Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday, Jesus. I love you!

In the Bleak Midwinter

Christina Rossetti (1872)

In the bleak mid-winter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak mid-winter

Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him

Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When He comes to reign:

In the bleak mid-winter

A stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty,

Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim

Worship night and day,

A breastful of milk

And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels

Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

Which adore.

Angels and archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air,

But only His mother

In her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a wise man

I would do my part,

Yet what I can I give Him,

I'll give Him my heart.

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Broken in the right places

Years ago, a friend gave me the book, "Broken In the Right Place" by Alan Nelson.  I didn't like reading about being broken, but today I can testify to the validity of the book.  He begins by describing the most beautiful, wild stallion. In all it's glory, it is strong and proud and free. It rules over the other horses just by it's powerful presence. It is a glorious sight! Everyone who looks on is in awe, as it bucks and prances and revels in its elegance.

Yes, yes, yes!!! ....so why couldn't he just have stopped there? I would like that so much better....but he asks the question. "How useful is that horse to it's master?"

Uh, I guess it is useful for breeding, but it can't be ridden or used for any helpful tasks. It will never be in tune with a rider or know how to take instruction to go anywhere specific. To the master it has far less value than the broken horse next to it.

Pain. Discipline. Rebuke. Work. Training. More pain.  These are the elements required to make any self-willed, strong-willed animal usable to a master. Thankfully, we are not just like horses, and our Master is gentle and most patient.  He leads us and trains us carefully, but he does break us.  We get to choose to put ourselves into his care in the first place. And we get to choose our response to his "breaking" of us. By nature, it could be easy to respond to him with bitterness, hurt feelings, and temper tantrums. But if we trust him, if we believe it is for our good, if we know that it will lead ultimately to our happiness and usefulness to him, we can let him break us and carry us while we heal correctly. We can accept his comfort and companionship through the process, and something supernatural will begin to happen.  Our spirit, and His spirit begin to communicate, and come in tune with one another.

Serendipity. Gentleness. Courage. Strength. Grace. Usefulness to the Master.  These are just a few of the results that come from allowing him to break us....in the right places.

Oh, somehow Father, break me in the right places and make me useful and pleasurable to you!

Part 3 of this little filmlet...

If you haven't watched the first 2 parts, please do before you see this last little bit. No "word picture" is perfect, but hopefully you will catch a glimpse of the eternal by the way this portrays a picture of Christ loving his children...  He loves you, more than any man or woman can love you. You have more worth to him than you can possibly know. Let that change the way you see yourself and others. Enjoy...

Part 2 of Yesterday's movie...

Here is part 2 of yesterday's little filmlet.  I know the acting/actors are less than steller, but the message is a glimpse of the eternal, so I simply must post it!  Enjoy...

A picture of Christ's love...

Please don't be mistaken. I am not a Mormon. This odd little filmlet was produced at one of their universities, which I do not wish to support or promote, however, it had a deep impact on me as a young woman.  I don't know if there are any men on earth quite like this Johnny Lingo, but more than that, this is a beautiful picture of Love. I imagine this must be how Christ loves me, and sees what I can be, not the mess that I may be at present.   :) 

Here is the first of it's 3 parts...

Love...

"Once you have been loved by God,

you are loved completely,

and you do not need to grasp anymore." 

 -Shirley Rice

Faith and Poise...

"True Christian faith finds its greatest triumph, not in the visible exploits, but in a quiet confidence and poise when there are no encouraging circumstances."  - Richard Taylor

We Have This Moment

We have this moment to hold in our hands

And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come

But we have this moment, today.

Hold tight to the sound of the music of living

Happy sounds from the laughter of children at play

Hold my hand as we walk through the sweet fragrant meadows

Making memories of what was today.

Tiny voice that I hear is my little girl calling

For daddy to hear just what she has to say

My little boy running there by the hillside

May never be quite like today.

Tender words gentle touch and a good cup of coffee
And someone who loves me and wants me to stay
Hold them dear while they’re near don’t wait for tomorrow
To look back and wish for today.


Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come
but we have this moment, today.
- Gloria Gaither

A glimpse...

Nothing Gold Can Stay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

- Robert Frost

On Finding the Right Man....

My role as a woman might be slightly different than this..., but Tommy Nelson gets it right in this paragraph below. I want a man with this mindset!

Finding the Mate of Your Dreams
by Tommy Nelson

Everyone asks me how to find the man or woman of their dreams. The best way I heard on how to pick a mate was this. You run as fast as you can for Jesus Christ, commit your life to Him, love Him, sell out to Him, and stay devoted to Him. Then you start looking to your right and left and see who is running at the same speed. And you wave at them. And if they stay up with you, after a while, say, "Come on over!" And you're running together. That's how you find your mate. When I met Teresa, I wanted to spend my life sharing the Gospel, she wanted to spend her life winning people to Christ. She wanted to bring kids to the Lord, I wanted to have children that loved the Lord. By God's grace, if we keep doing it right we're going to go a long time.


And this quote from Billy Graham gives me hope that everything doesn't have to always be hunky dory....
Happily Incompatible

by Billy Graham


Ruth and I don't have a perfect marriage, but we have a great one. In a perfect marriage, everything is always the finest and best imaginable; like a Greek statue, the proportions are exact and the finish is unblemished. Who knows any human beings like that? For a married couple to expect perfection in each other is unrealistic. We learned that even before we married.


The unblemished ideal exists only in "happily ever after" fairy tales. I think that there is some merit to a description I once read of a married couple as "happily incompatible." Ruth likes to say, "If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary." The sooner we accept that as a fact of life, the better we will be able to adjust to each other and enjoy togetherness.

My date with Jesus...

I was really wanting a date tonight, but that didn't work out, so I dressed all up and had a date with Jesus. We ate Kippered herring on Ryecrisps out on the porch. We didn't talk much, but watched the frogs and turtles on the pond's edge, and listened to the birds sing their evening songs. He turned the sky extra blue, and made the clouds all fancy, and I just sat and smiled up at him.