364/365

rainyrainyrainy day

363/365

Some argue against infant baptism on the grounds that the children do not understand at the time what is happening. (This is true. Neither did Abraham's son Isaac understand what was happening when he was circumcised being eight days old.) But this, if anything, makes baptism more wonderful and sure in meaning. For it is a seal, not of man's ability, but of God's power and faithfulness.
- C.I. Williamson, The Westminster Shorter Catechism

And great is His faithfulness.

362/365

All that delights you in earthly things can never satisfy you for all of your desires are in God. The comforts you have here are only drops inflaming, not satisfying the appetites of your soul, but the Lamb will lead you to the fountains of living water.
- John Flavel (1628-1691)

361/365

after 10 days, back in the kitchen.
Hello mixer friend.

360/365

His wife was Rainbow and his kids were Pray-ness, Niceness and Church.
And he told me I married Thunder.
Everyone should play Life with a very creative 5 year old every once in a while.

dpp 25 or 359/365

A tart cherry cranberry pie made by a very sweet girl makes the perfect ending to a blessed day.

Gift of Gifts

O Source of all Good,
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like Him.

Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreate and the created.

Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and
enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father,
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born Child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.

In him Thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

from The Valley of Vision edited by Arthur Bennett.

dpp 24 or 358/365

She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21

The story of Jesus,
of how,
of why,
of the Gospel story.
So thankful that is enough to bring joy to my heart tonight.

dpp 23 or 357/365

...catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world...
- The Beach Boys

so maybe THAT's how Santa gets to the North Pole..

dpp 22 or 356/365

A 15 year tradition- Ornament Exchange and Virtual Opening party with my Summermom friends.

and this year's loot!

dpp 21 or 355/365

my morning companion.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island by Russ Ramsey

One day I will take the boat to Ellis Island.
I will walk the pier and enter the station.
I will see the stacks of abandoned steamer trunks,
the rejection papers under glass,
the black and white photos of the mustachioed men
in their bowler hats, and the women with their parasols.

I will study their eyes,
looking for hints of their hope,
their fear, and their desperation.
I will try to imagine them standing on that same floor,
not browsing a museum,
but looking for a new world.

I will climb the Separation Stairs
and I will consider Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats.
I will think about what it means
to be a citizen of a Kingdom
I must leave everything to enter.
And then I will understand
that I, too, am an immigrant.

(posted in The Rabbit Room blog, 17December2013)

(photo taken during my own visit to Ellis Island, in July 2010)

dpp 20 or 354/365

happy birthday Jesus party.

(with kids that cause me to smile widely and ladies that serve as unto our King himself.)

dpp 19 or 353/365

 and that would not be me.

dpp 18 or 352/365

chicken soup, noodle casserole, platter of cookies, big box of chocolates and flowers.
abundantly blessed.

dpp 17 or 351/365

thankful for good care and to be past day 17.

dpp 16 or 350/365

the tree that has been lit since Thanksgiving finally gets decorated.

dpp 15 or 349/365

but how could we be in San Antonio and NOT take a photo of the Alamo?
we navigated the one-ways and waited on pedestrians and dodged police cars and trailed trolley buses and pulled over just long enough to get one shot.
(ignoring the tourists who might have thought we were snapping them, cropping out the trash can in the way...)

LOVE the inspiration the December Photo Project provides!

dpp 14 or 348/365

the wind was blowing like crazy and I was absolutely freezing so I bought a hat.

dpp 13 or 347/365

sometimes you get to nearly the end of the day and you take a photo of a cup.

dpp 12 or 346/365

hustle.

dpp 11 or 345/365

One short evening at Casa Hogar de San Francisco, an orphanage in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MX.
This picture was taken during the mad chaotic frenzied scrambled to grab candy after the pinata first began to give up its candy stores...

I love this picture.
The color.
The action.
The faces.

I think I took this picture, but I didn't take many photos last night. The kids took most of them- aiming sometimes aimlessly at their friends.The entire album causes me to smile. Last night we were reminded of how the Greatest Gift of Christmas, Jesus himself, continues to gift us. And last night the truth of ministry revealed itself once again- we are blessed to be a blessing.

To see some of the photos of Posada y Pinata, click here...

Posada y pinatas en Casa Hogar de San Francisco Dec 2013

dpp 10 or 344/365

church bulletin board elves

dpp 9 or 343/365

soup night

dpp 8 or 342/365

headed home from the last trip of the year.
((deep sigh of relief))

dpp 7 or 341/365

just before the volcano erupted...

DPP 6 or 340/365

wearing shoes and socks-
must mean travel north.

DPP 5 or 339/365

Oh my darlin' Clementine...

DPP 4 or 338/365

Hark!
with an exclamation point!

DPP2013 3 or 337/365

Lady Tigers win.

DPP 2013 2 or 336/365

The sky provided its own filter today...

DPP2013 1 or 335/365

dpp 1- thankful for girls who insist on getting out & setting up Christmas nativities on December 1.

334/365

after the lights were on, I just sat and stared for a while.

333/365

beach bocce.

332/365

We gather together...

331/365

all grace.

330/365

no birds, no mice.
not quite Enchanted.

(see video here)

327/365

Thankful for these girls, and their creative spirit (and that she didn't spell Creations with a "K").

326/365

we raced the storm home and arrived just before it did, falling temperatures, gusty winds, lightning flashes, sheets of rain. Winter storm warning, indeed.

325/365

sign of winter's arrival in south Texas.

324/365

Ruby jewels of sweet tart goodness.

322/365

Monday morning silliness

321/365

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone from the first to the last
Has won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

- from Thy Mercy, My God by John Stoker (c. 1776)

320/365

the Saturday that began before dawn and ended after dark, but it was Be Still My Soul that echoed through my head the entire time.

319/365

things you may only see in south Texas- a herd of BBQ grills...

318/365

 and where would we be without our fans?

December Photo Project 2013

Yes, November has been a 365 bust.
But hope is on the way!
This will be my fifth year to participate in the December Photo Project. It is one of my favorite December events!

My December calendar is already full. I already am making preparations, for gifts and for cards and for events. For basketball games and for one last trip for training and for wrapping up the year.

But even more than all of that, the next four weeks remind me, force me, to look back at the beginning, and to look with anticipation to that time when God promised,

I am going to send my Messenger- The Promised One.

The One you have been waiting for. 

The Rescuer.

He is coming. So, get ready!...

now the time had come for the best part of God's Plan. 

God himself was going to come. Not to punish His people- but to rescue them. 

God was getting ready to wipe away every tear from every eye.

And the true party was just about to begin...

(from "Get Ready!," The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones)

For me, the DPP is part of that getting ready- looking at the world through a lens, yes, but also through the lens of He who came to save. Thanks View From the Prairie Box for helping that to happen!

317/365

Cooler weather means they are ready to Just Dance.
I am ready to hibernate.

315/365

tired to the bone.
blessed to the core.

Charlotte

We were only together for about 6 hours, but it will fill me up until we can do it again. We met up with Tom and Ashley and Harper and Corbin at the Imaginon Library in Charlotte. What an amazing place for kids! And their adults!

And just in case you might not know, or maybe you have some doubts... yes! the grandparenting gig is every bit as good as everyone might say...

For my family who might want to see my boys close up (oh! and their mom and dad and auntie too!), here's a link to the photos...

Charlotte November 2013