Be hospitable!

"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

Luke 2:19

 

I am still reflecting on the many beautiful lessons I have learned throughout this amazing Season! During our Christmas homily, we learned that we must make room for Jesus in the "inn" of our own hearts.  Then, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we learned that, in addition to making room, we must nourish the Jesus within.  It's not enough just to make room, we must nourish and be hospitable to Jesus, just as we are hospitable to guests in our homes.  I thought about this quite a bit and came up with ways we can be hospitable to Jesus, our most Precious Guest.  First, we need to spend time with Jesus.  We don't invite people over to our homes and then ignore them by watching TV or playing on the computer do we?  Let's try to spend quality time by giving full attention to Jesus in prayer each day.  Second, we need to learn about our Guest so we can converse more easily.  We can do this by reading Jesus' own words in the Gospels and other spiritual writings.  Let's strive to get to know Jesus better by studying what he said.  And finally, (I love lessons in threes, don't you?)  when Jesus tells us to do something, let's do it!  When we invite someone in and they have good, practical suggestions for us, we pay attention to them.  Jesus gives us all we need to know to live doing God's will.  Let's try to do it!  So, to sum it all up:  we invite Jesus in, we make room for Jesus in our lives, and we are hospitable hosts, loving and learning from our Guest.  Sounds easy, right?  Love, heidi

Sing a NEW song!

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands."

Psalm 96:1

 

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions...they usually end up being discarded by mid-January (with the exception of my resolution to be better about recycling in 2006, which I am still keeping!) But, I do love that starting-over feeling of a brand new year and the idea of trying to improve something. In reflecting on this, as I look ahead, I came up with three things to work on throughout the new year.  First of all, I will try to live more simply.  I know, I know, I've said that before! But this time, I may inch forward a bit more.  The less I have, the less I have to keep track of and think about.  "Tis a gift to be simple..." Will try to do better in '14.  Second, I want to be more giving.  This goes hand-in-hand with the first one.  The more simply I live, the more I can share with others.  Pope Francis is such an inspiration in urging us to share with the poor and those who have so much less.  Nothing is really just ours...it is only ours to share.  And finally, I desire to be more devoted to prayer, study and just spending time with Jesus.  It is so important to me to spend time in solitude and silence, but I can get so distracted and some of that valuable time gets frittered away.  So there you have it...with the grace of God, 2014 will be a year of simplicity, sharing with others and devotion to Jesus.  What new song will you be singing in 2014?  Love, heidi

Oh, several people have asked to see a picture of the quilt from yesterday's Daily...just scroll down to yesterday's post!

An Advent gift

"And be thankful."

Colossians 3:15

 

I can finally share my most precious Advent blessing, now that the gift has been given!  My dear friend Nancy suggested I make a tee shirt quilt for daughter Sam...out of all the old tee shirts she left behind.  There was a drawer-full of tee shirts from blind camp, deanery camp, even from working at Kohl's those many years.  There were plenty of tee shirts that had never made it to Boise in four years.  They were basically discarded in the drawer.  Nancy was patient and generous with her help, since I don't sew and knew nothing of how to turn these rejected shirts into something precious.  And I truly believe God helped too.  Whenever I messed up a shirt and needed another one, there was another in the drawer!  The result was a quilt and Sam said she remembered each shirt, each event, or time in her life. How fun!  The lesson for me, throughout Advent and the time spent working on this quilt was this:  Nothing is discarded by God.  No matter what, God can turn anything, seemingly unwanted, into something lovely.  And second, God uses our human hands to do it.  No matter how unskilled we are--God still uses our inept hands to make something beautiful out of something discarded. There are no rejects in God's world...we all have the potential and the ability to love and be loved.  Isn't that a magnificent Advent gift?  Blessings on your continued Christmas celebration! Love, heidi