Celebrate

I may not be adept at creating good advice, but I know good advice when I hear it. As you go out with your wife to celebrate the New Year, just remember this.

If your wife is having fun and you're not, you are still having way more fun than you would be having if you were having fun and she's not.

***Happy New Year***

The Passing Year

I first read this book by flashlight, under the covers, at age thirteen. I purchased it at Clausen's Book Shop, a place I frequented, salivating over the treasures; and when I had the funds purchasing one or two of them. I still have many in my collection.

The Passing Year

The Year's growing ashen, and weary and gray; full soon he will cash in, and mosey away. A while yet he'll totter along to his grave; he's marked for the slaughter, and nothing can save. The year that is leaving seems weighted with woe; and Nature is grieving because he must go. The forests are sighing and moaning all day; the night winds are crying, upon their sad way; the gray clouds are taking a threatening shape; the dead grass is shaking like billows of crape. Dame Nature is tender, and dirges she'll croon, regretting the splendor and glory of June; she knows that tomorrow the old year will sleep; she knows that the sorrow of parting is deep. In this world, O never can friends with us stay! Some loved one forever is going away! And that is the story of people and years; a morning of glory, an evening of tears; an hour of caressing, a call at the dawn, a prayer and a blessing, and then they are gone.

Uncle Walt (Walt Mason)

Chicago

George Matthew Adams

1910

A Sermon for Monday

If you read yesterday's Gospel, Luke 2:22 - 40, you definitely need to read Keith Drury's sermon at http://keithdrury.blogspot.com/ . Do read it in any event.

First Sunday after Christmas Day

These are the readings for the First Sunday after Christmas.

The Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
The Psalm is number 148
The Epistle is Galatians 4:4-7
The focus is the Gospel According to Saint Luke 2:22-40

(Please study these scripture readings and forgive the brevity of the post. I had the lesson prepared when the computer crashed and the work was lost.)

The Nativity of the Savior

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Have a Blessed Christmas

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. --John 1:14

Just for Fun

This one going around; got caught up in it. Stuff I've done in boldtype 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity. 7. Been to Disneyland/world 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang/played a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Gotten flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88.Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Made a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Gotten a speeding ticket

Best Gift of All

The choir presented the Best Gift of All as arranged by Russell Mauldin and under the direction of our own Randall. The narrative portion of the program was read by Pastor Keith. The songs were well performed. The numbers that most impressed me were "He Came So Far" and "Strange Way to Save the World."

Pastor Doug's message was brief, but filled with wisdom and anointing. He used the story from the fourth chapter of John's Gospel regarding Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. Christ's offer to the woman of the gift of Living Water, accepting which she might never thirst, is the same offer He makes to us. Yet Jesus revealed to the woman that He knew her past life; and as with her, He knows ours. Our sins must be dealt with before we receive the Gift that He offers.

In keeping with the theme of the month, with God all things are possible; and even so it is possible to receive Him into your life. And if we give to Him all our cares as we follow Him, He will care for the impossible that we think we have in our lives.

Religion is about man's effort to find a pathway to God. The gift of the Christ is about God's way of establishing a relationship with man. Do you have this personal relationship with the Savior? Are you allowing Him to deal with the impossibilities in your life?

John 4:25: The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26: Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.