Advent - week 1

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
(John 1:1-5)

"The Christian life is the practice of living in what God has done and is doing." (Eugene Peterson)

Advent is the season that looks forward to Christ's birth, the event that brings about the "new creation" of a people redeemed by God. Christmas celebrates Christ's Incarnation and Epiphany his "manifestation" to the whole world.

In looking forward to celebrating Christmas I will post a daily Advent reading.
My prayer is that we all will take the time to slow down our fast pace a bit and
turn our focus to the One we celebrate.

As we begin this I wanted to share an Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen

Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do, seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy, seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking light.
To you, we say, Come Lord Jesus.....
Amen.


Today's Advent reading:
Psalm 122, Isaiah 2v1-5, Matthew 8v5-13

Blessings

Thanks

Good morning, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was really enjoyable. This year was more relaxed for me. I think as the years go by, I am not as anxious about stuff. About the house being perfect, about the decorations being perfect, about anything being perfect. This is not a resignation that it won't be so (which it won't) but a relaxing and an intention of enjoying the process. I think also, it is that I am internalizing the fact that I do not have to be perfect, and I am okay with that. Actually, I am thrilled at the fact. I also did something different this year, I sauteed the sage sausage and onions for the stuffing and other dished the night before. I cooked the sweet potatoes the night before. Just having those few things done in advanced of the morning rush made it so much easier. I am sure there are many that do that, I never had. Wonder why?

I wanted to leave you with a prayer from Walter Brueggemann we prayed before we sat down to enjoy each other and our wonderful scrumptious too much meal.

We are second and you are first

Before our well-being, there was your graciousness,
before our delight, there was your generosity,
before our joy, there was your good will.

We are second and you are first.
You are there initially with your graciousness, your generosity,
your good will -
and we receive from your inscrutable goodness grace upon grace,
gift upon gift, life upon life
because you are there at the beginning,
at all our beginnings.

For a quick glimpse, we move out beyond our competence,
our productivity, our self-sufficiency
in our new freedom what we glimpse is you
outpouring yourself unreservedly in the midst of our hurt
and toward our hopes.
You are there in the splendor of your self-giving.

So we speak our timid, trembling praise back to you,
timid because we are no match for your goodness,
trembling because our praise means turning our life to you,
and we do not turn loose easily.
But we do turn loose to you,
source and goal of our very life.

Our gratitude arises out of the dailiness of our well-being,
of meals regularly before us, of folks regularly caring for us,
of homes regularly warm and safe, of sleep regularly refreshing,
of new days regularly given against the darkness,
of work regularly filling our days with order and dignity.
And in our taken-for-granted regularity,
we discern your abiding and fidelity that holds our worlds
toward well-being.

Our gratitude wells up in the midst of such regularity -
new words spoken, new children born,
new vistas opened, new risks taken,
new words uttered that heal.
We dare confess that in these startling break points,
we glimpse your powerful care
which runs beyond our capacity to manage
and beyond our exhausted capacity to cope.
You...after all our best efforts,
it is you, you who hold and you who break.
And we are grateful. Amen

Walter Brueggemann
Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth

Blessings!

recent journal pages

Just a few recent journal pages. I am trying to not worry too much about how each page turns out. It is wonderful when one is finished and I really like it, but I figure there will be lots I do not. There are always more to create, and though I love the paint, the color, the images, for me it's more about what spills out of me onto the page.

Hope you all are having a good day, try not to stress too much about preparations for tomorrow. I am including me in that!! It can become overwhelming if we let it!!
It does not have to be so.

Blessings

Can't believe it's been a year.

Can I really have been blogging for a year? Funny, it seems much shorter. I think of the old saying, "time seems to go by faster the older we get". In some respects that is true. I wonder if it is because we have more responsibilities, or have fuller lives?? Mine is not only fuller but richer because of blogging. I have met some amazing people that I would not have if I did not blog. It continues to amaze me, the connection, the community, the knitting of hearts of so many and we have not even met face to face.

I want to tell you all how much you have enriched my life, what a blessing you all are to me.

Below is my first post, it still rings true for me. I had no idea when I posted it how much it would.

Hugs!!!


Good morning to you all. I thought I would jump into the world of blogging. I have been wanting to begin one for awhile but unsure of how it would do has keep me from trying, but no more.
I had the hardest time trying to think of a title for my blog. In fact, I began setting this up a few months ago and could not come up with a title that spoke to me. So, I set it aside till I could. I was thinking about what I wanted this to be about. I did not want it to just be about me and my journey, but about yours too. Reaching out to others along the path of life. I am finding as I reach inward, it is causing a desire to reach outward as well. Yesterday during a time of reflection, I felt the nudge to come back to this. A title that resonated with me came to mind. A SPLENDID ADVENTURE Yes, that's it!! For that is what I am on. It may not always be fun, but it is splendid none the less. So off we go, and I am trusting it will lead to even more splendid adventures.

Mountain Weekend

My husband Greg and I spent a lovely weekend in the mountains of North Carolina. We stayed at Snowbird Mountain Lodge, a lovely lodge we have been visiting for many years. Though the peak leaf season had passed, it was still beautiful. The weather was perfect. I love this time of year, something about the colors and the smells just seem to speak to me. Warm sweatshirts, sweaters, fleece, spiced cider, hot chocolate, crisp breezes, soups, stews, good books in front of the fireplace, holidays approaching, and family gatherings.

Nestled In Love

Well, when I set out the paint this the other day, the background became something else. It became the one with all the drips on - you know the pretty one!! :) While working on it I messed it up, so I thought I would just go back to my original idea.
So much for the pretty canvas - but such is the process of painting, sometimes as in life it requires detours. I will do another "spill it" later. Anyway, I am really pleased with how this came out. It is 30X40, and it has more texture than it looks here. I can never get an accurate photo of my work. Oh, you can click on the painting and get a better view of the texture.

When I looked up the word nestled, I also found these - close, snug, cuddle, snuggle, sheltered. Words that should speak of home. That do speak of home in Jesus to me.

Blessings!

Here is a background I am working on

This is a background I am working on. It is turning totally different than I had planned. I began it with the intentions of doing a larger version of the heart and home painting I posted a few days back. So I began by adding color. I added gesso over the top to add another layer. The paint was not totally dry and it blended with the paint giving it a softer look. I just started playing with glazes adding layer after layer and this is what came about. I think I really like it. I am taking Carmen's "Spill It" class and used some of her techniques in this. I am not sure what the finished painting will be, but that's okay. I am going to see just where this takes me.