“It is said that the door to the stable where the Christ-child has been born is very low – and only those who kneel find access.”
~Celtic Daily Prayer
p. 228
{Happy December, friends! Thinking on this quote as we start our week.}
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Category: Faith
Monday Ponderings {November 26th}
“Nobody can know the full consequences of their actions and history is full of small acts that changed the world in surprising ways.” ~Rebecca Solnit
{Originally, I saw this on Myth & Moor blog and I’m thinking on it this week. It can be applied to so many areas of our lives. The antithesis of the whole idea of “go big, or go home.” I love the quiet, humility of this and how we all have an opportunity to love on others without having it to be something seen by the public eye. Yes, it’s harder and usually unappreciated, but that’s alright. It still matters. Remembering the beginning of the verse, Zechariah 4:10, not to despise the day of small things.}
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A Blessed Thanksgiving to You and Yours {One Hundred Bits of Gratitude by Thanksgiving} #9-10
MY heart in chiming gladness o’er and o’er
Sings on “GOD’S everlasting love! What
would’st Thou more?”
Yes, one thing more! To know it ours indeed,
To add the conscious joy of full possession! –
O tender grace that stoops to every need!
This everlasting love hath found expression
In loving-kindness which hath gently drawn
The heart that else astray too willingly had gone…
We thirst for GOD, our treasure is above;
Earth has no gift our one desire to meet,
And that desire is pledge of His own love.
~F.R. Havergal
The Cloud of Witness, p. 109
81. children using leftover pie dough for little cinnamon sugar creations
82. my husband snuggled on couch, wrapped in sleeping bag, children all around him, and sitting on his lap
83. all of us talking to the turkey like he is part of our family. He was taking a cold water bath and we kept poking him and conversing with him! Ha.
84. Kitchen Aid mixture is such a good friend at holiday time
85. lovely brunch conversation and my little children licking their fingers from the cinnamon rolls
86. a child seeing that I was cooking bacon and hollering for joy, “BACON!”
87. temperamental can opener working
88. talking books with oldest and pursing Goodreads and the local library online site
89. bed sheets flapping in the cold, crisp wind – they are going to smell so fresh
90. one daughter helping me cook bacon and scrambled eggs, another mixing OJ, and my son placing the cinnamon rolls on pan – those moments when cooking together is so fun
91. my fluffy mauve sweater
92. new light bulbs put in, the kitchen is a brand new space! Ha.
93. fabric purchased and waiting to be washed for a Christmas project. Crossing my fingers that I can finish something
94. a new refined to-do list for the next few weeks – not too bad
95. a Christmas gift arrived for my 9 yo daughter that I know she is going to LOVE and I’m pleased with it.
96. new, fresh day after a few rough ones, Tylenol and hot, delicious coffee helping me to get going
97. my 4 yo laughing at a funny part in the book The Napping House, his giggle is so darling
98. the sizzle of the turkey and the juicy, slicing of apples
99. the Narnia movie soundtrack
100. the way the children’s art flutters on our art line in the house, heat blowing up and in, warming the heart of our home
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So many tangible and intangible blessings all year round! ❤ Thanks for joining me this month, noticing our blessings ~
Monday Ponderings {November 19th}
{a statue and poem that my oldest and I really loved from our summer travels}
“…Trample not on any; there may be some work of grace there, that thou knowest not of. The name of God may be written upon that soul thou treadest on; it may be a soul that Christ thought so much of as to give His precious blood for it; therefore, despise it not.”
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Celtic Daily Prayer, p.545
{thinking on this excerpt this morning. I believe ALL people are souls that Christ thought so much of and shed His blood for! I’m a bit more confidant than Mr. Coleridge in that. This is a beautiful and heavy thought as we go about our days with family, friends, neighbors, and a world full of people that need our love. Trampling is the norm in our culture, I want to be revolutionary like Christ and LOVE.}
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Snowy {One Hundred Bits of Gratitude by Thanksgiving} #6
{a gorgeous restored church on Prince Edward Island, Canada}
51. lamp-lit dinner of buttery pancakes shared with two children who were at home with me last night. We listened to soft music as the flame flickered. So peaceful!
