Christmas Decorations

Christmas tree adventure, 2009

Saturday we headed for the mountains with friends Mike and Katie to look for Christmas trees. The forest was absolutely gorgeous, with several feet of fresh snow.


All that fresh snow made the roads rather treacherous. At one time,in the middle of the remote Santa Fe National Forrest, there was a traffic jam of 6 vehicles, all in varying states of being stuck. Everyone was hopping out to help push, or get their shovels to help free tires from piles of snow. This is all part of the ambiance and adventure of hunting for ones own tree in the Southern Rockies. And in the "You know you're in a small town when..." category, Dave worked with one of the other stranded travelers. Below is one of the cars being dug out so it could be turned around and head to better road conditions.


After getting the cars, trucks and trailers all ready to head for home, we tromped off into the woods (through all that snow, up to my knees in most places.) In addition to finding trees, it was great aerobic exercise! Kate and Mike found their first Christmas tree (they were married in July.)


Dave and I found our tree. We have been getting trees this way for 25 years or so, with only a few years of exception to the tradition. However, I had decided long ago that the adventure of sliding off the road, digging out the truck, and tromping through feet of snow was really a better memory than it was a reality. So letting tree cutting be more of a "guy thing", Dave and the boys did it for years. Now, with no boys, I decided it's time to rediscover the joys of doing this as a couple!


And finally, we poured cups of hot tea, ate oranges and trail mix, loaded the trees on Mike's trailer, and prayed that we would make it up the hill and out to the road- which we did! It was a lovely adventure!

Merry Christmas, 2009!

Well, the Christmas cards went in the mail today. That means I need to post a year-end review here for any of you good folk who follow the link at the bottom of the card, and come here looking for news.

2009 has been a year of growth and blessing. We are grateful for much!


Ben and Elsa continue to enjoy life in Bloomington, Indiana. We were blessed to visit them in March, and loved our time with them there. Ben is entering the final semester of classes in his PhD program (in classical studies)at Indiana University, and hopes to be working on his dissertation by next fall. We think it will have something to do with Virgil's Eclogues. Elsa is enjoying working as assistant office administrator for the School of Opera and Ballet at IU.


Tim and Nikki continue to enjoy life in Tucson. Tim is working as an electrical engineer in missile systems design/testing, and Nikki is babysitting several days a week and putting together the bulletin for their church, as well as settling in to their lovely new home there.

I have to say that one of the things that brings us great joy is having all the kids involved in great churches. (Tim's, Ben's) God is very gracious to give us that comfort, and provide that kind of family for the kids when they are far from us.



Dave and Chris are doing well, enjoying growing old hand-in-hand. We help each other with the pains and trials, and enjoy the Lord together. Dave's work continues to be busy and well funded at LANL, and Chris continues to teach classes for homeschoolers one morning a week. We both continue to serve at our church in various capacities, which continues to bless us!


Marilyn continues in good health during this, her 83rd year. She accompanied us on a trip to Utah in October, where we saw amazing sites, and enjoyed time with Dave's brother, Jon, and his wife, Rebbecca. She keeps busy volunteering two mornings a week at the local elementary school libraries, once a week at the nursing home, and as the church librarian. And that doesn't even mention all the good things she does around our home.

If you would like more news, browse around this blog site. You can find a list of labels in the right sidebar. By clicking on one of those you'll see everything I said about that. Feel free to browse, or check out my other blog here.

This year, we have grown in our appreciation of the grace of God in our lives, his blessings in family and friends, and the depth of his love for us. We pray that you, too, are rejoicing in Him this season!

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
~John 1:4

What tomorrow holds and who hold tomorrow

Well, Gentle Readers, the Lord brought me sweet sleep last night. (Hurray!) And I feel strengthened for my tomorrow. What does my tomorrow hold?

1. Teaching. I love teaching. But tomorrow is the semester final for my worldviews kids. Please pray for them to know the Lord better through the things we study, and for heart differences to occur in them and in me as we study how big our God is.

2. In the afternoon I'll have another try at my horrible, no good, very bad test. As some of you may remember, we have attempted this twice before during November, and the machinery has failed. I am now known as the "Sonogram Jinx", and they gave me the last appointment of the day on purpose... Lets hope that the third time is a charm, and I don't have to do this again for a year. (This test must be done since I am on tamoxifen for my breast cancer, and it puts me at a higher risk for developing uterine cancer.)

3. Lastly, I will head to Santa Fe at 9:00 in the evening to have a sleep test. My primary care doc, in her thorough and careful way, suggested an O2 saturation test last week, which showed I am significantly hypoxic at night. I think this means I stop breathing. The sleep test should tell us why.

Since that test came back, I have been sleeping with oxygen. (I call me oxygen machine "Darth Vader", because he sounds like Darth all night.) This has been a difficult adjustment in some ways. But it has thrown me back on my knees--always a good thing-- and on top of it, the oxygen seems to be helping in very tangible ways: better sleep, less muscle pain, less fatigue. it has been rather amazing. So I remain hopeful that this will be a very positive change for me.

Isn't God good? He take things we fear and dread, and make them the very things that teach us to better trust Him. I am not sure what tomorrow holds, Gentle Reader, but I am certainly glad to know Who holds tomorrow. He bring confidence to face whatever tomorrow brings.

To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.

What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
the man he imprisons cannot be released.

If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

To him belong strength and victory;
both deceived and deceiver are his.

~Job 12: 13-16

In the Bleak Midwinter

As I was shoveling this fine, snowy morning, I was thinking about the hymn-version of one of my favorite Christmas poems. It is perfect for bleak, snowy days, or any other.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rosetti, 1872

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother1
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

The covenant as ground for arguing with God

"Remember that it is part of the Lord's covenant that...thou mayest serve him in righteousness and holiness all the days of thy life...[so] go to the Lord, and beseechest him to make good his covenant." Furthermore, when the believer was tempted with a trial of any sort, he was addressed like this: "if thou lie under any pressure, any calamity, any cross, any disease, any affliction...go to God now, and tell him it is part of his covenant to deliver thee, and...take no denial, though the Lord may defer long, yet he will do it, he cannot choose; for it is his covenant."
~John Preston (1692), as quoted by Peter Golding in Covenant Theology: The Key of Theology in Reformed Thought and Tradition

He came anyway...

Last night as I read my daily Scripture reading near the end of the book of Acts, I was reading the story of Paul's final trip to Rome. For the first time, I think, I was struck not only by what God called Paul to do, but by the fact that he knew what God was calling him to (death in Rome, eventually) and he went any way.

He went anyway. That is really amazing. How many of the difficult things in my life would I walk into if I knew ahead of time what was coming? I am a coward at heart, and will always opt for the easy road. What an amazing servant Paul was to his Master, and what grace God provided him.

The only thing more amazing that comes to mind is that the God of the universe left his throne, and was born a man, knowing that he would suffer and die and take on the sins of the world. And unlike Paul, Jesus was sinless, and undeserving of God's wrath. But he came anyway. This season, Gentle Reader, may we all remember Emmanuel, God-with-us, and rejoice in Him.