Epiphany

Epiphany has several meanings. It can mean this day, January 6, when tradition says that the Wise Men found the Christ Child. It can also mean a revelation or the light turning on. I love talking about epiphany and have done so many times before: 2017, 2014, and 2011. (My favorite might be the 2011 one.) 

 In the days leading up to Christmas 2019, I sat in my chair reminding myself that it would all be over soon. And it was. For some of us this is welcome and for others (including me ツ), it always comes as a disappointment. It was a wonderful Christmas. I hope that yours was as well, though I have already read of challenges over the holidays for some dear blogging friends.

My daughter came last Saturday and packed up the ornaments and hauled them all back upstairs. This was a great blessing. She suggested taking down the tree, but I keep the tree up through Epiphany. Now that it has already become a winter tree, I may keep it up for the remainder of the week. I'll pick on the other child for taking it down and packing it up next weekend. He will be happy about that. Sure he will.

Winter Tree

When it was a Christmas Tree

Judy's Nativity


Judy is John's sister. She is in nursing home care. I decorated her room for Christmas. She always most especially wants a Nativity, but she also had a small tree, a wreath, and a gingerbread house. When I went to visit and gather the Christmas things the day after New Year's, I found them covered with Judy's folded clothing. Apparently, the laundry lady felt it was time for Christmas to be over. 

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I have watched the 1994 version of Little Women a number of times this season. It's a wonderful movie for Christmas time. I also went with Laurel to see the 2019 version and liked it; my daughter loved it. I prefer the 1994 version. There is even an Amazon Prime Little Women series and I have been enjoying that as well.

Apparently, every generation has its own Little Women focusing on the agendas of the times. There were two things that particularly annoyed me about the 2019 version, but I'll spare you. My favorite thing about the current version is the 2019 Laurie. But then what's not to like about the 1994 Laurie?  I still prefer Winona Ryder as Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmee. And I far prefer Mary Wickes as Aunt March. Beth's death scene is far better in the 1994 version. Of course, it was created out of whole cloth, but this story lends itself to changes and/or "improvements." 

I actually reread Little Women as I wondered how many liberties were taken. You can find that here if you'd like. I found some things that surprised me on both counts...things created by the movie directors and producers and things followed very closely by them as well.


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It's time to move into 2020. The good news is that some things never change. There'll be no reworking of the age old truths. Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever. He'll be the same in 2020 as He was in 2019 and 1920. Very comforting thought...

Epiphany 2017

Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas also known as Epiphany. The term "epiphany" excites me. When I taught a writing class at a local college all those years ago now, the term epiphany came up repeatedly in a literary sense and it was so thrilling to teach. 

~2017 calendar~

I would say to my students...Epiphany is the moment when "the light goes on." Then I would add that there is no greater moment of epiphany than meeting God face to face as those shepherds and wise men of old did. There is nothing to prevent us from doing that daily. The Lord welcomes us to meet with Him. In fact, it is of utmost importance to our souls. All good writers understand the concept of epiphany. 

Look closely at the logo on my new iPad (generous daughter strikes again) for a fun illustration of the light going on. I had to look at it twice to figure out what was going on. 

~The new iPad is such a pretty color that I hated to cover it up with the new cover, yet the cover makes it possible for me to easily use it.~

~taken with the iPad camera~

Let us just say that I am fully enjoying this day, but I will also enjoy epiphany tomorrow and tomorrow and forever. There is no limit to God.
Many blessings to you... P.S. For more thoughts on Epiphany, please check out the featured post in my sidebar.

