It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas...

How are your Christmas preparations going?  

I have a little Christmas display on my hall stand (which is not in the hall), mostly things I've collected over the years, or made; from op shops or gifted to me.  I do like my little battery-operated candle that I found at the op shop this week for $1.  The light actually flickers like a real candlelight.  So pretty :)  

And I've been making shortbread biscuits for our church's Christmas outreach to the community.  We bagged them up last Monday, tied with a pretty ribbon, for our minister Darren to distribute in the town.

and I had to sample a couple just to make sure they were ok :)

This is the recipe we used...

Had another short visit from Natasha as she was in Australia for work.  We had a trip to Shearwater and fish and chips on the beach...

Marnie and Natasha

And dinner at the local Thai restaurant...

Tom, Marnie, Sophie, Denver, Natasha, me

I'm still not happy with the vest I'm knitting.  I think it's the pattern I'm using that I don't like.  But dare I undo it again?!...

I'm putting it away till after Christmas

And working on this crocheted blanket in the meantime...

which I started earlier in the year

Keeping up with my Bible reading in Luke's gospel...

to read the last chapter on Christmas eve

And a little Christmas bedtime reading...

Have a blessed week my friends!

xx

Thoughts to ponder (devotionals)

 From Beside the Still Waters...

Born Again: Read John 3:1-21

"Ye must be born again." - John 3:7

In the summer of 2024, central Ohio had a severe drought.  The grass turned brown and sounded crackly when we walked over it.  After six weeks of temperatures often exceeding 90 degrees, rain finally returned and the grass turned nice and green again.  This serves as a good illustration of the new birth.  Being born again transforms our hearts from being barren and unattractive to being productive and beautiful.  This beauty is not something we can put on ourselves; it must come from a yielded heart, a restored relationship with God, and a willing obedience to His word.

Jesus said that we "must" be born again.  The new birth is not a matter of "take it or leave it."  We cannot neglect it and expect to obtain God's favor on our lives.  As the barren grass responds to the gentle rain, so our hearts must respond to the Spirit's call to be born again.  Consider what is involved in the new birth.

There is a change from living for ourselves and serving our sinful desires to serving only Jesus Christ.  By ourselves we cannot follow Jesus' command to love those who hate us or take advantage of us.  Our human nature dies hard and can be subdued only by Jesus within.  He offers His overcoming power to all who deny the sinful desires of the flesh and wholly follow God.

The new birth will cause us to hate what God hates.  A popular idea today is that we must tolerate and love everyone and everything.  Alternative lifestyles are not just permitted but publicly promoted by leaders in government and even in churches.  But sin is still exceedingly sinful and will come under God's judgement.  As God's born-again children, we dare not allow evil influences to harden our hearts. 

Denver Yoder - Somerset, OH

When a man is truly born again, he is transformed into a distinctly different person.

From Our Daily Bread...

With Us in Our Loneliness: Read Matthew 1:18-25

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5

Henry David Thoreau described a city as a place where many people are "lonesome together."  Those words have the ring of truth.  In my youth, songs like "Mr. Lonely", "Only the Lonely", and "Eleanor Rigby" focused on isolation and loneliness.  In recent years, the pandemic was one of the most isolating seasons the world has known.  And social media can feed that loneliness, giving us connection without relationship.  Perhaps loneliness is the new pandemic.

As Matthew shared the story of the birth of Jesus (1:18-25), he told us, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet [Isaiah]: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')" (vv. 22-23).  Ponder that for a moment.  God with us!

As believers in Jesus, we're never alone.  We've been born again into the family of Christ, a family that spans the globe and the ages.  The apostle Paul said, "You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household" (Ephesians 2:19).  We're loved by the ever-present God, who said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:15).

Whatever you're facing today, your heavenly Father is present with you.  Allow Him to help you as you step into life's uncertainties and challenges.  He's with you.

- Bill Crowder

Thank You, Father, that because of Your abiding presence, I'm never alone.

A devotional (from Our Daily Bread Ministries)...

A Gift Multiplied by Leslie Koh

 Read 1 Peter 7-11

Right after handing Uncle Ming the $100, I started to regret it.  The elderly man who hung around our neighborhood looked poor, so I thought I'd give him a little something.  When I noticed he had several bills in his wallet, I thought, Hey, he's not so poor after all!  Did I just waste my money?

As I was beginning to feel regret, he remarked: "Thank you for this!  Now I can help our estate cleaner support his family.  He earns so little!"

His words put me to shame.  While I was fretting over the prudency of helping him, Uncle Ming - who didn't have much himself - was ready to help others with similar or greater needs.  As the apostle Peter reminds us: "God has given each of [us] a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts."  Ming was showing what it truly meant to take our gifts and "use them well to serve one another" (1 Peter 4:10).

Then it struck me that Uncle Ming's generosity and compassion was also multiplying my gift to him.  Despite my overly pragmatic approach towards giving, God in His grace was enabling me to help others through the elderly man.  Through Uncle Ming, I could help others I didn't even know.  Our loving God provides for those in need, sometimes in amazing, mysterious ways.  May we be His obedient channel of giving out of love (v.8) and trust Him to multiply our gifts. 

