a time for wonder - a nature photography and quotes blog - Quesnel, BC

blogging at anikalacerte.com now, come join me!

2011-07-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have started blogging on my website anikalacerte.com, so have decided to stop blogging here. I'd love for you to join me!

Cheers!
Anika

involve

2011-06-24T18:05:00.001-07:00

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.

Benjamin Franklin

spring

2011-06-16T11:00:00.001-07:00

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Proverb

beauty

2011-06-15T11:00:00.001-07:00

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes

Lord Byron

spring

2011-06-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

Mark Twain

infinite

2011-06-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

excursion

2011-06-12T11:00:00.001-07:00

The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy.

Eudora Welty

moments

2011-06-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

Why hadn't I realized that joy was right in the middle of life, unlocked in the moments? Where did I think it should be? After all, it's only moments that make up a life.

Ann Voskamp

folks

2011-06-10T11:00:00.001-07:00

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abraham Lincoln

joy

2011-06-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

Henri Nouwen

satisfactory

2011-06-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

36 satisfactory exposures on a roll means a photographer is not trying anything new.

Freeman Patterson

illuminated

2011-06-07T15:28:00.002-07:00

In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.

Brennan Manning
(Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging)

litmus

2011-06-06T15:11:00.001-07:00

The litmus test of our love for God is our love of neighbor.

Brennan Manning
(The Wisdom of Tenderness: What Happens When God's Fierce Mercy Transforms Our Lives)

growing food

2011-06-05T15:03:00.001-07:00

When did we become so disconnected from our own being, our own humanity, that growing food for our own bodies, for our very survival, became an act for the intellectually ignorant?

Ann Voskamp

now

2011-06-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

Life is only all our moments slipped on in a row, one after the other — and if you turn slow in the light, the moments might shine translucent and the surprise of it catches you and releases you and it is what you always hoped and always knew. There is mystery and glory in every now.

Ann Voskamp

ordinary

2011-06-03T14:55:00.001-07:00

The true artist enters into work of Father and makes the ordinary material of the world new.

Ann Voskamp

thirsty

2011-06-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

O God, I have tasted of Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me

and made me thirsty for more.

I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace.

I am ashamed of my lack of desire.

O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee;

I long to be filled with longing;

I thirst to be made more thirsty.

A.W. Tozer

dust police

2011-06-01T14:48:00.002-07:00

There are no dust police.

No smudge cops, no laundry laws, no fridge patrol.

Ann Voskamp

bare beauty

2011-05-31T14:47:00.001-07:00

The garden smells pungent and green and alive. The light’s warm. The loamy tilth of the soil lies loose, open, expectant. I walk the rows and all the weight of everything falls away and I know the the bare beauty of who He made me to be.

Ann Voskamp

a thousand

2011-05-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Egyptians have fifty words for sand, and Eskimos, a hundred for snow.

How to find a thousand words for the joy of all this grace we walk in?

Ann Voskamp

green space

2011-05-29T14:39:00.002-07:00

God gives green space to the Mamas needing heart space.
Ann Voskamp

prayers

2011-05-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

The prayers we weave into the matching of socks, the stirring of oatmeal, the reading of stories, they survive fire.
Ann Voskamp

kindness

2011-05-27T14:33:00.001-07:00

Ours are the hands through which he works
Ours are the feet on which he moves
Ours are the voices through which he speaks
To this world with kindness

Written by Brian McLaren
Performed by Steve Bell

hurry

2011-05-26T14:30:00.001-07:00

On every level of life, from housework to heights of prayer, in all judgement and effort to get things done, hurry and impatience are sure marks of the amateur.
Ann Voskamp

beauty

2011-05-25T13:44:00.002-07:00

I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep."
Ann Voskamp

time

2011-05-03T22:18:00.001-07:00

They say time is money, but that's not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time... the busyness of your life leaving little room for the source of your life...

God gives us time. And who has time for God?

