Song for Sunday: Come Ye Thankful People Come

This week's Song for Sunday is a hymn that takes as back to the original meaning of Thanksgiving, back to before the pilgrims, to the idea of giving thanks for the harvest. In England, they called it "Harvest Home." It was a civic, not a religious holiday, though many took the time to acknowledge God as provider.

We tend to focus on the pilgrim's and think of theirs as the "first" thanksgiving, but many cultures have harvest celebrations. It's even in the Bible. Our American holiday has become a reminder of  our shameful historical and current treatment of Native  Americans who, like all of us, deserve justice, consideration, and respect. And perhaps it should be. There is work to be done there.

But that also shouldn't take away from thanking and acknowledging God. Or simply being grateful that we have enough.

Let us remember.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving. 

Parenting Journey: New Step

My son turns 18 today. I am officially the parent of an adult.

I guess we are never ready for this. It feels like there is much more to do.

This is another beginning. A new path. 

I have to keep reminded myself that this is a legal designation and he's not planning to run off an leave me. He's still in high school, for pete's sake!

Still, it brings some changes. And, emotionally, this is new territory.


How's things at your house?

Have a blessed day!

(and if you see my son, wish him a happy birthday!)

500 Years Ago Today

 Martin Luther had hoped to reform the Catholic Church from the inside. Instead, the 95 theses this monk nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany sparked the protestant reformation, a movement which has grown and diversified over the past five centuries.

For those of us who are protestant this is a birthday celebration. It is the story of our brands of Christianity. It's had it's challenges, it's heresies, it's hiccoughs. But overall it is the story of a struggle to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and to bring him to our communities. We share that mission with Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, but today is our day to celebrate our own heritage.




For those who have a historical bent, here are some links:


Luther's 95 Theses

Women Leaders of the Reformation

The Protestant Reformation

500 Years of Protestant Christianity


For everyone else, celebrate with us!

And have a blessed Reformation Day!

Song For Sunday: Father's Eyes

I had a hard time with deciding what song to use for today's post.

It's been a week since the horrible attack at Pulse in Orlando and I haven't written a thing about that here. Not that it hasn't been in my prayers and on my mind! It has. It's just... what do you say? There are really are no words that would give comfort. And repeating what's been said after each incident begins to sound hollow.

It's Father's Day. My father has been in Heaven since 1995 and I would like to make a fitting tribute to him. He was a man of compassion who was always willing to lend a hand.  A nod, too, to my husband, who loves our son dearly.

Then a young friend from CYC posted this on Facebook:

Happy Father's Day to the only ONE who will never leave me or forsake me!A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” Psalms 68:5-6  

A reminder that God is Father.

Putting it altogether and mulling it over, I found myself recalling this old song. I first encountered at a high school revue, when a friend sang it.  It was a real favorite, and a prayer of mine, for a few years.


Now, I share it with you. Praying that God will let us "find the good in things, when no good can be found" and will "find the source of help when no help is around." It seems like that good and helo are far away when there is --yet another -- mass shooting.

Also, that I will have my father's eyes. And my Father's eyes. Thankfully, they aren't too much different.

Blessings, friends!

Flag Day.

A couple of photos by Jordan to honor the day!

 

Forever in peace may she wave!!

Lord, bless our flag. May it ever be a symbol of freedom and hope.

 Bless our nation that we might have peace and do what is just and right. 

In Jesus name, Amen

Our Christmas Tree

This year, we won our Christmas tree!

A local lot had a contest. They hid two coupons around town and then posted two semi-cryptic photos of the locations. J and I looked right away and recognized the locations. We were about a quarter mile from one, so Jordan ran for it while I followed in the car. By the time I got there, he'd found the coupon and was being greeted by an elf.

That weekend, we picked out a tree from the lot and it was delivered and set up by the friendly elf!

So much fun! And we were very thankful for a free Christmas tree, too.

                                                

 

Merry Christmas!!!

Jordan's Creche: 2015 Edition

Each year since he was about four, it has been our tradition to allow my son to arrange our Creche to his liking on the first Sunday in advent. Actually, we were late this year. We forgot, which was weird. But he did it on Tuesday of the first week.

I really don't know what to say about the creche this year. It is certainly different. The manger bed is outside the stable, on the left, empty and awaiting the baby.  Joseph is next to the stable on the right and Mary is in the right front corner. Everything else is wherever in no order. It is not as chaotic a jumble as he once did; the one described in Jordan's Strange Creche and  A Broken World ... Seeking Peace but it's certainly not as ordinary as Jordan's Creche for this Year.

It's simply unusual.

Well, very unusual.

But it's fun and shows the uniqueness of my teenage son. I am keenly aware that the time for this tradition is running out. It may be that Jordan is only home for the beginning of advent two more times. Then, we'll need to look for new traditions.

It's bittersweet. It's something to savor.

What are your holiday traditions? 

Jordan's Strange Creche
A Broken World ... Seeking Peace
Jordan's Creche for this Year 
Creche 2014 Edition