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...
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.
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.
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!
