As we approach the new year, I think there is no better prayer to utter than this one by Jonathan Edwards. I have quoted it before, but it bears repeating every year.
O Lord, Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in Thy presence, in Thy service, to Thy glory. Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides, sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour, that I may not be one moment apart from Thee, but may rely on Thy Spirit to supply every thought, speak in every word, direct every step, prosper every work, build up every mote of faith, and give me a desire to show forth Thy praise; testify Thy love, advance Thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year, with Thee, O Father as my harbour, Thee, O Son, at my helm, Thee O Holy Spirit, filling my sails. Guide me to heaven with my loins girt, my lamp burning, my ear open to Thy calls, my heart full of love, my soul free.
Give me They grace to sanctify me, Thy comforts to cheer, Thy wisdom to teach, Thy right hand to guide, Thy counsel to instruct, Thy law to judge, Thy presence to stabilize. May Thy fear be my awe, Thy triumphs my joy.
Woohoo! Give me Thy grace to sanctify me!
P.S. The Amaryllis that my brother and sister-in-law sent is blooming!
We had a fruitful 24 hours in Jeff City. Daughter #1 went into her capitol office to close up shop and we packed some stuff (mostly clothes) in her apartment to bring home. We went to High Street and visited a couple of our favorite shops. We went to Steak ‘N Shake for lunch and then took the scenic route home through lovely Osage and Gasconade counties.
We were exhausted when we got home so we collapsed and watched some TV–Mr. Smith is a big fan of Eddie on Frasier.
Meanwhile I now have three days of reading left until the end of the year when I will have officially read the entire Bible. I am very proud of myself for completing the Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan in 2022!
Starting in 2023 I will be reading the 5x5x5 New Testament Bible Reading Plan which is reading through the New Testament in a year, reading Monday to Friday.
Here is a list of Bible Reading Plans in case you are interested. Choose one that is best for you! As R.C. Sproul said, “Disciples of Christ abide in His Word. Those who abide in His Word know the truth and are free.” 💯
And on another subject, thank you, Anne, for once again putting my thoughts into coherent words. “But as I said, the Lord spoke to me, and the word for 2023 is Fatuous. I’ll be using it an awful lot in the forthcoming [year], being sensitive to the Holy Spirit.” (*I’m kidding. God did not audibly give me this word.)
Daughter #1 and I are in Jeff City today–thus the short post! Hope everyone is staying warm. It is supposed to be positively balmy here in our flyover neck of the woods so no complaints here. Make the most of your day!
Here’s hoping y’all had a festive, fun holiday! We did–right here in our own home town!
…[It] was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!
–Charles Dickens
*Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens–read the conclusion of the story here.
Well, I wouldn’t call it a blizzard, but it is super cold, very windy and snow is falling. We are definitely hunkering down.
Being forced to slow down is probably a good thing. As I near the end of my reading-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, I am reading the Gospel of John, which is a pretty terrific way to wrap the year up.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
–John 1:1-5
Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
John 12:44-50
If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
Don’t let another Christmas go by without thinking about the unspeakable miracle of the Incarnation. And don’t let your children and grandchildren be overwhelmed by all the presents and parties without stopping and talking to them about Emmanuel–God with us.
The situation would surely have been hopeless had the very majesty of God not descended to us, since it was not in our power to ascend to him. Hence, it was necessary for the Son of God to become for us “Immanuel, that is, God with us” [Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23], and in such a way that his divinity and our human nature might by mutual connection grow together. Otherwise the nearness would not have been near enough, nor the affinity sufficiently firm, for us to hope that God might dwell with us. So great was the disagreement between our uncleanness and God’s perfect purity! Even if man had remained free from all stain, his condition would have been too lowly for him to reach God without a Mediator. What, then, of man: plunged by his mortal ruin into death and hell, defiled with so many spots, befouled with his own corruption, and overwhelmed with every curse? In undertaking to describe the Mediator, Paul then, with good reason, distinctly reminds us that He is man: “One mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ” [1 Tim. 2:5]. He could have said “God”; or he could at least have omitted the word “man” just as he did the word “God.” But because the Spirit speaking through his mouth knew our weakness, at the right moment he used a most appropriate remedy to meet it: he set the Son of God familiarly among us as one of ourselves. Therefore, lest anyone be troubled about where to seek the Mediator, or by what path we must come to him, the Spirit calls him “man,” thus teaching us that he is near us, indeed touches us, since he is our flesh. Here he surely means the same thing that is explained elsewhere at greater length: “We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning” [Heb. 4:15].
Well, the local weather-casters are pretty excited about a possible weather event today. They have been predicting snow, wind and freezing temps and will be very disappointed if nothing happens. We have all been to the store to stock up on food and daughter #1 came home a day early to avoid the bad weather. The OM is working from home.
As long as the furnace holds out and the electricity stays on, I am happy to hunker down at home.
Meanwhile my BFFs and I toasted the fact that daughter #1 has a new job and is moving back to St. Louis…
…little did I know this was causing consternation with Katiebelle…
Oh, modern life.
In other news, Marty Stuart is just the best. Look what he’s done now!
