When Keys--and Joy--Fall Through Pocket Holes

Sometimes joy falls through a crack in our heart
like keys fall through holes in one's pocket--quite unexpectedly.

"Can you mend this pocket?" Jonathan asked me a few days ago, showing me this hole in his pocket through which his keys threaten to fall.

The hole had been growing millimeter by millimeter in that pocket
until the important keys were about to be lost.
Keys are like promises--unlocking doors of grace, hope and peace.

And the hole in Jonathan's pocket was like little cracks of doubt that start to wear away at our hearts.

Did the Lord really mean it when He said that He is the one "Who forgives all our iniquities" ?

Does He really execute "righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed."
  We doubt that He really is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy."

Doubt that He really "knoweth our frame" and remembers "that we are dust."

Lord, we ask that You would mend any holes in our pockets and hearts through which could fall through our hopes, our joys, and our faith.

In this Christmas season, thank You for Your promises.

May they remain safely in our pockets, where we can grip them in times of need.

Sam's Firemen's Christmas Dinner

Last week our family went to the Peyton Firefighter's Christmas dinner at the fire station.

I had a few pictures already in another post, but here are a few more.

The firefighter's auxiliary ladies handed out gifts to each fireman.

 Here was a gift for Sam.

 Then the ladies had gifts for each other.

This lady, the chief pancake turning lady, received a new pancake turner!

 There were lots of kids there, and they all got to choose a stuffed animal.

 What fun!

 Then we were waiting for the technical problems to be resolved so slides from the last year could be shown.

Of course, we couldn't help wondering if we would see Sam in any of the pictures. We think we recognized him in one of the photos of the barn fire where he spent hours helping. 

And then when they had photos of each of the fire men, for sure we were waiting for Sam's photo,

which turned up finally, at the very last or next to last, since he's one of the most recent volunteers.

 After the meal and slides, tables were taken down and things put back to rights so the fire trucks and ambulance could be parked back inside the fire station. Here Sam is sweeping the floor.

 Meanwhile, the ladies auxiliary was talking to  me and my girls about what the ladies' auxiliary does to help the firemen and put on these dinners a few times a year, etc.

 Maybe the girls will find ways to help in the future.

For now we are proud of Sam and so enjoyed hearing the ladies telling us stories about him,

like how he was sitting way in the back of the ambulance on the way to his first real fire, but how he kept inching closer to the door as they got nearer, until, just as they arrived, he was right at the door

ready to  jump out!

"The hero in him was coming out!" they laughed. 

Neighbor's Horses Run Away!

There they ran! 

One of our children noticed that the neighbor's horses were out a few mornings ago, running all over the prairie, tails sailing and manes flowing.

Apparently a gate had been left open, and the neighbors were gone!

I suggested just keeping an eye on the horses, because usually when they get out, they will run for a while, wherever they have a mind to, and then after a short while, they have always galloped right back to the neighbors.

However, when we saw them take off around the next property and back the easement and gallop long and far, Rose and Timmy got on a four-wheeler and took off after them. 

But sure enough, after a while, those horses came back. Straight into the gate of the neighbor's property they galloped, with just one left behind.

Rose and Timmy thought that horse may have injured its foot or leg, for it seemed that it could not quite keep up with the others. They helped coax it back toward its home.

And home it went, right with the others.

Lord, this Christmas season there are other than horses that have left home and run long and far away.

They have run from home, from church, from You.

They have left holes in parents' hearts, and empty pews at churches and vacant places around the family Christmas tree, and a Father waiting at the door longing to receive them back home. 

Search for Your sheep, Lord, those who have left the fold and run away wherever they had a mind to run.

You know why they ran. Maybe they weren't cared for. Maybe they were tired of the pens or the fences or the boredom or the other horses' kicks, or maybe they just needed challenge and adventure.
Maybe there wasn't enough green, fresh, good grass.

Maybe apron strings were never cut, but heart strings were severed over and over by neglect of expressed love, and by instead thoughtless deeds and words and attitudes that wounded over and over.
Maybe there are parents that are grieving over their mistakes, children grieving over their wilfulness.
 Bring Your runaways and your grieving ones home, this Christmas season, Lord.

Home to Your heart!
And if there be one who is lame, who wants to come home with the others but can't keep up,

be gracious to that one, too.

