Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

"Sun is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." -John Ruskin

"For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain." Job 37:6




The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

From The First Snowfall by James Russell Lowell

"When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I'll know I'm growing old."
Lady Bird Johnson

"We're gonna rock around the clock tonight..."

With the calender saying 'January' and all, I've been thinking about time. Here are some of my thoughts kinda jotted down...if this were on paper, they would be nice and neat with a round dot in front of each one! So keep that in mind...:)

-What is time? Is it 60 seconds, 24 hours? Weeks? Months? Years?

-Is it the wonder of a newborn baby or the beauty of age and wisdom in the wrinkled face of a grandmother?
Is it a small child counting down to their birthday? Or an adult pretending it doesn't exist?

-We relate time to things like "the year I bought the sports car" "the time we went to New York City" "the day we got married" "Junior's first birthday when he ate so much cupcake he got sick" etc.

-We say, next year I'm going to get that scrapbook done. Next week, I'm going to meet my sister and go shopping. Tomorrow I'm going to go grocery shopping. But do we really know that will happen?

-We measure time in years. Last year was 2009. In the space of one second so many held their breath and celebrated the next year, 2010. What makes that one second so special? Another year? Or is it just another day?

-Time never stops. It keeps going in an unending cycle. Sometimes that seems sad. Sometimes it's welcome! Sometimes we need time. I wish I could learn to be better about letting time go instead of hanging on and digging my heals in and missing things.

-Do we let time get away or do we let time rule us? Time is an unchanging part of life. But we can decide how we react to time.

I'm not saying celebrating a new year is bad...far from it! I'm not saying making resolutions is bad, I actually have one! But I wonder what our lives would be like if we treated everyday like we do New Years day? What if we were thankful for a brand new day, and a brand new chance to try our hardest at following Christ and living our lives?

"But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." II Peter 3:8

"What is your life? For ya are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14

"Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16

Do you know why, do you know why....because God made it that way!

Did your mom ever sing that to you when you were a tiny child? I think about it sometimes, even now, after twenty years since she rocked me and sang it to me.

Have you ever seen those huge icicles on the edges of rocks? In the summer, it's a dark stain on cliffs and rock walls, dripping, trickling and cool. In the winter it's huge icicles, white and frosty, with folds and ripples of ice clinging to the rocks. It's fascinating to see the random patterns in the ice and frozen drips. How does that happen? And the water keeps seeping and freezing and pushing out in more layers and folds....
Oh, I'm sure there is a very informative scientific explanation. But do we lose the wonder of it by that? What ever happened to the little phrase, "Because God made it that way!" ?
I realize that in this world right now, with all the assault on God's creation, we have to have the facts and answers. We need to be able to defend.
But. In the mean time, what about all those beautiful aspects of nature? Like the Nuthatch! A pretty little bird that can walk upside down on trees! Or the way snow swirls in corners and makes ridges on banks. What about a baby's toes and dew on flowers? It brings a whole different perspective on God's glory, when we simply say, "Because God made it that way!"

And He did. For us.

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?"
Psalm 8:3&4

Something that makes me happy is baking bread....

I love to bake bread! It's so satisfying to mix the dough, add just the right amount of flour, proof the yeast...and then my favorite part, kneading...it's just relaxing to knead the dough and watch the gluten develop until it feels just right. Smooth, but elastic, firm but not dry.



And then I started thinking...I had eight minutes of thinking time. Fold, push, turn. Fold, push, turn. I only used one and one half tablespoons of yeast for almost eight cups of flour. And it's going to make two big crusty loaves.
Fold, push, turn. What kind of "yeast" is in my life? What if it's obnoxious? What if it's complaining? What if I added just one and one half tablespoons of cheerfulness? Or gentleness, kindness and self-control? Fold, push, turn. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump". I have an influence on the people I encounter- My family, my family in Christ, the people I meet as I go about life. What yeast do they see prevailing in my life?

"Beep!!" There went the timer and I put my lump of dough into a bowl and sat in on to rise. But I went away thinking, about yeast and influence and attitude.


"To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."