52. the sound of potatoes being grated. Juicy and a pleasant scraping. Hash browns for my husband! Opening deer hunting and an empty fridge had me scrambling to find some things for hungry bellies. The hunters seem to appreciate the few eggs, random turkey sausage (found deep in freezer), and hastily-made hash browns.
53. the sizzle of oil and smell of crispy potato.
54. the soft, top outline of snow on some forgotten laundry on line.
55. slowly attempting to paint the constellation Orion in my nature journal. It looks primitive, but I’m glad to capture the moments I’ve spent gazing at this imposing fellow in the sky.
56. fascinating essay here and quotes here on Myth & Moor, probably one of my favorite blogs. I suspect that the author and I are kindred spirits, hopefully, we could be friends even though we may differ in many of our core beliefs.
57. reading The Little Engine That Could over and over to my littlest as he just discovered it on our library shelf. I never realized until now that it’s sort of a retelling of the Good Samaritan.
58. Black-Capped Chickadees and a Male Cardinal at my feeders! We don’t have a lot of trees and I’ve really missed the variety of birds that we had at our former home.
59. pretty Christmas wrapping paper that I ordered. I usually wrap all my gifts in one print, the monochromatic scheme looks so pretty under the tree and frankly, it’s just easier.
60. I got a few things scribbled last night in my journal. Some writing actually down in ink and not floating around in my stuffed, spilling-over brain! I’ve really struggled with making the time, because it feels like I need so much mental space, of which I have zero right now. I’m finding I’m going to have to fit it in the margins of life or it won’t happen at all. How wonderful it is to just get down one page of words captured for just a little while.
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Saturday ~ {One Hundred Bits of Gratitude by Thanksgiving} #2
WHO is the honest man?
He that doth still and strongly good pursue, –
To GOD, his Neighbour, and himself most true;
Whom neither force nor fawning can
Unpin, or wrench from giving all their Due…
Who rides his sure and even trot,
While the world now rides by, now lags behind;..
A being brought into a sum,
What Place or Person calls for,-he doth pay…
Who, when he is to treat
With sick folks, women, those whom passions sway,-
Allows for that, and keeps his constant way:
Whom others’ faults do no defeat;
But though men fail him, yet his part doth play!
Whom nothing can procure,
When the wide world runs bias from his will,
To wreathe his limbs, and share, not mend the ill.
This is the marksman, safe and sure,
Who still is right, and prays to be so still.
~Herbert
The Cloud of Witness, p. 454
I thinking on that poem this morning and here are some things I’m thankful for right now!
11. little board bridge children made across trench husband is working on. Then offering to hold my hand across.
12. light swaying of clothing on the clothesline.
13. new-to-us table lamps adding so much warm glow to our living room.
14. a whole day ahead, no major responsibilities, ripe in possibilities.
15. my son’s little overalls.
16. Scripture that promises that God will be strong in my weaknesses.
17. creamy chocolate milk.
18. Voxer, a walkie talkie type app, so I can chat away with my friends.
19. a couple of Christmas surprises I have on the way. I always feel better if I don’t wait till the last minute.
20. first lines in a new book, the anticipation of what is to come.
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Welcome, November ~ {One Hundred Bits of Gratitude by Thanksgiving} #1
Hello, welcome to my second annual gratitude list here at Hearth Ridge Reflections. I hope to make a list, culminating at the American celebration of Thanksgiving, of things that I am noticing and grateful about in my life. Please join me on your own blog or jot it down in your journal, I find it such an amazing practice of reordering ones focus. I find this time of year, no matter how hard I try, becomes a haze of busyness and materialism. This little project helps me to take a moment away from all of that. I miss it around here, yet I’ve been given a lovely, wild bunch of children whom I’ve chosen to home educate and that takes precedence. How are you all, dear friends? I hope this post finds you well. Yes, I do call you friends, even though most of us have never met. I appreciate you reading here, sharing your thoughts, and I pray that you walk away with a bit more hope and delight in your back pocket then when you arrived. Here is what I’m thankful for today:
- Searching the shelves for our Thanksgiving books and refilling our book basket.
