Dreams

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
[Langston Hughes]

The end of one year... the start of the next.

Hard to believe that the year has flown by. Changes abound in my personal life, in our family's adventures, and in the ways that God uses and speaks to us. I had some goals that I dreamed might come to pass. And they did. Then there were things I dreamed I might do. And they fell by the wayside. I'm not about to list them all out here. (I mean I could, but who would care, unless they had insomnia and needed something to put them to sleep??)

I've been pondering the reasons why things have happened as they did, and the means that changed or fulfilled these dreams over the last year. There's no real pattern. Most of them were "good" ideas, many of them were just things I wanted to do or experience. I wrote in my journal a year ago:
"Lord, there's so much that I am thinking and dreaming and planning. Please let everything happen in Your Time, in Your Space. I don't want to be disappointed, or go off in the wrong direction... but I'd also like to think that this year counts for something."

I think it has 'counted for something' -- I pray it has... I believe God's promise to us as a people. He has great things ahead. And He has hard times too. But He will be in them all...

"In the Last Days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters; Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams. When the time comes, I'll pour out my Spirit On those who serve me, men and women both, and they'll prophesy." [Acts 2:17-18, The Message]

May you keep dreaming God's "big picture" dreams for your life... (you can't go wrong that way!)

From our home to yours...
Deb

All Is Well

All is well; all is well.
Angels and men rejoice.
For tonight darkness fell
Into the dawn of Love's light!
Sing alle,
Sing alleluia!

All is well; all is well.
Let there be peace on earth.
Christ is come go and tell
That He is in the manger.
Sing alle,
Sing alleluia!

All is well; all is well.
Lift up your voice and sing.
Born is now Emmanuel;
Born is our Lord and Savior!
Sing alleluia,
Sing alleluia!

All is well; Emmanuel,
Born is our Lord and Savior!
Sing alleluia!
Sing alleluia!
All is well...
[Michael W. Smith]

May you truly know this Christmas that all IS well...

Love from Above - and from our home to yours...
Deb

Games of Biblical Proportions...

I am speechless...

I just read this article about an Iowa State University professor's study on "religious" board games and toys... You will NOT believe it! Take a look!

WHO KNEW that there was a market (and a multi-million one, I might add) for "Catholic-opoly", "KosherLand" and "Race to the Kabah"?? What's next? "You Bet Your Caste?" "Name That Mantra?"

And in case you weren't sure about the possibilities, besides the "Jesus Action Figure" (dark or light skinned tones available!) there's the Job Action Figure too! Rags and boils included...

With stuff this weird, you know I'm not making it up... and it truly is no wonder that people who are not Christ-followers wonder at our beliefs...

From my perplexed and slightly amazed and "what's-this-world-coming-to?" home to yours...

Deb

Just Desserts

As promised!! Two family favorites, which take lots of time but are enjoyed by all!

CHOCOLATE SUGAR BOMBS
(named by the kids)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts
• 1 bag Hershey's kisses, unwrapped
• additional confectioner's sugar for rolling.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, slowly add in flour and nuts until well combined. Dough will be soft but not sticky.

Shape with (clean) hands into balls around the kisses. Completely cover the kiss and compact dough so that it forms a smooth ball. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes. Cookies should be set, but not browned.

Cool slightly on pan until you can pick them up in your fingers. Roll in powered sugar. Set to cool on cooling racks. When completely cool, you can roll them again.

Yield: about 40 cookies, give or take for sampling and hungry elves!


BUCKEYE CANDIES

• 1/2 pound butter
• 1 pound peanut butter
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioner's sugar
• 1 large brick (2-4 pounds) dipping chocolate

(NOTE: These weights are in pounds, not cups. You will need a kitchen scale.)

Mix butter, peanut butter and confectioner's sugar well. Roll into 1" balls. Place on waxed paper lined cookie sheets and set in fridge to harden. (Takes about an hour.)

