Imagine!

Browsing Facebook this morning, I can't help but think how many names there are that I'll never know, & friends I'll never meet on this planet. But there is One who knows each one of us intimately, and is at once our best friend and our all-powerful Maker and Ruler. And this person put on the shoes of men and walked in them, to one day exchange places in the heart of His Father with men. Why would He do this? What kind of Diety reaches down to man; and, instead of requiring that we "make the grade," urges us to simply trust in the only One who could really do so, and then forget it. Imagine! A God of Rest! The rod of oppression over our backs has indeed been broken and we who were walking in darkness have indeed seen a great light! (-she writes while weeping.) If you're hurting this morning, know: your pain is the reason He came, and all our garbage is simply proof that we need a Savior, and the reason we should rejoice that He really did come, and save, and heal. It's now only ours to receive. Unto US is born that Savior. Wow!
Unbelievable! Lord, thank you for your immutable gift of life, and Baby Jesus, welcome once again into our hearts. Love and Merry Christmas, friends.

Simple

My prayer all day has been that God would help me to continue simplifying life.
There's something healing in simplification.
Eliminating head-noise and clutter in one's surroundings and systems creates peace, that which the Lord Christ promised that He'd leave us, therefore, in a way, I count the pursuit of simplicity in my life nothing short of an application of the promise of God!
If you are like-minded, you'll like this blog. Enjoy and here's to living...simple ;)

The Advent of Change

Well, the Christmas season is here again. -And this season, we want change. Tugging at our hearts for years is this insight that things in our culture are so hurried, so worried, so spoiled by such affluence and stimulation. We've wanted change for some time.
So now we're making it, a little at a time.

Here's our wish list this year:
1. Scaling back on "obligatory" giving (you know, the kind that's there just for the sake of it? You've probably been the recipient of such giving, and the lack of meaning and purpose you felt is what I'm talking about.)
2. Worshiping with more fervor, zeal and sincerity-outside the box. Praying, trusting & resting more, as a gift to the Christ child, new every day.
3. Looking around us more closely at need, and suffering, and hopelessness, and making a resolution to make some of it go away.

As a visual reminder, our home is this year void of all the "Christmasy" fluff. Instead, we've added only slight hints of blue and gold. Sky blue, representing hope for true change, and gold, representing a real Kingdom that exists in the here and now-a Kingdom of rest and childlikeness that lives pure trust & rest, longs to share with the hurting, and revels in the peace that the little Savior still so longs to give with His presence in our lives.

The tree: a rugged, twisted juniper (long stripped of its foilage) that we've found here on the ranch behind our home. It stands bare, open, and ancient -the way we'd like to do the season from now on. It speaks from the corner: resist the notion that we must all do things the same. Stretch out the tent pegs of your thought and worship and live for better every day!!!

Other than a couple of tokens, Papa & Nana will this year forego the obligatory giving to one another that feels much like pushing oneself away from the table, stuffed, and yet strangely empty. We have what we want. But there remains a giving that fills, and feels good. We're seeking and enjoying that this year, and our prayer is that it will grow in our lifestyle.

These are not revolutionary ideals. But the vision is often caught, then lost again. We swim in a current full of stress, greed and purpose-less-ness. And inasmuch as we can remind ourselves to swim against it, we can make some headway. But we just need to be reminded.
Here's a valuable resource out there to help us in that pursuit. We invite you to join us in it, and re-think the season a little yourself this year.
May the Lord of love find you this beautiful season
...and give you His peace.