I don't DO resolutions...

I have a confession...I'm not a resolution maker. For years I tried to make resolutions, but I never kept them and always ended up feeling like a failure. Not exactly one of my favorite feelings. So I decided no more resolution-making. Instead, I do reflection and revelation.

I look back on the past year and reflect... What went well? What didn't? How can I tweak the not-so-great stuff so it'll be better in the coming year? Then I try to apply the tweaks to my life.

The revelation part is similar to what Robin shared on Monday... I ask God to reveal a scripture that I can cling to during the new year--something that will give me hope or help me grow in grace. Last year's scripture, Isaiah 26:4 ("Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength"), was proved accurate time and again as challenges tried to shake my foundation. But when we trust Him and stand on His strength, we stand firm.

So I've been seeking a scripture for 2010, and one has continually played through my heart. I think it's meant to be my revelation. Taken from The Message translation: "...Trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." ~John 16:33

I admit, at first I didn't want to claim that particular verse. The part about continuing to experience difficulties wasn't exactly comforting! But the more I focused on the beginning ("Trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace") and the latter part ("I've conquered the world"), the more I realized this scripture offers a perfect place of peace for me to reside in times of turbulence...and in times of tranquility. So I'm officially claiming John 16:33 as my revelation for 2010.

Whatever you do--resolve, reflect, reveal...or something else--I wish you and yours a new year filled with blessings beyond all expectation or imagining. Trust Him, and be at peace!

God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim

After Christmas Blues

I’m writing this on Sunday evening and hope that when Wednesday rolls around my mood will have dramatically changed. I keep wondering if there are others—like me—who suffer from the after Christmas blues. For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, it’s that let down feeling after the festivities are over, the families have returned home, and the house is a wreck. I always feel like the balloon has burst and I’m not sure where to begin picking up all the pieces that flew everywhere. Even though I heave a sigh of relief that I didn’t forget anything of major importance and that life is going to return to a normal pace, I still get those feelings of loss once Christmas is over.

As the pictures reflect, we had a lovely Christmas, and I thought I'd post a few pictures. At the right is a picture of the upper two-thirds of our Christmas tree. Zoey had dismantled most of the decorations on the lower third. She particularly liked the silk poinsettias. That's our daughter at the left. She's decked out in gloves, scarf, and reindeer antlers. And I couldn't let Christmas pass without at least one snuggie as a gift. My husband was the lucky recipient of a tan snuggie. I soon discovered it was much like a straigh-jacket, and proceeded to show him how I could keep him in line if he misbehaved. Lower left is what I call the "after the gifts" picture. That's son Justin with Zoey. They were waiting on Christmas breakfast. Although we were pummeled with a snowstorm that threatened to mess with airline arrivals and departures, we were most thankful both of the kids arrived safely. Shortly after they arrived, the snow began in earnest and we were pummeled with sleet and over ten inches of snow that blew into drifts where you could lose a small child—or a dog the size of Zoey.

Christmas brought laughter, good food and lovely gifts. And since the New Year is upon us and I’m deep into writing about the Amana Colonies, I thought I’d pass along a New Year’s traditions from the colonists. On New Year’s Day it was customary to serve pretzel. Actually, New Year’s Pretzel is a pretzel-shaped coffee cake, very light and sweet, frosted with white icing. It was baked just before New Year’s Eve. The frosted pretzel is topped with either shredded coconut or sprinkled with chopped nuts and remains an Amana tradition to this day. Folks in Amana agree that New Year’s Day isn’t complete without Pretzel. I may just have to try making one on New Year’s Eve!

May you find the joy and peace of the Lord in the New Year. ~Judy

P. S. And just in case you are wondering, I’m feeling much better. The blues have departed and life has returned to its normal pace.

Carried to the table

I was at Target this morning and heard a woman, one aisle over, ask a store employee, "Where are the Christmas M&Ms?" The employee told her and next thing I knew I heard this crash, then a sound like the world was rainin' M&Ms! I peered around the corner and M&Ms were everywhere! The employee just stood there drop jawed, and the sweet woman looked over at her and said, "All I wanted was a bag of M&Ms."

We all had a good laugh but as I picked up my last fews items, I thought...yes, that's right. How often in life do we look at a situation and say, "But all I wanted was [fill in the blank]," and yet life gave you much more than you bargained for. Sometimes in good ways, and sometimes not.

