Advent Hush

What to say, what to say....? During my prayer time this morning, I was reminded of what NOT to say. To not speak, but to be quiet. Still, and to allow that calming silence to enter in. Being "still" may seem tough this time of year, right? I mean if you think about it? During Advent, many people are "still" only when they, A) are done "shopping till they drop," or B) drop their heads on the pillow before bed. Quiet may enter in then, but are we even awake enough to hear God if that's when we finally stop to listen? 

Listening and finding that place of quietness take practice. Just ask anyone who is listens while multitasking. To listen to our husband or kids while trying to get 15 things done is not quite being the "Mary" that we could be if we really tried to let some things go. Rather, try stopping and being still. Face them and listen. Then try it with God. Learning to quiet the soul and listen to others and to God takes nothing more than practice. We can practice it over our morning coffee, or we can practice it any old time. We will be given a new penetration of His peace. Raise your hand if you need peace during the Christmas season. I'm waving mine hard!

Advent.

The weeks before Christmas in which we prepare our hearts to receive the Savior.

Advent.

That gentle whisper of quiet love that illuminates through the heavenly glow in a humble stable. That's the peace we seek. Let's find it! Let's go to that stable every day. Be the little lamb next to the Savior being warmed by His presence. God came as a tiny baby and look what happened! His presence is so huge in our world despite the noisy clutter of Christmas tasks that get in the way. Make room for Him.

Five minutes of quiet. Try ten. Let's face God and let Him do the talking. We can hush, be still, and listen. Then the rest of the time talk, talk, and talk, as we women love to do! Tell Him everything! While driving, showering, (my favorite time for some reason,) working, baking, etc. He has really big ears, a huge heart, and He will listen and speak to us through our chatter. Because He loves us! God is always waiting like the brightest star in a deep, dark sky. 

May our Advent season prepare us to enter into that Holy place, and find a deep sense of peace and joy at Christmas. May we all make plenty of room for Him in our Inn.

Force-Fed Gratitude

Open your mouth and say "Ahhh." It's almost time to taste the goodness of life in big, savory thankful bites. The yearly gathering with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving is finally here and I can already smell the turkey! It gets busy with all the planning and preparation for this one momentous day. There's projects to complete, schedules to coordinate and endless shopping trips to the grocery store for that one last thing! But by the time Thanksgiving is here, we can finally sit down and enjoy the faces and heaps of side dishes around the dining table.

Every Thanksgiving my family drives across ginger-colored hillsides and up to the pines until we finally arrive at my mom's large mountain house. We are welcomed by glowing lamp light and hearty hugs given by those early-birds standing around waiting for the rest of us to show up.  Steaming gravy is being stirred at the stove-top, white clumps of potatoes are whirring in a noisy electric mixer, and bottles of bubbly cider are being popped open and drizzled into clear plastic cups. The kitchen has a true aroma of Thanksgiving. Everyone seems to be in there helping or getting in the way of another platter being set out.

It's Fall

I've been eyeing a pair of black boots like this, so of course they made their way into this little doodle.

Halloween Fright

Halloween is starting to creep forward like the darkening skies above our surrounding mountains. The autumn cool down has dried the summer sweat from our brows as we welcome the cooler days. Fall colors are popping out from rainy shadows, their edges gilded in shiny light streaming down from cracks in the sky. Pumpkins, nesting in their patches, will soon be plucked up for a perfect harvest carving.

Sadly, these are not the first signs of the changing season. Some retailers are all too happy to bring out Halloween merchandise right along with back-to-school supplies, and while they're at it, Christmas items as well. It can be downright frightening!

While some people really decorate their houses to the Halloween hilt, I would prefer seeing some of that stuff pop up when it's actually Halloween. And some of it, not at all to say the least. Especially not during the first few weeks of school.

On Tough Love and Second Chances

Tomorrow is the last day of first quarter at the middle school where I teach, and I am not looking forward to the last-minute grading frenzy before grades must be posted for progress reports. Yes, I am allowing my students to turn in missing assignments up until tomorrow. Yes, the steady stream of crumpled papers featuring forgotten work that has been showing up on my desk all week will become a fire hose of frantically-completed assignments. And then it will all be FINISHED!

The pile of unclaimed no-name papers will be spilled into the wastebasket.
The list of students who haven't made up quizzes will be erased.
The leftover copies of everything since the first day of school will be filed away.

And then it's gonna get real.

"Room"inations

By Lisa

You know your sister loves you when she texts you from three states away and says, “I’m buying a mattress for your bed. What kind do you want?” I had to laugh! She is furnishing a room for me, with no idea as to when I will be able to come. Naturally, I realized it was for other guests as well, and yet, I loved how she pulled me into her heart with that one simple text.

She and her husband had sold their old house with furniture included, aside from one piece. A simple writing desk. It stood in the window of their old guest room overlooking the trees and now again, they have moved it into their new house and placed it under the tall window panes in what she is calling my room.

I’ve seen pictures online of “my room,” bathed in natural vanilla cream light. I can see myself sitting at the desk, the windows of my mind flung open, my thoughts floating in, gathering like soft clouds, my fingers flying across my keyboard, hardly able to keep up with inspiration. It is a place to get away, be creative, relax and gain new focus. A place to be me.

On really busy days when I’m driving all over and getting the usual things done, I picture myself in my room, lying on the big fluffy bed reading late into the night, listening to the stillness of quiet before shutting off the light. As much as I love my husband, sometimes my spirit longs for a moment of escape.

Elephants Never Forget

Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes even the most dear moments that you tell yourself you want to treasure always can disappear, buried somewhere underneath the oatmeal you ate for breakfast this morning the TV series you binge-watched on Netflix three weeks ago, and countless conversations that you've had since that moment occurred. There that memory lies for an immeasurable amount of time until it is inexplicably summoned forth by an often unidentifiable trigger, to dominate your thoughts for however long you will indulge it.