Beautiful Feet

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’" Isaiah 52:7
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When my nephew Gabriel was about to arrive, I began to pray about a verse to choose for him. This one kept coming to mind, but I pushed it aside because it seemed like an odd verse to pray for someone. One morning sitting in church a few days before his birth, it came to me again very strongly. I resolved to go home and look it up. A few minutes later, when that very verse was read in the service, I knew this was the verse I was to pray for Gabriel. It was confirmed again a few days later when I found out his name means "messenger."
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With the verses I pray for my nieces, I can speculate about how God will use them in their lives, but with this one, I have no idea. At age three, Gabriel is a fairly outspoken little boy, so perhaps I could envision him proclaiming God’s good news from the mountaintops. It will be exciting to see what wonderful plan God has in store for these little feet.

Mary

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Matthew 1:18-25

She was just a kid, probably 13 or 14, as this was the customary age for girls of her time to be engaged. Soon she would be marrying Joseph, a righteous man whom her parents approved of.

She was alone in her home one day, perhaps cleaning or fixing dinner for her family. Suddenly the room grew bright. She turned around to see what was happening and gasped – there before her stood a figure like nothing she had ever seen. An angel?

The angel’s words, while quite odd, were reassuring. She had found favor with God. But then – she would have a child? Now?? How could she have a child? She wasn’t even married!

What would Joseph say? Her parents? This could cause quite a scandal. Pregnant and not married! Who would believe her when she tried to explain?

But Mary agreed to this task. God had a plan for her, and He would take care of her.

Jewelry Sale

As promised, I am posting pictures of some of my handmade jewelry that I am selling. Contact me if you would like more info. Most earrings are $3-5; bracelets $4-10, and necklaces $10 –25.


I have some Christmas jewelry, though not as much as last year.
These beads are handmade using polymer clay.
Some items are sets, and others are just individual pieces.
Miscellaneous bracelets and earrings.

If you would like to come to my sale, contact me for more info.

Iowa City Floods

Iowa City, where Don’s parents live, was the site of some major flooding over the summer, caused by torrential rains which made the Iowa River rise way above its banks.

We saw some of the devastation when we were there Thanksgiving. Thankfully, though the water rose into his parents' yard, it didn’t come into their house. They provided a boat for their neighbors to row to their homes and salvage some of their possessions. Many houses in the neighborhood adjacent to theirs are still uninhabitable.

Many businesses there closed down for good. This disaster made a huge impact on this small college town.

In the Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15

What better place to start than the beginning? God made a perfect earth. He made the land and water, plants and animals, and the sun, moon and stars. Then God finished it off with His finest works of all – man and woman, made in His own image. Perfect people living in a perfect place. They could do anything they wanted to, except for one thing. God specifically told them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Doesn’t sound too hard, does it?

But Adam and Eve blew it. And their world couldn’t be perfect anymore. When they heard God coming, they hid because they were ashamed of themselves.

Would we have done the same thing if we had been Adam and Eve? Likely. God offers us many choices, and we often make bad ones. Every person since Adam and Eve has been born in sin, separated from God.

But even as God punished Adam and Eve for their disobedience, He made a promise. An offspring would be born of the woman. Satan would strike at His heel (crucify Him), but He would crush Satan’s head (through His resurrection).

That person is Jesus Christ. God sent Him to earth to bear the punishment for our sins so that we could once again have communion with God and eternal life in Heaven. What a reason to celebrate!

Random Thoughts

Well, the Christmas season is officially here. I am trying to make the best of it by focusing on the birth of Jesus. I wrote a booklet several years ago called "Devotions for December" which I self-published for family and friends, and I am going to be including some of those devotions over the next few weeks. I’ll do those in a green font.

Even though I’m trying to have a good attitude, I’m still going to leave my "Grinch’s Countdown" on my blog. Hopefully it won’t be too big a downer for those of you who really love the Christmas season. Anyway, I’m proud of the way I bluffed my way through the html language to get that picture of the grinch on there.

I may be exploiting the commercialism of Christmas, but I’m planning to have a sale of my handmade jewelry coming up soon. If you are interested, e-mail me, and I’ll give you the details. Prices start at $3 for earrings. I’ll post some pictures later this week.

Thanksgiving Travels

Don and I had a nice time visiting his family in Iowa at Thanksgiving. Because his car is a stick shift and I’m not too comfortable driving one, he drove most of the way, and I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery:

Illinois cornfields

Iowa cornfields

On the way back we came a different way and were able to see some new sites:

Indiana cornfields

We took Dasha with us. She got to enjoy a few samples of Thanksgiving dinner.

Don got in a some outdoor games with his twin brother and his nephews.

We had a good visit, ate way too much, and by the end of the 12-hour drive back were very thankful to be home!