Sunday morning, Lloyd (one of Fellowship's ministers) delivered a life changing lesson for me. (You can listen to it in it's entirety here, it should be uploaded by tomorrow.) Lloyd told a familiar story found in 2 Samuel 9, when King David asked, "Is anyone in Saul's family still alive? Anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

A few things Lloyd reminded us of:
1) King Saul had tried to kill David for the better part of 25 years, and this after the Lord had anointed David to be king (some kind of training program, huh?)
2) When kings came to power in that era, it was common for them to kill every last possible heir to the throne from the previous king's family, thereby eliminating any competition for power
3) David and Jonathan (Saul's son) had been the best of friends, and in 1 Samuel 20:15, David swore to treat Jonathan's family with faithful love

Now, let's pick up in Ch 9 after David has asked the above question. Ziba, servant to David who had also been one of Saul's servants, told David, "Yes, one of Jonathan's sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet."

What does David do? He sends for Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth (which means "shame," btw), and brings him to his home. Now think for a minute, what would you be thinking if you were Mephibosheth? "I am gonna die!" And why wouldn't he think that? That was the custom in those days, for the current king to slay all former predecessors to the throne.

But what does David do?

David tells Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson, "Don't be afraid! (Remember how many times Jesus says that to us in the N.T.? ) I intend to show you kindness...and you will eat with me regularly at the king's table." Four times in the ninth chapter of second Samuel, the Word says that Mephibosheth will eat regularly at the king's table.

It doesn't take us long to see this true story from the Old Testament as a "typology" (a preview or foreshadowing, if you will) of what Christ will do and has done for us. If David represents Christ in this story, who does Mephibosheth represent? Us. You and me.

We deserved death, yet are shown mercy. And not just mercy, but we're invited to the king's table to dine regularly with him. Lloyd summed it up like this: David's kindness to Mephibosheth carried a broken fugitive to the king's table, into the king's family, to possess the king's resources forever. And the same is true for us...

Christ's kindness carries us––broken fugitives––to the King's table, into the King's family, to possess the King's resources forever! I know I'm crippled and there's no way, no matter what I do, that I can get to the King's table on my own. I need the Lord to carry me there.

In her post yesterday, Robin mentioned her word(s) for this year. Mine for 2010 is "Carried." I want to be reminded every day of 2010 that I am crippled without Christ, that I need for Him to carry me to the table (where I don't belong on my own merit), and that there I will drink in His kindness and His presence (swept away by His love and where I'm made whole), and I'm part of His family, and all of His mercy and grace are available to me. Forever. Now that gives me fresh hope for 2010!

We sang a song on Sunday that beautifully illustrates this story and this portrait of Christ's love. You can hear a snippet of it by clicking here [then clicking the top link in the list - "Carried to the Table by Leeland"]. I hope it blesses you as it did me. The lyrics to the song are below, and it's worth the download, if you have an MP3 or iPod.


Blessings in this coming year, and I hope you get much more than you bargained for in a GOOD way, be that rainin' M&Ms or not. And I want to say thank you to all of you friends who meet with us at this table every week, whether you leave a comment or not. It's wonderful to share snippets of life and laughter and faith together. You enrich my journey.

Carried,
Tammy

(pictured with my son as we clowned around at Christmas)

Words to 

Carried to the Table

Wounded and forsaken, I was shattered by the fall 

Broken and forgotten, Feeling lost and all alone 

Summoned by the King, Into the Master’s courts 

Lifted by the Savior, And cradled in His arms 

I was carried to the table, Seated where I don’t belong 

Carried to the table, Swept away by His love 

And I don’t see my brokenness anymore 

When I’m seated at the table of the Lord 

I’m carried to the table, The table of the Lord 

Fighting thoughts of fear, And wondering why He called my name 

Am I good enough to share this cup 

This world has left me lame 

Even in my weakness 

The Savior called my name 

In His Holy presence 

I’m healed and unashamed 

You carried me, my God 

You carried me

Come Away in 2010

For the past six years, I have asked God each December to give me a word (or words) for the coming year. I have learned a lot from this practice and have been blessed and encouraged as God revealed new things to me and sometimes new and deeper meanings about the words themselves. Here are the words He's given me over the past six years:

• 2005: Endurance
• 2006: Victory
• 2007: Peace & Simplicity
• 2008: Intimacy & Devotion
• 2009: Press in/Press on
• 2010: Come Away

The word for 2010 came to me last week while I was reading from my favorite devotional, Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman, published in 1925 and updated in 1996 by Jim Reimann. Allow me to tell a bit of history before I share the entry for Dec. 24th.

I first obtained this wonderful devotional in 2005 after a group of writers I meet with annually was participating in a "dirty book" exchange. The "dirty" in this case meant "used" and the exchange was performed in the "take away" method where the gift can be stolen twice by others before it is safe (isn't that game called "Dirty Santa?"). A dear friend of mine had spoken often of how much this devotional meant to her after the loss of her mother, so when it was my turn to open a wrapped book or take one away and there was a copy of Streams in the Desert in play, I promptly stole it out of the hands of another (rather famous) writer. I thought I was just getting a copy of a book that came highly recommended. Little did I know how very soon I was going to need the wisdom and comfort I would find between this book's covers.

