A Pause in Advent #4

My first Christmas in 33 years without Bob. It's only been a month since he graduated to heaven, but with our new family configuration it's necessary to make new traditions. We had Christmas early (yesterday) because of conflicting schedules on Christmas day.

My dear daughter, Micah, wanted to play hostess this year, so I packed up my car with presents and some baked goods and drove over to their house!

I made the pumpkin pie...

 

...and kringla (shown here in three stages)! M.K. asked what kringla is. Well, it's a sweet pastry that my Norwegian relatives make at holiday time. When researching the term I found more than one definition. So, it's kind of mysterious! :)

 

 Unfortunately, we're all fighting off colds, but it was still fun to watch the girls open their presents!

 

Christmas pj's!

 

Test drive!

 

Unspillable bowls for everyone, yay!

This is a fun little Bingo game. (Glad I bought it for her!)



 

 

 They both liked Hazel's bead rollercoaster thingy.

I got slippers and a ceramic coffee cup/thermos with a hand crocheted (by Micah) wrap. Both things I really needed! I also bought myself a few gifts. This fat, pink 400 page journal was my favorite thing. (I started writing in it at 4:30 this morning!) I also got a selection of colored Sharpies and pens and a 3-pack of 11"x14" canvas panels which I plan to do some acrylic painting on.  Woo hoo!

 

Today has been a lazy day of napping, reading books, and reading blogs. I went to the clinic yesterday morning because of this cold that's hanging on. My lungs felt so congested. She did prescribe an antibiotic to fend off the possibility of pneumonia. So, hopefully things will clear up soon!

God bless all of you as you celebrate God coming to earth to provide salvation for us all! Thank you, Lord!

Shalom!

A Pause in Advent #3...

"If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and you will get your eyes open. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbour bar, full of delight, but always moored; you have to get out through the harbor bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment.
"When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more. Revise where you have become stodgy spiritually, and you will find it goes back to a point where there was something you knew you should do, but you did not do it because there seemed no immediate call to, and now you have no perception, no discernment; at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-possessed. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to go on knowing." ~ Oswald Chambers ~

I was very challenged by this quote I found on Thistle Cove Farm's blog this morning! Turn off the distractions (TV, etc.) and tune into God. Being alone, I do have plenty of time to sit and contemplate, but it's still difficult to turn everything off and spend time in the Word and listening to God. It gets a little too quiet around here sometimes and TV seems like company. Human voices. That's why my Bob had it turned on all the time. So he wouldn't feel alone when I wasn't home. But that's an excuse, not a good reason. To be truthful, it's easier to fill our days with activity and noise than to listen and perhaps even hear God tell us to do something we're uncomfortable doing. Lord make my heart willing! In Jesus' name.

Shalom, friends!

A Pause in Advent #1

 

 

I'm so glad to join in on A Pause in Advent this year! This will be my first Christmas without my husband, Bob, who went to be with Jesus on November 19. We all miss his company, but we know he's in the presence of his Lord; something we can only imagine. This will be a very special Christmas for him!

 

Bob was raised Lutheran and would have been more familiar with the tradition of Advent than I am. For many years we've attended non-denominational churches, but lately I've been drawn to learn more about the traditions of the more liturgical churches. I think we've missed out on some of the beauty and majesty of many of these traditions. So, when an Anglican friend posted a link to a guide showing how to celebrate Advent I was ready to learn!

 

Every couple of years I have a hankering to go out in the woods and cut myself a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. This little guy was the candidate this year. Since I have one and two-year old granddaughters, I decided to have a countertop tree that can be admired without too many disastrous results.

 

 

 

The Charley Brown Tree

 

 

Two creches and my advent candles. (I later moved the pink candle one place to the right so it would be in the right order from this side of the counter.) *grin* The larger creche to the left is a music box.

 

A closeup of my tiny creche. (Bought at Ben Franklin's. So cute!)

The bedecked tree. I know, it still looks scroungy. I'll just pile on more tinsel! I had the bright idea to put the tree in a large vase. Then I had to figure out how to make it stand up straight! I packed it full of bubble wrap and taped everything in place, lol!

 



 

Southwest Santa (a gift from my mama) has a place of honor on the mantle. Of course, he won't stay there for long. Audrey and Hazel will want to set him on the floor where they can listen to him sing and tap his plastic boot on the floor!

 

A quick breakfast before joining my dear daughter and granddaughters for church.

 

Tonight I will light my first advent candle and meditate on the scripture reading for the day. During this season of being alone in my home I hope to develop a habit of spending more quiet time meditating on the scriptures.

 

I'm currently reading "Facing East" by Frederica Mathewes-Green (this is my second reading) and am enjoying learning about the liturgical year through her eyes.

 

Shalom to all!