Angels Among Us

No three wise man here, but three angels. And they are not Charlie's Angels, they are Ginny's Angels! O.K., enough with the word play. I made these angels over six years ago. I made them out of card stock cardboard, which I then decorated with markers and colored pencils, and added some adornments like buttons, ribbons, and hair. I thought they turned out well, although they don't seem to look quite right anywhere in the house. So here they perch on a high kitchen shelf for now, looking down on me as I slip, spill, cut, and burn. I have posted them as part of a month long Christmas link up on creative seasonal items over at RACHEL COTTERILL'S blog. She has a lovely blog, do drop in if you have the time. I happen to believe that there are real angels watching us, and not just in the kitchen. And God also uses us to be his angels here on earth. So when you open your door to visitors this holiday season, be sure to be very inviting, you never know who they may really be.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2

Curious to know who entertained angels and how it happened?

Read Genesis 18:1 - Judges 6:11 - Judges 13:2

Reflections

Here are some lights to get you in the mood for Christmas. These are all double images, they are reflected in water. The pictures are from a botanical garden in Richmond. They have many acres of lights and they put up different ones every year. It takes a year to do it. These are from last Christmas, I'm hoping to go again this December. I can't wait!

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12

Anticipation

This is a look of anticipation if ever there was one. Little Ella is wanting something, and waiting to see if she'll get it. See the brightness in her eyes, she is almost holding her breath in expectation. New studies have shown that for most people, the expectation of something is much better than the thing itself. Who knew? It's not surprising, though. The bigger a buildup there is to something, the more likely it is that the thing itself will fall short. Once something fun is over, we wish we had it to look forward to again. We all need something good to look forward to, or anticipate. Can you remember something you had great anticipation for that didn't turn out to be near as good as you'd hoped? Here is something that Abraham anticipated that I think did not fall short, perhaps it would be even better than he could have imagined.

"By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:9

Streets Of Fire

So many of the trees have turned red in the last few weeks, they almost take my breath away. The streets are on fire with beauty. And though these leaves are dying, they shout for joy.

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and the trees of the field will clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12

There Are No Orphans Of God

There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah
There are no orphans of God.


This is the story of our four year old granddaughter Anne Marie. Our son and daughter-in-law went to the other side of the world to get her. They rescued her from an orphanage, a sick and sad baby. Her only toys were a pair of spoons, and it took quite a while to get her to smile. The first three pictures show her while still in China. The rest of the pictures are what she has become with love and care. Our son and daughter-in-law are amazing parents full of patience, love, and common sense. To watch her blossom has been an amazing thing. My video is a georgous song called "There Are No Orphans Of God". Watch it if you have the time. If not, that's fine as well. There are so many orphans all over the world, and so many people who would love to rescue them, but are prevented by bureaucracy, red tape, and restrictions. Human lives should not be reduced to paperwork and rules. Fortunately we are freed from legalism with God, so there really are no orphans of God.


"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
John 14:18

The Thanksgiving That Wasn't

I hope all of my wonderful followers had a splendid Thanksgiving! We were unable to get together with our family because of being ill and contagious, so I will tell you about our Thanksgiving that wasn't. For something that wasn't, it was pretty good!! We had all planned to go to the Chinese Orphanage program at a local church Wednesday evening. Son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter all went and these are the pictures they took. They dressed Anne in her Chinese dress and had a wonderfully touching evening with beautiful children and music. I enjoyed seeing what I missed. While they were there without us, a friend dropped by and gave us these beautiful flowers and fruit basket!! Then today, more friends called and prayed for us over the phone. Our son came by and dropped off two plates of their home cooked Thanksgiving meal, so yummy! Thank you to my wonderful daughter-in-law, Melissa!!! Then at the end of the day, our little granddaughter called to tell us she missed and loved us. Like I said, for something that never happened, this was a pretty good Thanksgiving!!

"...giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Colossians 1:12

His Love Endures Forever

Happy Thanksgiving to all my faithful followers, I am so thankful for all of you!! I went to the doctor today. I was diagnosed with a bad bacterial infection, and have been put on super strong anti-biotics. Hubby is ill, too. So we have had to cancel all our Thanksgiving plans. Our son will be dropping off some plates of homemade Thanksgiving dinner, so we will be well fed and I won't have to cook. I am praising God and feeling very blessed right now because I was able to get an appointment with a good doctor right before the holiday. God knew my need and provided! I should be feeling better in no time! So here I give you two sets of pictures. The first is our granddaughter on Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. She decided to get inside the turkey roasting pan and use it for a boat. As you can see, this tickled her to no end!! The second set of pictures is from just a few days ago. Ella had her toy pot and vegetables, and decided to roast ME for Thanksgiving. She covered me with the vegatables, and put a lid on me to simmer, then laughed uproariously!! And really, is there anything sweeter or more delicious than little girls?

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

The Sky In One Day

I took all of these pictures on one afternoon and evening a few days ago. We were driving along, and I noticed the sun was setting. So we found a good place to stop and just watch the sky for awhile. Stops like this always make me late for things, but I am so much more enriched and uplifted.

"For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night." Psalm 90:4

P.S. I got so many questions about my wedding cake that I decided to answer them here. Thanks for your interest! The rum was in the cake, none was in the frosting. We didn't know till we smelled and tasted it at the reception. It was very strong, but we quickly decided to say nothing, and that decision worked well. The speciality of the bakery was a rum wedding cake. But when I went there to order it, I stressed NO rum, and watched them write it on the order. My guess is that the baker looked at the order, and all he saw was the word rum. I never complained to the bakery or asked for my money back. I was very young, and just glad that we had escaped a bad incident with no one the wiser!

Let Them Eat Cake

In yesterday's post, I promised you my wedding cake story, so here it is. I have mentioned before that we are Mennonites, and my old church where I got married was extremly conservative. As you can see, all the women wore head coverings. Not just in church, but all the time. The Amish come from the Mennonites. If you want to learn a bit more, you can click HERE. The picture of me looking in the mirror, see the long sleeves of my wedding dress? Those sleeves had been sheer see-through chiffon. But upper arms had to be completely covered, so my mom had to line the sleeves. Anyway, you get the idea of how very plain and conservative this church was. Well, by some horrible mishap, the wedding cake was soaked in RUM! Yes, not only was it ugly, but sinful as well. I was prepared for big trouble, at the very least a stern talk from the pastor. But here's the funny part. I soon realized that none of these people had ever tasted rum or any other kind of spirits, so they had no idea what this strange new flavor WAS! There were remarks that it was certainly unusual, they couldn't quite put their finger on it. But they kept coming back for more and having a better time the more they ate! Yes, that night they were spirit filled in more than one way.

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for eveything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:18

Nuncrackers

On Friday, we went ot see the play "Nuncrackers". It is based almost entirely on the broadway play "Nunsense". There were only five cast members, playing a priest and four nuns. It's about a group of nuns trying to put on a televised Christmas show in the basement of the convent. Mishaps abound, including getting drunk while making the fruitcake recipe. It was remarked that if Eve had put the apple in a fruitcake, Adam would have never eaten it, and we would all be living in Paradise. (Speaking of getting drunk on fruitcake, in my next post I will relate the disaster that happened with my own wedding cake.) The nuns dressed up as The Village People for one number, and they also put tutus over their habits and performed the Nuncracker Ballet. We had front row seats, which is why I was able to get such good pictures. The cast interacted with the audience and gave out silly prizes. I didn't get a door prize, but I had already been given the gift of an evening of laughter, better than any of the prizes.

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven."

Luke 6