Two weeks later, my life went into a tailspin. I dropped into a vast and dark desert of the soul that would last for well over a year. Heartache, loss, and grief were my constant companions in those following months, and Streams in the Desert became the way God spoke to my heart most often, offering me encouragement and hope and the strength to continue on. I wore out the paperback version and "upgraded" to a beautiful soft suede-covered edition a year ago. The pages are already highlighted and marked and sticky-tabbed. I also own a copy in my Bible software program so I can easily look up a passage and always have it with me when I travel.

Anyway, here is the entry from December 24th that God used to tell me my word for 2010:

We would be better Christians if we spent more time alone, and we would actually accomplish more if we attempted less and spent more time in isolation and quiet waiting upon God. The world has become too much a part of us, and we are afflicted with the idea that we are not accomplishing anything unless we are always busily running back and forth. We no longer believe in the importance of a calm retreat where we sit silently in the shade. As the people of God, we have become entirely too practical. We believe in having “all our irons in the fire” and that all the time we spend away from the anvil or fire is wasted time. Yet our time is never more profitably spent than when we set aside time for quiet meditation, talking with God, and looking up to heaven. We can never have too many of these open spaces in life —hours set aside when our soul is completely open and accessible to any heavenly thought or influence that God may be pleased to send our way.

Someone once said, “Meditation is the Sunday of the mind.” In these hectic days, we should often give our mind a “Sunday,” a time in which it will do no work but instead will simply be still, look heavenward, and spread itself before the Lord like Gideon’s fleece, allowing itself to be soaked with the moisture of the dew of heaven. We should have intervals of time when we do nothing, think nothing, and plan nothing but simply lie on the green lap of nature and “rest a while” (Mark 6:31 KJV).

Time spent in this way is not lost time. A fisherman does not say he is losing time when he is mending his nets, nor does a gardener feel he has wasted his time by taking a few minutes to sharpen the blades on his mower. And people living in cities today would do well to follow the example of Isaac and as often as possible visit the fields of the countryside, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. After having grown weary from the heat and noise of the city, communion with nature is very refreshing and will bring a calming, healing influence. A walk through a field, a stroll by a seashore, or a hike across a meadow sprinkled with daisies will purge you of the impurities of life and will cause your heart to beat with new joy and hope.

The little cares that worried me,
 I lost them yesterday,
..............................
 Out in the fields with God.

---

That verse of Scripture mentioned in the devotional above explains my word for 2010 perfectly:

And He ​said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." Mark 6:31(a)

I'm hoping this will be a year when I frequently "come away" by myself to a secluded place and rest a while with the Lord. Perhaps you'll find that secluded place too.

See you in 2010!

~robin

Family, Friends, and Tails

Family, Friends, and tails

It’s the end of Christmas Day. I hope you and those whom you love had a marvelous day together.

In spite of a wicked migraine, I’ve still managed to enjoy snatches of time. Anyone who suffers migraines knows just what a Christmas miracle that is. I think it’s because Christmas contains three of the things I cherish: Family, friends and animals.

Family—Mary and Joseph were betrothed—that was such a close bond that they would have had to be divorced to break apart. Yet betrothals were platonic. The ability for a couple to start a family wouldn’t begin until after the marriage ceremony, when they were fully and completely bonded. Only Mary was a pregnant virgin—carrying the Promised One. That night gave birth to a child, to a family, to all the possibilities of the future God had planned. And it opened the way for us to again be part of the family of God. How beautiful is that? As we spent time with family today, that joy was just a tiny foretaste of what is to come when we reach heaven!

Friends—People arrive in our lives when we least expect them, and often because God sends them. The Innkeeper who had no room, yet suddenly experienced a stroke of merciful genius to offer the stable. (we believer it was actually a cave.) The Shepherds—these men came and gave encouragement. Do you have people in your life who cheer you on? Those are God’s gift to you. The angels—they sang praises to God. Do you have reminders that point your heart toward gratitude? Because we have to concentrate on thanksgiving. And later, the wise men—they brought gifts. Most of all, though they represent wise counsel. Do you have friends to whom you can go for Godly advice? You don’t need a rubber stamp for what you want to do. You need an honest appraisal. Myrrh was a gift they brought—it was the most costly of all, but it represented tears because it was cause by slashing a tree and made from the sap that wept from it.

Animals--Mary rode the donkey—one could think this is a biblical reason for husbands to buy their wives a car either at Christmas or upon the birth of their first child. Hmmm…. Ponder on that while I continue. The Prince of the Universe slept in the animals’ feeding trough. You can be sure he didn’t balk at his chore of feeding the lifestock.

