I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 NIV
One of my favorite hymns growing up was, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” It has always been curious to me that while I don’t consider myself a “music person” (rarely do I listen to music when I am by myself), there have been many times when the words of hymns come floating back to me right when I need them. I am much more a person who focuses on the words of a song than the tune to which those words are set.
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is still one of my favorite hymns. I am not a fan of songs that repeat the same three or four lines over and over again. The lyrics to this song are so moving.
One of my favorite lines goes like this:
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
What peace we often forfeit because we choose to carry the weight alone and not invite God in. Jesus is our friend, He wants to do life with us and share the load—but we shoulder the load alone if we don’t first give our heart to Him. He is standing by ready to help us! The lyrics of this song carry even more weight when we consider the trials this author faced prior to writing this song.
The author of this song, Joseph Scriven, knew well the comfort God could bring when it seemed like he was losing what mattered most to him. In about 1845, Joseph lost his fiancée; the day before their wedding she drowned in a lake. Devastated, Joseph decided to immigrate from Ireland to Canada. While in Canada, his mother wrote him of a crisis she was facing. He wrote her a poem in response and sent it to her. This poem was published anonymously and, even so, gained popularity.
In 1860 Joseph once again fell in love and planned to wed, only to have this second fiancée pass away from tuberculosis before the wedding. Joseph threw himself into ministry and charity work and spent his life helping the poor. Meanwhile, that little poem Joseph had penned continued to gain popularity. Still no one knew who had written it. A time before his death Joseph fell ill and a neighbor who was staying with him found a paper with the manuscript of “What a Friend” written on it and questioned Joseph regarding it. It became clear that Joseph had penned this now-famous poem.
Joseph knew pain. He knew what it felt like to need a friend to help him carry the load of pain. Like Job blessed the Lord despite losing everything, so Joseph could praise the friendship and comfort he found in Christ.
Joseph wrote “What a Friend” out of such great sorrow and as a poem of encouragement to his mother. How many of us could, and would, truly do the same? Do we have the faith that after losing one of those most dear to us, that we can say, what a friend we have in Jesus?
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Are you ready for Christmas? I am so ready! I love all the days in the holiday season starting with Thanksgiving, from getting out and doing a little shopping on Black Friday to going out and getting a real Christmas tree. I love shopping for presents; I love wrapping presents; I love baking with family; I love the Christmas parties (probably the only kind of parties that this homebody gets excited about!), but I have to say above it all, one of my most favorite activities of the Christmas season is decorating my house! It’s almost makes the whole ordeal of growing up, finding a way to earn an income, and paying bills worth it!
For me, the beginning of the Christmas season looks like this: Thanksgiving Day, followed by Black Friday when my friend and I spend a day together and do a little shopping; Saturday—the Christmas explosion! I look forward to the beginning of the season when I can pour some hot chocolate or coffee into one of my Christmas mugs and pull out the decor and let the creativity start flowing. I think an important reason why I enjoy it is that I don’t treat Christmas like a chore. I don’t have kids yet and therefore the holiday is greatly simplified. We know that the way in which we approach things greatly affects the outcome so I urge you not to be a grinch this holiday season. If the thought of pulling out lots of decorations is simply too stressful, then don’t! Pull out a few key pieces and let it go at that.
Here is a little list to help you manage the stress this holiday season:
· Start thinking about the holidays—how many people do you have to shop for. Start making a list and a budget of how much you plan to spend on each person. What about your Christmas décor. Do you need anything new? Now is the time to start making lists and checking them twice.
· Are you sending Christmas cards this year. Thanksgiving can be a great time to take that photo since everyone is already cleaned up and there is usually an extra person or two around to snap the family photo. Through places such as Walmart, Target, or Walgreens you can design your Christmas card online and then swing by the store to pick them up the next time you do your shopping.
· Hopefully you can start buying some Christmas gifts. Maybe you have a day you can dedicate to this task, maybe you have to do it in fits and starts, but by starting in November and finishing it at the beginning of December, will help take a load off your mind.
