Appropriately for today my Advent word is King.

As the US House of Representatives gets ready to vote and formally impeach President Trump, we are reminded that we honor, and we worship and put our hope in God, the true king.  Yes – God is our king!   Not Trump, not any other person.

Today we watch the proceedings on TV continue and we see that our democratic system works.  The House will vote, and will show that nobody is above the law in America.   Division is deep but the law will win.

We remember during Advent that the wise men (educated scholars of their time)  followed the star and brought gifts to the newborn baby Jesus, knowing that this baby was God’s own son.  Animals knelt.  Here was a child born of people in poverty, without a home, and on the run.  He came to give the gift of love, and peace, and salvation.  He never lied.  He helped the sick and the outcasts.  He set the example of how we should live.

So, when we hear someone brag about being above others, and hear him say that he could shoot someone in the middle of NYC and get away with it, and that he speaks mean about strangers every day, and thinks he can do whatever he wants….  who acts like he is a king……    he is NOT.

Christ is King.   God is King.

Christmas Day is about the real king.

Well, best made plans don’t always happen.  This weekend I could not keep up with my daily posts for Advent.   I traveled, spent time with lots of family, and I got to celebrate my birthday.

So…  here we go: 3 words in one writing.

1. Grateful  – as in, I am VERY grateful – for everything!     2.  Importance –  to prioritize and keep what is important in mind.   3. –  Freedom – more on that later.

So, after a weekend like this past one I am feeling the ‘glow of love’ from so many…  my hubby, daughters, SILs, grandsons, and assorted cousins, etc. who all met for a reunion of sorts.  It was an early Christmas gathering, one we try and do every year.   Not everyone could make it, but I am grateful for those who did.   I am also grateful for all the wonderful people that are Facebook friends (and yes, they are real life friends too! Ha!) who took time to wish me a happy birthday online.  It’s such a lovely feeling to get on FB on your birthday and see more and more good wishes pop up.  Thank you for taking a moment to wish me a happy birthday.   It’s tough to see time go by sometimes, to age and look in mirror, but the greetings and good wishes sure make it easier.     I am GRATEFUL to you all!

My next word is PRIORITIZE.   I suppose one good thing about aging is learning the ability to prioritize.  I have learned to say ‘no’ and I have learned to use my time best that I can for me – and for making a difference.   I know my choices don’t always make others happy, but I have learned I must do it ‘my way’.

So, that brings me to my third word:  FREEDOM.   I could write a book about it.   Don’t worry, I  won’t. HA   Freedom is such a gift to us all.  It’s one we take for granted too often, especially here in America.   We like to complain a lot about a lot of things, but we are beyond fortunate to live where we have so many freedoms. Even with all the divisions right now, we live where we can be who we want to be.

My hubby just read to me a USA Today article about people recently polled feeling that their rights are being taken away from them.  It was VERY high number! 90 percent feel that way.   Some believe our freedom for gun ownership is threatened. Some believe there is no equality in criminal justice.  Some other freedoms are threatened too.    They are not totally wrong.   But, we live where we can call it out, and we can work to change what is wrong.    We have the ability,  and most important, the freedom, to do it.

So, as Advent continues along – I am grateful, and I am aware of the ability, and the right to prioritize my time, and I celebrate the freedom to be me!     Thank you for all the birthday love!

It’s Friday, the 13th.    Superstitious?   Do you think bad things will happen today?

I googled why Friday, the 13th is considered such a scary day.    It was interesting what I learned.   Today we love Fridays.  TGIF!   Right??   But historically Fridays have been bad days.  It was execution day in Ancient Rome.   It is thought to be the day Eve tempted Adam with the apple.   And, of course, Christ was crucified on a Friday.

The number 13 is considered evil too.   Have you noticed often there is no 13th floor in a hotel? Or a 13th Street in a town?   Reading about it I learned that 13 people at a dinner table is considered really bad luck.   Either the first or last seated could fall into some horrible demise.  I think they just get stuck with the bill!  Ha

Anyway, when Friday and the calendar day 13 come together the fear of something bad happening magnifies big time.

Do you worry about it?