The gift Christ gave that cost Him everything gave us everything. It changed Him from being only a friend to being our brother. Friend to family—yet He remains both as well as wise counsel, comforter, savior, almighty God, tender shepherd, Yaweh. He who grew up working wood and feeding animals ultimately fed the physical needs of his future followers. He who smoothed the wood so lovingly hung on a rugged cross so our yoke would be easy and our burdens would be light. Yes, the tales of Christmas have layers upon layers of meanings. To each of us there are emotional and spiritual nuances. In all of the rush and busy-ness, I wish for you time and a few moments of quiet to reflect on what Christmas is to you.


Animals often give comic relief or solace. With my head so miserable, Max decided to ah…celebrate a little more Christmas. He helped himself to a second toy he hadn’t been given yet and snitched a piece of licorice of all things!

Blessings and may Christnas live in your heart all year long,
Cathy

Merry Christmas

I want to wish all of you out there, a very blessed and merry Christmas. I'm so fortunate to be a part of this blog group and share with my writing sisters and readers some of the things going on in my life.

I've written this post early because our granddaughter Rainy is once again seriously ill and in the hospital. We may well be heading to Kansas City for Christmas in Children's Mercy Hospital. At this point, I thought it might be best to get my blog done early.

Children are such a precious part of Christmas. Our neighbor's across the street are so cool. The father works in construction so during some down time he put in an ice skating rink in their yard. I thought it was so neat that this father of 3 little girls and a baby boy on the way, would take his time to build his kids an ice rink. Here's a shot of one of the kids out there skating. How cool is that.


Another neat part of our Christmas is the snow and mountains. I'm so blessed to live here in Montana. I do enjoy the winters - mainly because I can stay inside and write and watch it snow. :) Here's a shot from my front yard.

Last but not least - we have enjoyed a beautiful scotch pine Christmas tree and holiday village display. I actually let my 20 year old son set up the village and each day he seems to add something new. You'll note in the picture on the left - Batman is visiting the village. In the picture on the right - the church is being attacked by a dragon and a black panther. It's always exciting at our house.


I hope you are having a wonderful holiday with those you love spending time near to you. God Bless You!
Tracie

Merry CHRISTmas!

Since it's CHRISTmas Eve, and most are busy with holiday happenings, I'll be brief. (If you're wondering why Christ is all capped--and no, I'm not yelling at you!--you can read about it here.) I didn't have time to participate in the "author holiday tour of homes" Robin and Tammy introduced last week, but here's a little peek at the Sawyer household and a CHRISTmas message for you, Writes of Passage reader. Thank you for blessing us!

God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim

FREE Christmas Gifts

That word FREE grabs our attention, doesn’t it? I supposed I tricked you a little, because there really are no free gifts. All gifts cost somebody something—if not financially, then emotionally or with time and effort. So I probably should have titled this Financially Free Christmas Gifts. I’ve listed some gifts you can give that won’t cost you any money, but could very well be the best gifts you ever give. These are some Biblical Christmas gift ideas—so you won’t even need to go out of the house to obtain them. I’ve listed five choices, but I’m sure you can think of many others. Service. Perform some special act of service for the person on your list. Shovel snow, fix a meal, babysit for an evening or two, run errands. Acts of service create deeper relationship for both the giver and the recipient. Galatians 5:13 tells us to serve one another.

Forgive. If you have someone on your list who has hurt you during the past year, offer the olive branch of forgiveness. It will be a gift to yourself as well as a gift to your friend or loved one. Ephesians 4:32 tells us to forgive one another.

Encouragement. All of us need a word of encouragement from time to time. It lifts the spirit and deepens relationship. Hebrews 3:13 tells us to exhort one another daily.

Acceptance. We all need to be accepted for who we are. God created each of us in a unique and special way. It isn’t God’s plan for all of us to look and act alike. Learn to accept the differences of your friends and loved ones. Romans 15:7 tells us to receive one another as Christ received us to the glory of God.

Love. Remember that love is a choice and an action. It is not a gushy feeling. Jesus died on the cross for our sins—both an action and a choice. Can we do any less who enter our lives? Romans 13:8 tells us to love one another.

As you celebrate Christmas with your friends and families I wish you a joyous Christmas filled with love, acceptance, encouragement, forgiveness and service. May you find great joy as you serve our Lord and Saviour and our fellow man. ~Judy

Keepin' it real (as my daughter would say)

My husband was watching this clip from Charlie Brown the other night and it brought back fun memories from childhood when we'd race home after Sunday night church service in order to see our favorite Christmas shows. There were no video recorders in those days so if you missed the TV show, you had to wait until next year.

