Blessed Be the Ties that Bind

Say "Adeline!"

It took a lot of takes (and even more chocolate) to make sure all the girls were smiling. We got a few good ones but it wasn't the same without our cousin Adeline...

Merry Christmas

...and a happy New Year.

Love

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ Do not murder,’ Do not steal,’ Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
~Romans 13.8-9

It is easy, particularly this time of year, to speak in superlatives about loving humanity and my fellowman. Peace on earth! Goodwill to men! Such phrases trip lightly off the tongue - especially when (like me) you’ve been watching too many Christmas movies.

But when it comes to loving individuals - the people whom I encounter on a daily basis – that is something else entirely; something infinitely more challenging. To love those persons often requires an added measure of grace; a certain quality or caliber of soul; even a kind of miracle.

This afternoon, after a particularly difficult encounter, I was choking on my own failure, about to hang my head in blunt resignation, sure that there was no hope of my ever rising to such a lofty occasion as loving my neighbor as myself… when I remembered that a miracle has taken place:

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known… This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

When God carved the Ten Commandments onto those tablets of stone He gave the Israelites a picture of His own righteousness - a practical representation of the abstract perfection of God. To be righteous, according to the Law, meant one did not commit adultery, did not murder or steal - did not even covet!

But this Law which God spoke into existence on that high hill so many years ago never had the power to save; only to condemn. And I would still be standing in the shadow of that condemnation were it not for the birth and death of Jesus Christ.

Though I will struggle against sin until the day I die, I realized with renewed awe that I am no longer compelled to perpetually indulge my basest instincts toward impatience, unkindness, and jealousy. Now, because of his life and death and resurrection, I am under a new law, the law of the Spirit of life, which frees me to exhibit kindness, to exercise patience, and to embrace with gratitude the circumstances which He has seen fit to bring into my life.

I realize that I cannot be this woman who loves, truly and unselfishly, in my own strength; for the HM Baker of Genematas Drive is not naturally disposed toward putting the interests of others above her own.

Yet if Scripture speaks rightly, and I believe it does, then the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is residing within me; this Spirit, the spirit of Christ, "helps us in our weakness" and "intercedes for us with groanings that words cannot express."

May I be inspired to remember, this Christmas, the profound cost Christ paid in order to grant me this gift - the gift of His righteousness - and let me not forget the glorious opportunity I have to depend on Him, every moment exchanging my weakness for His strength, as He uses my circumstances to transform my character and make me holy, just as He is holy.

‘To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Jude 1.24).

going postal

I finally got the Christmas cards out... it was hard to let them go, I put so much of myself into the project, but it thrills me to think about friends and family finding one in their mailbox.

Gingerbread Party

Evangeline

'Tis the season for colds... and sending out Christmas best regards... and late nights stringing ribbon through announcements cards... I have been busy with all three and cannot wait to unveil the result, inspired by this gorgeous copy of Longfellow's poems...

"Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures,
and is patient,
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion,
List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines
of the forest;
List to a Tale of Acadie, home of the happy,"

Winterhaven

On Saturday morning I was frustrated with my computer because the mouse kept sticking. Audrey hugged me and said, "Here- here, Mom. Take a princess. That'll make you feel better." She was right.

That night she started to come down with the sniffles. We took her to a nearby neighborhood, famous for its decked-out holiday lawns. When she saw the princesses, I think she felt better.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar...

Monkey Business

Audrey 'aping' Natalie Wood.

Miracle on 34th Street

If you are in need of a little holiday cheer all you need do is revisit, "Miracle on 34th Street," the classic movie with Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood. In my favorite scene, Kris Kringle engages the cynical young Susan on the subject of the imagination.

After dinner Susan scornfully tells him how she has rejected a game of "Zoo Keeper" with the other children in her apartment building. "Do you know what the imagination is?" he asks.

"Oh, sure," she says in a worldly-wise tone. "That's when you see things but they're not really there."

"Well that can be caused by other things, too," says Kris wistfully. "No, to me, the imagination is a place all by itself. A separate country. Now you've heard of the French nation? And the British nation? Well, this is the imagi-nation."

Susan eyes him with cautious intrigue.

"It's a wonderful place," he insists. "How would you like to be able to make snowballs in the summertime. Or drive a great big bus right down 5th avenue? How would you like to have a ship all to yourself that makes daily trips to China? and Australia?"

Now Susan's eyes are simply glowing and she is leaning in nearer and nearer.

"How would you like to be the Statue of Liberty in the morning and in the afternoon fly south with a flock of geese?"

Susan nods vigorously and it seems all she can do to keep from jumping up out of her skin.

"It's very simple," he says matter-of-factly. "But of course it takes practice."

I heartily concur with his conclusions as - in my own experience - having imagination is a bit like having faith. It takes discipline; and when it is focused in the right direction, it always, always allows you to travel distances that would be impossible under "ordinary" circumstances.

What is Christmas without cookies?