Melt dipping chocolate in a double boiler or you can melt small quantities in a micro-wave safe bowl. Use candy-dipping sticks or toothpicks to spear the peanut butter balls. Leave a section of the ball uncovered by chocolate to make the "buckeye". Allow extra chocolate to drain. Set on wax-paper lined sheets to harden. (May need to put in fridge if kitchen is overly warm from baking cookies.)

Keeps best when stored in fridge or in a cool place.

Yield: unknown. I've never gotten an accurate count because of "quality control checkers" in my kitchen!


Enjoy! They are not fat-free or calorie-free -- but they ARE good!

From our home to yours-
Deb

Festive Foods Friday Five

FESTIVE FOODS FRIDAY FIVE

From the RevGalBlogPals: Well friends, we've covered advent, music, and movies/TV--but we here at F5 HQ would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that quintessential holiday topic... fooooooooood.

1. Favorite cookie/candy/baked good without which, it's just not Christmas.

• Chocolate Sugar Bombs as named by my family for the way I make the traditional "Russian Tea Cakes" (with a Hershey's kiss in the middle)! (Recipe in next post!)
  
• BUCKEYES candies - homemade - yummy - chocolate and peanut butter. YUM!

2. Do you do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, both, or neither? (Optional: with whom will you gather around the table this year?) I will be curious to read the RGBP take on this one. WHO has time for a big dinner on Christmas Eve? Usually it's a fast meal, more of a "large snack" to tide us over until the after-service drop-in Christmas party at someone's home! Dinner is usually mid-day-ish on Christmas Day. Ham and other things which can bake on a timer in the oven, plus the afore-mentioned cookies! This year we dine with BBS's mom and our kids. Later in the week we will spend time with my family.

3. Evaluate one or more of the holiday beverage trifecta: hot chocolate, wassail, egg nog.

• Hot chocolate: What's not to like! YUM!
  
• Wassail: Not bad (if you've never had it, one could say it compares to the gluwein at the German Christkindlesmarkts during Advent, except gluwein is usually served hot.
• Egnogg: Yummy in coffee. I have been good and only bought the "low fat" this year (which is only 1,000 calories per sip instead of 5,000.) If brandy falls in your eggnog, so much the better!

4. Candy canes: do you like all the new-fangled flavors or are you a peppermint purist?
I am apparently living a sheltered life! Candy canes come in other flavors? EW.

5. Have you ever actually had figgy pudding? And is it really so good that people will refuse to leave until they are served it?
Yes I have and no it is not that good. I think they just needed another verse to drink more wassail.

Edited to add: Well, I am APPALLED with myself that I forgot to include a question about the crown prince of holiday foods--the fruitcake. Feel free to add your thoughts on this most polarizing holiday confection.

Ah, the fruitcake. I hear that people actually eat them from the box. My family's recipe is to open the tin, take out the fruitcake, wrap it in cheesecloth, pour a bottle of brandy over it (it absorbs it quickly), put back in the tin and stick it in the freezer until next year. Then it was sliced and passed around and generally ignored on the plate (except for surreptitious snorts of the brandy fumes...) We usually end up with Claxton Fruitcakes and they are folks who take their fruitcakes seriously... but NOT as seriously as the folks at "The Society for Protection and Preservation of Fruitcakes." (I mean, they must be either serious or seriously crazy! They bought their own domain name????)

God's peace and blessed Christmas to all of you -
From our cookie-saturated home to yours...

Deb

Elf Yourself!

Oh this was just too much fun!! I also made Harpy Girl and Reedy Girl into elves too... But theirs are not mine to share. At any rate, if you are in the mood, you can see me boogie down HERE!

Total silliness... yes, I know...

If your inner elf dances, let me know! :)

From our home to yours...
Deb

P.S. I have a photo editor and I know how to use it... hee hee...

P.P.S. As of January something, I must say PHOOEY! The "inner elf" site has gone away for the season. Ah well...

