Happy Friday, Friends!
What have you been up to this week? We have had workmen in the house everyday this week. Finally, our upstairs is done! I have been working so hard to get everything ready before our daughter and SIL come home for Christmas.
I wanted to tell you a little bit about Jenna's Celebration of Life. It was so nice! Tara and Ryan did an amazing job. They cooked several family favorite recipes. Each recipe had a sign beside it with a QR code that linked to Jenna's post featuring the dish. I loved that! One of the most popular ones was her famous coconut shrimp.
Jenna loved her outdoor patio area off her kitchen. The party extended outside around the beautiful fireplace. She loved spending time out there.
Y'all are probably familiar with the round glass table in her foyer. Ryan had displayed many of her sketch pads and journals opened to her drawings and watercolor paintings. Jenna was so talented, and she had such a fun, whimsical style. I spent quite a few minutes leafing through her drawings and remembering how a few were featured on her Fearless Friday posts.
Beyond the table is the grand staircase and large Christmas tree. Tara had pulled several of her paintings and displayed them around the tree and up the staircase. Tara asked me to pick out my favorite and take it home with me. Y'all, I was in tears! I chose a landscape for two reasons: One, I never, ever paint them, and Two, Jenna rarely painted them. It's a rather large canvas, and I love how she painted the edges of it, too. The dominant color in it is orange. I still have not decided where to hang it yet. but when I do, I will share it here on the blog.
The Celebration of Life was *so Jenna*. Tara was brokenhearted as was Ryan because her death was sudden. They are a very close-knit family. This is going to be a sad Christmas for them as they are missing Jenna. Please keep them in your prayers.
Y'all, this week's lesson is one of my favorites from the year. Entitled "Recipe for Faith," I love how it talks about cooking, including how to make a good roux. As many of you know, my sweet husband is from New Orleans. When he asked me to marry him, his grandmother asked me if I knew how to make a good roux. Being a country girl from Alabama, I had no idea what she was talking about. She said, "Now Beauty (she called me Beauty because she thought my name was ridiculous (her words, not mine)) you must learn how to make a good roux in order to be a good cook for Trippy!" So she hired a cook to teach me. Not only did I learn how to make a good roux, but I also learned how to make red beans and rice just like a native New Orleanian.
Farrell does a lovely job in this lesson about how to kick our faith up a notch with action, but also how to be inactive, to "be still and know that I am God."
Here is this week's scripture. I included verses six and seven, and it's from The Message translation.
Before I move on to our prayer requests, I wanted to share with you a reflection about Advent joy from Kate Bowler. When I read it in my inbox this week, I was reminded of Jenna and her Celebration of Life. Jenna tried to find joy EVERYDAY! Even when she was in the skilled nursing facility, she created art, watched her favorite Hallmark movies, and blogged.
The painter Marc Chagall once said, "In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."Born to a Jewish family in a Russian shtetl, Chagall's life was marked by exile, pogroms, and the Holocaust that destroyed much of his community. Yet his art overflows with riotous colors--- angels suspended in midair, fiddlers on the roof, lovers flying over cities. He painted joy against a backdrop of suffering, not because the darkness wasn't real, but because he insisted that love and joy must break in anyway.Advent joy asks something similar of us. We do not pretend the world is fixed. But we light a candle anyway. We sing anyway. We look at Chagall's saturated blues and fiery reds and remember joy doesn't wait until everything is safe and orderly. Joy is God's gift, arriving in the middle of exile, the middle of grief, the middle of the unfinished world.So perhaps the practice today is to add one small splash of color back into your life.
Friends, I think Advent joy is an ingredient we can all use to "deepen the recipe of our faith."
Marc Chagall
White Crucifixion
1938
oil on canvas
60 7/8in. x 55 1/8 in.
We went to the Art Institute of Chicago for this painting's reinstallation in 2016.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for Rita as she mourns the loss of her sister. First Christmases without loved ones can be especially difficult.
- Please pray for Kitty’s son, Mike, who is excited about working on his own idea. Pray for Kitty that she can be supportive and encouraging to him as he shares his ideas and developments with her. He is such a good guy and needs something wonderful to happen in his life.
- Praise for Rita's daughter Megan for finishing her semester of the FNP program successfully! Just one more semester after a Christmas break! Let's keep up the prayers and get her over the finish line next semester.
- Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer.
- Carla's prayer request is for all the young people entering the military, the love they feel for the USA to become warriors to fight to keep us free. Let's especially lift up our National Guard as they are deployed both here at home and abroad.
- Pray for my mother. She is declining rapidly.
- Please pray for Kris's MIL because she has been having some heavy health issues, and Kris is currently her full time nurse. Pray that God will help and bless Kris as she cares for her MIL. Pray that other family members will step-up and will be discerning about what's best for her care.
- Kitty's younger brother is having health issues. Please lift him up in prayer.
- Pray for Kris's husband Terry. He is home from the hospital, but is still having difficulty eating. UPDATE: Terry is going in on Friday for surgery. Pray for discernment for Terry's medical team, and that God will settle Kris and Terry's spirits, calm their minds, and guard their hearts.