Watch and see if you remember this one--



Watching that clip with Linus got me to thinking of how rarely we hear the true meaning of Christmas reflected in the shows on TV today. Sad, but that absence in our culture only makes the light of Christ shine brighter when we live out the true meaning of Christmas, not only during December but every day of the year.

My sweet dad is with us this Christmas and we're spending a quiet holiday here at our home in Nashville with the kids. It's nice having everyone under one roof for a few days. For New Years, we'll be together with my brother and his family which will be wonderful. But can I risk a moment of blatant honesty? While I love the Christmas holidays and, of course, appreciate the meaning of Christmas, I can hardly wait for January 1st. I'm ready to put this year behind me. To start fresh.

Do I want to forget this year? Hardly. I'll carry moments of 2009 with me forever but we all need those turning points in our lives when we surrender whatever it is we've been carrying and we lay it down at the foot of the cross. I'm so there. 

I'm not in the dumps, and in fact, if you were to see me today we'd chat and hug and laugh, and I'd sincerely enjoy and mean every word and giggle. But there's a part of me that's also ready to take down the tree and the garland and get back to normalcy. To get this book finished, finally!, and to take the next steps in whatever God has in store. 2010 promises some wonderful family times with Dad moving here to live with us, our daughter moving into her first "real" apartment, and our son getting one step closer to college graduation, and a belated 25th wedding anniversary trip with Joe this spring, but more on that in another post.

I'll close with the words of Linus, and of our mighty God spoken through the Apostle Luke, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Continued blessings, friends,

Tammy

A HOLIDAY QUIZ

Here we are at last. Christmas week. Are the stockings hung by the chimney with care in your house? They are in mine. But Christmas will be a bit different for me this year. Mom is in long term nursing care. Oldest daughter and her family will be elsewhere. My family won't be having our annual Christmas Eve gathering. Life is always changing, isn't it? I can take it during the rest of the year, but I do hate changes at Christmas. I want my traditions to remain, year after year after year.

That really bad cold I came back with from my supposed-holiday turned out to be a very nasty flu/upper respiratory infection. It put me into bed for all of the last week. I had coughing fits that would last two hours, and there were times I felt like I would never be able to draw another decent breath. No fun, especially since I had revisions that were supposed to be done. But as of this writing, the antibiotics seem to be doing their job and I finally had a night of good sleep. I didn't wake up once from coughing last night. Thank You, Jesus.

I have many wishes for all of you this Christmas. I pray that you will be surrounded by those you love and who love you. I pray that you will stop in the hurry and bustle and remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. I pray that your hearts will overflow with the wonder at the gift God gave to us in His Son. And may that wonder and joy fill your lives throughout the coming year.

---

And now, for silliness sake, here is a holiday quiz, just to keep your wits sharp as you do all the last minute shopping and baking. Don't worry. It won't tax your brain too much. (Answers at the bottom of the post.)

1. Counting Rudolph, how many reindeer are there?
2. Where did there arise such a clatter?
3. What holiday film annually appears on television more than 300 times?
4. After red and green, what are the two most popular Christmas colors?
5. Where was Mommy when she was kissing Santa Claus?
6. What parade was first held on January 1, 1886?
7. What is the biggest selling Christmas single of all time?
8. What was the gift my true love sent to me on the 6th day?
9. What one reindeer is never mentioned in The Night Before Christmas?
10. What did the Grinch use as a substitute for a reindeer?

Let us know how many you got right in the comments section.

Answers: (1) Nine; (2) On the lawn; (3) It's a Wonderful Life; (4) Silver and Gold; (5) Underneath the mistletoe; (6) Tournament of Roses; (7) "White Christmas"; (8) Six geese a laying; (9) Rudolph; and (10) His dog.

The Music of The (Christmas) Night

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever. - Bess Streeter Aldrich

Can you imagine having been there to hear the first songs of Christmas? The first song that night must have been a lullaby. Yes, Mary and Joseph swaddled Emmanuel and lay him in a manger—but first Mary held her son. New mothers croon to their babies, and as they nurse them or soothe them, the tender strains of a lullaby come so naturally. The lullaby of Christmas Eve still bids us all to rest. We are told to be born again and Jesus delights in children—“For such is the kingdom of heaven.” Our Heavenly Father neither slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4) , and he sings over us. It’s possible because Jesus came and redeemed us so we would be joint heirs with him. That made God our Father… and so we can now rest in His loving arms.

The second song? Oh, how I would have loved to experience that, too! A whole host of angels filled the skies and sang. I’ve been to my share of Christmas productions at churches or schools where enthusiasm ran rampant and talent was in seriously scarce supply. But on the first Christmas, the music washeavenly. The glory and majesty of that music had to be awe-inspiring.

Christmas is the day that holds all time together.

