As Barnabas Piper says, “There is nothing magical or super spiritual about reading the Bible in a year. But there is something super wise and spiritual about prioritizing the reading of the Bible. And every Christian should read the entire Bible.”
Here is a list of some different Bible Reading plans for 2025.
Yesterday I caught up with my Bible reading plan (the Chronological Bible Reading Plan) and finished Revelation. Tomorrow I start a new plan–the 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan–which I have done before and liked. Having a plan and following through with it has been an anchor in my spiritual life now for three years. I highly recommend it.
Try it or don’t–it’s up to you–but you might like it!
“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
*From “Year’s End” by Richard Wilbur; read the whole poem here.
Did you have a merry Christmas? We did. We celebrated with family here on Christmas eve and Christmas and then went to the prairie for more Christmas there. We also checked out the PCA church in Urbana, and we liked it. I cried through the first hymn, so par for the course. Katie said she was a little bored at the end, but what four-year old enjoys a 30-minute sermon? She held her depravity in check like a trouper. Everyone was very friendly and nice.
Also, the boy and his family moved into their new house!
Unfortunately, I thought I had figured out how to move forward with WordPress, but it seems not, and I am still struggling with photos. So no postcards from our flyover Christmas. C’est la vie. I’ll keep working on it.
Anyway, this is an oldie but a goodie:
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” (Rev. 19:6)
And this lady makes me laugh. I am in total agreement with her RESOLUTIONS FOR 2025:
I resolve to pray for the health, safety, and wisdom of our President and his team every single day. They can’t do it alone, folks. We have to fight fight fight. Give in on NOTHING. Only “reach across the aisle” to give somebody a noogie.
I resolve never again to “diet” in whatever life is left to me. I will move more, stress less, eat healthily, but never eschew any particular food if it brings me joy. Life is short and getting shorter by the day. Like me.
That’s it. 2025 cannot come soon enough, particularly January 20th. God Bless us every one! God Bless America!
As alluded to yesterday, I am experiencing technical problems with inserting photos on my blog. As it is Christmas Eve, I do not feel like dealing with this problem, so I will be on hiatus for awhile until I can figure this out. Bah humbug, but c’est la vie.
While you’re waiting for Santa to arrive, here’s an interesting article about the Three Kings.
I think this writer is very funny and this post about the “outrageous erasure of women” is right on.
And this is a really good explanation of Total Depravity, a fundamental tenet of Reformed theology.
On Friday Mr. Smith got a shampoo while daughter #1 and I got a glass of wine nearby, after which the OM brought home Chick-fil-A and we watched The Bishop’s Wife (1947). The weekend took off from there. Daughter #2 arrived on Saturday morning along with DN and the prairie girls who were ready to party …
We got dressed up…
…and went to a Christmas party at daughter #1’s house…I would share more photos but WordPress is not cooperating with me so I can’t share them. C’est la vie. Hopefully I can figure this out, but for now…
Well, after last week’s illness, I am back! I picked up a virus that caused laryngitis and couldn’t make a sound for four days! Mr. Smith ran amuck with no one to tell him “No!” in a stern voice. The doctor gave me steroids to make my voice come back and thankfully, the course ends today.
I’ve wanted to do one of those “Morning Routine as a Corporate Girly” videos you see on Instagram all the time because my house is seriously so cozy in the morning. Don’t worry, the amount of effort it would take to record myself walking down the stairs and then repositioning the camera to catch me turning on the lights and making my coffee etc. keeps me from doing so. That, and the sight of myself pre-getting ready for the day.
When I’m sitting on the couch, in my cozy house, decorated for Christmas, with a mug of hot coffee in my hands, and my puppydog who is getting to be very sweet as he matures out of puppyhood sitting on my lap, it is difficult not to feel incredibly grateful. The year has not been without its hardships, of course, but as we approach the final week and a half of the year, I know I am so blessed to be where I am. I hope you feel the same about your lives!
It should come as no surprise that I am looking forward to a holiday break. I am taking two weeks off from work (barring major disaster). Hallelujah! And to include one last Richard Scarry meme before the end of year, I will be channeling BusyTown vibes during this time.
Just kidding, I don’t have any enemies.
I know my mother already included a bit from the last chapter of A Christmas Carol, but I want to include some too.
“Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. He own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.”
What would Christmas be without the Lucille Rapp Dancing School Recital? It was short and sweet and the bud, who was sitting next to me, dubbed it “nicely done!”. He was impressed with the gymnastic abilities of the girls. Also their beauty–“Pretty!”
Yesterday I also attended the Covenant School’s Christmas Chapel rehearsal–all church members had been invited, so I went. I enjoyed it very much. My favorite part was when the 4th, 5th and 6th graders sang “Away in the Manger” while accompanying themselves on ukuleles.
The Kindergarteners belting out “Amazing Grace” while the 1st graders accompanied them with bells was also very special. Not to mention the 2nd and 3rd graders singing “Silent Night” in German! And the whole school reciting Luke 2:8-14 from memory…
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
…Well, it was all pretty sweet and I admit I may have needed a Kleenex once or twice.
In other news, the boy and his family closed on their new house yesterday and will move on Saturday! Prayers all around for an easy and smooth transition. It will be another super busy weekend with daughter #2 coming into town with her family to attend daughter #1’s Christmas party. And DN will pick up the Mini Cooper and drive it home. More prayers for travel mercies!
