Nature Note - Hungry Birds

Black-capped chickadee in our backyard

Minus eleven degrees at our place early this morning with ample starlight soon merging with dawn's cheery sunshine. Black-capped chickadees visit the bird feeder, filled with black-oil sunflower seeds, throughout the day. Juncos and gray squirrels compete for the fallout on the ground.

Today's windchill is brutal: minus twenty degrees. Venturing outside for longer than a few minutes means cold toes and a cold nose. Wisely, the hens remain in their coop. The car protests a bit but starts and chugs along in the cold. I guess the operating word for today is: cold.

Let's Pause . . .

And the angel said unto them, fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10 KJV

For many, presents have been unwrapped amid smiles, oohs and aahs, and contented sighs. The Christmas feast is a fond memory of filling plates with flavors and the fellowship of family and friends.

In this season of merrymaking, let's pause and remember that the gift of Christ is still the best gift of all.

Let's pray for those whose hearts are still far from God. Let's pray for those who are experiencing the loss of a friend or family member and spending their first holiday season without them. Let's pray for the ill and injured. Let's pray for the homeless, the unemployed, or those struggling with addiction. Let's turn our hearts toward God and welcome the peace that only Jesus can provide:

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV

Nature Note - Dark-eyed Juncos

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." Genesis 1:20 (NIV)

Over the weekend a small flock of juncos joined the daily round of backyard visits from the hungry mourning doves, gray squirrels, black-capped chickadees, and blue jays that feed at our bird-feeding station.

Occasionally I catch a flash of quick movement outside a window. When I investigate more times than not several juncos have flown in and settled themselves in one of their newly established foraging sites: beneath the hemlocks in front of our house or beneath the wisteria vine or the winterberry bush.

Juncos are common ground feeders and eat various seeds. They also pick at the cracked corn we sprinkle on the snow beneath the bird-feeder.

Juncos are modest, industrious birds intent on staying well-fed in the cold and avoiding casualties with our cat that watches them from his warm perch on the kitchen table. I imagine he swishes his tail because he's daydreaming about the possibility of bird-hunting mischief. Thankfully, all birds quickly take flight the moment he appears outside. 

Faith & Keepsakes

In addition to my Prayers & Gratitudes journal, I maintain a keepsake box designated for special mementos that connect me with my faith and my church family. When I'm feeling down, I brew myself a cup of lemon-ginger tea and sift through the box's contents: greeting cards, newspaper clippings, special occasion bulletins, bookmarks, poems, magazine articles, bits of ribbon, ornaments, clippings from church bulletins, and photographs.

My baptism certificate lies at the bottom of the box. Cradling it in my hands reminds me of my commitment to a new life in Christ, providing the spiritual lift I need.

Where do you store mementos of your faith journey and walk with God?

Prayers & Gratitudes

I will call on you, O God, for you will answer me, give ear to me, and hear my prayer.

- Psalm 17:6 (NIV)

Each night, before I turn down the blankets on my bed, I record my prayers and 5 things that have blessed me during the day into my "Prayers & Gratitudes" journal. I don't fret about spelling or punctuation or neatly filling in the lines.

First, I list prayers for others (2-footed, 4-footed, and those with fins and wings). I include prayers for myself and our fallen world desperately in need of God's justice. My prayers contain thanksgiving, petition, repentance, and lamentations. After all, a pretty journal doesn't guarantee pretty thoughts. Occasionally (often) entries veer off into whiny complaints before I steer my words to more positive pursuits.

Writing prayers keeps them real and close to my heart. I can flip back and forth between pages and note where and when a prayer has been answered or is "still pending." I can see growth (or need for growth) in my faith journey and walk with the Lord. 

Gratitudes keep me humble. I'm reminded not to take my life or the relationships within it for granted. Usually I write down more than 3 items, whether it's gratitude for a hot mug of cider or God's Word to guide me through each day's challenges.

My day doesn't feel complete until I've named my prayers and blessings. Writing calms my body, disciplines my thoughts, and keeps my focus on God - where I desire it to be. The writing takes 5-15 minutes, which is no longer than time spent washing my face and brushing my teeth. I leave the day behind on the page and at God's ear. Only then do I turn out the bedside lamp and rest in God's hands with this going to sleep verse: I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8 (NIV) 

Have you considered keeping a Prayers & Gratitudes journal? Perhaps this Advent season would be a good time to begin one.

