Category: Advent

Joy Journal {December 28th}

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•wee flicker of little candle ‘Christmas at the Burrow’• the warmth and deepness of freshly ground and French-pressed black coffee in Christmas mug•the glimmer of light off the gingerbread men salt & pepper shaker•little, snowy glass cottage trinket•reading Beauty Chasers with Annie, chapter by chapter, discussion•Sophie racing around the house, her orange-y tail twitch, her sweet whiskers, her ‘cat-ti-tude’•the glow of the old-fashioned Christmas tree lights • Ella’s Christmas spirit and excitement• a juicy, sweet pineapple• Gideon’s love of baths•Schielch animal dioramas everywhere• a friend talking books with me• zoom reading nights with online kindred spirits •Peanuts postage stamps from dad•rubbing coconut oil into little chapped hand•dipping deliciously into aggressively happy by Joy Marie Clarkson•finding swirls, sparkles, and wind sighs in the coldest time of the year•

The work of humanity is to see one another safely home. ♥️

Penelope Wilcock

Merriest and Happiness Christmas! ♥️❄️♥️❄️♥️

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Peace isn’t a place – it’s a Person. Peace isn’t a place to arrive at, but a Person to abide in. “I myself am your peace,” says Jesus. ♥️

Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way

Advent Ramblings & Rumination ♥️🎄♥️

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I confess that I’ve had to internally fight to keep my heart calm ♥️ and in the moment this Advent season. This past year has been a good struggle for me. This coming to the end of my strength, coming to the end of self, I find of course, Jesus calmly standing beside me, loving me. ♥️♥️♥️ I picked the words “anticipation & expectation” for 2022 and wow 😯 that didn’t play out how I thought it would. 😎😂 But slowly reflecting in this Advent season, I’m seeing what a gift this year has been. I didn’t realize that what I was anticipating and expecting was something very different than what needed working, kneading in, and cutting away from my heart. 🥹♥️ God is SO faithful.

How are you? How are you holding up? What are some things you’ve been thinking on, learning from 2022? ♥️ I still not perfectly clear on what I’m to pull away from my struggles this year, but some things have bubbled to the surface and I’m slowly working on acknowledging them, trying to reorder affections that are wonky, and really focus on what is important in my life. I’m praying about my words for 2023 and what things I need to focus on through good habits, focused attention, and quiet listening. Listening to the still, small voice of Jesus and deep, attentive listening to the people in my life. And listening to the whisper of words on the wind, wrangling them into inky encouragement on paper.

My personality and lifestyle needs a healthy balance of habits & structure with a good dose of freedom and openness. It makes for an uniquely delicate dance, keeping a rhythm flowing, yet being open to being human, room for life, creativity, and laughter. Do you struggle finding the right pace for the journey of life, too? Praying for clarity and for faithfulness as we cross over into the new year.

May you have a blessed last few Advent moments and a wonderful Christmastime! 🎄 May God give you fresh vision as you look to the new year! Happiest Christmas! ♥️♥️♥️ Love, Amy

Monday Ponderings {December 5th}

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…Our bartered, busy lives burn dim,

too tired to care, too numb to feel.

Come, shine upon our shadowed world:

Your radiance bathes with power to heal.

excerpt from “O Radiant Christ” by Ruth Duck, from Biola Advent Project

Monday Ponderings {December 20th}

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It’s tough to be on the receiving end of love, God’s or anybody else’s. It requires that we see our lives not as our possessions, but as gifts. “Nothing is more repugnant to capable, reasonable people than grace,” wrote John Wesley a long time ago. ~ William Willimon, Watch for the Light, p. 148

4th Sunday in Advent 🎄♥️🎄

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The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian

Continuing my Advent musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…

In every gladness, LORD, Thou art

The deeper Joy behind.

~George MacDonald

p. 29, The Cloud of Witness

(emphasis mine)

{Take Joy home. Considering the words from J. Ingelow in the above photograph and Mr. MacDonald’s line, also. Just perfection for contemplation while gazing at Azarian’s lovely woodcut. Christmas blessings to you all!}

Monday Ponderings {December 13th}

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THE night

Wanes into morning, and the dawning light

Broadens, and all shadows fade and shift!

I follow, follow, – sure to meet the sun,

And confident that what the future yields

Will be the Right,-unless myself be wrong.

Longfellow, The Cloud of Witness, p. 22

3rd Sunday in Advent

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The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian

Continuing my Advent musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…

…Heaven within the reed

Lists for the flute-note; in the folded seed

It sees the bud, and in the Will the Deed…

~D. Greenwell

How shall we judge their present, we who have never seen

That which is past forever, and that which might have been?

Measuring by ourselves, unwise indeed we are!

Measuring what we know by what we can hardly see.

~F.R. Havergal

Be not proud of well-doing;

for the judgment of God is far different

from the judgement of men, and that

often offendeth, Him which pleaseth them. 

~Thomas A Kempis

God judges by a light Which baffles mortal sight;

And the useless – seeing man the crown hath won

In His vast world above, –

A world of broader love, –

God hath some grand employment for His Son.

~Fabor

all partial or full selections above from The Cloud of Witness, p. 20

Bookish Chat

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Hello everyone! Hope you are keeping warm and are enjoying the Advent season. I’m currently sipping Bigelow’s Wild Blueberry with Açaí tea and it’s delicious.

I felt like chatting books today, so here I am! I’m slowly working on a list of my favorite 2021 books I’ve read to share at the end of December, so be looking for that soon. I’ve been mainly thinking about next years reading. I left Goodreads earlier this year and just use a beautiful journal to record my reading {also save them on Instagram which has been fun} and I love the analog sooo much better. Besides my Bible & devotional type books, I’m very much a mood/feelings reader. That’s also why I reread so much! I want to experience the same vibes of a favorite book all over again. It’s wonderful, comfortable, and I love the anticipation of knowing what’s in store. Are you a rereader? Each year, I don’t plan out my TBR list in advance except super loosely or have categories etc. I do sometimes join challenges, but use them for the categories more than timeframes or prizes. With that said, I’m joining a challenge through my favorite book tuber, Chantel Reads All Day. Follow that link to find out the details and get the printable if you so choose to join. Here’s my choices, so far, I may be switching this up!

Since taking this photo, I switched The Broken Way to December, took out 12 Rules for Life, and changed January to Out of the Silent Planet, which is also a reread. I’m needing help with the prompt for August. Can you help with a title that I may have on my extensive home shelf library? 😂 I have Farewell to Arms which I’ve never read, but not sure if I’ll like that? You can use the public library, but I’m trying to use books I own. Doesn’t this sound fun? 🥰♥️ Some of my children are joining me, too! I would love to hear what your plans are for reading next year or any books you are really looking forward to reading! 📚📚📚

🥰♥️

2nd Sunday in Advent

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The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian, by Lilias Macbean Hart, illustrated by Mary Azarian {previously published post from December 2019}

Continuing my Advent musings with Azarian and The Cloud of Witness…

Earth breaks up, time drops away,

In flows heaven with its new day

Of endless life, when He who trod,

Very Man and very God,

This earth in weakness, shame

and pain,

Dying the death whose signs

remain

Up yonder on the accursed tree, –

Shall come again, no more to be

Of captivity the thrall,

But the one God, All in All,

King of Kings and Lord of lords:

As His servant John received the words,

“I died, and live for evermore.”

~ Browning, p. 9

The Cloud of Witness