I know bad things happen to good people.  And, even good things can happen to bad people.    As a Christian in today’s world I know we live in a very sinful world.  People are constantly tempted, and are very self-centered.  It’s just who we are.   We say and do wrong things, hurtful things.  Mean things.

To bring it to Advent, again we know that without God’s gift of graceful forgiveness we would be doomed.  We just can’t live always getting it right, and we can’t  live in harmony.   Jesus Christ was the only one who did – and he set the example.  I still use the “What would Jesus do?”  Question from time to time when I’m trying to make a decision.  How should I react to what someone did – or what is happening in our world?

Advent is the time to remember that without the birth of Jesus, and his lessons taught while he walked the earth, we would not know as clearly what God hopes for us.

Today is another day.  It happens to  be Friday, the 13th.   More importantly it’s another day in Advent on the way to celebrate Christmas.

 

It’s the halfway point of Advent.  12 Days until Christmas Eve.

How are you feeling right now?   Does the date, and the closeness to Christmas frighten you?  Are you wondering if you will ever get everything done in time?   Have you made your list – and checked it twice?

Today’s word is fear.

Do you fear this time of year?     I do.  I don’t Ike the expectations and I worry that I won’t do enough. That I will disappoint people.  I always breathe a sigh of relief on the 25th, knowing it’s over.  Phew.  By that point it’s “What will be will be”.  I start to look to the new year ahead to make amends, to change my concerns, to find a better way to treat myself and others.

Christmas should not be about fear.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”  Psalm 34:4.

In fact, it should be about the opposite of fear.   The real meaning of Christmas is about being free from fear, of not being afraid for what comes in the future.  It’s about putting faith in God.

This year is the first year since being married, and having a family, that I have not put up a Christmas tree.  I mentioned earlier that we are going through some construction here. Plus, we will be spending Christmas at my daughter’s home.  So, it just seems easier to leave the tree in the box and the ornaments safely wrapped, and put away.   We have put out some outdoor lights and a few decorations.    That’s it.  It’s not my usual way.   But, I kinda like that it’s this way, this year.  I always feel Christmas coming once a year is too much.  Can’t we do it every other year?  I think the impact would be greater.   So, next year, maybe I’ll really want to spruce up the place and put up all the holiday decorations.

I wonder though: sometimes all the glitz and all the shininess of Christmas is a distraction.   It’s not about a million lights, flashing, synchronized together.   It’s about one bright star leading the way.

Are you afraid you will miss the true meaning of Christmas? Are you afraid the holiday will not live up to all the hype?

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”   Isaiah 41:10

 

 

 

On my Advent journey I continue to balance myself and try not to get myself too overloaded with the news of the world.   It can be so depressing.   I sit most mornings and watch the Today Show and wonder:  what happened to the truth?

I know it’s been a downhill slide but it’s really gotten worse the past few years.  I try to be an educated person and know what is going on in our country and our world.  My biggest scare is what is happening to the truth.   How can I believe anything anymore?

So today’s Advent word is truth.

When I think about great people from Jesus to Martin Luther King Jr. I think about how they spoke about truth…

 

“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”  Proverbs 12:22.

” You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  Exodus 20:16.

”Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 14:6.

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”   Mark Twain

”In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”  George Orwell

”Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”  Thoreau

”I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”   Martin Luther King Jr.

 

i was raised to be honest.  I have never been able to tell a lie and not feel extremely guilty about it.  It will gnaw at me.  I just can’t live with myself if I lie.   And, I can’t imagine trying to keep track of what I say if it’s not the truth.    Twisting stories, saying an untruth in a believeable manner, making stuff up.  How tiring.  How impossible to keep it all straight.  It’s a circling hole.

It is freeing to live in the truth.  Don’t get me wrong…  Telling the truth is not always easy (and yes there are times when staying quiet is probably easier), but in the long run it is always the best thing to do.

So…    what has happened in our world?  I guess I’m talking about our politics.  Wait – Not just politics.  It’s about telling the truth, and finding the truth within our leadership.   It scares me because our president is a habitual liar and gets away with it all the time.  He says whatever he wants and people believe him.   Even when others call him out there are still those who think he is being honest.   The media gets caught up in it. They tell ‘real news’ but with an angle (is that a lie?) But, still,  I truly believe they are not ‘fake news’ as our president loves to say to disqualify them and to push his followers away from the truth.   Our president has done it enough to make it work.   Sometimes I think how can he be so devious?    If only he used the time that he uses to lie to do good things?