· Wrapping: can you wrap a little on a Saturday morning before your kids get up? In the afternoon before your husband gets home from work? Whenever you can, try to squeeze in a few minutes for wrapping here and there. Turn on some Christmas music or a movie, and take the opportunity for more hot chocolate or a cup of your favorite coffee and enjoy!
Now about the actual décor . . .
Just like starting to think about your Christmas shopping list, start thinking about your Christmas decor. Were you short a strand of twinkling lights last year? Did the tree look a little bare and need a few more ornaments? Start planning where you want to put things and make a list of things you need to pick up.
In my post “Alternative Christmas Color Palettes.” I talk about using nontraditional Christmas color palettes in your home but what about other ways to add touches of Christmas to your home?
From The Outside Looking In
Even if you are not a big fan of hosting, this time of year makes it almost inevitable that you will be having someone over at some point. Create a welcoming front door with a beautiful wreath, or a festive door mat to help welcome your guests.
The Tree
I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one, but it is my opinion that everyone should put up at least a little tree. To me, Christmas trees are nondenominational and I think everyone should have one! I love a colorful tree with collected and handmade ornaments that tell the story of a family and a life. My aunt has given me a special ornament every year since I was born—and these ornaments are handmade, unique and gorgeous! It was so nice to have these special ornaments to adorn our Christmas tree when my husband and I were first married and had such a small ornament collection. I also see the beauty in a curated tree with a carefully selected color scheme—just make sure you’re leaving a little room for sentiment in decorating your tree.
The Mantle Or Other Large Surface Area
Mantels are such a fun space to decorate! I feel like I have two mantles because I have my actual mantle and the top of my old upright piano. If you have a mirror above your mantle, hanging a lovely wreath can be a great touch. Adding greenery and some twinkle lights is a classic look; from there you can go any in direction with your decor. I love the look of lots of candles clustered in the middle of the greenery and then letting it go at that. I am also a fan of working a manger scene into your mantle. You can add a grouping of Christmas signs into your mantle, or make a little village with porcelain houses and bottle brush trees, or use a variety of miniature Christmas trees to make a little forest clustered on your mantle.
Vignettes
You didn’t think I would skip over vignettes did you? If you are doing really a low key, simple Christmas décor, this year think of adding a vignette or two throughout your home. These can add some holiday cheer without being a lot of work! Here are a few ideas I like.
· A bowl full of ornaments.
· A tray with a candle, some books, a gold or silver deer figurine, and a faux tree.
· A faux tree with a deer and an accent ball.
· A closh with a sprig of greenery, a pinecone, and an ornament.
· A faux tree, candle, and festive holiday sign.
The Table
I usually just have a runner on my table but sometimes at Christmas I get fancy and pull out a full-fledged tablecloth. See my post of my table’s Centerpieces Throughout The Seasons for some ideas of how to tweak what you may already have going on on your table. In addition, you could do a nice vignette or a beautiful bowl with some ornaments—just keep in mind when decorating your table that you will most likely be hosting more than normal this season so don’t make the centerpiece too big or too cumbersome to move. In addition, if you are using a tablecloth and need to insert a table leaf for when guests comes over, make sure your tablecloth is large enough to cover your table.
A Few Other Touches
Depending on how crazy you want to go with your decor this year, here are a few other touches that are very nice and very festive!
Mini wreaths on your cupboards or back of dining room chairs.
· Add a faux tree to your hand soap and lotion in your bathroom or by your sink.
· Pull out the Christmas dishes! You don’t have to wait for company to use those gorgeous dishes! Use them as decor, set them out ready for use—but either way, don’t forget about them!
· Accent pillows—add some Christmas cheer to any room!
Hopefully this will get you excited for the season! Regardless of how much you do or don’t care to decorate for the season, I hope you will find at least a few minutes to spend time with family and friends, slow down, and remember the reason for the season.
The crucible for silver and the furnace for god, but the Lord tests the heart.
Proverbs 17:3 NIV
I have never tried to make pottery. I have seen demonstrations of people making pottery and I love looking at pottery at craft shows, but it is not something that I have ever tried. What I have tried though, is making glass beads which is similar in concept.