- Alexander Smith

Oh, how true this quote is! Christmas marks the greatest act of love in all eternity—the Word was made flesh and came to dwell among us. Everything in history pivots on the moment when Love touched down from heaven. For thirty-three years prophecies were fulfilled, and on Easter the greatest act of Mercy was demonstrated for us.

All because the Prince of Eternity set aside his crown and robes and took on the most helpless and humble form. How blessed we were to receive the very first Gift that Christmas! With a very grateful heart, I’ll celebrate that event… just don’t expect me to sing. The music is in my heart and soul, but out of respect for the Almighty, I’ll let the talented ones do the singing. I’ll shout out Glory in the highest, and on earth, peace and salvation to all!

Merry Christmas!

Cathy

In Case You Missed It

In case you missed it, December 13th was St. Lucia's Day. Since my husband's family is of Swedish ancestry, I made it my business to better understand their traditions. Over the years I've learned that Swedes are among the most stubborn (my husband says it's tenacity - not a matter of being stubborn), hospitable (always have a pot of coffee on the stove and are ready for conversation), and have never met a stranger (my father-in-law could have gone to outer Mongolia and made friends).

If you've never been able to attend a Swedish St. Lucia Day festival, I highly recommend you find one next year. In Stockholm and many other places in the world - including the wonderful little town of Lindsborg, KS, St. Lucia Day celebrations are traditional Christmas season festivities.

St. Lucia was actual Italian. She lived about 283 AD and converted to Christianity during a time of pagan worship. When she refused to marry the man her deceased father had arranged for her, the groom-to-be turned her into the authorities as a Christian. She was put to death, and for years nothing much was said about her.

Legend tells that Dec. 13th-St. Lucia's Day was eventually celebrated by Christians as a counter to the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. The tradition was said to be made official, however, when during a terrible famine in Sweden a mysterious white ship appeared on December 13th just when the people were ready to give up. There was a beautiful young woman on the bow, dressed in white with a wreath of lighted candles on her head. When the people approached the ship, they found it filled with much needed food and supplies. Of course the young woman was no where to be found, but the people were certain this had been St. Lucia bringing them a gift of food.


(This painting is by Carl Larsson, one of my favorite artists.)




Today in celebration, the eldest daughter of the family dons a white robe, symbolizing purity, and wears a red sash to remember the blood shed. On her head she wears a wreath of candles ringed with lingonberry or holly. The Swedes associate Lucia with light, since her name comes from the Latin word lux, meaning light.


She will bring the elders of the family brewed coffee and warm saffron St. Lucia coffeecake or buns in bed, all the while she will sing Santa Lucia. The focus is on "bringing the light" during the darkness of winter night, and in parts of Sweden the darkness is quite lengthy during the winter. In some places the sun doesn't even shine for a time.

I think about Jesus bringing us the light. We were in darkness--hungry and filled with despair just as the Swedish people were during that famine long ago. Jesus came and offered us light and filled us with hope and nourishment. He didn't come to impose it upon us, however, it was a gift--freely given. I hope this Christmas season, you are celebrating the light of Christ--the hope that is within--the joy of our Saviour's birth.
Tracie

Ack! I'm supposed to blog!

Usually I do pretty well about remembering I'm supposed to blog on Thursday. But today I nearly forgot. And then I thought, "What should I say?" Life is so busy right now with Christmas around the corner (and all the preparatory stuff that accompany it), practicing for the church cantata, and trying to stay on top of a deadline. But here's my life in short so I can say I posted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITLYN!!! Daughter #2 is another year older as of today. Kaitlyn was supposed to have been born near my birthday in January, but she was never one to let the grass grow under her feet, so she popped in a month early. I brought her home on Christmas Eve day, 1986--pretty special memory. The pic at the left was taken this past July when the girls and I went to Las Vegas to see "Phantom of the Opera" (front row center seats!!!) as a group birthday present. So today she only got a card. :o)

I've been spending some of my evening hours working on a fun little friendship quilt to be used in the promotion of my January release, Katy's New World. Katy Lambright makes a friendship quilt for one of the other characters in the book, so my marketing team thought it might be fun to replicate it. I jumped at the chance to dig out the sewing machine. I really enjoy quilting, and it had been quite a while since I'd worked on a project, so I have to say I'm glad the folks at Zondervan came up with the idea.

And guess what? This little quilt will find its way to the hands of a reader. I'll tell you more about how you can make it your own at a later date. (That's called a teaser.)

We tried taking Kaitlyn's bugaboos to see Santa last year, but it never worked out. So when Santa showed up at my favorite photo studio, I couldn't resist asking Kaitlyn to get them all gussied up for a picture with that big ol' lovable elf. Things went...well...not so whoopy, to be honest. Judge for yourself:

I sure hadn't wanted to traumatize the boys, and I feel bad that they're crying, but...dare I say it?...I think the picture is beyond cute. Maybe we should have stuck with a tree and a big pot of flowers instead of a Santa. My other grandkids seem happy enough in their Christmas portrait...