Question: do you believe that teaching children about honesty is really important?  Do you see how confusing this world is to them?    They see how liars get away with it. They see adults dividing over lies.   How sad to this next generation.    How scary to us all that this is the future.

So, I get pretty worried about where we  go from here.     How do we get back to finding honesty – and calling it undeniably the truth?

As I prepare for Advent, I think about how some people don’t believe that God is real.  Even though God gave us Jesus to be ‘the truth’ and the way and the light.   People do not believe.   Christians DO though – and they celebrate the baby Jesus’s birth on Christmas Day.   Jesus told the truth. He knew the truth.  He WAS the truth.

We can’t ever lose sight that truth exists.

 

My preparation to Christmas continues.   This morning I made good use of this unbelievably warm and sunny day we are having, and I put some lights out on our trees by the road.  I am anxious to see how it looks tonight, after dark, when I return from band rehearsal.

The rehearsal is my last one before next Tuesday’s Pawleys Island Community  Concert Band Holiday concert at 7:00pm, at the Pawleys Island  Church.  Consider this a bit of a PSA: come on out if you are a local and enjoy the music of the season!   It’s free.   I have missed a couple of rehearsals and performances due to the bad cold that kept me down for over a week.   So, I’m ready now to get back to it – and enjoy the music.

My word today is:  music.

I love music.  Many many kinds.  You all know I love country music.  But, I love classical, some rap, some old school rock, big band, and soft jazz.   Music makes my world go round.   I know I pay attention to it a lot more than some people.  I enjoy and pride myself about knowing artist names, and who played with them (I love knowing ‘the band’, and why a song was written… and that combo of music and lyric  that hits me is just an awesome thing.)

Christmas music helps prepare for Christmas Day.   I love hearing the standards. I love the occasional new songs too… especially from  my favorite artists.  I do not listen to Christmas music before Advent.  I’m a purist that way.  I like to have it enhance the days leading up to Christmas.  And, really, what would Christmas Eve be without “Silent night” and “Joy to the World”?

So, as I go day by day through December, I prepare myself with the special music.

Do you have a favorite holiday song?   Do you make the music a part of your Advent?

The days are moving along quickly.  So quickly in fact that yesterday I didn’t have time for picking a word and writing a bit about it here.   So, today, I will pick two words in an attempt to catch up.  I guess it’s appropriate that I was busy yesterday – because as I have been writing so far this month,  ‘tis the season’ to be busy, and the time to plan, to have patience, and try not to panic (my #1 day word!)

So, the two words now are :  ‘feeling’ and ‘sharing’ because both yesterday and today I have started to get the Christmas spirit going within me.   After being sick and now finally feeling better I have been able to get out and DO some holiday events.    Besides going to church worship yesterday morning, later in the day hubby and I particpated in our church’s annual Live Nativity.    We portrayed Mary and Jesus, which is an honor but also kinda funny because those two were teenagers back when Mary gave birth to Jesus.   But we did our best to pull it off! Ha.

Then this morning I donned the Mary costume again, and along with a few others from church, we re-created the Nativity scene for the preschoolers that attend our church school.   About 70 little children in the program, and they came to see up to see us in 3 groups.   At first the kids were quiet and just looked, wide eyed, and their teachers reminded them of the Christmas story.  Then they got to come in a little  closer to us, and as each group stood around the Nativity scene, they sang “Away in the Manger” together – followed by “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.   It was SO adorable!!

After finishing up there, I helped load up some cars & trucks full of wrapped Christmas gifts from the church Angel tree.  I drove my hubby’s truck and had three new bicycles in the back to be delivered.   We took about half of the gifts to the Department of Social Services in Georgetown, and the other went to the city police department to be handed out to children.   They will all get gifts from church members who took names, but also each one will get a gift wrapped quilt or blanket from our church quilting group.

It definitely was a good feeling to give this morning.  I was happy to share the Good News to the little ones at the preschool, and to share the bounty of gifts to those in our town who might not receive anything without the ‘angels’ help.

