A Hearty Welcome to Christmas!
I think Advent and Christmas have been welcomed this year like a gigantic, band-playing, dancers-dancing, and gorgeous floats rolling along like a Christmas parade. I went to many of those Christmas parades in downtown Dallas when I was a kid. Oh, the anticipation for the last float – Santa! As 2020 is coming to a…
Our Happy Places
It’s not about the “place” of bodies, but the place of love and, really, that can be any place: at home or there or here or anywhere. It’s not about the weather: rain, sunshine, snow, or storm. It’s not about the time of year: winter, spring, summer or fall, or the new year (though crossing…
Our Voices Matter
I’m a big fan of the talent show, “The Voice”. The contestants belt out a song while the chairs of the judges are turned away from them. The judges base their decision solely on how good their voice is – not by how they look or their stage presence. If they are a good singer,…
Time to Stop, Look and Be Blessed
Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. We’re making the trek to Bethlehem and the night that Christ was born. Today, the second Sunday of Advent, the second candle will be lit. I took this photo of the Advent wreath last Sunday. Those of us who have purposed to slow down and breathe in…
Christmas Divides Darkness from Light
It’s here at last! The most wonderful time of the year! I think we’re singing that song a little louder and prouder this year. We sure needed Christmas and its many symbols and songs and THE BABY to light up the darkness we have encountered this year. I needed one little set of clear Christmas…
It’s Black Friday!! Let the Christmas Season Begin!
Last year, I mixed up Thanksgiving and Christmas with both décor strategically placed throughout my home. But this year, though I put up my outside lights (note my two youngest grands modeling my lights for me), I didn’t want to rush past this time of expressing my gratitude for God’s blessings this year. In my…
Scraggly Pessimism or Bright Eyed Hope
I read that this year’s 75-foot-tall, 11-ton Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrived at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The tree, donated by Al Dick (from his front yard in Oneonta, New York), will be lit on Friday, Dec. 2. The headline that stood out first about the tree was “it is a symbol of…
It was a Day of Humbling Ourselves
I heard about Franklin Graham’s call for a prayer march in Washington D.C. on Saturday, September 26th. I also heard that Jonathan Cahn, a former Jewish rabbi and now, Messianic Jew, called for a day-of-prayer rally in Washington D.C. I knew I would dedicate my Saturday to joining others in prayer, so it was a…
Being a DIY Underachiever…..or Not
Let’s be honest – we’d all like to be that husband/dad/man who can build or fix just about anything. And, in the female species, the gal who is incessantly on FB or Instagram touting their latest, successful DIY project. I’m Joanna Gaines in my dream world. My daughter and her husband amazed me when their…
Letting Our Christmas Joy Be About the Joy-Giver
Here we are – smack dab in the middle of Christmas time – only 13 more days until the presents are all unwrapped, we’re eating our Christmas breakfast and some of us are singing “Happy Birthday, Jesus”! When I was a very young child, I was taught, like many children, that Christmas Eve was special…