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Showing posts from December, 2016

A Christmas Card for You

Merry Christmas, friends!  I cherish every one of you.  Your friendship means so much to me and I know I am a blessed woman to be connected with so many wonderful men and women who inspire me throughout the year.  I look forward to the coming year with you   I wish for you that God will bless you, your family, your relationships, your work, and your gift of writing and lead you powerfully in the New Year.   This Scripture turned up in my reading this morning and I claim it for us in 2017.  As we draw close to Jesus today and in the coming year, may we see Him in one another! He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’  John 7:38

A Sign of Hope

Some Christmas presents cannot be wrapped neatly and placed under the tree.  My husband gave a gift like that to our youngest daughter this year. I noticed Carrie and her dad huddled in a corner in serious discussion last Christmas.  Later he told me about her request for a special present that would need to be hand crafted.   He agreed to work on it throughout the year and bring it to her in San Diego for this year’s Christmas holiday. Carrie asked him to make her a sign with the word “hope” in big letters.  He purchased one-half inch exterior plywood, three feet by seven feet and painted it with flat black paint.  He printed the word “hope” in white letters finished with reflective spray. An Old Idea Made New Christmastime built a memory that affected our lives over two decades ago when we moved here.  One of our neighbors created a one-word sign, hope, and attached it to their roof.  As our family drove to our home through the switchbacks, the word hope lay sus

The Spindly Tree

Have you ever entered the Christmas season feeling less than happy?  I had a bad attitude last Christmas, but I learned an important lesson from it. I knew the answer before I asked but I asked my husband anyway. “What do you think about buying a real tree this year?” He, once again, pointed out there is only one place for a Christmas tree in our living room.  True, it looks the best right across from the wood burning stove where roaring fires would dry out a live tree by Christmas Day.  Still I liked to dream about a full pine or balsam tree in our home with smells of Christmas everywhere. We unpacked our five-foot tree and fluffed the branches of the fifteen year old slender pine and placed it on its stand.  We stacked the boxes off to the side until morning when we would play Christmas music and decorate. Before I fell asleep, I prayed a quick prayer.  I asked God to give me a better attitude.  I didn’t want my spirit to sag because of a dated tree.  I re

Father's Back

Mark’s dad died in a work-related accident.  A steel girder fell on his head during construction of a bridge.   He left three children, all under the age of four.  My son-in-law, Mark, the oldest, has two younger sisters.  When I think of family love, I see the upside of this tragedy.  Mark’s family grew up in a large Victorian home with other family members.  Also, cousins lived close by.  The family did life together and, even today, lives in close proximity.  I enjoy them on Facebook; my feed rolls with photos of their antics and laughter. Mark and Amy asked us to drop by their house to feed their cat when they drove up to the mountains to spend the weekend with his siblings and cousins.  They celebrated a cousin’s birthday.  One heartfelt present brought tears to Amy’s eyes when she told us about it when they came home. The gift, a box of old photos, entertained the group as they each reached in and grabbed a handful of memories from their youth.  Gail, the you