on losing and finding

this is my living room lately....:)

on the wal-mart floor -

a roll-back price tag, $2.62

a teenage mutant ninja turtle, donatello

one dead stink bug, on its back

a package of men's boxers, hanes

just dirt

a battery, aaa

a regular price tag, $9.99

but

not my missing earring

in my living room -
young love, a joy-giver
ruthkatecharlie puzzling and building
with hankandjack
time, a friend now, slowing and allowing us
to find what's been missing -
together

in the word -

a promise, fulfilled, found

in 

tiny

baby

i will be their God,

and they will be my people

amen

what are you finding this holiday season?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

lessons on walking, from a high school chorus

dark

descends

early now

and

this is 

disconcerting

because light 

is

an

anchor

holding steady the stumblers

is this why i love 

Christmas's light

so much?

is this why i love

celebrating the

overcoming-darkness light 

that

came

to walk with us?

oh 

stumbler

may you walk in the light

through this season

how about you? what reminds you of Christ the most in this season?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

keeping it real on christmas eve

and here's the reality of our christmas eve
sore throat
kids coughing
rain pounding the roof
floor in need of a vacuum
still another wal-mart run looming
wrapping left for seven presents
but i have a deeper discontent
i just feel sad
for the brokenhearted today
i heard
a pastor speak these funeral words
to a sanctuary full of the deeply bereaved
last week
peace isn't 
the absence of war
but 
the presence of love
the truth is that sometimes peace scatters
with the wind
but how do we beckon her back, this peace?
paul teaches that we....
rejoice, pray, and give thanks
not so easy in the midst of heartache,
but
it
is
right

i would like to pray for you this day....how may i?

continuing to count his gifts to 1000 -

870. a nana trip to costco
871. church with my parents
872. son playing and singing o holy night
873. my husband's backache that afforded us time together
874. chatting with my girl
875. baked goods, oh the baked goods!
876. visiting friends i haven't seen in too long

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, emily for tuesdays unwrapped,

joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, jen for soli deo gloria shanda for on your heart tuesdays, emily for imperfect prose and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

the year of the lord's favor. and a stray horse.

our guest horse, chappy. circa 2009.

our animals peer in the glass door
cat
dog
chickens
a stray horse
watching us
read
eat
work
live
and this christmas season
i'm
shopping, entertaining, cooking
and
wondering if people
looking in from out
see
joy in my living
because this season is about
christ
bestowing
crowns of beauty and the oil of joy
and i want to be gladness manifest
for the
display of his splendor
so
for the rest of advent
isaiah 61 will ride in my pocket
a reminder of
why

what do you do to keep joy evident?

continuing to count his gifts to 1000 -

850. meatloaf. (the food, not the singer)  i had no idea....
851. reminiscing over christmas tree ornaments
852. christmas music
853. a hedgehog for my niece
854. my siblings. oh how i love them.
855. my husband's service
856. the common cold kicked out of our house
857. a hard-working, caring faculty at school
858. cookie exchange with ladies from church
859. this video - restores my faith in kids....
860. specifically, oreo cookie bark
861. the wellness to begin and end my list with food....

linking with -

michelle for hear it monday, use it on sunday, ann for 1000 gifts, emily for tuesdays unwrapped,

joan for sharing his beauty, laura for playdates with god, jen for soli deo gloria shanda for on your heart tuesdays and kat for titus 2 tuesdays

boxes on the floor and handel hallelujahs

a wise man has gone missing
a strand of lights has brightened
its last branch
i can't locate the jan brett
christmas treasury
darkness thwarts my attmepts
to gather greenery
and
my living room is a sea of boxes
(ornaments lying in wait)
but
my failure to arrange the thirty-four santas
standing in odd little groups
on an unadorned mantle
doesn't change truth
christ was born!  
and he was born
to
plead my case
and
there is nothing left but
singing
handel hallelujahs

how about you? have you been decorated a month? not even started? how important is it to you?

linking with -

jen for god bumps, joy for life:unmasked, emily for imperfect prose, grace for FYBF, michelle for caffeinated randomness and studio jru for sneak peek friday

smiles

so we have baby alives in our house

in our guy house
and we have barbies
in our house
in our guy house
and we have a
five-child cousin band
and we have
sunrises
and
baby boys on laps
and
cooking

and

love
and
joy
and
healing
and
god is good

continuing to count his gifts to 1000 -

463. generosity
464. my girl, the one i mentor, for her encouragement
465. my husband, my rock, for his thoughtfulness
466. family here from montana
467. toys and wrapping and boxes everywhere

and linking with

michelle for hear it on sunday, use it on monday

ann for 1000 gifts

l.l. for on, in, and around mondays
richella for grace imparted
laura for playdates with god

jen for soli deo gloria
shanda for on your heart tuesdays
emily for tuesdays unwrapped

on running and blooms and word

running this morning

head and hands uncovered

sixty degrees
balmy
christmas isn't supposed
to feel like this
flowers blooming
strand of lights out
a santa hand broken
and
christmas isn't supposed
to feel like this
neighbor dying
missing cameron
missing pops
and
christmas isn't supposed
to feel like this
but
even though
the air is warm
the flowers are blooming
some lights aren't twinkling
a santa can't hold a bag
and
loved ones are absent,
there is one
clear truth
the word became
flesh
and made his
dwelling
among
us
and
he will be called 
wonderful counselor
mighty god
everlasting father
prince
of
peace
and this is
christmas

linking with

jen for god-bumps
emily for imperfect prose
beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

in which i admit

writing for five minutes on tired

christmas shouldn't make me
tired
but i have to admit
it does
basketball games
parties
lesson plans with antsy students
shopping
wrapping
decorating
cleaning
cooking
and i remember a time
nearly twenty-five years ago
when i was so sick
that i didn't participate
in
any
of
it
i was alone on christmas eve
resting
and it's the first time
i wept at the
thought of a savior
in baby form
and this year?
i am going to create
this
god-stillness
this
i know-that-god-is-alive
stillness

for some great reads today, check out these ladies:

lisa-jo for five minute friday

beki at the rusted chain for fingerprint friday

michelle for caffeinated randomness

studio jru for sneak peek friday

wrap this up

the true

light

that gives

light to

everyone

(has come)

into

the

world!

i want
to be in
that
light.

how are you thinking about light during this season?


linking up with jen today!

goodness

dishes stretch from

sink to toaster

turkey and dumplings

crusted in the bowls

and

i don't care

because dirty dishes mean love  

 my sibs trekked up to

my little cabin in the woods

last night

for something new

for something joyful

in typical chaotic

Finley Fashion

we prepared boxes

for children in uganda

my sibs trekked up to

my little cabin in the woods

last night

for something new

for something joyful

and

it was what we needed