A Birthday Blessing (for Beverly)

Dining Room Still Life, December 29, 2021

    May this year bring new experiences of joy.

    May you savor the companionship of true friends.

    May you delight in the plants and flowers that flourish in your care.

    May you feel strong in body, heart, mind & soul.

    May the love you give be returned to you in ways you could not see coming.

    May your faith continue to reveal more and more of your heart's true path.

    May you pass hours in turning the pages of splendid reads.

    May you befriend birds and butterflies who find their way to your garden.

    May you close your eyes and listen deeply to music you love.

    May you find yourself counting the blessings of every day.

*The painting is by my son Riley and the calendar art is Elizabeth Heuer's "Orange". The blessing is for my mother, Beverly.

    

Grateful

A Neighbor's Wreath, December 2021

Grateful for the ones

who bring unexpected cheer

to overcast days

Quietly

Ladybug on Angel Trumpet, December 2021

Moving quietly,

she marks a path of her own

into the new day

Holding Holiness

 "Mary Kept These Things and Pondered Them in her Heart"

by Sarah Richards Samuelson

Her eyes speak blessing,

knowing she holds holiness

to her mother's heart

 

 

Believing

Angel on the Tree, December 2021

Oh faithful angel

you light the path for us in

ways we'll never know

The Whole Day

December Sunrise, 2021

A rising rose pink

billowing and glorious

blesses the whole day

Before & After

                                       12:50 p.m.                                                      12:54 p.m.

Welcome to what's next,

the making of miracles

right before your eyes

 

The Longest Night

Christmas Cactus, December 2021

On the longest night

summer's forgotten cactus

bursts open with light

*My Christmas cactus spent the summer in a shady corner, mostly neglected. A few weeks ago, I saw tiny buds forming and brought it into the house. Now, they have all burst into beautiful blooms for the winter solstice. 

If She Can Fly...

Giant Swallowtail, December 2021

If She Can Fly, December 2021

It's rare to see a swallowtail in my backyard in December - but I caught her movement across the yard. It wasn't until I saw her through the lens that I noticed how tattered her wings are. She flew with the same speed and agility as any swallowtail I've seen float through the backyard. Who knows what she escaped or endured. The first words I whispered to myself, "If she can fly, so can I." And so can you...May it be so. 

Advent Invitations

Advent Collage, created November 2021

At the beginning of Advent, I pieced together this collage and it has served as a touchpoint throughout the season. Here are some questions it has stirred in me:

• What adventure beckons? Where is life taking flight?

• When have I recently experienced the beautiful and mysterious?

• Who are my companions? What is the field we share? What are we planting? What are we harvesting?

• How have I been part of  "thy kingdom come"? How has it looked differently than I might have imagined?

• What treasure have I collected and contained in my heart over these weeks of Advent? 

• Complete this sentence, "God crowns the year with _________________.

 

A Prayer for Joy

Bougainvillea, December 2021

 Lord, direct my gaze

so I might see where your joy

has come into bloom

Go On

Full moon, December 2021

Go on, build your fence

the shining moon still rises

to waltz with the clouds

Evening Drive

House from the car window, December 2021

 

On an evening drive, 

have you ever seen a place

that you could call home?

* I was driving home from a Christmas party just outside College Station. When I passed this house, something about it felt warm and charming. I thought, I could be happy there. So I rolled down the car window and took a quick photo. It's interesting to consider other places we might call home. 

Joy

Christmas Cactus, December 2021

 It won't be long now,

translucent blooms are bursting

with tidings of joy

How They Shine

How beautiful the strands

that connect us

and how they shine

in the light.

Spider's Web on Water Oak, December 2021

 

From the Book Shelf

Beyond Loneliness by Trevor Hudson

 Favorite Quotes from Beyond Loneliness: The Gift of God's Friendship

• “When we enter into the Divine Friendship, we are drawn into God’s greater dream for the healing of our lonely and broken world.” p. 19

• “Keeping our loneliness to ourselves shuts the doors of our hearts to the possible care and concern of others...We may also harden our own hearts to the loneliness of others.” p. 29

• “Jesus invites us into a divine intimacy in which we daily live in him and he lives in us.” p. 40

• “As we grow and mature and abide in Jesus, we will also find it necessary to remain in a community that celebrates him as Lord and friend.” p. 41

• “He alone, through his companionship with us, can reproduce his kind of love in us.”

            p. 50

• If we want to deepen our prayer lives, we must create a space to be with God. p. 55

• “Polite prayer poisons our relationship with God.” p. 60

• “...we can recognize our daily work as the primary opportunity to partner with God in making God's dream for this world a reality.” p. 68

• “Is God asking us to use our suffering to bring healing and blessing to those around us?” p. 71

• “He wants us to move beyond dutiful obedience into the world of loving initiative.” p. 85 

• “...when God leads and guides us, we sense a profound sense of peace about the decision we are making.” p. 90

• “Imagine the freedom we would have if we could live beyond fear..." p. 101

• “The God who wants to be friends with us, the God we meet in Jesus Christ, does not cause suffering.” p. 105

• “Our Divine Friend shares our suffering intimately, enters our grief, and weeps with us.” p. 109

• “Something goes painfully wrong when the cycle of God’s blessing stops with us.” p. 113

• Make tomorrow a "blessing day." Ask God early in the day to fill your heart with God's love for all you meet. p. 120

Praise

Morning Reading, December 2021

 May praise fill every corner of my heart.

Stone on Stone

Ebenezer, November 2021
Benedictine Abbey in Pecos, New Mexico

 

Prayers stack, stone on stone

each holding up the other

in silence and strength

Pray to be Wild

Wild Turk's Cap, December 2021

Pray to be wild

able to root whenever

wherever you please

Seeing and Seeking

Little Yellow Sulphur, December 2021

 

In the evening hour,

dusk invites a new kind of

seeing and seeking

Unexpected

Gulf Fritillary on Pink Turk's Cap, December 2021
Photo by Riley Anderson

 

Dizzy and dazzled

December's fresh beauty brings

unexpected gifts

Get close

Shrimp Plant, December 2021

Get close to the ground

kneel in the grass if you must-

don't miss what's blooming

December Days

Christmas Cactus, December 2021

Tiny hopes appear 

along the quiet edges

of December days

December

Datura, December 2021

The angel's trumpet

resounds through December to

bring exquisite news

 

Glance

Canna Lilies at the Window, December 2021

Glance outside and see 

 Something bright and promising

is looking for you