Joyeux Noel...

...and Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Nollaig Shona Duit--Merry Christmas!
"...that the hands that had made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle." Chesterton

What Your Child REALLY Wants for Christmas...

Parent me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfIBrzRZeM

It's not the school's job; it's not the community's job; it's not the pastor's job; it's not the daycare's job---it's your job. If God has blessed you with children, he expects you to raise them, to train them up, to teach them and to model integrity for them. You are the one to show them love and affection, to give them the gift of listening and caring, to create for them the safety of boundaries and consequences. Fine clothes and the latest gadgets are nice to have, but they can never ever replace YOU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayh6og49uDo

The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey

Ed Ames

Long ago, in another day,
A donkey cried in his donkey way,
"I'm not beautiful, I'm not beautiful,
what good to anyone am I?"

"Other animals are big and strong,
or rare, or filled with an animal song,
but I'm not beautiful, I'm not beautiful,
what good to anyone am I?"

Heaven cried,
"Donkey, you can carry;
will you carry Mary?
Angels for your guide..."

On Christmas morn', in the stable hay,
The donkey smiled in his donkey way.
"I feel beautiful, I feel beautiful,
as beautiful as anyone am I...
as beautiful as anyone
am I."

photo courtesy The Green Wall

Cold

Good-bye leaf lettuce and collards; the cold has snatched your pretty leaves and crumpled them. Now we must wait for spring...

Thanksgiving 2010

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1


Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as it is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen







Our family had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner a little early, on Tuesday instead of Thursday, so that all of us could be together. I count the chance to be with one another as one of the greatest blessings we could receive. None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow, so the time we have together is precious.


And this is a great mystery of life,so brief and bittersweet. To be thankful for this heartrendingly beautiful broken world and our crooked sojourn in it.

Spring and Fall: To a young child

Márgarét, are you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves, líke the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

And yet you wíll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow's spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It ís the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

photo courtesy of Magnolia House

November 22: Justin Matthew

In memory of Justin Matthew, who would have been 27 today~

HE’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU (Mother's Lullaby)

Words & Music by David Meece

Hush little child -- wipe that tear from your eye

Don't you be scared of the dark

For someone is watching to guard as you sleep

Protecting each moment you grow

Chorus:

He'll take care of you, my darling, he loves you

He'll take care of you, my darling, for me

He'll take care of you and love you forever and ever

He'll take care of you, my darling, for me.

Moonlight casts shadows on warm summer nights

And the winter wind whispers through the whistling brush

There's no need to worry; He'll stay by your side

And nothing can touch you but love

photo courtesy of highschoolconfidential

Cuddles 1998 - 2010

She was my youngest son's 7th birthday present, a small gray feral kitten that one of our friends had tamed. My son picked her out and dubbed her "Cuddles". Like most kittens, she was indeed soft and cuddly, but as she matured she became an independent sort of cat. She was also the only pet we ever had that managed to escape before she could be spayed at six months. The results of her adventure were delivered in our den inside a lined cardboard box. My four kids duly named her four kittens: Hobbes, Flower, Butterfly, and Leo. Cuddles had her operation soon after the kittens were weaned and none of her progeny got to reproduce.

As she grew older she also grew more curmudgeonly, but there were still times when Cuddles asked to be held and stroked, her 'motor' purring in appreciation. She loved to curl up in the sun or to stalk around the grounds hunting mice. Every morning she loudly begged for her special breakfast of moist cat food to supplement her kibble. At night she liked to sleep in a cat house I had made.

Thursday morning I discovered that Cuddles had slept her last sleep within that house. Sometime during the night, while she was dreaming cat dreams, her heart stopped beating. She died in her sleep at twelve years of age. Her boy was far away at college, so I took one of his old cotton shirts, wrapped her body in it, and buried her in the old garden plot. Next spring we will plant flowers where she lies.

In the greater scheme of things, I'm sure Cuddles was simply a cat among many cats in this world. But she was our cat and we loved her.

Fox Went Out

The fox went out for a chase one night
prayed to the moon to give him light
for he had many a mile to go that night
before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o
he had many a mile to go that night
before he reached the town-o.

He ran right up to the farmers pen
ducks and the geese were kept therein
he said "A couple of you gonna grease my chin
before I leave this town-o, town-o, town-o
A couple of you gonna grease my chin
before I leave this town-o."

He grabbed the grey goose by the neck
slung the little one over his back
he didn't mind the quack quack quack
and the legs all dangling down-o, down-o, down-o
he didn't mind the quack quack quack
and the legs all dangling down-o.

Old Mother Pitter Patter jumped out of bed
out of the window she popped her head yelling
"John, John the grey goose is gone!
and the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o
John, John the grey goose is gone!
and the fox is on the town-o."

John he ran to the top of the hill
blew his horn both loud and shrill
the fox said "I'd better flee with my kill
for he'll soon be on my trail-o, trail-o, trail-o"
the fox said "I'd better flee with my kill
for he'll soon be on my trail-o."

He ran right up to his cozy den
there were his little ones eight nine ten
they said "Daddy won't you please go back again
for it must be a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o
Daddy wont you please go back again
for it must be a mighty fine town-o."

The fox and his wife without any strife
cut up the goose with a fork and knife
they'd never had such a supper in their life
and the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o
They never had such a supper in their life
and the little ones chewed on the bones-o.

I don't know where my mom found the little concrete fox statue in the photo above, but he graced her porch for many years. After her death, he came to live with me. Now he gazes out behind a tangle of flowers, watching the world go by. His presence reminds me of a folk song from my childhood---"Fox Went Out"---sung by Burl Ives. I can still hear his lively rendition of that tale playing in my head.

photo courtesy of Magnolia House

Putting the Garden to Bed

November ushered in some nippy weather, but we didn't want our little garden to suffer the consequences. With the help of a couple of sticks and some old blankets and tablecloths, we 'put the garden to bed' whenever the temperature drops down toward freezing. Our leaf lettuce and our collards remain hale and hearty so far!

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

When I woke up this morning, the only challenge I faced, as a Christian, was getting to Sunday School on time. Across the globe my brothers and sisters in Christ faced much greater challenges.
For their love of Jesus, some lost their social standing, some lost their friends and family, some lost their jobs, homes, health, and freedom. Some of my Christian family lost their lives for their faith.

All over the world, Christians are persecuted for their beliefs.

They do not ask for material assistance, though help is always a blessing.

What they ask for is prayer....and we are privileged to pray for them.

Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. But every day should be a day to pray for our brothers and sisters who are in chains for the sake of Christ.

If you want to know more, or want to know what else you can do, please visit The Voice of the Martyrs at: www.persecution.com