One Thing Christmas

So - I stared into the storage box where we keep our Christmas ornaments: a motley cache of snow people, red ribbons, wooden snowflakes, silver bells, birds, angels, felted creatures of every hoof and claw, and small bibelots of every color and hue. Not, I thought, and put the box away again.

This year I chose to do something different. I wanted decorations that would express my faith and place my love of God on display for friends and family to see. I wanted to remain with our traditional white lights and the blue and gold theme of our Christmas wreath. After a fruitless online search for "Christian ornaments," I decided to make my own using gingerbread salt dough.

First, the baking. Gingerbread salt dough is super easy to handle. I used two styles of star cookie cutters: one traditional and one country. A straw worked well to cut holes in the dough for hanging later.

                       

Next, the decorating. Puffy paint clumps easily and requires patience and a quick yet steady hand. I made a few errors, but I knew God wouldn't mind.

Lastly, placement on the tree.

Gingerbread Salt Dough Recipe

(makes about 20-22 ornaments)

Important Note: These ornaments are inedible.

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

4 Tablespoons cinnamon. Add more or less, depending on how dark you want the ornaments to look.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine all ingredients together in a medium-size bowl. Mix well. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface a minute or two to make sure the dough has a smooth consistency. Add a little more flour if the dough feels sticky. 

Lightly coat the dough with flour and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. The dough won't rise while baking. Cut into shapes and cut a small hole with a drinking straw. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make sure the side you want to decorate lies face-down. Bake for 2-3 hours or until completely dry. Mine baked for just over 2 hours - ovens vary. Also, after an hour the dough started to bubble a bit so I decreased the heat to 225 degrees. However, I liked the bubbling effect because it gave the ornaments an interesting textured surface.

Allow ornaments to dry completely before decorating. I used white puffy paint from a local craft store. Puffy paint requires ample time for drying too. To finish, I gently applied brush-on glitter onto the stars' points for some sparkle. I hung the ornaments using green metal hangers to blend in with the tree's green needles. Ribbon or twine could add color as well. 

Nature Note - Venus

Image: www.nasa.gov

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth (Psalm 8:3-4, 9 NIV). 

The planet Venus is visible at sunrise and sunset on the southeastern horizon. Because of its appearance at dawn and dusk, the ancient Greeks thought Venus was two different planets and gave it two names: Phosphorus ("morning star") and Hesperus ("evening star"). Venus is the second planet from the sun and one of the most easily recognized sights in the sky because of its brightness. Only the sun and moon shine brighter.

On clear mornings, I walk at daybreak and Venus never fails to dazzle me with its beacon light shining amid a galaxy of stars. My mind can not grasp the reach of our infinite universe. It doesn't need to, for I can grasp God's infinite, wondrous display of his creativity as it shines above and around me here on planet earth.

Thank you, Holy God, for sharing your artistry with us as we gaze at the sky, day or night, and reflect on your vast universe. Please lead us in being grateful stewards of what you have given us. Amen.

Singing Worship & Faith

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8 (NIV).

Advent season is a time of patient waiting for Jesus' birth and preparing our hearts and minds for his arrival. Advent is also an opportunity to draw closer to God through prayer, reading the Bible, studying the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) personal reflection, and fellowship with other believers within a faith community. 

Another way to draw closer to God is to sing your worship and faith. 

This year, I suggest adding Biblical songs to your playlist of traditional Christmas carols that might include "Let It Snow," "Frosty the Snowman," and "Jingle Bells."  

Consider the following possibilities:      

• Elizabeth's song in the Bible - sometimes called the Beatitude (Luke 1:42-45)
• Mary's song - the Magnificat (verses 46-55)
• The angel's announcement to the shepherds (Luke 2:10-12), followed by the Gloria of the angel chorus (2:14).

If this year your Advent season is stained with media marketing overload, stress, holiday expectations, financial pressures, or other trials, taking time to sing a song of praise and hope will help center your heart in Christmas. 

Loving Jesus, you are our peace. Please prepare our hearts and minds for your coming. Amen.

