Do you see it?

This Christmastide will soon be past. I know I will need to move into all the New Year will bring, but for now I’m still simply enjoying the season for what it is. Though it’s not the official festival the English celebrate, I love this week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s the wind- down time I need. After all, I’ve been in a holiday state-of-mind since Thanksgiving! Actually it starts early October with my love for pumpkins and fall color. It’s a beautiful build-up to Thanksgiving that naturally leads into a month-long celebration of Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas. What more beautiful way to end the year?

Then again, all the seasons have a certain inspiring appeal for me and I enjoy living where they can all be experienced; the freshness and green of spring, the sultry nights of summer and its soft pastels, the invigorating chill and color of fall, and winter with its snowy days to cozy up to the fire with a good book and hazelnut coffee. I don’t know that I noticed as much when I was younger. But there were places even then that brought a “wow” feeling that I knew I didn’t want to lose or forget and hoped I’d experience again. The ocean was always like this for me. The sensations, the sounds…I could sit on the beach at dusk or early morning and know that regardless of how crazy life around me was, God was near. It still does this for me. I sensed it also on a mountain path overlook, or on the bank of a country stream hearing the water trickle over the rocks. And the differing seasons just enhanced the experiences.

As my relationship with my Creator has grown over the years, so has my appreciation for His handiwork. It awes me, everything from snow on red berry bushes to a spectacular sunset over the sound. I must admit there are still annoyances and inconveniences…like being snowed in with no power for days in the winter, mosquitoes, or high humidity in the summer that makes it difficult to breathe. But as my appreciation has grown, so has my ability to check myself if the annoyances or inconveniences try to gain the upper hand. There’s just too much beauty all around to waste it with apathy. Shortly after moving to West Virginia I would find myself admiring the mountains as they came into view as I drove down the one stretch of road between town and home. I wondered if people that lived here all their lives tired of them, or got to the point where they weren’t noticed anymore. Well, we’ve lived here sixteen years now and I haven’t tired of them. And we continue to seek out places we haven’t explored along with enjoying those familiar places we’ve come to love.

Sound like a commercial for Travel West Virginia? No, just random rambling. Blame it on the reflective and contemplative impact of the season. I embrace that, I don’t avoid it. There’s such a connection between what I choose to see in my surroundings and what I feel and think. I’ve tried to pass that on to my children, and now my grandchildren, to see the beauty and the blessings in everything. God has expressed Himself so magnificently in His Creation in both goodness and beauty.

I don’t want to miss out by not noticing.

Thinking about Red Velvet Cake

This time of year really brings out the “Betty Crocker” in some people. I envy them, every once in a while. Most of the time I just enjoy the fact that God has gifted some at least, with a baker’s thumb.
If you’re like me, there’s a special dessert or two that comes quickly to mind when you think of Christmas. It’s that mouth-watering something that just adds to the celebratory feeling in the air. It’s that one thing you look forward to, and you’re just sure that Christmas wouldn’t be the same without it. For me that special dessert was Grandma’s Red Velvet Cake. A great deal of time and expense went into this cake. And it was so worth it. It was the perfect Christmas cake with its festive deep red color frosted in that rich cream cheese and walnut icing. We called it Jesus’ birthday cake.

When I married and moved hundreds of miles away from home, being with extended family for Christmas was not always possible. Red Velvet Cake was one of the traditions I wanted to carry on with my own family. It wouldn’t be Grandma’s, but I wanted to try, so I had her send me her recipe. Looking over the ingredients, it was like no boxed mix I’d ever used. Who puts vinegar in a cake? Grandma added a note that puzzled me, but otherwise it didn’t appear to be too complicated. The note said something about how to mix the baking soda and the vinegar. What difference would it make?

Flour, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, eggs, oil, milk…I started tossing everything in the large mixing bowl, thinking to myself that it really shouldn’t matter what order I added them. After all, it would all be mixed together in the end. Then the phone rang. I was just seconds into the phone call when one of my boys started tugging at my leg, another began yelling, “Mom, the cake, it’s exploding!”

I glanced around and sure enough, my cake was bubbling up and out of the bowl and was pouring all over the counter! What a mess! I quickly ended my call and then phoned my grandmother. When I explained to her what was happening, she laughed then replied, “You didn’t follow the directions did you?” That was an understatement. I hadn’t made a cake, I had made a volcano! That was many Christmases ago, but some things you don’t forget. An exploding cake is one of them! And thanks to Grandma, I learned an important lesson about recipes. Directions do matter. If a certain end result is expected, then I can’t just randomly throw a few ingredients together and hope for the best.

There are many that take the same haphazard approach to life that I used with that recipe. Life can become one jumbled chaotic mess when every day is just a struggle to survive the stress. Whether it’s parenting, or plans for the holidays, the mayhem that often results from “just winging it” is exhausting. Some even approach worship this way, as if God is expected to accept whatever is thrown His way; a little prayer here, a little Bible reading there, church when we can squeeze it in, and we’ve done God a favor! We play by our own rules, disregarding the Word (the directions if you will) when the situation seems to demand it, then wonder why life blows up in our face…like exploding cake batter! Life can be busy and demanding, kind of crazy sometimes. But busyness is not bedlam when God is ordering our days (Psalms 37:23).

I learned how to make Red Velvet Cake the right way, by following Grandma’s recipe as it was written.
Funny, but every time I follow the instructions…I get the same result…success! God is faithful, and His Word can be trusted. When His instructions are followed, the results are the same…we’re blessed and He is honored. Keep thinking that just any old way will do. Keep making choices and decisions with no serious thought about the directions those choices are taking you. Keep parenting just hoping they turn out ok in the end. You may end up with a bigger mess than you bargained for.