I always think Christmas starts too early each year.   So, I try my best to hold off right after Thanksgiving, and I like to build towards December 25th.  I want the special ‘feeling’ to arrive at the right time.  Does that make sense?   I want the joy of the lights, and the songs, and the giving, and the sharing to… mark the day.

Yesterday and today, I am feeling – and sharing –  the wonders of Christmas.  2 candles have been lit.  We are lighting our way to the Christ child.      We are on our way.

What a difference a day can make.    Today’s word is: hope.

I just returned from a funeral.   So, hmmmm. I say my word is hope? What?

At first you would think I’d be all sad and worn out from it.   The funeral was at my church for the husband of a very good friend of mine. It was attended by her large, beautiful extended family, and by many friends, and fellow church members.  Our church was full. Extra chairs were brought in to accommodate everyone.   We sang hymns, heard scripture read, listened to a message, and took communion together.

I say there is nothing like a good funeral to remind a person about how to live now, about how to make moments count, about how to put your hope in God’s assurance.  He will not leave you. He will not forget you.  He offers everlasting life.   And, even  tho we  don’t know until we die what it really all means and what He has in mind for us in heaven, it doesn’t matter.  Because, we know it will be good.   In fact, great.   At the end of the funeral service this morning the congregation said together ‘we commend your servant.  Here is a sheep of your own fold, a sinner of your redeeming.’    We say it because we know he is not here anymore, but he is there with God.   Here is an important person to all of us.  Take care of him.

That’s a pretty comforting thing.

How do I connect this to Advent?          Hope.    We prepare during Advent for Christm, and we wait to hear the story again of the birth of baby Jesus.  We look to the son, born, lived and died – and then rose and lived again.    Conquering death.    It all starts with a birth at Christmas – and leads to re-birth and eternal life at Easter.

So…       Funerals remind me about life after death, and they give me hope, probably more than any other kind of church service.

Today’s word is – pause.

I just need to today.

Maybe you do too.    It’s good for the soul.

See you back here tomorrow.

Today is December 5th.   This first week of December has always been a tough week for my family.  We have experienced death and funerals during it.   So, my word today is:  Memories.

I don’t know what it is about the days after Thanksgiving, and the ones going towards Christmas, but it seems that there are life & death events that happen during them. My mother and my sister’s husband both passed during this time period.    Maybe it’s just more obvious during the holiday time that pain, hurt, and a lot of sadness happen – even in the time of expectation and joy.

So, I prefer to think of the happy memories that stay in my head.  I remember when I was a kid and I remember our own family’s customs at Thanksgiving and Christmas.   We had some good ones.  Since I’m a pastor’s kid many of my memories have to do with being around the church.   I remember being in the children’s choir. (Carrying electric candles when the grown ups got real ones).   Our procession and singing “Oh come oh come Emmanuel.”  I remember participating in Christmas plays.   I remember waiting between Christmas Eve services to open that one present we were allowed to open at that time.  Dad was very ‘busy’ that night but he came home to watch us open it.   And then VERY late, after the 11:00pm candlelight service, relaxing and opening up the other gifts.  We were a Christmas Eve family.   Christmas Day was about driving to my Grandma and Grandpa’s home a few hours away and seeing them, aunts & uncles, and cousins.

I have memories of food at Christmas:  the Milheim sugar cookies and my mother’s cheesecake with cherries spooned on top. I remember my Grandma’s noodles ladled over mash potatoes!   Yes!   Carb over carb.  I guess it goes back to the days of stretching out pennies and feeding lots of people.  It was yummy!!    It was all made from scratch.

I remember matching Christmas dresses.  Handmade by my mother.   Always wearing white tights under them.

Memories are forever.   Even now, this year, new memories will be made.  As a grandmother (Mimi !!)  now I know how important making them is,  and I relish the time with my grandsons to be a part of theirs.    My hubby, daughters, and I have made some wonderful memories each year – morning gift opening, bloody Mary’s (it seems appropriate – ha!), staying in pj’s for hours, playing games.

People may go in and out of our lives but the wonderful memories stay.  During Advent we have time to prepare for the occasion coming, to focus on what will make the unforgettable memories.    Will it be church?   And the food?  The special traditions?

What special memories do you have?