- The delight on my daughter’s face when she realized she got a letter in the post.
- The smell of peppermint tea.
- Stepping out onto our deck, escaping a boiling hot kitchen, into a cool, dark, and star-drenched sky. I grabbed our constellation chart and spent a few lovely moments.
- Planning a pineapple-glazed ham for our first holiday gathering coming up, anticipating family enjoying it.
- The rotation of children and myself in rocker set near wood pellet stove. Little toes and fingers warmed. Conversation around the warmth. Books read, snuggles.
- Little heads stuffed into warm, colorful hats.
- That autumn smell. A soupy mixture of wood smoke, earth, rotting, wet leaves, and a closing down of the year.
- Unexpected inspiration in a magazine about how important the intangible moments are during the holidays, beautiful, wise, and a blessing.
- Precious sleep, when I’ve been not sleeping well.
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Monday Ponderings {October 15th}
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting, He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:5-6, NASB
{Happy Monday! Just keep sowing, sowing, sowing. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Our hard life of laboring here on earth may not seem to have a tangible harvest, but we can trust by faith, that it will sprout beauty untold. We had the first dusting of snow last night here at Hearth Ridge Farm and it’s beautiful!}
Retreat
The pine smell enveloped me, breathing deep, I soaked in the flickering sunlight. It dappled on green, falling and shifting down. My face lifted, eyes closed for just a moment. I was home in this place away from home. The trees shifting and waving, welcoming ripples, the wind weaving me into this tapestry of green, with a hint of autumn color beginning. My husband kindly covering the home front, so that I could take time to retreat. I was struck by the quiet solitude, yet not a loneliness. The crunch of leaves, the occasional bird, and that glorious wind were the background music for my visit. I slowly strolled through the stone work, little bridges, and other work of the Franciscan monks that had lived here beginning almost a century earlier. The Stations of the Cross intrigued me. I didn’t have the prayers with me, yet I stepped up to each one, and something was hovering at the edges of my mind. I studied the rough, yet careful stone structures with their wooden crosses on top. Inside were the images of Jesus being condemned by Pilate, Jesus accepting his cross, and seeing Mary. I was interested in the three falls of Jesus, wondering. The people mentioned. Simon, Veronica, and the women of Jerusalem. Jesus dying and buried. This Via Crucis was complete and as I looked back, my vague impressions struck me. First, I wondered and felt a longing for the depiction of the Resurrection and the hope I find in that part of my faith. I found myself shocked at the violence played out in the midst of this wooded sanctuary. The blood, pain, and rejection He encountered stood out harshly against the very calm creation surrounding me. He more than anyone understands. Understands me as a human, is with me through life, and whatever sorrows I’m treading through, He will lead be beside still waters, He will restore my soul. Violence and pain are real, but I rest in His beauty and love. I thought of this retreat weekend and all the beautiful women that I’d been visiting with, our hopes, dreams, and yes, pain, some with deeply intense pain of things they are carrying. A rustle of wind shifted the leaves and light. All of us here were coming to grow and rest a bit, taking a break from the daily cares of cooking, answering questions, and being “on” for others. Yet, I found myself seeing how much of those things echo Jesus’ very posture towards me. The very “job” if you will, that I find myself in, one of mothering and caring, one of practicing compassion, was what I was seeing dimly reflected in these ancient walls, in these unique women, and whispering through the trees and words from our discussions. One last glimpse back, as I exit these woods, gratitude for the green, the light, and for a little bit more understanding than before. The small things of life are truly the biggest.
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Monday Ponderings {October 1st}
Humility
How deep a mystery, my Lord, Thou shew’st!
Though I do beat my breast and humble me
And of most servile tasks do make my boast,
Yet have I not attained humility!
