These are a few of my favorite things...

Pretty sure inspirations can come from the most random places. Hence, this will most likely become a random post. (can't say you weren't warned!)

 laughing pictures... nothing like natural expressions. :)

 candles. the best way to a cozy evening. or in this case, a really nice wedding...

 You can take the girl away from the piano,

but you can't take away the piano from the girl! 

(I know, its contradictory. Just nod your head like you agree.)

authors: alicia and amy. dedicated to: the birthday girl of December:)

wise words of wisdom. or random words of poetry.

either way, those word magnets are pretty swell if you ask me.

 ribbons and words. mmhhmm.

how about really awesome old books,

and an equally quaint old church?? 

This photographer's dream I tell you.

Raspberry chocolate trifle. Christmas bells are ringing...

kittens. 

(This coming from a sucker for baby animals.)

A little child shall show me... (how much I need to learn.)

It was a freezing night as we waited to take groups of people through the “Journey to Bethlehem,” which is a walk-thru nativity put on by a nearby church.  

            I was curious to see how the evening would go; interacting with all kinds of people and getting out of my comfort zone (did I mention it was also freezing cold? We guides looked like marshmallows with all our layers, plus Bible-time garb over everything.)

            As I was leading my first group to scene 2, I realized someone was walking quietly right beside me. Looking down, there was a young girl, not more than 7 years old, wearing a bright red coat and trying to match my stride.

Smiling at her I asked, “What’s your name?”

“Katherine,” she replied with a sweet look up into my face.

At the next scene she huddled close to me. I could tell she was kind of cold, so I moved my lantern closer to her. “You look cold. Does this help?” I asked. “A little,” she answered but leaned closer to me than the lantern.

            As I guided them through each scene, this young girl continued to follow me wherever I went. Which meant I had better be going the right way!

            The last stop was the manger scene, and as we walked towards our destination, I felt a little gloved hand slip into mine- Katherine’s.

            I’m afraid my first reaction inside was anything but caring. She hardly knows me, I look like a walking marshmallow, and yet she wants to hold my hand? I love kids, but isn’t she going a little far? How does she know I’m trustworthy?

Standing by the manger scene though, with her hand still in mine, a picture came to my mind. It was me feeling the hand of Jesus slip into mine. He was saying, “Katherine trusts you. You guided her to all the right places so she could get a picture of how I was born. Now, will you trust me to guide you?”

“Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (Luke 9:48)

Thank you, Katherine, for your childlike faith in me. I wish I could be more like you.

Ordinary Pencils

  Ever since I was 4 years old, my family has spent time a couple weeks before each Christmas putting together shoeboxes for operation Christmas Child. This is where you pack a shoebox full of school supplies, soap, toothpaste toothbrush, and small toys or trinkets for kids in third world or communist countries whose parents cannot afford to give them Christmas gifts.

Last night was spent shopping at the dollar store for the above mentioned items, and having fun while doing it.

Today as we packed our boxes, I glanced at the pencils I was going to put in. They were ordinary wood pencils with seemingly no real significance to the average American. My thoughts wondered to a kid somewhere far away who would look at such a small thing as a valuable treasure.

As I picked up the pencil, I rolled it back and forth in my hand, wondering if that was how I viewed that child. Had I ever really cared about where the box went, and what it meant to that person? Had I ever really stopped to think about what God sees in our hearts as we “Do good stuff to help the poor?” Yes, it is a good feeling to buy pretty things for the girls, or cool little balls for the boys, but is that the primary reason we buy it?  Is it just for some nice feeling in our gut?

My gaze fell to the rest of the items I had put in the box. There were colorful hair bands, nice smelling soap, and colored pencil crayons among others.

 I felt ashamed as I thought about my own selfish motives. Somewhere along the line, I had forgotten about the young girl that would be receiving the box. What was her home like? How did she live? And more importantly, did that really matter to me? Although there was nothing wrong with the nice feeling of helping the less fortunate, there was something wrong with my lack of compassion. I failed to understand the words of Jesus when he said to “love your neighbor as yourself.” And this, Jesus had said, is the second greatest commandment. How could I forget such an important, vital piece of my faith?

As I placed the pencils back in the box, my prayer became renewed:

“Father, could you be with the receiver of this box tonight? Teach me to have real love for this child of yours. And please forgive this selfish heart.”