Is there someone you can help, even in a small way, today or this week?  What can you do?

Father, help me to be generous and faithful in my giving, for You have given me so much.  And I pray that You will multiply whatever I give out of my heart.

December already?

Where did the year go? 

It's been a slow week as I've had a cold (and migraines), but feeling better now, apart from bouts of coughing.

Managed to get the grass mowed yesterday...

And we are finally getting a reprieve from the horribly strong winds we've had for weeks...   

The garden and especially the roses have taken a battering...

But with the calmer weather we have been getting some lovely sunsets...

I did get Hazel's Christmas blanket finished...

And it got the tick of approval from these four...

I undid the vest I was knitting.  I was using the recommended needle size (4mm), but I decided I wanted a softer more open weave knit...

So I'm now using 5mm needles and am happy with the softer, looser knit...

I read somewhere that as the Gospel of Luke has 24 chapters, if you start the 1st December and read 1 chapter a day, you will be finished for Christmas!  

I'm going to do it.  

Anyone want to join me?

Have a blessed week my friends!

xx

Thanksgiving (a devotional)

 

Thanksgiving - Read Ephesians 5:1-21

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 5:20

The United States government has set aside a day to thank God for the many blessings He has given.  We should be thankful for such a day, but we shouldn't wait until Thanksgiving Day to be thankful.  Every day should be a day of thanksgiving for us.  Even though we suffer afflictions and trials, we can thank God for being with us through these things.  We should be especially thankful if we have been saved through Christ's great work at Calvary and we now belong to the family of God.

Sometimes we find ourselves grumbling and complaining about our lot in life.  Perhaps we are surrounded by troubles.  Many people suffer these things, but we should be thankful even if circumstances would cause us to feel otherwise.  One reason is that we owe thanksgiving to God.  "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving" (Psalm 100:3-4).

Another reason for thanksgiving is our many blessings.  Some of these are natural: food and water, clothing and shelter, health and strength, and our very breath.  Others are spiritual, such as the Word, the church, and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  Most of all, we should thank the Lord for being our Redeemer.

Satan is a master at loading people down with cares and worries, but sincere praise to God will work wonders.  God wants us to put on "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3).  Maybe we should sing "Count Your Blessings" and actually make a list of things we are thankful for.  Jesus wants to be our guest on Thanksgiving Day and Every day.

Benuel Glick - Palmer, MA

He enjoys much who is thankful for little.

In Australia we don't have a holiday or celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  I do think it's a lovely tradition though.

I guess it gives us the option to celebrate it every day :)

xx

Peace ... Be Still ... (two devotionals)

From Beside the Still Waters...

The Gift of Peace - Read: Mark 4:21-41

"He ... rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." - Mark 4:39

When we think about peace, do we form a mental picture of a calm and quiet place far removed from distractions?  We enjoy peaceful settings where we can relax by a stream, listen to water rippling over rocks, see cattle grazing in fields, or observe the quiet grandeur of a mountain.  People may seek peace through sports and vacations or through drugs and alcohol, but then find only a sense of emptiness within when it is all over.

In today's Bible reading, Jesus was sleeping in peace while a storm raged!  Was He unaware of the danger?  No.  But His disciples were terrified and woke Him, saying, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"  The peace that Jesus experienced did not depend on outward circumstances, but on a quiet confidence in His heavenly Father.  Jesus knew that God is sovereign and can control any storm.

We may be in a peaceful setting without really having inner peace.  Or like Christ, we may be in a troubled, storm-like event and still have peace in our hearts.  This is possible only through Jesus, who offers inner peace that depends on a connection with our heavenly Father.  We have true peace of mind because our hearts are filled with God's love and surrounded with God's care and goodness.  Such peace the world can never give.

It is good to enjoy the peace of a quiet, serene place.  But a peaceful place in itself cannot give peace to a troubled, longing heart.  The gift of true peace comes only from Jesus Christ.  "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace" (John 16:33).

Daniel Miller - Abbotsford, WI

No water can swallow the ship where lies 

The Master of ocean and earth and skies;

they all shall sweetly obey My will:

Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

- Mary A Baker

Be Still - Read: Exodus 14:8-31

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10

Today's key verse has a special message from God to each of us.  To be still is to be quiet.  Do we know how to be quiet?  To rest in the Lord?  To trust and yield our lives to Him?  To let His peace calm our fears and worries?  In our busy lives today, it is easy to push God into a corner.  Our wealth and easy life dulls our sense of needing God.  To be still before Him is a spiritual discipline.  It does not happen automatically.

Notice that this verse does not end with "Be still"; it continues with "know that I am God."  Being still is essential for a proper perspective of who we are and who God is in His unspeakable greatness, glory and holiness.  It is to connect with God and know Him personally.  It compels us to call on Him when we feel alone or we face a great need.

Moses told the Israelites, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord."  They were in a desperate situation, with mountains on both sides, the Red Sea ahead, and Pharaoh's army behind.  God has the same message for us in difficult times.  "Stand still.  Fear not.  Trust in Me, and I will deliver you."