Since I was 7 I have loved beading. When I was 14, my father brought home a stack of old beading magazines (yes, they make magazines devoted to beading) and I saw an advertisement for a set-up to make your own glass beads from home. Wow! I delved into the research of glass bead-making and asked for an introductory class for Christmas. I took the glass bead-making class and instantly fell in love! I saved my money, I bought my own small, glass-working torch, and all of the other things I would need to turn glass rods into usable beads.
I fell in love with how the glass rod would start to melt and become pliable in the flame. There is indeed an art to wrapping the molten glass around the metal rod (the mandrel) and spinning the mandrel until a nice, even sphere is formed. But, of course, it’s not quite that simple. If you stick the glass rod into the flame too quickly instead of slowly inserting it to melt the glass, it will shatter, sending glass flecks everywhere. Conversely, even if you are successful in introducing the glass rod to the flame, it is another thing to wrap the glass neatly around the mandrel, and then to spin the mandrel quickly enough that a sphere takes shape, but not too quickly that the glass becomes misshapen. If you are successful in doing all of that, there is the final step of working the bead at the back of the flame so that the bead has enough time to cool so that when set in the kiln it won’t lose its shape. However, if you wait too long then the bead will cool too quickly, causing thermal shock to set in and shattering the bead before you have time to put it in the kiln. All of that is just if you are doing a simple bead with one layer of glass! If you want to introduce any intricacies to the bead, then you have to do multiple rounds of heating and cooling the glass rods while keeping the bead slowly rotating within the flame. It can take a while to produce a beautiful detailed bead.
Sometimes one of the glass rods being introduced to the flame will have collected a bit of dirt or dust. Usually when this happens the flame instantly burns away the impurity leaving clean, workable glass for the glass bead. Other times, if the piece of dirt is too big, or doesn’t fleck off in the flame, it can leave a permanent smudge in the glass. Once the glass bead is in the flame a little longer, the speck usually disappears from view, but not always, and even if you cannot see it, the burn mark from the impurity will still remain.
This reminded me of our relationship with God. He has so much patience waiting for us to become who we were meant to be. Like the glass introduced too quickly to the flame, some people immediately want nothing to do with Him. Others are more pliable. We all have sins and stains, like the glass rods can have dirt and debris. Sometimes these are little things which when corrected leave no trace of having ever been there. Others leave deep indents on our souls that we will always carry with us.
It is sometimes startling to see a speck of dust catch bright orange in the flame and then float off, burning itself out before it even touches the table top. Sometimes I feel the same way when I am being put through the refining fire. It is hard to have pieces of me flecked away. Many times I don’t even realize that there is a problem until God turns the spotlight up and I see it as bright as the speck of dust that is on fire in the flame.
What about you? Has God ever uncovered an aspect of you that you would rather keep hidden? Has He put you through the refining fire? It isn’t always a comfortable experience to be shaken and molded by God, but just like the beautiful blemish-free glass bead—the end result is always worth it!
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We made it through the spooky month! I admit, I’m not the biggest fan of spooky decor. (There are worse faults a person could have!) But, now what? Done with the Halloween stuff but not quite ready to tear into all the Christmas decor? Here are a few ways to keep your home nice and cozy, just by adding a few touches of winter to your decor—and you don’t have to pack up your pumpkins.
Mirror Nature
I know this is one of my popular refrains but it’s so true! Take a look outside—what do you see? Granted, this may be a little more difficult to see if you live in the south, but for those of us who live in the north, we are starting to see that most of the trees have lost their leaves, frost is appearing on branches and you may even see little red winter berries starting to appear on bushes. Try tucking a few frosted branches in amongst your pumpkins. Stick large branches in a vase. Try mixing real branches from trees with faux frosted branches for a more dimensional look. Stick a spray of faux, real, or dried berries into a vase.
Curate Your Colors
If you do more of a traditional decor color palette for fall that consists of yellow, orange, and red, try editing down your colors. I would take out anything yellow and anything that is a super bright, fall color. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, the colors in nature have started to fade considerably.