Which makes no sense.

Ann Voskamp

vision

2011-03-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. If you could see them clearly, naturally you could do a great deal to get rid of them but you can't. You can only see one thing clearly and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.
Kathleen Norris

altered

2011-03-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed and take us places where we didn't know we didn't want to go. As we stumble through the crazily altered landscape of our lives, we find that God is enjoying our attention as never before.
Kathleen Norris (Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life)

ordinary

2011-03-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Christian religion asks us to put our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God Who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and Who desires to be present to us in our ordinary circumstances.
Kathleen Norris

made-to-order

2011-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

If grace is so wonderful, why do we have such difficulty recognizing and accepting it? Maybe it's because grace is not gentle or made-to-order. It often comes disguised as loss, or failure, or unwelcome change.
Kathleen Norris

changed

2011-03-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.
Kathleen Norris

rewritten

2011-03-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

As gentle as feathers
The snow piles high
Our world gets rewritten and retraced every time
Like fresh plates and clean slates
Our future is white
New Years resolutions are reset tonight

Lyrics by Sleeping At Last - Snow

trust

2011-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.

Corrie ten Boom

dust

2011-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

Lyrics by Gungor - from You Make Beautiful Things

poignant

2011-03-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you're listening, if you're awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break, it's purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold evermore wonder.
Andrew Harvey

free-form

2011-03-15T12:00:00.002-07:00

There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.)
Donald Miller

ghosts

2011-03-14T12:00:00.001-07:00

The branches have traded
Their leaves for white sleeves
All warm blooded creatures make ghosts as they breathe
Scarves are wrapped tightly like gifts under trees

Lyrics by Sleeping At Last - Snow

counts

2011-03-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability, that counts.
Corrie Ten Boom

whirling

2011-03-12T12:00:00.001-08:00

Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.
Corrie Ten Boom

temperature

2011-03-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
Corrie Ten Boom

nothing

2011-03-10T12:00:00.002-08:00

My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

heed

2011-03-09T12:00:00.001-08:00

Two types of voices command your attention today. Negative ones fill your mind with doubt, bitterness, and fear. Positive ones purvey hope and strength. Which one will you choose to heed?
Max Lucado

assembly-line

2011-03-08T12:00:00.001-08:00

You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman.
Max Lucado

lightly

2011-03-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.
Corrie ten Boom

prisoner

2011-03-06T12:00:00.001-08:00

Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free realizing you were a prisoner.
Max Lucado

gifts

2011-03-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

Envy comes from people's ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.
Jean Vanier

winter: a slideshow

2011-03-04T13:01:00.002-08:00

I recommend playing the Sleeping At Last song, Snow, while watching this slideshow.

special

2011-03-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

Remember, you are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes.
Max Lucado

strength

2010-12-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

I pray your glory shines

through this doubting heart of mine

so my world would know that You

You are my strength

You and You alone

Keep bringing me back home

Lyrics by Gungor - Please Be My Strength

breathe

2010-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Bind up these broken bones

Mercy bend and breathe me back to life

But not before You show me how to die

Lyrics by Audrey Assad and Sarah Hart

grace

2010-12-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Trusting only in Thy merit,

Would I seek Thy face;

Heal my wounded, broken spirit,

Save me by Thy grace.

Words by Fanny Crosby

Lyrics by W. Howard Doane

Song called Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Sung by Lance Odegard on the album Here

missionary

2010-12-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Nature is God's first missionary. Where there is no Bible there are sparkling stars. Where there are not preachers there are spring times... If a person has nothing but nature, then nature is enough to reveal something about God.

Max Lucado

you

2010-12-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

You are the only you God made... God made you and broke the mold.

Max Lucado (Cure for the Common Life)

advent day 1: Maker of All That Is

2010-12-24T11:00:00.003-08:00

How did Christmas day feel to God? Imagine for a moment becoming a baby again. God as a fetus! Or imagine yourself becoming a sea slug — that is probably closer. On that day in Bethlehem, the Maker of All That Is took form as a helpless, dependent newborn.

Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

advent day 2: new beginning

2010-12-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

It is not surprising then that when a newborn

comes into the world, the father and mother

themselves may experience a renewal of inner

growth. Every baby should turn us to the mystery

of the birth of Jesus whereby an entirely new

beginning is made through the Holy spirit, just as

it was with Mary.

Eberhard Arnold, When the Time Was Fulfilled

***

Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly, You’re so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!

Luke 1:39 The Message

advent day 3: deeply loved

2010-12-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.

Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

***

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38 NIV

advent day 4: God is love

2010-12-21T11:00:00.001-08:00

Jesus came as the revealor of love. Jesus reveals God by being utterly transparent to him. What had been cloaked in mystery is clear in Jesus— the God is love. No man or woman has ever loved like Jesus Christ. Therein lies his divinity for me.

Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus

***

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

1 John 4:7-10 The Message

advent day 5: he first loved us

2010-12-20T11:00:00.001-08:00

I like this time of Christmas. God becomes flesh. He becomes small to teach us to love and to be open to those who are suffering and who are in difficulty. Of course God is in our world but he waits silently for us to turn to him and call him to our help.

Jean Vanier

***

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 4: 7-21 NIV

advent day 6: the great final Advent

2010-12-19T11:00:00.003-08:00

Christ is still knocking. It is not yet Christmas. But it is also not the great final Advent, the final coming of Christ. Through all the Advents of our life that we celebrate goes the longing for the final Advent, where it says: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Advent is a time of waiting. Our whole life, however, is Advent — that is, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will bea new heaven and a new earth, when all people are brothers and sisters and one rejoices in the words of the angels: “On earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.” Learn to wait, because he has promised to come. “I stand at the door…” We however call to him: “Yes, come soon, Lord Jesus!” Amen.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

***

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:1-5 NIV

advent day 7: stoops

2010-12-18T11:00:00.002-08:00

I never realized God’s birth before,

How He grew likest God in being born...

Such ever love’s way--to rise, it stoops.

Robert Browning

***

Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has visited and redeemed his people.

He has sent us a mighty Savior

from the royal line of his servant David,

just as he promised

through his holy prophets long ago.

Now we will be saved from our enemies

and from all who hate us.

He has been merciful to our ancestors

by remembering his sacred covenant—

the covenant he swore with an oath

to our ancestor Abraham.

We have been rescued from our enemies

so we can serve God without fear,

in holiness and righteousness

for as long as we live

Luke 1:67-75 NIV

advent day 8: rest in thee

2010-12-17T11:00:00.002-08:00

Come Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in Thee

Israel’s strength and consolation

Hope of all the earth Thou art

Dear desire of every nation

Joy of every loving heart

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Music by Rowland H. Pritchard / Lyric by Charles Wesley

Sung by Steve Bell, The Feast of the Seasons

***

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:28 The Message

advent day 9: light of the world

2010-12-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

Mine is the home that is poor and is barren
Mine is the stable of cold and stone
Break the light to each corner
Of doubt and of darkness
Now the Word is made flesh
For the birth of me
Ready My Heart - Lyrics by Lois Shuford
Sung by Steve Bell, The Feast of the Seasons

***

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.
John 8:12 New Living Translation

advent day 10: irrational season

2010-12-15T11:00:00.001-08:00

This is the irrational season

When love blooms bright and wild

For if Mary had been filled with reason

There’d have been no room for the child

Words taken from a poem by Madeleine L’Engle,

Music by Carolyn Arends, The Irrational Season (Prelude)

***

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!

You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,

be called ‘Son of the Highest.’

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth

will be called Holy, Son of God.

”And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:

I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me

just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38 The Message

advent day 11: heart of Christmas

2010-12-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

The very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was that He might offer up His life as a sacrifice for the sins of men. He came to die. This is the heart of Christmas.

