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Love Outbound
We are approaching that day of the year where almost everything is pink or red – yep, you guessed it, the Hallmark Holiday, Valentine’s Day. Wikipedia has a pretty good (and I sure 100% accurate!) article on the origins and evolution of this. Poor St. Valentine! To be relegated to visions of obese flying cherubs who have no relation whatsoever to the mighty Heralds who are legitmate angels. Which brings me back to my thoughts this morning about love. God calls Himself Love. God also talks about love being about giving…as is His example over and over again. Still learning, I do not see anywhere where God’s love (of which…
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Listen to Christmas
When I was little, Christmas was always an exciting time. Would it snow? We watched the sky expectantly. The family would go to Midnight Mass. One year, when I was ten, it snowed – big, popcorn flakes floating down. There was no wind, just the pristine hush in the midnight. The stained-glass windows glowed in the church beyond. It was magical. This Christmas, that little girl lives on. The mystery, wonder and miracles that wrap themselves within Christmas are alive and well. God is near. The angelic heralds are within earshot if you will but pause. The joy that was poured into Earth is still tangible. Each moment is a…
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A Little Magic
So many days roll through the calendar year. They tick off like they are aboard a powered card shuffler. Sometimes they may appear to be nondescript… And then one comes along that is momentous. You may not think it, feel it, or see it during the moment. It may be through the haze of hindsight that you truly understand its implications. Then, there are others that announce themselves by knocking brazenly at your door. It is as though the earth shifts on its axis and the polar caps are relocated. Yet, each in its own way affects us. I suspect this year we may have all had all of these…
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Mulled Cider
It is the last weekend in August. In Texas, that means it’s still plenty steamy. In spite of that, and slightly ahead of schedule, I put out some of my inside autumn decorations. It gives me hope, you see, that cooler temps are just around the corner. Fall is such an interesting time, particularly up north. It’s almost as if you can hear the great trees beginning to wind down, getting ready to snooze for the coming months. I learned several years ago that what triggers deciduous trees to begin to close off the leaves, thus beginning their transformational palette to the spectacular colors of Fall is not temperature-driven. No!…
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Puddle Dancing
It rained yesterday…poured, in fact. The sky that had been a brilliant blue for weeks upon end filled itself up and wept copious tears on the thirsty ground. Of course, after such a long period of drought, and that abrupt of a change, there was flooding. Where I live, thankfully, that didn’t occur. It was simply a matter of umbrellas and puddles. One could almost hear the earth sighing in relief as it soaked up the rain. Water is one of the most unusual substances on our planet and in our bodies. Here is a fascinating post from Duke University with some stats. I encourage you to read it. There…
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Focus
There are times when sleep is elusive. I will get an idea, a snippet of a song, a thought for a recipe or maybe attempt to work through a challenge and my mind is determined to figure it out RIGHT NOW. Why this happens in the dark of night is a mystery! 🙂 Last night was one of those times. I had been mulling over a thorny issue and was not getting what I believed was a “success resolution” or plan. There was a whisper, a nudge in my metaphorical side, a reminder to me last night to “be anxious for nothing…” Truth be known, this is not my strong…