Thinking on these things . . .

The six inch snowfall we received over the past 24 hours has made it the topic of conversation; especially since we had been experiencing an unseasonably warm January with temps in the 50's! That's all been transformed in just a few short hours - every tree branch is outlined in pristine white, every bush supports clumps of snow at the junctures of their evergreen boughs.  It's beautiful. It's also cold and treacherous, but the environment has changed, and surprisingly this was really apparent last night when I turned off the lights. We love night lights here; a single light pushing back the deep darkness of winter nights- they're so comforting and hopeful! But last night when the lights went off the darkness wasn't so dark. A solitary beam of hope wasn't as necessary because the whole environment was now clothed in white and the darkness had been lightened. Yes, it was still night.  Still winter. Still cold but it wasn't so dark: it was no lon...

It is January 10th, in Chicago, and 54 degrees!!! Every kid who got a new bike for Christmas is cruisin' the sidewalks!! I can imagine that a bike under the tree Christmas morning (depending on your latitude) would be both welcome and frustrating; frustrating because of the possible very L O N G   wait until Spring to test out the new wheels. It's tough having a gift and  not being able to use it! Today Max Lucado was talking about the gifts God has given to us... You’re Pre-Packed By Max Lucado There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. I Corinthians 12:6 You were born pre-packed! God looked at your entire life, determined your assignment, and gave you the tools to do the job! You do something very similar before you travel. You consider the demands of the journey and pack accordingly. Cold weather? Bring a jacket. Business meeting? Carry the laptop. Time with grandchildren? Better take some sneakers and pain me...

It's that time of year again. The stroke of midnight now signifies a new year. So it's time for New Year's ____?_____. Yep, resolutions. I, like you, have gone through the cycle of New Year's resolutions from making them with great idealism, to realizing their futility and inevitable failure, to merely thinking about things I'd like to change but not calling them resolutions, to, well, to not even bothering... But this year I am making one resolution. I want to eat rich foods and I want to eat until I am satisfied. I want to do all that I can to get fat. No stringy celery, dry rice cakes, and small plates of entrees for me. Bring on the richest, sweetest, most tender foods and bring it in on platters! I want things that melt in my mouth because they are so full of fat themselves- smooth like chocolate, buttery like pastries, and tender like marbleized beef. I do not want to walk around constantly hungry. I even found a verse that describes wha...