Verses can be read at www.biblegateway.com.

What is your favorite Christmas hymn? Do you sing it often in a spirit of worship and faith?

Early Christmas Blessing

Fun surprises are always welcome at our place. The husband and I received an early Christmas blessing in the mail: festive place mats created and sewn by my mother-in-law, Annette.

Nature Note - Barred Owl

A Barred owl sighting in our yard - winter 2016

A nearby Barred owl's hoots ("Hoo-hoo-ho, hoo-hoo-ho-hooaw) ("Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?") kept me company during my morning walk. Otherwise, dawn arrived clear, cold, and frosty at twenty-six degrees.

A pair of Barred owls graciously share their woodlot with us. We often hear them at night but seldom see them. They snooze during the day and hunt small rodents at night. Last winter's sighting was a rare delight. 

Same sighting.

A Wreath, Gold, and Hope

For you are my hope, O Lord God. Psalm 71:5a (KJV)

When I was a child, my parents didn't hang a Christmas wreath on our front door. I can only speculate that as dairy farmers they were too busy working in order to support our family, pay frequent vet bills, and purchase the firewood necessary to heat our old, drafty farmhouse to a tolerable temperature. A wreath would dry out. Its dead needles would lie scattered across the doorstep by March and tracked into the house by my brother and me, displeasing our mother. A wreath wasn't a priority in the scheme of our farm life. 

Hanging a wreath on my own front door marks this pre-Advent week for me. The circle of the wreath's body matches the circle of my wedding band, embodying eternity. This season I chose a blue ribbon, an Advent color, which teaches me patient waiting - in all things. I'm pleased when it flutters in the breeze on windy days. The gold balls reflect the light as I imagine golden light shining on the Magi's faces while they offered their gifts of frankincense and myrrh to the wee babe. I dream of a young drummer boy tapping his drum nearby. Perhaps a lamb kept time to the beat.

Hope reigns in the waiting, the gold, the gifts, and a young mother's tired smile. The days will soon lengthen. The light will come. On Christmas Eve, I'll take a slow, deep breath and trust, that indeed, the babe has come. 

Nature Note

Forty-seven turkeys marched through our backyard early this morning, heading east. The wild turkey is non-migratory, although it does make seasonal shifts, changing its range according to availability of food and snow depth. These ladies were on the move. No tom in sight. No sexual harassment.

Love Your Neighbor

Many people conclude (and I have been guilty of this) that people are poor through some fault of their own. This faulty reasoning makes it easy to shut our hearts and hands against them. Even in the best of times under the most enlightened laws, the uncertainties of life and the variations among people can result in poverty. This Advent season I'm asking myself: Who are the poor in my community? How can they be helped? How can they experience our community's compassionate love, gain hope for their future, and receive God's grace?

Advent 2017

Let us pursue the things [and Christmas gifts] which make for peace and the building up of one another. - Romans 14:19 (NASB)

The Fifth Commandment

Honor your father and your mother. 

Deuteronomy 5:16 NIV

"Pretty Things"

My mother liked red roses,

red lipstick, and red towels,

anything red, actually.

Her pleasure fanned the air with warmth.

Sparkly brooches and scented soaps

cluttered her dresser drawers,

unworn and unused.

Ownership was enough.

Back in the day, she steered a red

farm tractor around mown fields,

tedding hay and singing to the sun:

A-maz-ing grace – how sweet the sound. 

Any pretty thing distracted my mother

from her chapped hands, sunburned skin, 

and aching back:

a hummingbird fluttering around the bee balm.

Now my mother sleeps on white sheets,

lifting her chin like a child

while a nurse bathes her body.

She wanders in a thicket of memories.

See the red geranium

spreading its leafy arms

toward her hospital bed.

Watch my mother close her eyes

while blood fills the needle.

Footnote: My mother passed away on August 22, 2012. I wrote this poem to honor her.

An Honest Answer

An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. - Proverbs 24:26

A Summer's Blessing

This summer we have hundreds of milkweed plants gracing our gardens. Butterflies and insects of all sorts enjoy the feast. The milkweeds' sweet scent drifts through the open windows, filling the house with lush perfume.

