Friday Favorites, Episode 01

Here are things that are giving me joy or making my life easier these days. I doubt this will be a weekly series, but let it begin.

- 'Queen Elizabeth' tea rose -

- 'Fragrant Cloud' tea rose -

That photo and those names are explanation enough.

- rocks and brick fragment collected on our recent family vacation -

Rocks are the best souvenirs, in my opinion. 

- drTung's Smart Floss -

If you want to know what it is to have clean teeth, use this floss. (I buy mine from Thrive Market. Use this link to become a member and get 40% off your first order.)

 

Merry Christmas!

"It will be said on that day,

'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.'"

- Isaiah 25:9 -

Happy Package

What do you do when your aunt is recovering from an accident? Send her a letter, tea, and one of your small watercolor sketches, of course! I have learned this skill (that I don't put into action nearly enough, no doubt) of a happy package or note in a hard time by being on the receiving end many a time. Thank you for your care, friends and relatives!

Fake Christmas

Our full family Christmas celebration was postponed a week due to a newborn and a snowstorm (both very welcome interruptions). These two little ones made it a time of cuddles and play.

Christmas Day 2021

"I will exult You; I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure."

- Isaiah 25:1-2 -

The Lamb

"For the Lamb... will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water” (Revelations 7:17).

The Shepherd, yet the Lamb.
God, yet a Baby.
The Judge of our sin, yet the substitute for our punishment.
Astounding!

Merry Christmas!

Remembering Thanksgiving

Pumpkin pie

Family

A little tractor lover

"All good gifts around us
Are sent from heav'n above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord
For all His love."
- Matthias Claudius, trans. Jane M. Campbell -

Hidden Treasure

Dad's pulling out the broken dishwasher to troubleshoot revealed some long lost and very dirty treasures including this bakery schedule from January 29, 2009. This day was obviously off season. (So short and simple!) A recipe development day is my guess.

Joy

Lest I think the power of joy comes from within, the day of trial comes that I may learn that joy and every other good thing comes from above.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness... Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

- James 1:2, 3, 16, 17 -

Attractive, Comfortable Clothes

While not a panacea for all of life's woes, attractive, comfortable clothes can be an extraordinary balm on an ill day, raising my heart in gratitude to my Beautiful Savior.

Hannah's Birthday Celebrations

I love birthdays. Showing the special one how special they really are. Breaking out the beautiful dishes. Cake. Specially selected gifts. A clean and festive house.

Equal in my affection for birthdays is the day after when we take a little extra rest, enjoy the gifts (watercolor supplies for Hannah this year), and have a night off from cooking while we eat a most delicious birthday-meal-round-two complete with cake, ice cream, and of course, quality black tea.

Happy Birthday, dear sister!

"...we return glory, honor, and praise, with all thankfulness..."

Thanksgiving looks different this year for many of us. For my family chronic illness continues to wage war in our bodies making for a very low key, small celebration. Yet our hearts are grateful.

As I glance over the history of the first four years at Plymouth, my trials seem small in comparison. I am not starving. I have not lost half my family members to illness. I do not face danger on every side. My clothes are not in rags. If they could praise God for His faithfulness, I most certainly can!

"...having these many signs of God's favor and acceptance, we thought it would be a great ingratitude if secretly we should content ourselves with private thanksgiving for that which by private prayer could not obtain [referring to a day of fasting and prayer for the necessary rain in a time of serious drought that the Pilgrims' crops needed to prevent complete starvation,  summer of 1623]. And therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed for that end; wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise, with all thankfulness to our God who dealt so graciously with us."

- Edward Winslow -

A Blessed Thanksgiving to you!

P.S. I did not plan ahead with a photo for today, so here is one from my gallery archives. First brush drawing, April 2020.

One Year Old

Mom's Birthday Gift

We celebrated Mom's birthday over two days this year. On her real birthday we four prairie dwellers celebrated in quiet ways while Dad recovered from a bug. A couple days later the lakes area family joined us for a party made lively by a nearly one year old. This was Mom's first year to hold a grandchild at her birthday party. She waited a long time for that gift, yet he was worth the patient wait.

There are many more promised gifts for which she and we wait, knowing that the One who promised is faithful.

"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

- Lamentations 3:25-26 -

New Proverb

There ought to be a proverb about a tulip planted in autumn bringing joy in the spring.

Christmas to Easter

Christmas 2019

Easter 2020

Do you see the changes I made to turn my dresser decor from Christmas to Easter? If you didn't look closely, you probably missed it. So with Jesus. There are always distractions that can make us miss Him. At the time of Jesus' birth when there was no room for His birth but in a poor stable, the distraction was a census. At the time of Jeus death and resurrection when the mob called for His death and the leaders attempted  to cover up the miracle of His rising, the distraction was political upheaval. Today the distraction is a virus. Let's not miss our Savior today or any day.

"Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

    and rivers in the desert."

- Isaiah 43:19 -

He is Risen!

My Presence Will Go With You

"And He said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' And he said to Him, 'If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here...' And the Lord said to Moses, 'This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name'" (Exodus 33:14, 15, 17).

Six year ago today I stepped from life serving God with all my might in a body struggling with an unknown illness into the life of a weak and needy invalid. The days before this abrupt change, God mercifully prepared my heart and gave me joy in acceptance. As the time came to fully let go of my previous life and the reality of this life change sunk in, a plea similar to what Moses expressed went up from my heart. I was nearly unconscious, literally fighting for my life, yet this was my hearts cry, "God, if you won't go with me, don't let me live." I distinctly remember resonating with the words of a song playing over our van speakers, "...before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free."* Rather than lose intimacy with my Father (and be a slave to this world and sin) I would rather die and be with Him forever. This was no morbid thought of longing for death. No, I was ready more than ever to serve God with my whole life here on earth. But as all was stripped away, I realized with clarity how essential God's presence was for my very existence. In the hours of facing the frightening valley of the shadow of death, all I wanted was closeness to God. And He gave it to me. "My presence will go with you." I knew I did not deserve it, but because of Jesus, He was near me.

*"O Freedom" sung by Chris Rice, "Peace Like a River: The Hymns Project"

Birthday Roses

For as long as I remember, Mom and we girls have received a rose bouquet from Dad for our birthdays. My earliest memories of this tradition include a single rose and baby's breath from a local florist bought on the nearest date Dad had errands in town. Then came Sam's Club and Costco and their packs of two dozen roses. At first we girls often shared a bouquet at some time throughout the year, but recently Dad has been spoiling us with large bouquets of our own. Since these stores aren't a part of our weekly or even monthly routine, we sometimes don't receive our roses for a few months. This year brought  Dad to Costco on December 18, one day after my birthday. More than a week later I was still soaking up the beauty of these fading blooms and the fatherly love they represent. 

Christmas Morning

Christmas Highlights

Many moments of pondering the wonder of God with us, my Savior. 

Semi-nightly advent readings with family.

Cleaning the two main floors of our house together as a family - the first we've been strong enough to do that in years. (Not easy, and definitely with consequences to our health, but so thrilling after years on the couch. Having a house cleaner than it has been in years was also a thrill to my homemaker soul.)

Twenty-four hours as a family of seven under one roof.

Beautiful, songs of praise at our Christmas Eve church service, including a trumpet/piano duet by Dad and Hannah and a solo sung by Jason. (Hannah and I attended the service despite our chemical sensitivities.)

Aunt time.

Knitting while listening to old Adventures in Odyssey Christmas stories.