Over the phone and through the mail

This Christmas finds our family spread across the country from Colorado to California. How can we continue our tradition of exchanging names when few of us will be together for the holidays?

We just won’t, I decided. It wouldn’t be the same. Besides, it would be wise in this economy to save the expense of giving and mailing. We’ll just pass this year.

No! said our eldest from across two mountain ranges. It’s being part of a family, he said, knowing that you’ve put thought and effort and love into the gifts chosen for your designated member.

“You choose,” he said over the telephone. “You and Dad put all our names in a basket, then choose for each of us and let us know.”

I thought about his words, his insistence that we should pursue the tradition regardless of position. So I wrote our names on slips of paper, eight in all including parents and children and spouses. We tossed them in a cup, picked out one at a time and sent the chosen names to each.

“I got you!,” texted one spouse to our daughter. “What do you want?” The excitement had spread already, unhindered by miles and mountain ranges.

It grew in my own spirit as I considered the one I’d chosen and what specific gift would touch that loved one’s heart. And I realized that distance had not mattered to the first Giver. How far away mankind was from the perfection and love of God! Yet He gave. Across the miles and mountains and galaxies, He sent a specifically selected and perfect gift to His chosen recipients.

Jesus: His love, our life. His living, our hope.

Merry miles-away Christmas to you this year. May you know His perfect Gift.

Heaven scent?

Roasting turkey, fresh pumpkin bread, and cinnamon-scented candles lace our home with a Thanksgiving Day perfume. It pleases me, soothes me, and fills me with a sense of well-being.

Ah - aromatherapy. Not a new concept. Asian cultures have used incense for millennia. And today we can choose fragrance in everything from coffee and candles to shampoo and detergent.

However, as a country wife I’ve had a few unpleasant aromas waft through my house, like organically generated fertilizer or the pungent perfume of a little black and white mammal - definitely the stronger of the two.

Skunks let you know when they’re in the vicinity. And they acquire a real attitude when startled or threatened - an attitude that lingers long after their departure.

Typically, I don’t think much about scent unless it pleases or displeases me; it’s the extremes that grab my attention.

Our lives have the same affect. Appreciation filters out and touches the people closest to us. It clings to those we encounter at home, at work or in rush hour traffic. So does discontent. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of those around us, and has a way of transferring from one person to the next. It sticks like skunk.

The ancient Hebrews worshipped God with aroma, giving burnt offerings as a show of thanksgiving. The Psalm writer said, “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2 NIV).

“Outdoor barbecue,” declared a friend of mine after moving her family to a southern state. Comparing those altars of old to her summertime pastime, “Heaven must smell like Texas,” she said.

It all makes me wonder what I smell like today: attitude or gratitude?

Cs save

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Sometimes Life's a Rodeo!

Thanks for checking out my recently posted photobook (see previous post), "Sometimes Life's a Rodeo." To actually READ what it says, under options check full screen, single-page view and you will be able to see the text.

This is a preview of the new devotional book I'm working on.

Thanks for reading.

My Photo Book Oct 29 2010

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Today started out great.

The earth stilled just before dawn, holding its breath as if waiting to hear the sunrise – and then everything went downhill from there.

Honestly, it had nothing to do with the day and everything to do with me.

How can I blame “the day,” labeling it good or bad based upon whether I get what I want when I want it? Like the CD my computer ate (and is still chewing on) long after a beautiful sunrise.

Prior to the CD incident I was curled up on the couch with my Bible, “listening” to what the creator of that sunrise had to say. Life interrupted, I broke my own personal rule of not turning on the computer until after my morning quiet time, and I was instantly yanked from peace and stillness into technological, information-highway road rage.

Now the dilemma: do I return to the sofa from where I can see the eastern horizon, open my Bible to the words of Jesus and let them settle into my agitated soul? Or do I pick up where I left off yesterday on a seemingly self-perpetuating stack of paperwork that HAS TO BE DONE?

The quality of my day depends upon this decision. My attitude will be affected by this decision, which will in turn affect my family and the effectiveness of my work.

I’m heading for the couch.

I recently read an intriguing novel titled Retribution ...

... by one of my favorite authors, Randy Ingermanson. A thread running through it repeats this premise: “Great sacrifice releases great power.”

Interesting concept. Could it be true? Could it be a Life Truth?

I believe it’s worthy of the test.

Psalm 50:23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

Saying “thank you” can be a sacrifice if we’re having a hard time at the moment.

And wouldn’t the salvation – deliverance, help, intervention – of God be a pretty good representation of great power?

I didn’t know I could prepare the way for God to work in my life. I didn’t know that my sacrifices of “thank you” would open the door for His power.

Wow. There's more to gratitude than I thought - especially in the wake of defeat, discouragement, illness, tragedy.

I’m not waiting until Thanksgiving.

What about you?