buying and selling

This past week, I collected 20 tins scattered around our bedroom and posted them for sale.  (It's been awhile since I have posted and sold anything on one of the Facebook sale groups I am part of.)  We also listed the rusty farm implement parts shown below.  They, too, sold.  We'd used them as a border for a flower bed, but were ready for a different look.  The buyer will paint and sell them as sunflowers and make a tidy profit, I'm sure!

Meanwhile, we did a bit of BUYING, too.  Here is my husband at work on the piece we found for a very reasonable price.  At first, I was going to redo it to sell.  But then I got thinking that it would make a great television stand replacing a low buffet we had been using for this purpose.  Soon I will post the finished project...

While Shepherds....

♪ While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
all seated on the ground;
the angel of the Lord came down,
and glory shone around ...♪

 It dawned on me this morning as I posted these words

from a Christmas carol on my facebook page

that "glory shone around"

in circumstances most ordinary - humble even,

in darkness,

and close to the ground.

That's where I live!

 I'll think of this with fresh appreciation when I pass our mantel

that holds (among other things) my small collection of  motley sheep.

Glory!

While shepherds...

Treasuring and Pondering

 I thought I was finished with my journaling this morning.
I closed my journal and began spending some of my daily 5,000-24,000 
(depending on which source you consult) words on my husband!
Some of my jottings had triggered additional thoughts, and I was eager to share them.
"In fact," I told myself, "I should post some of my profundity on Facebook!"
Almost instantly, a verse from the Bible came to mind.
I googled a few of its words to look it up for accuracy.
But Mary treasured all these things, 
giving careful thought to them and pondering them in her heart.  
(Luke 2:19, Amplified Bible)
 Instantly instructed and reproved, I reopened my journal to write.

I need to do so much more TREASURING and PONDERING;
so much less facebooking and jabbering. 

I have a small collection of these...this is my latest acquisition.

A Thousand Candles

Life lessons abounded here yesterday (along with candles)! I approached Sorting Day 4 by gathering candles from their storage places throughout the house.Then I faced the daunting task of deciding which ones to keep, where to store them, which ones to throw away, which ones to give away and how to actually get rid of them. All the while, I was thinking of life lessons from this semi-embarrassing experience of acknowledging and correcting some less-than-admirable personal traits.

I guess the primary lesson came from the Bible verse I've known for a long time:   Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  (Hebrews 12:1).  Clearly candles aren't a sin in themselves,  but the thoughtless accumulation of them MAY be.  They definitely are a "weight".  They (and other such accumulations) distract  me, and it was PAST time to eliminate them.

I threw away stubs and crooked ones.   I sorted by color and decided to keep red, white and blue ones - not so much a patriotic decision, but those were colors I actually may use.  I advertised the rest as being free to anyone who would come pick them up.  I already have a taker!  She is going to give them to her father who makes fire starters from them.

 

I am SO over candles! 

More

I didn't "bother" to bring out my small collection of nativity sets this year.

Having celebrated Christmas with our family at Thanksgiving,

it didn't feel as "necessary" somehow...

Then, last Sunday I was gifted with this unusual set 

by a thoughtful couple in our church.

(Thank you, Drex and Jean.)

The detail on these little characters is amazing!

The more I look, the more I see...

Just like the One whose birth we celebrate today.

The more I look, the more I see.

 

♪ More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

Refrain

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me. ♪

Sheep May Safely Graze

 The melody played itself as I assembled this simple vignette

around the bottom of our tabletop tree...

Schafe können sicher weiden,
Wo ein guter Hirte wacht.
Wo Regenten wohl regieren,
Kann man Ruh und Friede spüren
Und was Länder glücklich macht.

Sheep can safely graze
where a good shepherd watches over them.
Where rulers are ruling well,
we may feel peace and rest
and what makes countries happy. 

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Bach was commissioned to write a hunt cantata for Duke Christian's birthday.  

This particular piece was a part of it.  

The sheep mentioned here are the peasants governed by Duke Christian. 

(And up until yesterday, I thought it referenced the Good Shepherd!)

 Bach was right.  When rulers rule well, people rest and are at peace.

But ultimately, regardless of who rules and how,

The Lord is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

Psalm 23

The Greatest Love

 While putting away "Christmas", 

 I stumbled upon traces of the NEXT holiday--

Valentine's Day tins...

...reminding me...

of the Greatest Love!

O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Christmas Eve

 I received a sweet and very thoughtful gift this afternoon...

 I'm humbled with the careful selection by a special friend 

 who combined three elements that bring me so much pleasure: pottery,  blue hue,
and a Nativity theme.

After an early Candlelight and Carol Service at our church this evening

we'll return home for a quiet night together.

Tomorrow we'll celebrate Christmas with my parents.

Our children will come later this week for the BIG family celebrations...

Merry Christmas to all who enter this post.

Leave and Live with a Christmas Heart.

Christmas Celebrating - Details, Charm, Work

 The second Christmas party of my 2012 season was held in the gracious

 home of one of our Lady Bugs (formerly Red Hats) Club members.

 The boxes at each place setting contained home-made TURTLE candy!

 Conversation....l

 some carol singing...

 and a White Elephant gift exchange were all part of the afternoon.

 After leaving THIS home, we crossed the road to see 

Becky's unique and impressive Christmas village!

 It really is about impossible to document all the intricacies of this amazing collection!

 So many details...

 so much charm...

and so much WORK!

Details. Charm. Work.

It's the behind-the-scenes activity that makes

celebrations so memorable!
Come to think of it, it's that way with the Heavenly Father!
I don't BEGIN to fathom the details and behind-the-scenes activity
that have gone into and ARE going into the operation of the universe
AND my own salvation!
He is ALTOGETHER lovely.
Worthy of my/our unleashed and uninhibited awe and celebration!