So...that's a little bit of what I've been up to besides baking pumpkin-walnut bread without the cinnamon or the eggs. (This is the sort of thing that happens when you're chatting with visitors while mixing bread dough--stuff gets left out.) Needless to say, I will NOT be distributing those loaves to the neighbors, but it does give me an excuse to bake again. Which I will do. Between writing and wrapping and singing and cleaning and quilting and...........

I trust you're enjoying preparing your home and your heart to celebrate the arrival of the wonderful Gift named Jesus!

God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim

Tannenbaum Forest

I promised a little more about my trip to Amana and I know you’ve all been waiting with bated—or is that baited—breath. Whenever I use that term I think about a worm baited on a fishing hook, so I try to avoid bated breath. And bad breath, too. Sorry. I’m already veering off topic, so I’d better get back to Christmas and Amana.

Last week I told you that we had visited the Tannenbaum Forest located in the Festhalle. The Festhalle is a huge barn—I tell you that because barns are not heated, and it was really, really cold that night. Even inside the barn, I could see my breath--and it wasn't bated. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Visiting the Festhalle definitely required warm coats and gloves. My sympathy went out to the Eastern Iowa Brass Band Quartet that was seated in the middle of the Festhalle playing Christmas music while folks strolled through the Tannenbaum Forest. Most of those trumpet and tuba players were wearing leather gloves. Last week I showed a picture of the huge Christmas Pyramid, so you know the Festhalle is beyond the size we think of as a normal barn. Anyway, Santa was sitting in his sleigh surrounded by packages and welcomed us into the “forest.” This Santa was much more inviting than the Pelsnickel we saw at the museum earlier in the evening. We traversed the bough decorated path until we reached this beautiful nativity surrounded by lights. The remainder of the hall was filled with trees that had been decorated by a variety of organizations. I took pictures of a few of my favorites to share with you. I couldn’t resist this “hat and glove tree.” It reminded me of those days when my mother wouldn’t have gone to church without a hat and gloves. And then there’s the “zoo animal tree.” It reminded me of the little monkey, Bananas, that I received from the Southern Baptist Librarians. And my very favorite is the “famous literary characters tree” at the bottom left, that had been decorated by the library staff. I was having a good time looking for all the characters until my hubby declared he was going to freeze to death if we didn’t keep moving. You may have to enlarge the picture, but let me know how many you find. After all, I’m certain you have nothing to do during this holiday season, but check out that picture.

I hope all of you are moving along with your holiday preparations at a better pace than I am. There aren’t any gifts wrapped—in fact they aren’t even purchased. No cookies have been baked, and Zoey has managed to ‘undecorate’ the tree several times—I’ve given up on repairs, and we’re leaving the lower branches nude this year.

May you find joy as you say a daily prayer for each person on your Christmas list—and I wouldn’t mind if you’d include me on that prayer list, too. ~Judy.

Treasured photographs and Christmas Home Tours

Below is a picture of my great-great-grandmother and her husband who came west from Tennessee in 1867. The picture's been passed down through generations, carefully kept in a cedar trunk, wrapped in a quilt that now hangs on the wall in my office. 

Not really. It's just the only picture that my husband I have from our honeymoon twenty-five years ago. :) Sorry. It's late (as I'm posting this) and I've been writing all day. But we are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage today for which I'm especially grateful! Love you, Joe!

As Robin mentioned yesterday, today is the Christmas Homes Blog Tour where authors are inviting you into their homes and sharing a bit of what Christmas means to them. I invite you to "stop by my home" this morning by clicking on the video clip below. After watching that, if you'll click the link to Karen Ball's home tour, you can see her home and she'll give you "directions" to the next house. Eventually, you'll visit Robin's lovely home, as well as Deborah Raney's and Angela Hunt's, and many others.


And if the entire "view" doesn't show here, click here to go directly to YouTube to see the large screen version. :)

Click here to visit Karen Ball's home!

Happy touring, and I'm serving pumpkin scones with warm spiced cider at my house (with the optional partially frozen Diet Dr. Pepper, of course), so come hungry! 

Tammy

Is this a Griswold Christmas?

Well, I'm home from my working holiday, and it didn't go quite as planned. The lack of snow and the frigid temps (13 below zero at night) kept us inside most of the time. Then my other daughter and her family had to cancel joining us for the weekend. And finally, I took sick with a really bad cold. The snow arrived the evening before we had to drive home. It was really beautiful as we waved farewell to McCall.