Then, more I shame me, think upon my sins,
Cry, “Lord, I am not fit to touch Thy feet!” –
My self-abasing no advancement wins,
The more I loathe me, more am I unmeet!
“Perceiv’st though not, my child, what thing I ask –
Thy lowly, simple grace that children own;
Thy pride imposeth every heavy task; –
Humility is one as Christ is one:
Fret not thyself, but set thine heart on Me, –
And thou goest garbed in My Humility.”
-Charlotte Mason, Saviour of the World, Volume IV, Book IV, Poem LXII (Matthew 18:4) [page 170] (this was given to us in a talk given by Nancy Kelly)
Additionally, it tied beautifully into this quote which I got from my sister:
“Trained faith is a triumphant gladness in having nothing but God – no rest, no foothold – nothing but Himself – A triumphant gladness in swinging out into that abyss, rejoicing in every fresh emergency that is going to prove Him true – The Lord Alone – that is trained faith.” ~ Lilias Trotter (Diary, 9 September 1902)
{This is one of the most beautiful things that has really stuck out to me in the past couple of weeks. I’ve been thinking on it a lot. I’ve been MIA around here due to home educating my children, hope to pop in more soon, as I get the beginning school year wrinkles semi-ironed out. Hopefully, I will be back this week sometime to share my books from September and a little bit more from my retreat I took at the end of September. I have some other ideas always swirling around in my brain. How are you all doing? Let me be the first to wish you a very Happy October! Our leaves are starting to change here and it is such a beautiful gift.}
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Autumn Equinox on Saturday and other ramblings…
Rain is falling, concentric splatters on the puddles in my driveway. My mind is all-a-swirl as we are finishing up our second week of home education here at Hearth Ridge Farm. Yesterday afternoon, I snuggled down and read the book The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, and was thoroughly delighted. Just what I needed at the moment. An escape to England, mysterious wolves, big, beautiful houses with hidden passageways, and endearing children to cheer along the way. The beauty of story. It made me think about the piles of scribbles I have laying all about my house, the discarded ideas, the dusty laptop. The brilliant purple morning glories are dripping wet, a fog and wetness hanging around these last few days. I can’t resist admiring the way their beauty and green tendrils sneak in and out, through and under, a lovely vein of happiness through the outside of my deck. How story and beauty keep us moving forward, their beauty splashing against the gray of dishes, discouragement, and ugly despair of our world. The poem, The Chairs That No One Sits In, a gentle, almost silent-sort-of plea for that elusive something that we often forget, that we drown by the incessant Sirens of our day. The cooling down the past couple of days, the the red tinges peeping out, my daughter exclaiming with delight over the leaves “following” our vehicle, the tinkling, crunching noise and movement swirling up around us, so very beautiful. Autumn is our guest arriving Saturday, and I’m warming up to its cool promise of sweaters and more afternoon teas. I was delighted as I drove through the changing countryside on Tuesday, listening to two kindred-spirit creatives talk on mystery, writing, and just general lovely bookishness. I notice another flower friend, my poor geranium is still hanging on, by the way, a mystery and delight to me, because it is long overdue for a re-potting and often gets neglected. Again, that splash of something that cuts through the piles and dust and smells of life. Reality doesn’t change, but I can make one step forward, parting the waters, one more song to carry me on my way, one more beautiful image, word, and thought that brings me and those around me hope.
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Monday Ponderings {September 17th}
Will not the End explain
The crossed endeavor, earnest purpose foiled,
The strange bewilderment of good work spoiled,
The clinging weariness, the inward strain;
Will not the End explain?
Meanwhile He comforteth
Them that are losing patience; ’tis His way.
But none can write the words they hear Him say,
For men to read; only they know He saith
Kind words, and comforteth.
Not that He doth explain
The mystery that baffleth; but a sense
Husheth the quiet heart, that far, far hence
Lieth a field set thick with golden grain,
Wetted in seedling days by many a rain;
The End – it will explain.
~Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes, p. 298
{Whoa. I’m holding onto this beautiful thought this week. I hope it encourages you also! Happy Monday!}
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