Leave the Pumpkins
Keep your pumpkins. I think nothing is more gorgeous than sticking a spray of red berries into a vignette with your pumpkins. Tuck frosted greenery in with white pumpkins, if you have a more neutral look.
Refresh
Do one last sweep for any scarecrows or overtly early fall decor. Pack up those things and then stand back and examine. Have things gotten a little rough around the edges? Rather than waiting until after Thanksgiving, reset things and do a little tidying up now, so it will be less overwhelming later.
Next Add a Few Touches of Winter
Faux Fur
Scandinavian decor has cornered the market on cozy. One of the things that I love about Scandinavian decor is the use of faux furs. Bring in a faux fur throw blanket, throw pillows, or (my favorite) a faux animal pelt and drape it over a chair, or use as a small floor mat.
Chunky Knits
If you haven’t yet, and especially if you live in a four-seasons climate, pull out the chunky knit throws and blankets.
Winter Decor
I briefly touched on this earlier but try adding frosted greenery, a spray of frosted berries, or a spray of non-frosted berries to your decor. Play with adding these to your centerpiece, or a fall vignette.
Candles, Candles, Candles
This is the perfect time to pull out your white candles—be they pillar candles, votive candles, or a traditional candle stick. Remember, all of these come in battery options too, if you aren’t crazy about an open flame in your home. If you want to dress it up even more, you can place votive candles in mercury glass votive holders and thereby add some sparkle.
I hope this helps inspire you to play with your decor this Thanksgiving and helps you to create a cozy home that you and your family can curl up in and enjoy this holiday season!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
Alternative Christmas Color Palettes
How to Decorate Your Home for Winter
How to Create A Vignette for Any Room in Your Home
For by Him all things were created, in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16 ESV
Have you ever met a friend of a friend—someone that you have heard lots about over a period of time? Your friend tells you stories with this friend in it, what they do, what they say, and how they react to things. You get all excited to meet them, you have a mental picture in your head of what they will be like, and then you meet them. And they are nothing like what you thought! You realize that despite what your friend said, you filled in the blanks with a lot of your own preconceived notions and totally changed the character of this person. Have you done this with God too?
I remember having a discussion with someone once. We were both around the age of 16. We were at youth group and while most of the kids were practicing a skit for the upcoming Christmas program, he and I started talking and it turned into a discussion of the essence of who God is. I remember this guy saying, “Well to me God is … .” I don’t remember exactly what he said but I remember that it was clear that he was basing his assessment on what he thought with no scriptural backing whatsoever.
I don’t know exactly how I responded to his statement but if I could go back I would say that God is not defined by what we think of Him. He is the great I Am. The One that never changes. The One that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We may not like certain aspects of His personality; we may be uncomfortable with some of His characteristics; we may not like how He has handled mankind’s sin and situations in the past, but that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t define who God is.
In our modern world we are moving more toward a pantheistic society, meaning that it is increasingly accepted that anything can be God and God can be anything or everything. If you believe that, that is fine. But that is not the God of the Bible. Scripture tells us clearly who He is. It tells us what He is like. We are given guidelines of how we are to live our life, principles to live by. The Bible gives us numerous examples of causes and effects: doing x causes y, and vice versa. The Bible makes it clear what He is all about. He is not defined by who we think He is. He is who He is, and we can accept or reject Him, but we cannot make Him into who we want Him to be. We serve a God that is abounding in grace and mercy; He is faithful and true; slow to anger, forgiving, and compassionate; full of wisdom. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son in order that we might spend eternity with Him. And God was willing to send Jesus to die even for those who despise Him! It is our choice. He is a good God. He is a just God. He is God.
What image do you hold of God in your mind? Perhaps you have a hard time picturing Him as a God who really cares and loves you, or perhaps you see Him as a father who only disciplines. Whatever your view, if you believe in the God of the Bible, I encourage you to spend time in His Word. Invite Him to show you His nature and His loving kindness. He will reveal Himself to those who really want to know. After all, only what He says matters.
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