Advent Post 2

Today I’m thinking about a lot of things. It is the day before the 3^rd Sunday of Advent, Saturday. With the season cranking up to a fever pitch, I begin to long for a quiet place of rest and peace…just for a minute. But if your world is like mine, it is difficult to find.

The small Advent calendar has been marking the days with tiny slips of the Word. They are meant to cheer us, meant to illumine our time of waiting, and meant to drop into our consciousness a bit of the real meaning of the season.

Today’s bit is striking me with both longing and joy. That Jesus will make me a house. I do long for the day when my house, my home will be exactly complete. A place where peace is easy to find, and joy is there for the taking; no more sorrow, no more ache, no more giving people up to death. Praise God for the sweet baby that God sent for us, for he has made all the difference!

I believe, do you?

Amen!

A Day Off

Today I am spending time in my other home. Ed and I have a home in Morganton that we purchased when we got married back in 1989. At the time is was our dream home, a small brick cottage with both a half-finished basement downstairs for Ed’s “man-cave” and a 2^nd story studio space for my meanderings. (That is where my doctoral thesis was rendered, papers and poetry written and many, many books consumed.)  Our home has always been a safe haven for me. It is a quiet place of rest and relaxation, and I am always refreshed when I come away from here.

Today it is raining softly. I love the sound of the rain on the tree leaves, and how they shiver when the drops tick through them. Our home is basically in a wooded area, and so we have never had much of a lawn to speak of. Grass and flower just don’t grow here for lack of sun, but moss is plentiful.  It forms a soft green carpet over much of the yard. The English ivy we got from Ed’s grandmother, Knoxie, thrives and has taken over a great portion of our back yard. Yet Ed still has to mow the weeds down that pop up in the shady yard.

Behind our home is a steep hill of woods that go down to a small creek. Beyond is a tree nursery, and in the winter and fall, we can see the rolling rows of shrubs, hemlocks, and boxwoods which stay green all year. When we had Toby, his greatest pleasure was to bounce down the hill with Ed or me behind him to the fields of the nursery, or into the irrigation pond on a hot day. I miss that good boy every time I come home.

The neighborhood has not changed much since 1989. Only about 4 new homes in the subdivision. Our street is a dead end, so we don’t get much traffic, just the mail carrier, Jehovah Witnesses who love a dead end street, and the occasional lost soul.

I am so thankful for this little space in the world where I can be. I love a day off when I come to my home to rest and recharge. Ministry is always waiting to be done, but for today, it must wait. Ummm…unless there is an emergency of course.

 

 

But those who trust the Lord will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired. (Isaiah 40:31 CEV)