Christmas Blessings!

My prayer is that you experience God's richest blessings of worship and fellowship as you celebrate Christ's first advent and anticipate His second!

As you remember the baby who laid on the wood of the manger, recall the man who died on the wood of the cross. He died to pay the penalty for our sins. As surely as the sun rises to shine on the glittering snow, He rose to conquer death and wash us whiter than snow.

And as surely as the sun rises each day, the Son will rise on day with healing in His wings. I will see Him with my own eyes. How my heart longs for that day!

Redundancy

"Devout nun" is redundant.

Stormy Wind

As I sit in front of a bright computer screen, inside a cozy home, the wind howls around this corner of the house and moans in the needles of the fir tree. In the pre-dawn darkness outside my window, the wind roars through the tops of trees like a freight train.

I have never enjoyed a snowstorm so much. For the first time I remember, I could watch the snow fall yesterday and I can listen listen to the wind howl today without worrying about my poor husband trying to drive through drifted roads and deliver mail. He has had the first three days of this week off work for deer season.

This was our fifth season hunting together. I began hunting with him four years ago when he bemoaned his lack of hunting partners. We've had a lot of quality time hunting together, watching the daylight come to the forest and hearing God's creatures skitter and sing in His creation. Yesterday morning, it was beautiful to watch the snow falling in the quiet woods.

On this final morning of the season, the wind is fierce and I have decided that I am finished hunting for this year. I shot a doe the day before yesterday, which then walked within Dave's range and he finished it off. He had harvested one earlier with his bow, from which we canned 50 pints of venison, so we have plenty of meat.

The wind howling around the house reminds me of this biblical imagery:

Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!

I love the Psalmist's assumption that the stormy wind is fulfilling God's word! The blowing wind reminds us that God is omnipotent and omnipresent--all powerful and all present. Like the wind blowing snow into cracks and crevices, God's word and will cannot be hindered. Its power sweeps away all obstacles and bends even the most stiff-necked tree.

Delighting in Deadlines

I used to delight in deadlines. They kept me focused and gave me direction. They made me feel as if I was breathing deeply in crisp mountain air.

Then came 2009.

I had many pressing deadlines. Personal and family concerns weighed heavily on me. I frequently felt unwell with health issues that required many doctor's appointments and tests. About halfway through the year, my work load increased exponentially. My sister with Down syndrome and early onset of Alzheimer's was placed in nursing care.

I did not delight in deadlines. I dreaded deadlines. I could not keep up with deadlines. I felt as if I was being strangled by an iron grip around my neck.

Feeling as if I must catch a breath, I submitted resignations for some responsibilities: church librarian, editor of the newsletter for Classis Central churches, Managing Editor of Mid-America's newsletter: the Messenger (effective next spring). A primary reason for giving up the Messenger was that my daughter expects a baby in April and I hope to care for this grandchild two days per week. I recognized that the number of my deadlines must be greatly reduced before then.

Before Thanksgiving I was able to complete two huge projects. I finished the last of the twenty-five lessons (with Teacher's Tips) in Not My Own: Discovering God's Comfort in the Heidelberg Catechism, which is the fifth-grade volume for the "Life in Christ" catechism curriculum being produced by First URC in Chino, CA. I completed a very rough draft of Matthew Marches On, the third in my series of four juvenile fiction novels about "Matthew in the Middle," using that novel to meet my NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words and becoming a NaNoWriMo winner for the fourth year in a row!

This week I submitted six articles for Christian Renewal, one over 1,000 words and another over 1,500! The next CR deadline is after Christmas. My next deadline for Mid-America is an editorial meeting in January.

Before the end of the year, I want to finish my book on early infant loss for Reformed Fellowship and I want to send a revised manuscript of Matthew Muddles Through to the publisher.

I still face deadlines, but they haven't been this viable for at least six months. I no longer feel as if I'm being strangled. I feel as if there's a tightness in my chest, but I can finally breathe.

I begin again to delight in deadlines.

Gratitude, not Gluttony

My husband and I wish that all the people who mindlessly say "Turkey Day" instead of "Thanksgiving" would change their tune.