Let not a hoof be left behind this Christmas season!

"Here We Go a Caroling!"

Monday evening our friends the Hagertys came to go Christmas caroling with us!

Rose especially had been planning for this for weeks, getting a ribbon of bells sewed for her horse, and trying and trying to arrange a night when our friends would also be free to carol.

 It finally worked out to go a little earlier than Christmas time. The girls made cookies for hours ahead of time.

Molasses, oatmeal chip, and peanut butter cookies, and chocolate fudge1

The children were going to try to play their instruments--guitars, Carrie's violin, and Rose's mandolin.

Practicing ahead of time.

Hannah and Elizabeth--almost twins!

A quick practice through the songs before we head off.

What made it extra special this time was Rose's horse with the bells jingling!

She and the other children took turns riding that jingling horse from one neighbor to another, and we had a great time!

Our neighbors LOVED the horse's bells. 

We sang for the rancher where our children work and several other neighbors. 

Here we are singing at the home of one of the other firemen at the Peyton Fire Station where Sam was spending the night. 

The lady of the house lit up when she recognized me, and she rushed to give me a huge hug. 

She LOVED the horse and bells!

Lord, there is so much darkness in the world. 

It really didn't cost anything to drive or walk or ride a horse around the neighborhood just bringing some light and joy.

Just spreading some old fashioned cheer on a cold, dark, winter night.

"Rather than curse the darkness," we remember it being said,

"Light a candle."

And so there we were on a cold night lit only by stars and a crescent moon,

spreading a little joy and cheer!

"We may still be a sorrowful people — burdened, broken, and beaten up — but we will not be a cynical people. We are a people of hope."--Scott Hubbard of Desiring God.

Joy is Homemade--and Christ-made!

A couple weeks ago I couldn't seem to resist some Christmas decorations at Walmart, including this cute snowman sign.

The word "JOY" just really nestled right into my heart!

But when I got to the cash register, my bill sailed up and up and up.

I didn't have time at the moment to go through my stuff and decide what to put back, so I brought everything home, where a newsletter from our beloved Christian Aid Ministries sat on my desk

with stories of families in Romania, Ukraine, Haiti and other impoverished countries.

Families with little or no food, clothes, or heat for the terrible cold.
And how a gift of about $50 would provide a box of food for such families.

And here I had just spent more than that on mere Christmas decorations for my porch, plus others for inside.That snowman one above was about $20 by itself.

I had a bit of a struggle over that. I really liked what I had bought. I don't very often allow myself to spend much money on house or Christmas decoration. I wanted to learn to decorate better,and find meaningful, tasteful and Christ-honoring decorations this year. So what could I do? Could I have decorations and send money to a poor family, too?
Well, I decided to ask Timmy if he could make me a decoration something like the one from Walmart, so I could take the expensive one back. And he and I together got this one made for free, with a couple boards from a pallet, a thin board that he jigsawed for the head, and some paint!

I was completely happy with this homemade rendition.

I decided that really it was the word "JOY" that had captivated me on that one from Walmart,and not the felt hat or scarf or felt boots or felt face.

Yes, it was the word "JOY" most of all!

I realized I have that word on Christmas decorations this year all through the house.

But somehow, the longer I keep and use all these decorations, the less they mean to me--because really joy doesn't come from these material things.


The snowman Walmart decoration is going back to Walmart, along with a bag of other things that I decided I really didn't need.
Because we can have joy without a lot of stuff!
I had quite a few things at home already, some from years past and some given me from my sister Joella who was getting rid of some blue Christmas decorations when we visited her in Missouri last time, and some home made or from the goodwills.

A few nights ago when I was up late because my heart was hurting, I read these words of joy:"Fear not," the angel said. "For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy..."
The words stood out to me like never before. They were God's words.
"Good tidings! Great Joy!"

And what made them even more joyful was that they would be "for all people"!

"That means you!" the Holy Spirit whispered to me.

These words of joy were for all people--and that means you and me.

Not to some spiritually elite group of people.
Not past, not future, but for you and me now, in this present moment,

however painful or joyful it is--

the good news is that we have "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!"

Oh, how we need a Savior!

"Old Testament tabernacle and priests and sacrifices were shadows. Now the reality has come, and the shadows pass away... Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing."--John Piper

Christmas--the time of tidings of comfort and joy!

A Savior has come!