Tag: Christmas

Advent 2 – Finding Peace

Ironically, during a week in which I've intentionally focused on expecting peace, I've found distress more often. The same hour I learned about the mass shooting in San Bernardino, I also heard that a neighbor, husband of an acquaintance, was in a suicidal stand-off with police. He alternately pointed a pistol at his temple and his mouth and, after hours of … Continue reading Advent 2 – Finding Peace

Gifting

"What do your kids want for Christmas?" Honestly, I have no idea how to answer that question. Unlikely they've finally taken our "Need before Want" family value to heart, but they haven't asked for much. Good thing, since we aren't buying much. Black Friday came and went with only so much as a fleeting glance at the mall; … Continue reading Gifting

Advent 1 – Expecting Peace

Stating the obvious: we do not live in a peaceful world. War and rumors of war. School shootings. Crime in all its variety. Job stress. Illness. Divorce. Even in my everyday mundane suburban life, peace seems elusive. So today's title made me wonder: do I expect peace? Maybe my faith is too small. Maybe my … Continue reading Advent 1 – Expecting Peace

Hope of the World

Have you felt it, too, that rapid, sometimes painful limping toward this day? It's Christmas Eve. In my world that means Christmas has arrived. Traditionally, today we rest and enjoy togetherness. We make pine cone-peanut butter-birdseed ornaments; we take them to the local reservoir, where we walk the dogs, the kids, ourselves, for an hour, … Continue reading Hope of the World

Quirky Christmas

School for 2014? Check! *Sigh of relief* The kids are off to movies and friends as I borrow a couple of quiet hours to straighten up and address Christmas cards. For weeks the house has been an explosion of Christmas detritus landed alongside, underneath, and atop backpacks, shoes and jackets, sporting equipment, and who knows whose … Continue reading Quirky Christmas

Death and Hope for Life

We all four hopped in the car, heading to the store to buy Christmas gifts for our "adopted" little boys who live over the hill in a poor part of town. These littles, both under five years old, don't have families of their own to buy them gifts, a fact that broke Tween's heart so … Continue reading Death and Hope for Life

Hope Has Come

Hope. What is it, even? Does it make any difference? I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight... But hope is more than wishing. Hope is expectancy, pregnant with anticipated reality. Hope gives us strength to muster on, to slog through the daily reality, harsh as it some days may be. … Continue reading Hope Has Come

Hope: to expect with confidence

We came home Friday evening to a clean and orderly house, which stayed that way for less than 24 hours. Many years ago we recognized the insanity of bringing more Stuff into our home for December and January birthdays with Christmas sandwiched between without first ridding our home of some of our outgrown Stuff. As we traveled … Continue reading Hope: to expect with confidence