And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 God’s amazing design is before us in the birth of Jesus. Jesus did not enter our world as an…
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The Light of Christmas
Christmas, the day that we commemorate Jesus’ birth, is coming. Last night we attended a concert titled Night of Glory. It was good to pause from my errands, cookie baking, and card writing. I listened to the story of God’s amazing gift, told in song. The concert began with the…
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When Pain Leads to Prayer
After Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden God said, I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing; withpain you will give birth to children. Genesis 3:16 Was this a punishment or a way of reminding Eve to seek God’s help? In my own life, periods of suffering have motivated me…
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Deep and Time Honored Messages of Hope
In the past few months my husband and I have been worshipping on Sunday mornings with a church plant. We gather in a room of a nearby hotel. The musically talented members of our group lead the singing. Sometimes our singing is accompanied by keyboard, by violin or acapella. We…
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Mary, Did You Wonder?
In the past couple weeks I have been feeding, swaddling and cuddling an infant. And I have thought about Mary. The account in Luke tells about the angel’s appearance and promise “You shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most…
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Advent and the Family
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son . . . John 3:16 As I think about Christmas and God’s great gift to us, I find it meaningful that Jesus came to a family. He came as an infant to Mary and Joseph, to the family…
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Draw Near to the Savior
The Bluebird Café and Bookstore is a charming shop, located on Main Street in Hutchinson, Kansas. Whenever I visit my daughter we make a trip to this bookstore. As I walked through the aisles this time a colorful picture book caught my eye. Christmas in the Barn was written by…
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Merry Christmas!
Here is a portion of the Christmas letter that I wrote on December 4th and sent out with our cards: The homes in our neighborhood are decorated for Christmas, and today we had our first snowfall. The trees sparkle with white icing. At church we sang Christmas carols and wrote…
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Christmas Bells Still Ringing — from the Pen of a Poet
Over the past couple weeks I have encountered Henry Wadsworth Longfellow twice. I picked up a coffee table book at a home I was visiting. The book had beautiful photos, enticing recipes and quotes from famous writers. One of the quotes was from Longfellow and I wrote it down. I…
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Flowers and Wreaths at the Chicago Botanical Garden
We had a lovely afternoon at the Chicago Botanical Garden. The flowers were in bloom in the conservatories. Lovely wreaths adorned the walls. Poinsettias lined the displays and were hanging from the ceiling! A variety of trains were on display as a Christmas exhibit. The miniature trains travel on tracks…