The Second Week of Advent, Peace

Good afternoon friends. I don’t know about you but I am loving this quick flash of warmer weather we are having here in Iowa. Us old southern birds like our warm weather.

Our pastor explained in Sunday’s sermon, that this is the week of Peace. We so often think peace is so hard to obtain but Jesus came to bring us a unfathomable gift of peace – a whole different kind of assurance. I have this small resin picture frame that sits on my shelf to remind me daily that while chaos may be swirling around me, God has given me the ability to stand strong through any conflict I face.

Think of the most peaceful scene you have ever seen. Maybe it’s a beautiful garden, or a graceful waterfall, maybe it’s the beach. Somewhere, through your senses, you can momentarily escape the stressful world around you. But God’s gift of peace is a different type of peace – this peace came in to the world with the angel’s proclamation of Jesus’ birth.

At His birth, Israel was looking for a mighty warrior, one who would conquer their enemies. But He came as THE Prince of PEACE, not peace as in a feeling but peace in a person. And He shares that gift of peace with all of us.

Seeing this, knowing this, hoping this, …we still have a tendency to go…”But God”…remember, there is no but with God. His love is above all buts.

So we need to pay it forward with our fellow man. Sharing the peace we have been given freely so that others may understand it and reach for their own allotment.

The peace of God will not be understood by those who do not know the Lord, so we must reflect His peace to draw others into His love. For when we have His peace, the anxiousness of life can be coped with and we can all live in harmony.

May you enjoy the rest of this week of peace. I am looking forward to Sunday’s gift of Joy. What a wonderful time of year to share the Joy of the LORD. Be safe and remember to always be kind.

The Fun Side of Christmas

Good morning friends. So far I have shared my living room tree, more on the elegant side; and my bathroom tree, the down under tree. Today I am sharing my bedroom tree, the kitchen tree and the woodland animals tree. Its the fun side of Christmas or at least my quirky side.

My bedroom tree is the more personal tree. It has the ornament that my children made when young, happy ornaments that make me me smile and it is fast becoming the S’more tree.

I know as kids we all ate S’mores, or should have, but over the past 20+ years, I have collected S’more ornaments. Its my kids fault, they started it – I have just kept it going. My S’more ornament this year made me chuckle when I saw it, so, yes I had to have it.

Below are some of my more favorite ornaments from this tree because I cant show them all – they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t a favorite of some sort.

***Notice the date on the bottom of the angel – ’81, my oldest made this when he was three. It always goes on the top of this tree.***

Moving from the bedroom to the dining room and you have the Woodland Christmas including a cabin, the outhouse with cow, woodland animals and the hedgehog Christmas.

Then from dining room to kitchen, yes no room was left untouched by Christmas, we have the rest of the critters celebrating Christmas. All enjoying the fun of the holiday, singing, playing instruments and playing in the snow.

On Thursday I will share the Sunroom Christmas that has the big tree and the Christmas Village. I added a side village this year – the candy cane village. Until then, I hope you have wonderful week. Stay warm, its 12 degrees here in Iowa and remember to always be kind. It shows the very best side of you.

More Christmas from My House

Time to share more of my fun and wish you a Merry Ho Ho Christmas. We have to say that this time because we are featuring Santa. When I was 8 years old, I went show shopping with my grandmother, my mom’s mother, Miss Lottie. She was a gentle spirit and a much beloved 2nd grade teacher. Since it was during the holidays, the shoe store had a three and a half foot tall stuffed Santa that they were having a drawing for. Well I had to put in a ticket for it but I also put one in for my grandmother, my parents and probably other people. The week before Christmas, we were called and notified as winners of the Santa, still not sure who actually won it. And now 60 plus years later, I still have it and it comes out each year. But like most folks who reach our age, we don’t stand as tall as we once did. So I place him where his stature adds interest to Christmas. Here he is admiring the beautiful tree in the living room. This tree is a white light tree and most of the ornament are white.

***Closeup of Santa with his two friends, Straw Dog and Straw Elephant, that each have their own tree***. ***Both trees are live trees with battery operated lights.***

This tree also has a lighted church and a country inn underneath. The angel for this tree is well over 20 years old but an elegant ceramic lady. I love angels and they stay on tops of the large shelves year around.

My favorite ornament for this tree I have had for a couple of years. While I did buy a couple of new ornaments for this tree this year, the lamb laying with down the lion is still a favorite. You can’t see the top of the ornament very well, but it is and angel and her wings taper down to form the sides of the ornament.

This last sharing from the living room I shared last year. It is the inside wreath for this door. The front door wreath that is outside has a Christmas tree inside of it. One day I am going to count just how many Christmas trees I have that light up, there’s lots.

This wreath shows the mood for the season, Joy. It was one of my fun crafts from two years ago.

Remember to share your joy and kindness this season in all that you do.

A Time of Preparation

Good afternoon friends. I hope this day finds you well. This is a time of year where we are scurrying about getting ready for Christmas. We are decorating our homes, shopping for gifts and trying to be our best selves. Sometimes that is a hard thing to do with the rushing about and chaos. We are preparing for one day of joy. But in all actually, there is a bigger picture.

There is a song we love to sing at Christmas called Joy to the World. I have heard debates off and on about this not really being a Christmas song. It was just released around Christmas time. While down in the latter verses of the song it talks of Him already here and ruling so its not really a song about his birth…but the first three lines of the song represents what we should be doing now, every day.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room

Joy, for He has come. Joy, for He is our Lord. Let the earth receive Him as King. Then the line to represent what we should be doing now…today. Prepare our hearts to give him room. We are in the season of Advent. I did not grow up knowing or celebrating Advent but as an adult, to me it is a very important time of preparation. Not only is it sharing with the ancient longings of Israel in waiting on the coming of the Messiah or the excitement of celebrating His birth but its preparing our hearts for His second coming…as our Lord and King.

I was given a wonderful little book called “The Gifts of Christmas”. Its a devotional book through the season of Advent and I want to share those scriptures with you over the next few weeks. For those who already celebrate Advent, I hope these scriptures bring you Joy, for those who do not celebrate Advent, I hope these scriptures and notes help you understand there is a bigger picture. Advent themes are based on four gifts from God – the gift of hope, the gift of love, the gift of joy and the gift of peace. This week starting on this past Sunday through Saturday is the gift of hope. Hope can be something we use flippantly or something to hold tightly to as our lives depend on it. I hope you understand the power hope can give you as I go through these scriptures.

Peter reminds us of the joys of Jesus birth, he also reminds us of the beauty of Him coming again.

Hope is key to our survival and when we lose hope we lose purpose. Hope is central to our faith and hope is central in waiting for the rest of the story – Jesus’s second coming.

Paul tells us in the book of Romans how his suffering produced perseverance, how the perseverance produced character and how that character gave him hope. It can do the same of us in our struggles.

Hope also has a byproduct – faith.

The gift of hope comes when we place our trust, by faith, in Jesus Christ…something we cant see. But this hope is not in something but in someone. It’s an assurance of the bigger picture of eternity. It’s a patient waiting and a patient hope in Jesus Christ no matter the season or the chaotic circumstance.

Sometimes when we seem to be low on hope, we can rejuvenate our hope in sharing God’s hope with others. Hold close to Romans 15:13, simply because of God’s love for you.

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Share that hope through kindness as you go through this day.