Brown-eyed Susan

Hmmm . . .interesting. Independent streak? Political statement? Environmental? Genetics? God's grace? What do you think?

Love Your Neighbor



Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

     I know little about the young couple that lives near my husband and me. Dogs gambol in their yard, and their cat often threatens the birds and squirrels foraging at our birdfeeder. I’d noticed the young woman was pregnant.    

     Recently a blizzard struck our area in full force; snow piled up eighteen-plus-inches deep. Road crews battled the snow ‘round the clock to maintain passable roads. The young couple got their sedan stuck at the end of their driveway. Hearing the whine of spinning wheels, I watched out a window while the young woman exited the car. The young man grasped her elbow as she gingerly picked her way around the car to the driver’s side and slid into the driver’s seat. I wondered whether she’d given birth, whether the newborn was in the car. The young man tried to push the car out of the snowdrift without success. 

     I pulled on snow boots and a coat and hurried out to offer help. “She’s had a C-section,” the young man said. “The baby’s still in the hospital.” His pale face and furrowed brow displayed his distress.

     Not wanting to pry, I offered to climb into the driver’s seat so the young woman could go into the house and rest.

     The young man and I partnered to rock the car back and forth, back and forth. He pushed while I worked the gears, gas, and brake pedals.

     The car wouldn’t budge.

     I remembered that another neighbor owns an ATV with an attached plow. Sure enough, he helped and the three of us got the car unstuck and went our separate ways.

     The following Sunday, I mentioned the incident to my adult Sunday School class while we chatted about the record snowfall and challenges of clearing paths and driveways. Someone suggested collecting items for the baby. Within a week we collected two large gift bags overflowing with disposable diapers, baby wipes, blankets, undershirts, Johnson’s baby powder, and supermarket gift cards. 

     When my husband and I presented the gift bags to the couple, the young mother’s eyes filled with tears and the young father’s voice broke while they thanked us over and over again.

     “This is what Jesus meant,” I thought, giving the young mother a gentle hug. “Serve others. Love your neighbor. It’s better to give than to receive.”

     “The baby can’t come home yet,” the young mother said, “but she’s gaining weight—always a good sign.”

     “Hopefully soon,” the young father said.

     I pray that she does.

Extraordinary In the Ordinary

I thrive in pastures and woods while the scents of soil and pine surround me. Blue jays, cardinals, mourning doves, crows, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and tufted titmice - a motley congregation - share their woodland territories with my husband and me. They punctuate the air with a chorus of chirps and cheer as they fly about the business of winter survival: foraging for seeds and insects beneath tree bark and on evergreen branches. A bird-feeding station in our yard supplements their rations with suet and sunflower seeds. In late afternoon, I pause and admire the birds' diligence for finding food before the sun sets and they seek shelter in a tree cavity for the long night ahead.   

At dusk, I often hear two barred owls calling to each other somewhere in our woodlot: "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you - all?" Sometimes close. Sometimes far away in various corners of the neighborhood. Always, my longing to see one face to beak. The odds remain slim. I'm an early-to-bed sleeper due to my farm upbringing. The owl is nocturnal and preys on rodents. I'm snoring when the owl begins its hunt.

Recently, I glanced out a window and saw a female barred owl (I assumed female because females are larger than males) perched in a gray birch tree mere feet away from the house. This gift, this unexpected manna from heaven, charmed me. Like a child binging on Halloween candy, I feasted on the extraordinary in the ordinary: the owl's calm presence, facial disk, large brown forward-facing eyes, hooked bill and talons, barred feathers across her breast, and streaked feathers lengthwise down her belly. She's not a bold dresser, but she doesn't need to strut her stuff back and forth along a branch. Her fearlessness is the only fashion statement she needs to make. 

After several minutes (not long enough!) the owl flew away between the pines, maples, and birches. The unexpected sighting of a fellow creature of blood and bone nourished my spirit. Winter is harsh, cold, and often cruel. The pleasure of observing an owl - a bucket list number - brightened the day into one of warm possibility. People tramp hither and yon in search of the holy. This morning holy found me.

Snow

I imagine these mourning doves sunning themselves in our backyard are discussing the recent big storm that dumped sixteen inches of wet, heavy snow in our area.