care to "read my mind"?

Good early morning on this, the first day of December.  It's 4:38 as I begin this post. Peace and quiet. I crave it sometimes...enough that I'm willing to get up at 4AM to enjoy some of it!  


I'm sitting in the same rocker my mom rocked me in as a child - with a quilt I made with my own two hands...(so prouda that!)  about as close to the fire as I can get - a cuppa pumpkin spice coffee and my Bible within reach and lotsa random (key word here)  thoughts lining up for their turn to be presented here in black and white. 


1.  I feel like people are trying too hard to make it feel like Christmas. I prefer to let it happen more naturally. Hard to explain. I love God's decorations best of all  - as opposed to giant blowup ones (ugh!).  I much prefer snowflakes - especially as I consider that each and every one is unique. And icicles. Stars that glisten like diamonds on a cold clear night. Evergreen trees laden with snow - and the joy of spying a cardinal in the branches of one.  I love too how God adds to His decor little by little. Continually changing things up and keeping things interesting. Placing new decorations in places where sometimes you hafta search a bit to find them and others that "pop" like pleasant surprises He wants to be sure you find - ones He simply won't let you miss.  - and so ... that is how we'll decorate our tree this year. Gradually.


2. Funny thing. Once I have gifts bought for people I love, then is when I can hardly wait for Christmas to  arrive! Last night, after doing some shopping for our girls and with my husband who met me on his way home from work - well - sure enough - that did it!  The Christmas spirit began to burn more brightly within! Now - as long as I can keep it from burning a hole in my pocket we'll be good ;)  Anyhow -  I wonder if that's how God felt - if He could hardly wait for the precise moment - the moment when eternity intersected time and the time was finally right to present the world with the best gift ever?! 


3. Playmaker recently made a book for her boyfriend -  in honor of his 18th birthday. She sent a questionnaire to eighteen people (friends, relatives, past Sunday school teachers, Pastor...). Among the things she asked were  "What is something you admire about "D"? - and If you could go back to when you were 18, what would you do differently? - and What do you know now that you wish you knew then?  She asked for Scripture verses, practical wisdom, spiritual wisdom, etc. ... and for pictures and for memories too.  Not everyone responded  - but - in the end she creatively collected much of what was given to her and some of what she already had and crafted that into a precious gift. One that keeps on giving ... as we just received a response in the mail as late as yesterday ;)


4.  Tonight I'm having friends over for a Christmas Tea, book discussion & ornament exchange. And I've invited some ladies over for Coffee, Crafts & a touch of Christmas tomorrow. I envision it to be much like an old fashioned quilting bee - except I invited them to bring any project they're working on ... knitting, scrapbooking, sewing... whatever. I figure we'll take a break at noon and I asked guests to bring a sack lunch for that. I'm looking so forward to both of these informal times of fellowship, food and fun.


5.  Yesterday I attempted to summarize the ABC's of our 2011 and was surprised how easy it was to do simply by reading my blog in "rewind" mode.  I'm a bit stuck on a few letters - but just a few.  If we follow through with going to Zoolights to end our year long 25th Anniversary celebration, then I'll even have something for the letter "Z"! :) 


6.  Did you know that Matthew's record of the geneology of Jesus includes five women? Tamar - a widow who played the role of a prostitute in order to have children after her husband died, Rahab - a prostitute and a foreigner, Ruth - a widow and a foreigner, Bathsheba who may have been a foreigner was an adulterous (or victim of rape?) at the hands of King David and whose husband David had killed when he learned Bathsheba was pregnant with his child, and Mary - a peasant girl from Nazareth...a place where in John 1:46, Nathaniel asked, when told that Jesus was from Nazarath, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  - via (my summary).  If you'd like more info/insight on these five women you can either read your Bible - or Francine Rivers has written a fascinating book called A Lineage of Grace.  


7.  Last night Playmaker and her boyfriend went into Boston to see  Peter Pan.  Sounds like she had a fabulous time!  I'm anxious for her to wake up and tell me more about it.  I gather the 360 degree theater was actually a tent near City Hall in Government Center.


Wow - this got pretty long - and there's more I want to share ... it seems perhaps, though not for certain, we've discovered a breakthrough after all these years as to what triggers/may contribute significantly to Playmaker's mysterious, intermittent and sometimes painful symptoms - and there are sermon notes from Sunday that I've been pondering ... but that's gonna have to wait. Strike is getting ready for school and I need to get ready to take her there.  Assuming you're still with me here...well - I'll give you a break from "reading my mind" for now - but - stay tuned for further details :)