I was shopping in Hobby Lobby, just wandering through the store, looking, thinking...just by myself. I was looking at the clearance aisle when I heard them. It sounded like a couple of women: not young girls with their giggles nor business ladies with their austerity. But neither was it a happy sound. It was petulant and loud. They hadn't been taught manners, and if they had, they didn't care. When they came into view I was immediately put in my place. You know that split second when you realize you are seeing something that is going to shatter your heart? Whether it is something beautiful or something heartbreaking?

She was tall, she was tired, she had faint black half circles under her eyes. Her maternity jeans were clean, but her shirt was just a regular large gray sweatshirt, pulled tight over her extended pregnant belly. She pushed a cart with a baby in the seat; a sweet little baby girl about 9 months old, soft, short blond hair, and a grungy little pink flowered jumper suite. She was fed, but not happy: she was quiet but not content.

I was walking along, a warm lunch in my stomach, a nice jacket on my back, shopping for presents for my siblings. I was strolling along, thinking about things of my own, I might even have called a couple of them concerns. Until I saw her.

One girl. Alone. Unwed. 5 months pregnant with a 9 month old baby.

And my heart cried. She was just a girl! She was younger than me! What happened? Where along the line did the innocent girl become so burdened with life? I don't know. But it cut me to the quick.

She has a soul just like I do. I have stood alone in the dark right beside her. And there are so many like her. Living and breathing and working and trying, but lost, lost, lost. I have so many blessings. I have every hope. All I can do is trust and grow and pray and learn and work as hard as I can. But somehow, it doesn't seem enough.

I have eternal Hope. And I'm thankful, from the depth of my soul for that. But that girl....

...and my heart cries.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

"She was persuaded..."

I finished reading 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen a couple days ago. I really enjoy that book! I think it may be my favorite Austen novel...but anyway. If you haven't read it, you really should; it's a lovely little story about true love and true character.

I really don't want this to be a book report, but I do want to comment on a couple things that really stood out to me. Anne, the leading lady of the book, was persuaded by a dear friend to not marry Captain Wentworth. Eight years have passed and Captain Wentworth comes back from the Navy and that's where the book picks up.
-My first question is this. What would a person, a friend see in you after eight years of separation? Anne had grown more mature, responsible and tenderhearted. What are we doing to teach ourselves? Are we working toward goals of maturity and wisdom? Or do we just rattle along like the gigs in the old England countryside, seeing beautiful things but only realizing their importance after having broken a wheel and having to stop and repair?

Of what are we persuaded? Do we actually have principles that we believe are true and just that we will stick to no matter the pain involved? Anne was persuaded to not marry Captain Wentworth because of the poor connection and the lack of support. She was poorly advised and she endured eight years of emotional pain, but she believed it more important to respect the wishes of her family and friends then to elope. I'm not justifying her actions, or taking sides with the issue; I'm asking you to think, what do you believe? Of what are you persuaded?

So..there are just some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head. Of course it's just a story, and I'm definitely not an authority on Austen's work, but these are some things to think about. Real things about real life.

"Thinking is like loving and dying. Each of us must do it for himself." ~Josiah Royce

Clut ter \ˈklə-tər\: to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness.

I'm a big list person. Haha...sometimes to the extreme, but that's just how I am! On the top of my currant list it says "Clean, de-clutter, and generally fix up bed area" which interpreted means that I need to tidy my bedside table. I have my hope-chest right by my bed and it serves as my bedside table, study area, etc. It's really cozy to sit on my bed, and have all my books, Bibles, journals, lists and note pads right there. But as you can imagine, when things get busy or I get lazy that area can get dusty, jumbled and junky! You can see for yourself why it was on my list!



There were old journals, little scraps of paper with two scriptures jotted down; there were bobby pins and earrings, things that just needed to be put away. As I was dusting and sneezing and putting things away, I got to thinking about how cluttered our own lives can get.

Sometimes it's good to have a mental de-cluttering and cleaning. Throw out all those things that are wearing us down. Sometimes just identifying things that clutter our lives and effect our attitudes make us realize how easy it is to let things bog us down.
And then I thought about dusting. Do we let our cheerfulness and happiness get dusty? Do we need to dust off those little things we're good at and get them back in working order?




So let's get out our dust rags, and let's straighten up our minds and hearts and get back on track. We have a wonderful salvation and hope in God! Let's be smart and de-clutter and thank God for our many blessings! :)