Thursday, December 1, 2011

Another Rainy Monday

"The Sky is low--the Clouds are mean" here for the fourth consecutive day (Emily Dickinson, #1075). Allen calls this cold, wet, grey, blustery sort of day "London weather," though neither of us has ever been there. Before I even woke this morning (and we wake early around here), a text message of another in a series of hard eucharisteos for a loved one had arrived. Saturday an email brought news of an even harder trust for a friend's child.

Even so, inexplicably except for grace, the word upon my heart today is "glad." This is a day made by the Lord. Nature may be "caught/Without her Diadem," but He is not. God is on His throne; His grace is sure; His love endures forever. Therefore, I can rejoice and be glad.

Warm blankets, hot tea, a snuggle puppy, and Christmas tree lights don't hurt, either.
Sorry for the photo rerun. Minor technical difficulties with the video I intended.
Today I'm also returning thanks to God for the last week of His blessings:
Advent/Christmas carols;
the wise guys men a-wandering about the house;
Allen laughing with me over an old Dick Van Dyke Show episode, even though there were no explosions;
winning a blog giveaway for the first time ever;
our favorite kennel closing unexpectedly, opportunity to look up for guidance again;
lunch with my mother and a friend who is a sister in Christ and in chronic illness;
the fellowship of Christ's suffering;
Allen fetching me frozen yogurt;
another transformative message from Joni Eareckson Tada;
the patience of my First Husband: "Many a time a believer will put himself out of humour with the Lord for some slight turn in providence, but our precious Husband knows our silly hearts too well to take any offence at our ill manners" (Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, "Morning, December 3");
a marriage book I've been wanting, now available in Kindle format;
enjoying a family movie night with much less back discomfort than the last attempt in August;
desire fulfilled to give a pig to a needy family;
no new issues to report from my lupus checkup;
continued resting, waiting, managing chest pain until God decides to take it away;
He didn't drop any stitches when He knit me together, no matter how things appear (Psalm 139:13, HCSB).
(from the gratitude list, #2336-2354)


Giving thanks in community with the others at Ann's...

17 comments:

  1. Linking up right after you on Multitudes on Mondays - your post was so uplifting and positive, even amidst some hard times experienced. Thanks for spreading His Joy and Love! Especially liked this: "This is a day made by the Lord. Nature may be "caught/Without her Diadem," but He is not." May your day (and week) be filled with special gifts and surprises from Him!

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  2. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words. May our kind Father grant your prayer for yourself as well. It's lovely to meet you.

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  3. Sweet refreshment amid the grayness! Thanks, and God bless.

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  4. Thanks and God bless *you* too, Sylvia.

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  5. The posture of your heart before Him allows you to find Joy everywhere you look--what a blessing your lists are . . .

    We got about 6 inches of snow!!!!! :)

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  6. first off, nothing wrong with reprising a picture of a dog that cute! also, at least for someone who spent much of his youth in places like connecticut and upstate new york, tho' london is not infrequently grey, it's almost never cold. it's the fifth of december, and the azaleas are in bloom in our front yard, and the honeysuckle in our back yard. ok, it's been a mild autumn, but not spectacularly so: live oaks, olive trees, palms, and all sorts of other trees or plants that grow in (say) Austin (TX) but would never make it in connecticut or new york state are quite happy in london.
    the dampness might make it feel a bit colder than it is (windyness is much less of a factor than, say, in Chicago), but the same gulf-stream that keeps us damp-ish generally keeps up warm-ish the whole year through: typically (tho' not invariably), i mow the lawn almost every month of the year, 'cause it grows right through the winter.

    probably more than you needed to know about our weather--i just feel that London, which has a hugely more liveable climate than New York City, or Chicago, or Milan, or Turin (to take some cities whose climate i'm familiar with) has an unfairly bad climactic reputation...

    rejoicing in your glad-heartedness, and praying about the hard things you're going through--

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  7. hi again--

    sorry to post twice, but after having seen it i i just wanted to say that the Joni Eareckson Tada video is *wonderful*--thank you for the link!

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  8. Thank you, Anne. Did you really have snow? We had just over 4 inches of rain here but won't reach freezing temperatures until tonight. The snow was probably on your children's gratitude lists, if they have them, even though they don't get snow days off from school. Blessings to you, friend.

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  9. Azaleas and honeysuckle in December? We don't even have that here in north Texas, though we do have live oaks in plenty. One large live oak lives in our front yard; I haven't measured him yet but ought to. Of course, "cold" is a relative term with reference to the weather. Today our afternoon high temp is 40F but with 20mph north winds. (I read once that Dallas is actually windier than Chicago.) That is cold for us in early December but might be considered balmy by the folks in, say, Wisconsin or Toronto. Thankfully, we do not have to mow the lawn through the winter.

    The hardest things right now belong to loved ones rather than to me myself. Thank you for your prayers! I'm glad you enjoyed Joni's message. She, or I suppose Christ in her, amazes me. Grace and peace to you in Jesus, friend.

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  10. What a blessing for each of us to have a warm place to rest. I wish we could drink tea together and talk. I love you.

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  11. Such beautiful thanksgivings, Christina. I especially love your final blessing: "He didn't drop any stitches when He knit me together." That gives me peace. Blessings, friends.

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  12. I'd like to join the tea and talking along with you and Brandee:) I love how the Holy Spirit has given you gladness in the midst of the hard. There will always be the hard while we're here, but to have the gift of being glad in the Lord and his gifts is such a testimony. Thank you for sharing peace and joy here. Blessings and continued prayers for that chest pain.

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  13. Your persistence in thanksgiving regardless of circumstances always lifts my heart. I love, love, love the "no dropped stitches" analogy! How often we with broken bodies must remind ourselves that God made us and knew us before we even drew breath--and our bodies may be broken, but God, He's always known the life we'd live and the Glory He'd bring through all our weakness. Praying for Grace to live out His Glory in bodies in need of healing--for both of us.

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  14. That would be a treat. Love you too!

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  15. Thank you, Lisa. Blessings to you too!

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  16. Thank you for your gracious words. It does my heart good to know you find peace and joy here. You are right about gladness being a gift. Thank you ever so for your prayers. Someday, that cup of tea... or maybe a whole pot with tiers of pastries and tiny sandwiches. Blessed Advent to you, friend.

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  17. Amen to all you write and to your prayer. Isn't it funny how one little word choice by translators (in this case, "knit me together") can trigger a whole new line of pondering? Or maybe that's just me. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Grace and Glory--yes! Prayer of love and blessing to you, friend.

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Thank you for sharing your day with me! Your presence here is a gift. *You* are a gift. Right now I am unable to reply to every comment, but please know I read and pray for each and every commenter. Grace and peace to you in Christ.