Sunset to sunrise

The sun sets to end a year

Tonight we gather 

to laugh, weep, pray 

and rejoice in all that He has done

In the morning the sun will rise

the dawn of another year

May we live each new moment

to bring glory to His name

 

Come in trust

When I get really afraid

I come to you in trust.

I’m proud to praise God;

fearless now, I trust in God.

What can mere mortals do?

Psalm 56:3-4 The Message

 

Laura Rath is kindly hosting the Sunday Chorus this week

 

No wasted words

Turn an ear

to listen, hear

so much is missed

in the rush of noise

May none of His words

fall wasted

 

In the quiet with Sandy

 

The Novelist by L. L. Barkat

I am a writer of prose

a writer of poetry
a vendor of words
spender of words
I devour words
and spit them out
at times both appropriate and inappropriate

I read this new work by L. L. Barkat with a deep knowing growling in my heart and stomach.
Anyone who has chased ideas that seem to slip through fingers, open or closed, must dive into these pages.

A drinker of coffee who dabbles lightly in tea, I found the references to tea surprisingly pleasant, the names like poetry tripping through my mind.

As Laura wrote her novel, so too did L.L. and I for one am grateful for the effort and result.


 

Light

In a quiet moment with the Lord this morning, He spoke words of victory

Love prevails.

Release light and I Am able to work through you.

Allow your heart to remain soft.

Do not permit the spirit of Jonah to take root.

Trust not your own emotions or understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Me

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

    he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

Proverbs 3:5-6 The Message

 

Christmas night

How silently, how silently,

the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hears

the blessings of his heaven.

I pray that the wonder and peace of Christmas 

blossoms and prospers 

in your hearts and spirits

tonight and in all the days to come.  

The glitter and lights, 

wrappings and ribbons 

soon fade away 

but His love endures forever.

 

A Christmas offer

"Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”

    This is God’s Message:

“If your sins are blood-red,

    they’ll be snow-white.

If they’re red like crimson,

    they’ll be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18 The Message

 

Joining Deidra and the Sunday chorus

 

Prayer song

I needed to drive to town yesterday to share lunch and sweet time with a friend. My usual habit is to play worship music while I travel but for some reason I did not turn it on and began the trip surrounded by quiet.

Almost like prayer, this song came forth

In the stillness of this moment

find Me here

In the silence of this place

I Am here

In the stillness of this moment

in the silence of this place

sit a moment here beside Me

you can look upon My face

With you now and with you always

I Am here

inhaling a holy hush with Sandy

abiding with Cheryl

 

A Light Shining by Glynn Young

It seems I have been away from my life and day to day routines.

First came the mind wrenching month of November and the NaNoWriMo challenge to write 50,000 words. Yes, I met the deadline and the word count, just in time to begin a road trip to visit my mother in the Chicago area.

After more than two weeks away it was a delight to be home.  I would finally have time to get back to doing the things that need to be done around here.  And then...

I dove head first into the pages of Glynn Young's new novel A Light Shining and was swallowed up in the continuing story of Michael Kent and Sarah Hughes who I came to know in his first book Dancing Priest.

I dare not say too much fearing that I would spoil all the twists, turns and surprises that await a hungry reader.

You will find love.  You will find unexpected suspense.  And always you will find that the arm of God is never to short to save.

I do not know if there will be another book in the future that will continue or complete this tale, but I do know that I would surely welcome it.


 

See what shines...

Once again I am struck by the perfect timing of our God and the ways He chooses to confirm His words.

As I sat in the stillness before sunrise, journal in hand, He spoke:

Prepare for My coming

not merely with lights on a tree

but by allowing My light

to thrive in your heart

white hot

that others are warmed

by the intensity of its heat

Let testimonies of My faithfulness

be the ornaments you bear

and may all that glitters

glorify My name

A bit later, I read through my emails to fund this in an advent devotional from Bible Gateway:

We ask you, almighty God, let our souls enjoy this their desire, 

to be enkindled by your Spirit, that being filled as lamps by your divine gift, 

we may shine like burning lights 

before the presence of your Son Christ at his coming; 

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

--The Gelasian Sacramentary

Joining Emily and the broken yet redeemed

 

Frosted

Out of whose womb came the ice? 