The last part of Psalm 46:10 speaks of God's sovereignty: "I will be exalted in the earth."  As we bow to His supreme rule, God will be exalted in our lives.  This place of surrender to Almighty God is a heavenly place in Christ (Ephesians 2:6), a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God.  Let us still our hearts before Him.  Let us allow His presence to calm our fears, quiet the clamor in our lives, and move us to worship our sovereign God.

David Schrock - Rutherford, TN

The quieter we become, the more we can hear. 

Spring?

 I think it may have finally arrived...

We've had some rain today...

So everything is looking very green...

I've been working on Hazel's Christmas blanket, and doing the border rows now...

And I recently went to the Latrobe Truly Tasmanian Craft Fair and bought some lovely hand dyed variegated merino wool...

I found this pattern I've knitted before and made a start

It's coming along nicely...

And I'm also re reading Winter Solstice, a book I enjoyed many years ago

A short devotional I read recently...

Looking for Blessings

Do we take the blessings that the common days bring to us?  Do we extract the honey from every flower that grows by our path?  Do not angels come to us unawares in homely or unattractive disguises, walk with us, talk with us, and then only become known to us when they have flown away - when their places are empty?  Shall we not learn to see the goodness and the beauty in the gifts that God sends to us?  Their very commonness veils their blessedness.  Let us seek for the good in everything.  Then, though we see it not, let us never doubt that it lies hidden in every gift from God to us.  Every moment brings us some benediction.  Even the rough hand of trial holds in its clasp for us some treasure.

(from In Green Pastures by J R Miller)

I hope to be back sooner rather than later :)

Have a blessed week...

xx

God Sees Through the Fog (Devotional)

 From Amish Peace...

God Sees Through the Fog

My future is in your hands - Psalm 31:15

Every year dozens of Amish lose their lives in automobile-and-buggy accidents.  Sometimes the accidents are due to errors on the car driver's part.  Other times weather conditions cause the trouble.  The Amish Cook, Lovina Eicher, writes about her concerns with going to a family member's wedding in the typical dreary month of November.

It turned out to be a warm and beautiful day for a wedding, the wedding of Joe's nephew Emanul.  It was very foggy on our way there.  It always makes me nervous to drive the buggy through the fog.  We had our blinking lights on, but I'm always afraid someone won't see us in time.  I appreciate the covered buggy even more now with cold weather coming on.  the wedding services were held at the bride's neighbors in a big buggy shed.

I get nervous driving in the fog in my car.  I can't imagine the faith it takes to get into a buggy on a foggy day or evening, knowing how difficult it is for a fast-moving car to see a slow moving-buggy and knowing the damage a collision can cause.  Yet if we allow it to, fear will hold us back.  Fear will focus our eyes on the danger around us and remove our eyes from God.

"You have decided the length of our lives," we read in Job 14:5.  "You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer."  Are you able to trust God with all you have, even when fog surrounds you and you can't see into the future?  Even when you aren't sure whether danger is just around the corner?

True faith believes in all times.  It does not give up.  It ventures out and chooses to connect with others and to celebrate, even when there is potential danger in doing so.  Even when you can't see through the fog, God can.  He's able to protect you from danger and keep you safe.  He holds your life in His hands.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for all the times You protect me when I don't even know about it.  You are my shield.  You are a wall around me.

Another Sunday afternoon

I enjoy my Sundays.  I walk to church (if it's not raining) at 9 am to the Anglican church up the road. 

A chat and morning tea after the service.  

Then home in time to watch Songs of Praise on BBC TV.

And a quiet afternoon...

"Life is a long journey, and we will always need the light of His companionship and encouragement every step, every day.  Store up His love and truth daily that Jesus might be to you the light of your world, and you will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.  

May we be collectors of light and bearers of light so that we shine forth today.  May we walk in the light of His counsel as a way of life, as rhythmic as breathing through all the moments of our lives."

Well Lived - Sally Clarkson

Open wide the windows of our spirits,

O, Lord, and fill us full of light;

Open wide the door of our hearts,

That we may receive and entertain Thee

With all our powers of adoration and love.

- Christina Rossetti

Whirlwind Weeks

 Hello friends!

Finally getting back with a blog post.  It's been a busy few weeks.  A visit from Natasha from the US.  Lovely to see her but way too short...

Natasha, me, Marnie

We had terrible weather the whole time she was here (and are still having it: winds, rain,) but we did manage a walk on Pig Island amongst many visits to cafes for coffee and cake :)

The whole family hope to come for a visit next year.

Been working on Hazel's Christmas blanket.  You may have caught a glimpse of it in a previous post...

She likes pink, and bright rainbow colours :)

And I'm in crime mode with my reading.  Ann Cleeves.  I really enjoyed the TV series (Vera and Shetland) but had never read any of her books...

they are good!

And finished this pet blanket for K4C and mailed it on its way to a pet shelter in the south of the state...

I tried to get Freya to pose with it, but she was having none of it.  The bears were happy to oblige though.

My walk early this morning :)

I'll be back...

xx