Today we toast my darling sister on her birthday. We have been together through thick and thin. Now we are both old retired ladies, trying to stay healthy and keep out of trouble.
I enjoy watching Katie and Ida as they navigate the rocky road of sisterhood. (And watching them watching Betty and Judy singing about “Sisters”!)
I pray that they will stay as devoted to each other as my sister and I, and though the miles may divide them, they will stay in close touch.
*“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.”
(“Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti; read the poem here.)
And I thought this post by Ann, wherein she links to another post on X, is excellent on the subject of keeping the Christmas feast in a wayward and dark world. Read the whole thing.
“He went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed of any walk, that anything, could give him so much happiness.”
–Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843
So much happiness!
The drawing is by Quentin Blake (b. 1932), illustrator, Quentin Blake’s A Christmas Carol, 1995
We’re nearing the home stretch…but it rained all day Saturday which dampened everyone’s holiday spirits. We were grateful, however, that it was rain and not ice or snow. And we got the tree up!
It was a group effort. The boy came over Thursday evening to carry the tree in from the garage and put it in the stand. The OM and I strung the lights on Saturday morning. And daughter #1 came over after her DAR luncheon to help decorate it. Ain’t it lovely?
I missed the DAR luncheon because I had to go to our Historical Society Christmas party and membership meeting. It was actually quite fun. The house looked beautiful and festive. Of course, I didn’t take any pictures. C’est la vie.
The boy and his famille were in Kansas City this weekend, so the OM and I sat alone in church. They missed a good sermon on the Mosaic Covenant, some great hymns and solos, and a fantastic adult ed class, continuing on the angels and demons theme. The teacher even referenced Hermann Bavinck (see Friday’s post). I am learning a lot. My Bible Study leader made a really good and astute comment during the class and I told her so afterwards, and she said, “It was the Holy Spirit, not me”. Once again, I am humbled and grateful to be among these people.
We watched three Christmas movies: Home Alone (1992), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)…
and White Christmas (1954), the latter on the big screen! We enjoyed them all.
What an absolute treat to see White Christmas on the big screen! In recliners! Can’t believe it wasn’t sold out! For the 50th time, it was great. And I had to laugh thinking of little Ida watching it for the first time at home on her TV and running to get her tambourine during the “Mandy” number! Perfect!
Have a good Monday, watch an old movie, feel the joy, read some poetry:
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly-minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.
King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood; He will give to all the faithful His own self for heav’nly food.
Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way, As the Light of light descendeth From the realms of endless day, That the pow’rs of hell may vanish As the darkness clears away.
At His feet the six-winged seraph, Cherubim with sleepless eye, Veil their faces to the presence, As with ceaseless voice they cry: “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Lord Most High!”
Liturgy of St. James, 5th century (adapted by Gerard Moultrie, 1864)
It is Friday, but daughter #1 has been sick at home all week, so I am posting. It has been a busy week, but I have managed to check off a lot of items on my to-do list. I even got my hair cut!
Today we toast Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), who was a significant Dutch Calvinist theologian and churchman. I had not heard of Bavinck before joining a reformed church, but I appreciate him now. In my church we have several children named Calvin, and even a Kuyper and a Dietrich, but so far no Hermans or Bavincks. He is, however, a worthy candidate in that department.
“The conclusion, therefore, is that of Augustine, who said that the heart of man was created for God and that it cannot find rest until it rests in his Father’s heart. Hence all men are really seeking after God, as Augustine also declared, but they do not all seek Him in the right way, nor at the right place. They seek Him down below, and He is up above. They seek Him on the earth, and He is in heaven. They seek Him afar, and He is nearby. They seek Him in money, in property, in fame, in power, and in passion; and He is to be found in the high and the holy places, and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit (Isa. 57:15). But they do seek Him, if haply they might feel after Him and find Him (Acts 17:27). They seek Him and at the same time they flee Him. They have no interest in a knowledge of His ways, and yet they cannot do without Him. They feel themselves attracted to God and at the same time repelled by Him.
In this, as Pascal so profoundly pointed out, consists the greatness and the miserableness of man. He longs for truth and is false by nature. He yearns for rest and throws himself from one diversion upon another. He pants for a permanent and eternal bliss and seizes on the pleasures of a moment. He seeks for God and loses himself in the creature. He is a born son of the house and he feeds on the husks of the swine in a strange land. He forsakes the fountain of living waters and hews out broken cisterns that can hold no water ( Jer. 2:13). He is as a hungry man who dreams that he is eating, and when he awakes finds that his soul is empty; and he is like a thirsty man who dreams that he is drinking, and when he awakes finds that he is faint and that his soul has appetite (Isa. 29:8).
Science cannot explain this contradiction in man. It reckons only with his greatness and not with his misery, or only with his misery and not with his greatness. It exalts him too high, or it depresses him too far, for science does not know of his Divine origin, nor of his profound fall. But the Scriptures know of both, and they shed their light over man and over mankind; and the contradictions are reconciled, the mists are cleared, and the hidden things are revealed. Man is an enigma whose solution can be found only in God.” ― Herman Bavinck, Our Reasonable Faith: A Survey of Christian Doctrine
Have a good weekend! Read some theology!
In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12: 1-3)
dual personalities 