Blown up any cakes lately?? Merry Christmas!

It was just another day.

How is it that one day can be so full? Ups and downs, ins and outs, highs and lows, joys on one hand, stresses on the other! Because that’s what makes life what it is I suppose; moments that become hours, hours that are full, with joy one minute and stresses the next; they delight one minute, and demand and drain the next, only to end up one long day.

I love days like today when I talk to all our sons. Even though we talk to each of them often, it has been a while since I talked to all of them in the same day. I had thoughts of our grandson Gabriel Ethan today. It was his 4th birthday. He had a joke to tell Poppy when we talked to him. I had thoughts of our newest grandchildren…praying for Emma, wanting to see Josie, wondering how Dan, Steph and the kids were doing now that they were home from the hospital with Lily. And then finding that Becca is having contractions and really feeling like it may not be too much longer before Ellie makes her appearance! Then Elisha calls, and though he’s talking a mile a minute I manage to catch a few words about opening his present, and winning his game, and I know they received their Christmas package. I hear my message ringtone and pick up my phone to see a picture of Ephraim with his Christmas present. Across the miles, over the phone, snatches of pure delight filled some of this day’s moments.

The activities of the day filled the rest, from routine chores to Christmas play practice. And now that the house is quiet, the activities are over, and it’s time to be able to rest, well, I’m awake with a busy mind and tired body! That’s how it goes some evenings. Letting the end catch up with the beginning I guess.

Jesus said He is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last (Rev. 1:8,11), and I am so glad. Because there are often moments in the day when I don’t know the end from the beginning, or which end is up! But to know Him is enough. Whether the moment is bringing delight or I’m thinking the demons of hell must have been loosed, Jesus is enough. I just have to grab a moment, and in my mind step into a quiet place, breathe deeply, and remember…He is enough. It’s in that moment my mind and strength is renewed and I move forward not necessarily knowing how the day will end but confident that He has already gone before me. And moment by moment, hour by hour, days like this one are becoming a wonderful lifetime.

“ And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, [being] old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him” Genesis 35:29.

I want my days to be full, and my life full of days.

Reindeer Surprise

Our grandson, Elijah, has been quite fascinated with reindeer this Christmas season. Rudolph was the first Christmas special we watched. His stuffed Rudolph goes everywhere…everywhere! He can spot them a mile away, in a yard, a store window. Every animal from farm cows to jungle cats has imaginatively doubled as reindeer complete with names.

So when Rog made a trip up into the attic to check on the furnace and called down to me, “Hey, there are reindeer up here!” well, Elijah was at the bottom of the ladder in a split second, wide-eyed and waiting. I yelled up, “Sure there are!”

“No, I’m serious, there are reindeer up here! And a sleigh, and…what do you know, a Santa??? I quickly climbed the ladder only to meet the first reindeer face to face as he started to hand it down. Over 12 years we have lived in this house with no knowledge of reindeer in the attic. They obviously had belonged to the previous owners, but had evidently been abandoned or forgotten to the dark, cold attic corner.

Well, they are now in the yard…minus the Santa; he landed a spot on the back deck as a door mat. But the reindeer? They found a spot out front near the spiral lit Christmas trees that very night.

Life is just full of surprises, isn’t it? From our earthly perspective at least . I know God has a sense of humor. He used reindeer in my attic to remind me not to let the grinches and grumpies of this world rob me of His joy and simple pleasures that may be closer than I think.

I have a sneaking suspicion that outside of the grace of God and His joy made available to me I could easily become one of those grinches or grumpies. And I know exactly what “gets my goat”. Selfishness, rudeness, injustices, inconsistencies, arrogance…and I guess I should add being judgmental right? Hey, I look in the mirror often. That’s one reason I’m so easily frustrated. I know what the Word of God is capable of…it has transformed me. And even though many would likely say I’ve a ways to go, I’m not what I used to be, and don’t want to be. I can’t imagine life any other way. But I let God deal with that and continue to draw me closer to Himself. The greater the focus on the person of Christ, the less the fretting over things, situations, people…I cannot change or control. Especially the little things that might appear huge at the moment but really…they’re little in the light of eternity. But it’s not like God is unaware of even the huge things. How fruitless to fret! And I am the one that loses if my joy is sapped.

I’m not the only one who’s learned the power of this truth. Opening a Christmas card today from a dear friend was another welcomed reminder of how very much she taught me about joy years ago. And she’s never let it go. On the front of her card, “Joy” in large red script. Her message, her strength in very dark times, was and continues to be “joy”, joy in Jesus. Joy in Him, not in what He chooses to do or not do for us when we think we can’t go on, but a depth of joy that waits and trusts and prays, for years! It strengthens you to conquer the ups and downs, to accept what comes from His hand, and sees God do awesome things. And there are others…they have chosen joy in Jesus as a reality in their lives in spite of their circumstances, their hurts. They’re an inspiration and have taught me so much.

Sure, choosing joy is going to be challenged every now and then. And there are plenty of heartaches and hurts and headaches to go around. Read the newspaper, go to the mall, go to work! But don’t give up. Keep joy alive. Maybe this Christmas joy can reign, even with the same old ornaments, the same old Christmas music, the same old Christmas routine….Christmas programs, Christmas shopping, the cooking and baking and wrapping and rushing. And yes, the same people, maybe even family. Ask God to open your eyes to see differently. Ask Him to forgive the sins of irritation, frustration, impatience, doubt, anger, arrogance, whatever it might be. Tell him you want the joy. You might have to tell Him often. But you may just find it in a way you’re not expecting.

There may be reindeer in your attic.