Perhaps they haven't thought it through, but calling Thanksgiving "Turkey Day" is just another way of focusing on food rather than on God.

Contrary to modern popular opinion, Thanksgiving isn't about getting together with family and filling one's plate and belly. It's about gathering in worship with your church family and then gathering around the table with your own family to thank God for his countless blessings. It's about our nation setting apart one day to acknowledge and thank God as our Creator and Sustainer, which should be the culmination of each individual's daily attitude of thankful gratitude.

Thanks-giving ought to be hyphenated to emphasize that today is about gratitude, not gluttony.

Birthday Excitement

It was my birthday yesterday. The number shall remain unmentioned. Last year may very well have been the last birthday on which I openly acknowledge my age. If that old adage about being only as old as you feel is true, there are frequently days that I feel about 86! I'm still a few decades younger than that, but it really isn't necessary to broadcast my age.

It was quite a birthday! It began sweetly, and then things jumped into hyperdrive with a very literal bang.

I came into my office early in the morning as usual and discovered, directly beside my monitor, a beautiful bouquet of beautiful cut flowers in fall colors. A "Happy Birthday" balloon was anchored to the vase with orange ribbon. I turned on my computer and put my hands above the keyboard. Lying on the keyboard was a large white envelope containing a very meaningful birthday card from my husband.

Now if this all seems like he was being a little less than subtle, I must admit that when he left a plant and card in my office for an anniversary gift, it took me quite a while to discover it even though it was on my desk and directly on the right side of my chair. Apparently I am quite forwardly focused in the morning (or perhaps half asleep). In any case, this year he took no chances and made sure I would find his gifts first thing.

Later he brought in a cup of hot tea for me. Yes, he is a wonderful husband!

I had planned to meet my friend, Angela, for a day of power-writing in our NaNoWriMo novels, so I hopped into the shower earlier than usual. When I got out, I heard something.

"Was that thunder?" I thought. "I'd better unplug my computer," which I immediately did.

I was drying my hair when suddenly, there was a terrific crash and flash! One of the lights in the bathroom popped off and the hair dryer smelled like it was burning. "That was close!" I thought. I decided my hair was dry enough.

I took Libby outside for her first potty break of the day and looked at the roof of the house. I didn't see any damage. When I came back inside, I looked out the deck door, which is off the dining area next to the bathroom. I saw the tree.

One of the cottonwoods in our backyard had been struck by lightning! I saw white gashes, strips of bark hanging down, and pieces of wood littering the ground.

I went out and took pictures. A piece of white wood is hanging from the branches of the tree on the left.

The longer chunks of wood on the ground are five or six feet long.

The bark on the trunk was shredded.

Running from the top to the bottom of the tree was a large white gash where the bark had been cleanly stripped off.

When I examined the ground beside the tree, I saw what looked like trenches in the dirt running out from the base of the trunk.

It was amazing to witness first hand the power of lightning and realize that is only a small evidence of the incredible power of God.

When I finally made it to town, I was waiting to cross the street until an oncoming car passed by. Who should be driving the car, but my daughter, Ariel! What a pleasant surprise! She gave me a ride to the coffee shop and met Angela for the first time.

Angela and I had a wonderfully productive day, each of us writing about 7,000 words! In fact, I was able to reach over 50,000 words, attaining the NaNoWriMo goal! I was so engrossed in writing an exciting tornado scene that I didn't even realize my word count until Angela asked me to check. It was great to reach that goal with my NaNoWriMo writing buddy!

Dave treated us to dinner at the new Applebee's in Pella. What a wonderful way to celebrate a great--and at times very exciting--birthday!

Pileated Woodpecker

Three and a half years ago, on May 30, 2006, Dave and I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on a tree in our backyard. I ran to get my camera, but it flew away just as I held it up to take a picture.

Today we saw one again. And this time I got pictures!

This is only the second time we've ever seen this type of woodpecker. My Golden Books Guide to Field Identification; Birds of North America says about the Pileated Woodpecker: "Uncommon; a wary bird of extensive deciduous or mixed forests."