And the hoary frost of heaven, 

who has given it birth?

Job 38:29 Amplified

Joining Deidra and the Sunday choir

 

Need for slow...

It seems as if we just left home

and already we have begun our return 

time blurs

like the coloured lights 

we drive by too fast

I am seeking slow

time at His feet

the sweet scent of nothing

 

Here and away

The month  of November

was a time of capturing words.

For a little while I am using my time

to live new words.

I am posting when I can

Moving on...

Music loud

we worship

pray

and talk

road stretching on before us

we don't look back.

 

Christmas poems

It's December, the season of the wonder of Christmas 

I'm happy to share with you that I have two poems published 

in this month's issue of 

The Wordsmith Journal Magazine.

You can read them here Christmas Poems

 

Composed of one thing only

The snow itself is lonely or, 

if you prefer, self-sufficient. 

There is no other time 

when the whole world 

seems composed of one thing 

and one thing only. 

Joseph Wood Krutch 

and in that one thing only

I am yet not alone

I am silent in the secret place

abiding 

let it snow

Quiet in the stillness with Sandy

abiding with Cheryl

 

Juggling sweet

For as long as I can recall

I have juggled words

tossing them high

to watch where they'd land

relishing the sound

savoring the taste

the infinite possibility

of stringing letter after letter

to touch a heart

 

Another November ends...

I have missed you this month.

I have missed me this month.

I chose once again to dive into the madness that is NaNoWriMo.

I sat, I typed, I drank too much coffee.

I kept my schedule free of lunch dates with friends.

I spent many evening hours apart from my beloved husband.

But I have broken the surface victorious with 50,000 new words.

I will take time now to inhale and celebrate.

Here's a tiny little clip I posted on my NaNoWriMo profile:

Linda’s father was a man of few words and what words he did use were harsh and cold. She learned to stay out of his way whenever possible, afraid of the steel freeze of his eyes. It seemed to the young girl that her mother did the same, slipping in and out of rooms like a shadow.

Laughter in the house rarely rang out and only when her father was away, then and only then would Linda catch the faint edges of a smile from her mother. The turn of her father’s key in the front door lock always chased the smiles away.

Linda, her older sister and her little brother walked nervous through their own house, never certain when the eerie stillness would be shattered by the next storm.

It might be the meat on his dinner plate was too well done, or his favourite white shirt was not folded perfectly square, or a toy happened to not get put away before he got home. The air cracked as his voice cut through like a whip, accusing and condemning.

Plates were thrown, glasses smashed and flesh bruised. The children and their mother were given names like labels branded on their hearts. Stupid. Useless. In the way. They were idiots, pains in the ass, good for nothing and failures. Time and again they were reminded that they really were not worth his time.

“I could do so much better than all of you” he would announce. “I should just walk away and start over.”

Linda never told anyone about the small hope she kept burning in her heart that he would live up to his threats and leave. But day followed day, week after week, and the years piled up one after the other.


 

Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot

The back cover of the short novel Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot teases:

Celia Anderson doesn't have a husband on her Christmas wish list. But when a travelling carpenter finds lodging at her boardinghouse, she admits that she might remarry if she found the right man--the kind of man who would bring her roses for Christmas. It would take a miracle, though, to find roses during a harsh Wyoming winter.  But Christmas, after all, is the time for miracles . . .

I found this, my first book by Cabot to be a charming start to my Christmas season.  The characters are well developed and the pacing is quick even if somewhat predictable in outcome.

If you're looking for a bit of Christmas cheer, you will enjoy this winter tale.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.

 

Wait with expectation

Waiting patiently for God 

always includes joyful expectation.  

Without expectation 

our waiting can get bogged down in the present.  

When we wait in expectation 

our whole beings are open to be surprised by joy.

It is this joyful expectation of God's coming 

that offers vitality to our lives. 

The expectation of the fulfilment 

of God's promises to us 

is what allows us to pay full attention 

to the road on which we are walking.

Henri Nouwen

being still with Sandy