My Letter of the Alphabet - "M"

Cathy introduced me to this meme. The idea is to list ten things I love beginning with an assigned letter. Cathy has assigned me "M":

MOM: I have a great one! She's been a wonderful role model and support to me in this journey of life. Her encouragement in my seminary studies means the world to me.

MARRIAGE: I am blessed with a patient, occasionally long-suffering husband AKA "BBS" or "Beloved Bearded Spouse". He's an introvert; I'm... not. He leans toward the mystical; I... don't. He's philosophical; I'm... not. We balance each other, challenge each other, and celebrate each other. Twenty years next April - I love you!

MOTHERHOOD: Not the same as MOM, mind you. What a gift my daughters are to me. I have learned more about God and about His character and attributes through the "job" of motherhood.

MUSIC: The main way that my heart spills over to God.

MUSING: The second way my soul finds its voice - which is why this blog is so active lately. Guess I've had a lot on my mind!

MARSHES: Especially the ones near our family beach place in South Carolina... Peace. Beauty. Quiet. God's voice. Love it!

MEOWS! from the feline children of the house! (they just reminded me! "Time for GRrrrrrrrrrrEENIES!")

MASTERS: I've started on my second one. TLOK (The Lord Only Knows) if I will finish it! But I am really loving my studies. As a friend said to me this week, "you are just meant to do this!" Well hurray!!

MIDDLE NAME: Growing up I hated it. As a young adult I just ignored it. When I got married, I decided to keep it. It reflects a great gift in my life: "Grace".

MY FATHER'S WORLD: But in this case, the MOUNTAINS: If I can't get to the beach to hear God's voice, I know I will hear it in the mountains. Of late, we have enjoyed the wilds of Dolly Sods, WV. Hawks. Wind. Rocks. Trees.

This was fun! Do you want to play? Let me know in the comments and I'll give you a letter to re-post on your blog. (I promise - no X's, Z's or Q's -- unless you want them!)

From our home to yours...
Deb

Wait... where's my theological dictionary?

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Pelagianism 67% Nestorianism 33% Modalism 33% Monophysitism 33% Arianism 0% Apollanarian 0% Adoptionist 0% Docetism 0% Donatism 0% Albigensianism 0% Monarchianism 0% Gnosticism 0% Socinianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

"You're not a heretic." (Well that's a relief!) Now I need to go and look up some of those "-isms" that I've never heard of...

from our theologically compliant home to yours...
Deb

Life sucks... and then eventually you get past it

I had a chat with a friend last week about depression and the holidays. We have mutual friends who are so down on life right now that they can not find anything to be grateful about. Nothing. Nada. Not even a parking space!

It's not that I don't understand where these folks are right now. I do identify with them. I have lived through some lousy holidays. The Christmas we ALL got the flu (serially - stretching out over 2 weeks. Nice!) or strep throat. The season that my father-in-law was terminally ill with lung cancer. The time when I was out of regular work and temping for various companies and money was beyond tight. The year that the guy I thought I was marrying broke our engagement. The months that followed after I resigned from a church ministry position and felt like an utter and total failure because I did not "fit the mold" that was wanted. Not to mention some really sucky moments in high school and college...

My friend asked me, "well what do you do or say when someone IS depressed and tells you all about it during the holidays? Do you just say - 'life sucks and sometimes you get past it?' "

Good question. I think it would be more honest to say, "Life sucks and EVENTUALLY you get past it." I worry less about the verbally expressive, and more about the one who looks like they are scraping along by the bottom of life. At least the person who tells me he or she is depressed can muster up enough energy to express anger. Or sadness. Or worry. Or discouragement. But the last thing I do is tell them to "CHEER UP!"

I try to remember what it felt like to be in "that place" and how hard it was to be aware of God's goodness when everything was so... sad.