Loads of wash await me, as do the remainder of my revisions, but I think I'll need another day in bed before I can tackle much of anything.

Before I sign off, I want to tell you about the Noel with the Novelists Christmas Homes blog tour which begins tomorrow morning by 7:00 AM EST. Join some of your favorite Christian novelists as they welcome you, via the wonders of video, to their homes this Christmas. To visit the homes, go to my December 15th blog post at http://robinlee.typepad.com, then follow the links from blog to blog and home to home.

And finally, here's a photo of me when we ventured out last Monday afternoon when it was 7° F. I was warm in my ski pants and excellent coat and Ugg boots, but my fingers were cold enough to snap off in my lined driving gloves. Brr. Oh, and another photo from our visit to the hot springs of my three youngest grandkids. Gotta love that big sister hugging little brother with other sister coming in to make it a group hug.

~robin

 

TIME'S GIFTS

Gifts of time love

are surely the basic ingredients

of a truly merry Christmas.

- Peg Bracken

With it being the Christmas season, I’ve been waxing nostalgic. Memories of Christmas Past trickle through my mind—most of them leaving warmth and happiness. Every Christmas of my childhood had a popcorn ball making night. Mom would start the Karo syrup mix on the stove while we washed and dried the dinner dishes. Daddy filled two big brown paper grocery bags filled with popcorn. We weren’t going to go through all this trouble to make a measly dozen or two! With heavily buttered hands to keep the syrup-covered popcorn from burning us, we packed scores of popcorn balls until the wax paper-covered table looked like we were ready for a dry-land snowball fight!

I have other memories of Christmas—but the truth is, almost all of them are connected with what the women in my family did—my grandmothers, aunts, mom, sister…because for the most part, in our family women are the ones who create, foster and pass down traditions…

There’s my Grandma Peggy. She, more than my biological grandmothers, was my grandma. When Daddy was serving in Korea and Mom was a lonely Navy wife in San Diego, Genieve “Peggy” O’Brien worked in the same doctor’s office as my mom and broke the news to her saying, “Oh, good! I’m going to be a grandma!” Every year at Thanksgiving, Grandma Peggy decorated the Thanksgiving table with our handprint turkeys and after the meal always had us stand up next to her to measure how tall we’d grown. Why? Because she’d lie down and mark our height on the floor after we went out to play. Then, without a pattern, she’d make us flannel pajamas for Christmas. Every night of my childhood, I got tucked in wearing a reminder of my grandma’s love.

There’s my Grandma Smith. She and grandpa flew down to spend Christmas with us every Christmas. No one loved hats like she did. No one. One time, she arrived wearing one hat *almost* entirely atop the other so she’d have both. Why? Because her favorite hat took up an entire suitcase and she didn’t have any other way to bring them. Her comment about Daddy’s look of disbelief? “If you’re going to be a fool, be a fancy one.” Daddy hadn’t said anything because his mother wore bilateral hearing aids, but she was entirely deaf. Even so, each Christmas Day, she was the one who gathered us all together and started us caroling. Incredibly, she still had perfect pitch and always began with her favorite, “O, Little Town of Beth- LEE-hem.”

Grandma Gering, my maternal grandmother, was a Mennonite woman who wore her never-cut salt-and-pepper hair in a braid she pinned into a bun at her crown. I only had the joy of spending one Christmas with her. We tied on aprons and baked to our hearts’ content. Recipes that once were “Butter the size of a hen’s egg” became modernized to tablespoons. Nonetheless, the legacy lives on. I’ve been able to share with my daughter the history and heritage of using sour cream to make her Great-Grandma Edna’s Apfel Borogie. Even more, I proudly tell of how, after suffering a devastating stroke, my grandma set out a goal in her rehabilitation: to be able to roll out dough. Pie dough, Apfel Borogie—Any kind—the sheer determination she showed and her victory made me proud of her.

Mom baked cookies every week—but at Christmas she pulled out the stops. The house smelled of the fresh Christmas tree, vanilla, and cinnamon. She firmly believed her daughters belonged in the kitchen, so my sister and I helped in the kitchen to the utmost of our capabilities. We learned to bake, but also to cook a turkey and all the trimmings. Some of the aunts always help dish up and clean up—others don’t lift a finger. Same with cousins.

Me? I’m richer for the women who have gone before me… they tied on their aprons, saved egg money, churned butter, and gave of themselves. They sewed, they sang, they cooked. They reared their families through the Great Depression, lost everything in a house fire, and in two floods, were in the very center of the very worst of the Kansas Dustbowl. From all that, though, they made choices—to view Christmas as a sacred time spiritually, but also as a time to foster traditions and made the time memorable.

They succeeded.

I hope and pray I will do half as well.

Cathy