Rev. Billy Graham

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:6-11 NIV

advent day 12: recover

2010-12-13T11:00:00.001-08:00

He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, …to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.

Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to colour and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover.

C.S. Lewis, Miracles

***

Good morning!

You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

He will be great,

be called ‘Son of the Highest.’

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Luke 1:26-33 The Message

advent day 13: flesh

2010-12-12T11:00:00.001-08:00

The Word became flesh to communicate to us human beings caught in the mud, the pain, the fears and the brokenness of existence, the life, the joy, the communion, the ecstatic gift of love that is the source of all love and life and unity in our universe and that is the very life of God.

Jean Vanier

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 NIV

advent day 14: quiet

2010-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

We welcome you, small child of Bethlehem, whose coming we await with quiet attention. Shield us from the shouts, the screams, the empty promises of the season, and encourage us to turn our hopes to your coming. We know that the promise is hidden in the stable in Bethlehem and rooted in the offspring of Jesse; let us look for our salvation there. Amen.

Henri Nouwen, Advent and Christmas Wisdom

***

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

though you are small among the clans of Judah,

out of you will come for me

one who will be ruler over Israel,

whose origins are from of old,

from ancient times.”

Micah 5:2 NIV

advent day 15: love

2010-12-10T11:00:00.001-08:00

There is no way our little minds can comprehend the love of God. But that didn’t keep him from coming.

Max Lucado, America Looks Up

***

This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

1 John 4:12-14 The Message

advent day 16: night

2010-12-09T11:00:00.001-08:00

The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.

Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven

***

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Luke 2: 8-12 NIV

advent day 17: savior

2010-12-08T11:00:00.003-08:00

Every Christmas I read this reminder that came in the mail several years ago: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent and educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.

Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name

***

1 John 4:13-16 NIV

advent day 18: an infant

2010-12-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

In the cold, in the dark, among the wrinkled hills of Bethlehem, God who knows no before or after entered time and space. One who knows no boundaries at all took them on: the shocking confines of a baby’s skin, the ominous restrains of mortality. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,” an apostle would later say; “he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” But the few eyewitnesses on Christmas night saw none of that. They saw an infant struggling to work never-before-used lungs.

Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places

***

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

advent day 19: how much God loved

2010-12-06T11:00:00.003-08:00

For those who believe in God, it means, this birth, that God himself is never safe from us, and maybe that is the dark side of Christmas, the terror of the silence. He comes in such a way that we can always turn him down, as we could crack the baby’s skull like an eggshell or nail him up when he gets too big for that.

Frederick Buechner, The Hungering Dark

***

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

John 3:16-18 The Message

advent day 20: let it be

2010-12-05T11:00:00.003-08:00

Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second, and the Word, who had called it all into being, went with all his love into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped their hands for joy?

Madeleine L’Engle

***

Good morning!

You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

He will be great,

be called ‘Son of the Highest.’

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth

will be called Holy, Son of God.

”And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:

I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me

just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38 The Message

advent day 21: angels

2010-12-04T11:00:00.002-08:00

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love divine;

Love was born at Christmas;

Star and angels gave the sign.

Christina Rossetti

***

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,

Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

Luke 2:18-20 The Message

advent day 22: may you seek

2010-12-03T11:00:00.003-08:00

May the one who has come guide you and keep you

May you seek his face as all wise men still do

And may Bethlehem’s road rise up to meet you

Till you find him and see that God is with you

Lyrics by Carolyn Arends - A Christmas Blessing

***

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2 NLT

advent day 23: any length

2010-12-02T11:00:00.002-08:00

The story of Jesus is the story of a celebration, a story of love. It involves pain and disappointment, yes, for God as well as for us. But Jesus embodies the promise of a God who will go to any length to get his family back.

Philip Yancey, “Unwrapping Jesus,” Christianity Today, June 17, 1996

***

He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and become a servant.