Epiphany 2014

This is a post cobbled from bits and pieces of former years' posts. 
John and I came to celebrate Epiphany late. It is not a part of our church teaching. It is a part we have happily borrowed from others and use as a way of closing Christmas with a bit more ceremony than pitching the tree to the curb as it were. ~~~ I hope that you may not yet have put away your Nativity Set. Epiphany is the perfect day to bring the Nativity set to the table using it as the focal point.

~~~ Dismantling Christmas means that I have stripped the tree of everything except the angel top and the lights. We will enjoy it this evening and tomorrow. I must think of a good Epiphany Supper. Last year, as I recall, I gathered the Nativity Set and plenty of candles and we ate by candlelight. I remember looking up at Nan as she ate her meal quietly and she smiled back at me. It was her first celebration of Epiphany and, quite frankly, she found it unusual and said so, but once she got into it, all was well. ~~~ This is it for this Christmas Season. I will happily be celebrating Advent and the First Day of Christmas before year's end. I love that the years begin and end with Christmas. What a wonderful Savior to love us so that He willingly left Heaven behind for us. How we need Him! How can we not keep Christmas all year through? ~~~ Enjoy this Day of Epiphany. Think what you might do. It's not too late! My table is set, the menu is planned, the food is waiting, my heart is full and ready. P.S. I am thinking of all those who are still in the grip of winter weather. It's wild out there!

Pressing On

I am not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward — to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. ~Philippians 3:12–14 (The Message)

Yes, I did get out yesterday. Took a picture or two and a blogging buddy's advice. Such moments are always liberating. God is so good and patient with me, one who is alternately timid as a mouse and then the resident loudmouth. And today, I'll drive in the snow by myself to church (not this one) where we'll sing "Standing at the Portal" because another blogging buddy featured it on her blog last week and I liked it so well that I just happened to email the pastor about it and he liked it so well that...

Embrace and enjoy this *Day of Epiphany. Think what you might do. It's not too late! My table is set, the menu is planned, the food is waiting, my heart is full and ready. 

Many blessings to you this Sunday and all week through!


*Edited to Add: There is no epiphany greater than meeting God.

Dare

So you wish to hear a little more about my word for the year. Dare is the word and, just because I am so timid and fearful about many things, I am afraid to tell you how I hope to use the word; therefore, I am going to do it anyway.

I have shared briefly and from time to time that I have been writing. I have always written. My mother packed my construction paper bound stories away in a wee trunk. Funny little stories that are mostly reworkings of Wagon Train scripts. I do crack myself up. In adulthood, I've continued to write essays and short stories.

As most of you know, any first novel (written by anyone) is largely autobiographical. I have been working on such a book for years. It gets put away and I can't find it for years and then I find it again and it all begins over again. To put an end to my torment of never finishing anything I start, I have decided/dared to post it here. It will be on a separate page. I'll probably post it one chapter/portion at a time and it will be your choice to read or not. There will be no comments removing any difficulty one might have of not knowing how to tell me that it's all drivel. I am not selling it. I am not planning to ever publish it elsewhere. It's just a way to get it off my chest. [Edited to Add: "Off my chest" as in the not finishing of a thing and not any angst that might be associated with my life. Though this little book is autobiographical, it is most definitely not an autobiography.] Since these portions do not exist on a disk or on my computer, I must retype them. The first chapter should be up sometime next week. I'll mention it that day and then I'll not be mentioning it further.

There are a great many other ways that I hope to use the word and I may share them as we go. It's already begun today. For example, I wanted to go to "the city" and enlisted John's going along. I really dislike going anywhere alone. I can do it, though only with great effort. Now that I see how cold and windy it is out there, I'm talking myself completely out of it. And so it goes... I can become one very happy cabin queer gal in winter perfectly content in my own little realm.

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Tomorrow is the final day of Christmas until next December. Do you love, as I do, that a year begins and ends with Christmas?

I hope that not all of you have put away your Nativity Sets. Epiphany is the perfect day to bring the Nativity set to the table using it as the focal point.

Yes, I do appreciate symbolism — metaphor, simile, motif — it's all good. 

I'm almost ready to pack Christmas away, though if you decide to read here, there are at least two more Christmas posts in the wings. Yup, I dare to do it.

Epiphany

This is it for this Christmas Season. I will happily be celebrating Advent and the First Day of Christmas before year's end. I love that the years begin and end with Christmas. What a wonderful Savior to love us so that He willingly left Heaven behind for us. How we need Him! How can we not keep Christmas all year through?

Since I'm still on Christmas, albeit for the final day (yesterday was actually the 12th Day of Christmas), I want to share a couple of ideas with you. First, Cheryl at A Nest On Feather Lane had a sweet interpretation of the window idea. Actually, she's changed it all up. That's the joy of Blogdom, one idea sparks another. Cheryl says that it's too much to put up a tree, yet she still enjoys seeing her ornaments so this was the result.

I also wanted to tell you of an idea my daughter found on Pinterest about saving Christmas memories from one year to the next in a canning jar. On Christmas Day, she passed us a slip of paper and we all started writing. (That's not quite the truth, but close enough.) Then my daughter gathered them all up, popped them into the jar, climbed up on the back of the easy chair, and set it up high on the ledge in the living room.

Where it just sat way up there calling my name. I grew more and more nosy curious until I also climbed up on the back of the easy chair and retrieved it.

Every single one shared wonderful memories. Some of us are more eloquent than others. I noted my gifts, the laughter of the boys, and the difficulty of this first Christmas without my mother. John wrote that he was happy to have finished the siding as a gift to me and that the day was "most enjoyable." Even the grands signed their names. My daughter wrote about how special her picture book was...her favorite gift of Christmas. My daughter-in-law wrote a humorous story about making Santa's sandwiches with the boys and what Santa left on his plate—the crusts.  My son wrote:

The assignment is to write down the fondest memory of 2011. Mom tells John it should be easy to come up with a fond memory of today. Laurel says it's for the whole year, but if you want to write one about today (Christmas), that's fine. As though I wouldn't have a hard enough time with this already, and to make matters worse they gave me a pen. I already want to erase what I've written so far. I'll do both. Today is easy; Sam's playing Clocks by Coldplay on Laurel's I Phone (hit the lighted button) and he can't stop. He says this song is like a rock song. That album was the soundtrack of my first year with Michelle. Glad to know we can agree on what's beautiful, at least sometimes. 2011 is another matter. There are some fond memories; Jake's face when Santa put him on his lap. I'll write what I least want to forget though: Grandma. Taking Sam out sledding (Jake was in school), planning to go to the boys' birthday party, even lying peaceful in my bed. Saying yes, Adam, I know you're here. As though there was no need to sound so worried.

The man is an accountant. I'm very proud of all of his accomplishments and his hard work of returning to school and earning his degrees. I had no idea that he could write. At all. Not even a little bit. I hope that he'll continue. He might get a journal for his birthday. Just sayin'...

Disclaimer: Now as for Clocks ...love the music and find the lyrics de-pressing. I found Sam's exuberant playing of Handel's Messiah wonderful.

A blessed Epiphany to you...