MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This morning after church I went for a little walk to see the Christmas decorations in my neighborhood. To my surprise, there were hardly any on the road between church and home, which is usually highly decorated. This was all I saw.

As I was about to drive home, a bunch of "Happy Birthday" signs caught my eye. 

Could they be Happy Birthday Jesus," I wondered as I pulled over to check them out, but they were not.

I wonder who Emerick is.

The arch shaped like a Christmas tree ball that welcomes you in is so pretty. I'm sure it's even more lovely when it's lit up in the dark. 

MALL

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

(linking up at Andrew's place while Kate is on leave)

Word prompt--MALL

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Malls can be fun places to walk around. Full of eye candy and interesting finds. But also full of temptation to spend money I don't have to spend.

I know this is a stretch, but it made me think of a devotional I just read about desensitization, and how sin wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't such a pleasure.

In a nutshell, desensitization is when your body or mind learns to tolerate something it once strongly reacted to (such as an allergen, or a phobia, for example) through gradual, repeated exposure to it. Think allergy shots, where the body, over time, becomes used to the allergen and is no longer irritated by it.

Desensitization can happen in our spiritual life as well, as sins that were once considered unthinkable gradually become tolerated, then condoned, and finally openly endorsed, and we are no longer distinguishable from anyone else. 

There was a little exercise at the end of the devotional asking us to make a list of little things in our own lives that ought to bother us but don't. Maybe that's the connection (for me) to the word prompt. All the temptations I am faced with daily are like the eye candy beckoning me in the mall.

On my list were books I would never have considered reading when I first became a Christian, that now I don't see why not; TV shows I would not have watched that now seem harmless; turning to food for comfort when I feel frustrated--in addition to the Lord, instead of Him alone; and the list goes on. 

It was quite convicting.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

SALE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

(linking up at Andrew's place while Kate is on leave)

Word prompt--SALE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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When I saw this week's prompt it made me think of how grateful I was for all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales that enabled me to buy Christmas gifts for my grandchildren and great-crandchildren at greatly reduced prices. That was what I started writing about.

However, the flow of my thoughts was abruptly interrupted by an unrelated passage of scripture that popped into my mind. It was about Simon the Sorcerer who offered money to the apostles when he saw them laying hands on believers, and the believers receiving the Holy Spirit through their touch (Acts 8:9-24).

"Give me also this ability," he said, "so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit (v. 19)."

The apostle Peter rebuked him for thinking it was a gift that could be bought--"May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money (v.20}!"

God's gifts are freely given. They are not for sale, nor can they be earned by our good works. They can only be received by faith.

How quickly my thoughts turned from gratitude for the great sales that enabled me to buy some great gifts, to Jesus, the greatest gift of all. Jesus, who willingly took on human flesh and was born into this world to die for our sins so we could be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -- (John 3:16, NIV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -- (Romans 6:23, NIV)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. -- (Acts 4:12, NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -- (1 John 1:9, NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved. through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. -- (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

PRETTY THINGS

 

The Cover of my 2026 calendar.

An unexpected gift outside my door.

A Christmas cactus full of buds. 

CHRISTMAS SWEATER

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

(linking up at Andrew's place while Kate is on leave)

Word prompt--CHRISTMAS SWEATER

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Just wondering how the tradition of calling Christmas sweaters "ugly Christmas sweaters" came about. I've had several Christmas sweaters over the years, but never considered any of them ugly. I don't even think this picture of a Christmas sweater Andrew posted is ugly. To me it looks colorful and festive.

Anyway, that led to a totally unrelated thought of a post I had written a very long time ago on a now defunct blog. It was about a big old turkey vulture I had spotted sitting on top of a roof. I had added the word "ugly" to my description of it, and one friend commented that she bet his mama didn't think he was ugly, and another, that all God's critters are beautiful. They were both right.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. It's all a matter of perspective.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

TUESDAY THOUGHTS

Two statements I've been pondering lately:

"We live by demands when we should live by priorities."

"To put your trust in human resources is to lean on a shaky crutch."

I know there's a message in there for me (and maybe you as well?).