My Job, my Pleasure, my Choice

I have stored up your word in my heart, 
that I might not sin against you.  (Psalm 119:11)

Long ago, I "hid" this verse in MY heart.  "Hidden" is the King James translation of  the word translated here "store up".  In another version, it's "treasure".  Over the years, I've been storing up this treasure.  I thank God for parents, Sunday school teachers, Bible quiz coaches, and professors who encouraged me by example and teaching to prospect PERSONALLY.  No one else can hide it, store it, or treasure it into my heart.  That's MY job.  That's MY pleasure.  That's MY choice. 

Matthew Henry, a great Bible student, commented on this verse saying:  "God's word is a treasure worth laying up, and there is no laying it up safely but in our hearts; if we have it only in our houses and hands, enemies may take it from us; if only in our heads, our memories may fail us; but if our hearts be delivered into the mould of it, and the impressions of it remain on our souls, it is safe."

Sometimes my choices indicate that I'm beginning
to treasure something else.

I am so attracted by "things".
Lesser things -- like these vintage linen calendar towels.
Silly me!

Oh, to be able to say (truthfully) with Job,

"I have not departed from the command of His lips; 

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.."  (Job 23:12)

Jesus said, "The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good ."  (Matthew 12:35)

I'm 63 years old, but not too old to hide, store, and treasure the Word!

Not too old to organize my day around it and let it be my rule.

Not too old to "bring forth good" out of this Good Treasure!
It's my  Job...my Pleasure...my Choice.

Pottery

This past weekend, I found two pieces of pottery in a thrift store 

to add to my collection.

 Their shapes, colors and designs caught my eye--

as did the amazing price!

Pottery ALWAYS reminds me that...

Still, God, you are our Father.
   We're the clay and you're our potter:
   All of us are what you made us.  

(Isaiah 64:8)

It's so easy for me to try to take the potter's bench myself...

thinking I can shape my self or my circumstances.

How much better to rest in the hands of the  Master Potter

Who made me in the FIRST place

and is completing me to suit His all-knowing, all-loving,

and all-wise plan...

Still, God, you are MY Father!

Three Free Found Favors

Try saying THIS three times in a row:  Three free found favors!

While thrift store shopping on Monday, 

I found these three Gideon New Testaments

 to add to my small collection.

They are not to be sold, but customers were welcome to one

free of charge.

I don't like to ask for favors, but I did this time!

I wanted three of them.

I left a donation to the shop which serves many, many people in need.

You may notice that they are in my favorite colors...
but more beautiful than their colors is their CONTENT!

Do you remember receiving a Gideon New Testament when you were in school?

Do you remember what color it was?

Hebrews 4:12-13 from The Message:

God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.

Pie

   

Pie knows no cultural or political boundaries. Pie makes people happy. And happy people make the world a better place. That’s why the world needs more pie." ~ Beth Howard

A Facebook Friend recently posted this quote, a link to Ms. Howard's blog, and word of her new book.

Now let me say right up front that I like to eat pie with the proverbial "Best Of Them".  However, I'm just not a very good pie-baker.  Still, I purchase pie plates of various makes and sizes at bargain prices in thrift store thinking, "Someday I'm going to bake more pies!" Or, "I can bake (So-and-SO) a pie and just give him/her the pie plate, too!" 

 

 

Two little tart plates

But when I read this quote this morning, my heart was stabbed with the thought of what (WHO actually)  REALLY is meant for sharing, connects people, knows no cultural or political boundaries, and makes people happy. 

Pie is no substitute for Jesus. 

 

 

 

Landon MacDonald recently tweeted, "I hope my tombstone says, BORN. FOUND JESUS. TOLD EVERYONE. DIED."    Me, too.

It's embarrassing, really.  The number of pie tins/plates I have.

I can't remember the last time I baked a pie.
But I'm telling you, "The world DOES need more Jesus!"
And there's a Best Seller written on that subject.

God in the Detail

According to Wikipedia, the idiom "the devil is in the details" comes from an earlier idiom--"GOD is in the detail."  That second one was meant to communicate that whatever one does should be done thoroughly--details ARE important!  The origins of the original saying are a little vague, and Bartlett's Familiar Quotations lists the author as anonymous.

What I AM sure of is that the details of my friend's Winter Wonderland (my "title" for it)  display ARE amazing!  She's been building her collection for 20 years.  I got to see the 2011-2012 version yesterday.  My pictures don't begin to do it justice, but you can click on them to enlarge....

The amazing thing to me is that most (if not all) of the buildings are plastic-canvas creations!  I'm generally not a  big fan of this particular craft, but this collection is a major exception to my perception.

My visit to this Winter Wonderland triggered my thinking about the detailed attention of the Heavenly Father--from the hairs of my head to the flowers of the field and birds of the air.  

I'm also thinking about paying more attention

to a few details of my schedule and responsibilities.  

God IS in the detail!

He Shall Feed His Flock

Next to the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's Messiah,  I believe my favorite music and text is He Shall Feed His Flock.  This beautiful alto solo is so calming and full of promise!  As a high school student, I took voice lessons.  My instructor selected this solo for my vocal range, and I memorized this beautiful aria for a music contest one year.  I'm VERY thankful.  Its message has remained with me all these years.  Here is its text: 

 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; 

and He shall gather the lambs with His arm,

and carry them in His bosom, 

and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11)
Come unto Him, all ye that labour, come unto Him ye that are heavy laden, 

and He will give you rest. 

Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, 

for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
(Matthew 11:28-29)

 

 Several of my sheep and lamb collection (and two cats)

are displayed on this shelf.

None are too "precious" - mostly thrifted plastic "strays".

Did you attend a performance of Handel's Messiah this year?
Do you have a favorite selection from it?