.
33. My favorite CD is Bart Millard Hymns.
34. I love corny jokes.
35. I hate coconut.
36. Busyness is not an indicator of productiveness.
37. TV will rot your brain….so take it in small doses.
38. Jesus is coming soooooooooooon!
39. Time heals all wounds…….if you let it.
40. The path of least resistance makes rivers and men crooked.
41. I love to stay up late.
42. The most important things aren’t THINGS!
43. I’m afraid of Alheimer’s Disease.
44. I want to sing with a good gospel group.
45. Coffee doesn’t taste as good as it smells.
46. I love Rasberry Mocha Lattes.
47. Jesus is not my homie–He’s my Lord.

Home

Home is the seminary of all other institutions.

–E.H. Chapin

(1814-1880)

American Clergyman