Daughter #1 shared this Q&A interview with Bob Dylan. “I’m not a fan of packaged programs, or news shows, so I don’t watch them. I never watch anything foul smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting… I’m a religious person. I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination.”
Yes, Marty and Bob and I are on the same page. Marty is rescuing antiques and Bob is reading scripture. That is comforting.
“In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth — only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”
Well, amidst the excitement of the holidays, another very exciting thing happened recently. I received this DM on Instagram from the Country Music Hall of Fame.
I know, I know. How am I so lucky. Now, if you know, you know, and if you don’t, I’ll fill you in. Bill Anderson, Whisperin’ Bill as he’s known, has been a bit of a joke in our family for many years. Now, we love him, but come on. He’s called “Whisperin’ Bill” because his singing voice is best described as a whisper. This is his biggest hit (it was even a cross-over hit) and it contains several extended interludes of just talk-singing. And the blog post title is one of the eloquent lyrics from this masterpiece.
Anyway, after much email back and forth including printing and scanning care of my dear mother, my package from the Hall of Fame finally arrived.
It wasn’t clear what exactly was going to be in the prize pack, so I excitedly tore open the box.
I could not love all of this more. Especially that t-shirt which I will wear proudly. And yes, that Hatch Print Shop print will be displayed in my future home. You can read all about Bill on his Wikipedia page. Of all the sweepstakes to actually win, I’m not sad it was this one.
In other news, this made me feel rather old. I remember when my second grade class voted to name him “Peanut.” #rajasbirthday
I’m looking forward to Christmas and settling in as a blizzard hits St. Louis. Hopefully everyone is adequately prepared if it turns out to be more than dusting. I hope my mother will stock up on Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Merry Christmas! I know this blog post was full of goodness, but I’ll include a cute pic of Mr. Smith too.
It makes me happy every year to open up our big box of Christmas ornaments that I have collected over the years and see them on a new tree.
Some were made by my aunts many years ago or by people I have worked with and some were made more recently by my daughters.
Some have been handed down from my parents and even my grandparents. Some were “store-bought” and quite a few were made by my children at school. (Do they make Christmas ornaments in elementary school any more?)
Some are part of a collection (bears).
Well, it’s nice to remember.
It’s also nice that TCM remembers all those performers/writers/directors/etc who die every year. Here is their 2022 in memoriam tribute:
They always include the little known actors who may have had just one scene in a great movie, like Mickey Kuhn who played the young Montgomery Clift in Red River (1948) and Virginia Patton who played Jimmy Stewart’s new sister-in-law in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). I must say I think James Caan deserved more than the split second inclusion he got. C’est la vie. But I like that the last snippet of Sidney Poitier is of him playing a cowboy. He played several cowboys in his career and I think he enjoyed it.
Here’s an interesting article about the Magi and why they worshiped Jesus.
I liked this article about dealing with sleeplessness. “A good night’s sleep, like so many of God’s gifts, is one of those ordinary glories you don’t quite appreciate until it’s gone.”
Do you need to be reminded of “10 Ways to Be a Christian this Christmas”? These are 10 good ones.
Enjoy the week before Christmas! Slow down. Watch a Christmas movie. Read a poem.
*”The Three Kings” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow–read it here.
Well, we are into the holiday swing of things here in flyover country. The tree is up, thanks to the boy coming over and putting it in the stand and daughter #1 coming home to help decorate it. We are cooking with gas, as they say.
I went to see Lottie’s ‘Holiday Show’ put on by the dance studio where she takes lessons.
As always, she was front and center and knew all the moves and words to the song. Her brother, watching from the sidelines, pronounced it a “Nice job!” at the end.
On Saturday the OM, daughter #1 and I got up and dressed in our warmest gear so that we could go to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to put wreaths on veterans’ graves as part of the Wreaths Across America event which coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 3,400 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. My DAR chapter is a sponsor, so I volunteered to participate and the OM and daughter #1 gallantly offered to go along. However, the traffic down in Lemay was insane, backed up onto the highway, and after making a wrong turn into No Man’s Land, we cut bait and headed home. I felt bad until the DAR lady who coordinated our group replied to my email telling her that we were baling by saying she had been stuck in traffic for over an hour herself. The next day she followed up to say that she had been in a traffic line for over an hour and a half just waiting to pick up the wreaths! Zut alors. The best laid plans and all that.
(KSDK.com photo)
So we went home and decorated the tree and then I took a nap.
This weekend we also watched Home Alone (1990) which never fails to entertain…
…and Hatari (1962), Howard Hawks’s wonderful movie about a diverse group of fun-loving adventurers who capture exotic animals in Africa to export to zoos all over the world.
All the actors did their own stunts and, although they thought they might die any day, they all looked like they were having a terrific time. And Henry Mancini wrote the score.
Meanwhile the wee dog is becoming acclimated to car rides and short stays at our house, not to mention watching John Wayne movies.
This is a good thing because he will be moving in with us very soon. He is a happy little fella.
At church I noticed that I am finally able to sing without setting off a coughing fit. Finally. But both daughters are sick as is precious Katiebelle who I hear is watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on demand. “More Snoopy!”
dual personalities 