Philippians 2:7 NIV

advent day 24: mindful

2010-12-01T11:00:00.003-08:00

We miss the essence of Christmas unless we become, in the words of Eberhard Arnold, “mindful of how Christ’s birth took place.” Once we do, we will sense immediately that advent marks something momentous: God’s coming into our midst. That coming is not just something that happened in the past. It is a recurring possibility here and now. And thus Advent is not merely a commemorative event or an anniversary, but a yearly opportunity for us to consider the future, second Advent — the promised coming of God’s kingdom on earth.

The Editors, Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas

He who would be born of God

must be mindful of how Christ’s

birth took place.

Eberhard Arnold, When the Time Was Fulfilled

***

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-24 NIV

***

I will be posting a photo, quote, and verse here to count down the 24 days until Christmas Day. Subscribe to my blog if you don’t want to miss it. ATimeForWonder.blogspot.com.

decay

2010-11-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Autumn wins you best by this its mute

Appeal to sympathy for its decay.

Robert Browning

ourselves

2010-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be.

Anne Lamott

forbidden

2010-11-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.

Mark Twain

experience

2010-11-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

Oscar Wilde

friend

2010-11-26T11:00:00.001-08:00

Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus

silent

2010-11-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.

Henri Nouwen

hope

2010-11-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

What do you do with what you cannot fix/

When all is undone and your miracle wont come?/

What do you do, despair pushing on your chest/

When you don’t know if you’re coming up for another breath?

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Hope

well liked

2010-11-23T11:00:00.001-08:00

Being well liked is like the hamster’s wheel/

when all of your life is spent generating appeal/

Placaters get played and appeasers are rarely pleased/

at the end of the day can you live with the you you’ve made?

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Honestly

savouring

2010-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

there’s more to the journey/

than strict efficiency/

it’s more like savouring/

less like point A to B/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Motion is Easy

renovation

2010-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

If my life is like a house then Lord you are in it/

We’ve sat around this kitchen table sharing stories and dinner/

You unsettle all the small-talk with your request to see more rooms and floors/ I am fighting selective honesty and the urge to clean before I open these doors/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard and Aimee Odegard - Renovation

epiphany

2010-11-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

I’m the planet and You’re the Sun/

Does it have to take light years for this epiphany to come?/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Orbit

wonder

2010-11-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

When I lived in awe believing was easy/

And I trusted You and knew how big You were/

But I am so old now deficient in wonder/

How long has it been since I dropped my jaw with a gasp?

Time to grow, grow young/

because I don’t want to miss all Your kingdom come/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Young

generous

2010-11-18T21:45:00.001-08:00

What do I have that’s not received/

from your hand my generous God?

To breathe, to laugh, to love, and to know you here/

all gifts from you my generous God/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard - Generous

afire

2010-11-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

well

2010-11-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

2010-11-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.

Henri Nouwen

tender

2010-11-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate.

Robert Frost

hide

2010-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?

Benjamin Franklin

rearranged

2010-10-30T11:00:00.001-07:00

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

Unknown

incomplete

2010-10-29T11:00:00.002-07:00

This is my glory - that I still need a Saviour/

This is my glory - that I can’t out grow grace/

This is my glory - to know the hunger and the bread/

This is my glory - to feel the incomplete/

Lyrics by Lance Odegard. Song: The Incomplete Album: Renovation.

audience

2010-10-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one, 'cause I know this journey is my own.

This Journey Is My Own - Lyrics by Sara Groves

hope

2010-10-27T11:00:00.001-07:00

it is good to come together

in our friendship to remember

all the reasons hope is in our hearts

Joy Is In Our Hearts - Lyrics by Sara Groves

free

2010-10-26T11:00:00.002-07:00

love not of you

love not of me

come hold us up

come set us free

not as we know it

but as it can be

Love - Lyrics by Sara Groves