What helped me? Genuine caring hugs. Doing something for someone else (the best way I found to struggle out of the funk of the broken engagement was helping each month at a soup kitchen.) Crying out to God and pouring out my heart in my music and my writing. Avoiding the things which gave me the most pain (for instance, one church I attended asked all of the "singles" to babysit during the "family" Christmas Eve service. I only did it once... and refused after serving one year. I saw all these couples come to pick up their kids... and they were younger than I was! That just truly hurt too much.)

I made it through some pretty difficult days. Sometimes I didn't have the energy to shop. Or to bake. Or to go to parties. Sometimes my heart was too sore for feeling joy. Or for feeling anything, for that matter. Sometimes I felt like the problems were all because of me. Mea culpa...

And then, sometimes, I realized that it was not me -- it was life. In all of its imperfections, inconsistencies, and sin. People with their own problems, challenges and downright meanness. Many times it had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with simple "bad timing." Eventually, and in my own time, I moved past the pain.

I saw beauty crop up in the raw places of my heart... in the hard places of my life... in fact, I found joy in the places that one does not expect to find it. I saw order in seeming crazy disorder. I found peace in total chaos and fruitfulness in complete barrenness. But none of this was my doing. It was all God's.

Out of more guilt than desire, I kept reading my Bible. One of those dark December days, the words from Deuteronomy took on new meaning...

Israel, the LORD discovered you in a barren desert
filled with howling winds.
God became your fortress, protecting you
as though you were His own eyes.
The LORD was like an eagle teaching its young to fly,
always ready to swoop down and catch them on its back.
Israel, the LORD led you, and without the aid
of a foreign god, He helped you capture the land.
Your fields were rich with grain.
Olive trees grew in your stony soil,
and honey was found among the rocks.
[Deut. 32:10-13]

Life in those rocky times - ones of "stony soil" and "honey from the rocks" - those difficult times in my life made it clearer than ever that God's love for me went past my pain, my failures or achievements, my relationships or lack of them... I was just - completely and totally - loved!

I've never forgotten it. Hard times come and go. People disappoint. Physical bodies do strange and painful things... God remains constant. And that's all that I can tell anyone who knows the truth of "life sucks... and then eventually you get past it."

Often I stand on the edge of the light, afraid to believe, afraid to act, afraid that this story is too good to be true. But then in my better moments, when I listen closely to the story, move closer to the light, my fears seem to evaporate like an early morning mist, and I can believe again. I can believe that God who made all that is became clothed in our human flesh so that we might become clothed in God. I can believe that God claims me as a beloved child. I can believe that my days are in God's strong and tender hands. I can believe that life is good, beautiful, and eternal. I can believe that not only my days but all days are in God's good and able hands. I can believe, rejoice, and wait trustingly and expectantly for the unfolding of God's promise given so many ways and most clearly in the Advent story. Thanks be to God!

[-- Reuben P. Job in A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God]

From our home to yours...
Deb

Advent: Names of God (week three)

Week Three of Advent - Closer to the celebration, and yet so far...

We started this week with worship in the morning, a concert and party in the evening, and Harpy Girl off with friends to the "sing-a-long" MESSIAH at the Kennedy Center. (Yes, there is some parental envy on that one!) We'll also be seeing the National Christmas Tree on the Mall, and spending time with friends later...

Here's this week's "Names of God" for your encouragement and heart's feeding...

From our home to yours...
Deb

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December 17
Name of God: "My Savior"
Scripture: Luke 1:47; 2:11; John 4:42

December 18
Name of God: "Alpha and Omega"
Scripture: Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13

December 19
Name of God: "Light"
Scripture: John 8:12

December 20
Name of God: "A Mighty Fortress"
Scripture: Psalm 18:2

December 21
Name of God: "King"
Scripture: Psalm 145:1; Revelation 17:14; 19:16

December 22
Name of God: "My Comfort and Shelter"
Scripture: Psalm 61

December 23
Name of God: "All-Consuming Fire"
Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:23-24; Hebrews 12:28-29

December 24
Name of God: "Emmanuel"
Scripture: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

December 25
Name of God: "Messiah"
Scripture: John 1:41; 4:25