- Rita's HS Friend Pam needs us to start banking-up prayers now. Her oncology and reconstructive team of two surgeons will perform an estimated 12 hr surgery Jan 5 to remove at least half of her tongue (tongue cancer) and, minimally, lymph nodes on her right side of her neck. She will have skin grafts taken from her forearm and thigh to reconstruct. She's expected to be in the hospital a minimum of 10 days. It's a long road ahead for her. UPDATE: She is experiencing excruciating pain and swelling of her tongue. Read Rita's details about Pam's condition in her comment below.
- Please pray for travel mercies for Shanley Belle and Christopher as they drive from Michigan to Alabama tomorrow.
- Travel mercies for Carla and her family as they travel to rural Wisconsin. They will be traveling 12/24 through 12/28. (Internet is sketchy where they're going FYI.)
NOTE: We will read both Lessons 51 and 52 for St. Stephen's Day, or December 26th.
Don't forget that we will start our new book Peace With the Psalms on Friday, January 2nd.
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
I meant to get a photo of my Advent wreath (you can see it in the background), but instead I took a photo of the heirloom roses. GAH!
Hello, My Sweet Friends!
Y'all....I can't tell you how blessed I am to have a new computer that WORKS! I didn't realize how much I missed having one, and I think that Mr. Prayer Warrior is even happier since I no longer borrow his laptop!
How was your week? I have been thinking about y'all and about how some of us are definitely in the Big Kahuna right now. My mind kept thinking of Kris in particular this week with Terry's struggles. I truly thought that this lesson was so inspiring and timely.
I showed our youngest daughter the cookie recipe, and she wants to bake it when her sister comes home for Christmas. I will post them when we bake them! Did you try this recipe? Have you started your Christmas baking yet?
I love that the lesson started out with a quote from Madeleine L'Engle. I have read her fiction, and this past year I've started reading her Christian nonfiction books. She was such a treasure, and a very deep thinker! I highly recommend her books.
We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.~Madeleine L'Engle
What are your thoughts about this week's lesson?
This week's scripture is from Paul's lesson to the Romans, and it's about how suffering is good for us and leads to hope:
Prayer Requests
- Pray for Rita as she mourns the loss of her sister. First Christmases without loved ones can be especially difficult.
- Please pray for Kitty’s son, Mike, who is excited about working on his own idea. Pray for Kitty that she can be supportive and encouraging to him as he shares his ideas and developments with her. He is such a good guy and needs something wonderful to happen in his life.
- Praise for Rita's daughter Megan for finishing her semester of the FNP program successfully! Just one more semester after a Christmas break! Let's keep up the prayers and get her over the finish line next wemester.
- Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer. UPDATE: Barbara might be able to return home Tuesday. She has been away from home for almost a month because she was in the hospital for a week, and she's been at the SNF for almost three weeks.
- Carla's prayer request is for all the young people entering the military, the love they feel for the USA to become warriors to fight to keep us free. Let's especially lift up our National Guard as they are deployed both here at home and abroad.
- Pray for my mother. She is declining rapidly.
- Pray for Jenna Meon's family as they mourn her passing. The celebration of life will be December 13th, which is tomorrow.
- Please pray for Kris's MIL because she has been having some heavy health issues, and Kris is currently her full time nurse. Pray that God will help and bless Kris as she cares for her MIL. Pray that other family members will step-up and will be discerning about what's best for her care.
- Kitty's younger brother is having health issues. Please lift him up in prayer.
- Pray for Kris's husband Terry. He is home from the hospital, but is still having difficulty eating. Pray that Terry will improve and not need hospitalization until after Christmas when he has his surgery, and that God will settle Kris and Terry's spirits, calm their minds, and guard their hearts.
- Rita's HS Friend Pam needs us to start banking-up prayers now. Her oncology and reconstructive team of two surgeons will perform an estimated 12 hr surgery Jan 5 to remove at least half of her tongue (tongue cancer) and, minimally, lymph nodes on her right side of her neck. She will have skin grafts taken from her forearm and thigh to reconstruct. She's expected to be in the hospital a minimum of 10 days. It's a long road ahead for her.
Thank-you for your travel mercy prayers for Shelley and me as we traveled last weekend to Louisiana for our niece Molly's baby shower.
I'm staying home today because we're having some furniture delivered. I hope to get lots of chores done! Have a great weekend!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope you've had a festive week. I shipped gifts today, and the guy at the UPS store was really funny because he said: "You're a week ahead of last year!" *ha ha*
I truly enjoyed this week's lesson. I started our Advent book club this week at St. Stephens. We're reading The Meaning is in the Waiting by Paula Gooder. Advent is the Christian calendar's beginning of the year. I think it's interesting that we are expected to begin the year waiting, by living in the moment. I suppose that all of our days should be lived that way, but it is certainly a focus for the beginning of the year.
Our teacher Betty gave us an Advent calendar with a word of the day and an activity to go with it. This reminded me of our lesson in SoulFull! Here is the word and activity for today, Friday, December 5th:
SHINELight a candle and pray that the Light of God shines through you!
I'd also like to share with you another phrase from an Advent devotional written by Joyce Rupp:
"An expanded heart" ----- I resonate with this phrase and what it implies: a sense of something much bigger than ourselves, a wide embrace of another, room enough within one's self to extend a welcome unconditionally. I hope during this Advent season, my heart can grow wide enough to be hospitable, open enough to accept those different from me, generous enough to do what it takes to be kind, and large enough to spontaneously extend compassion. "
I think that you could expand the sticky note challenge to include not only words, but small phrases like "an expanded heart." Did you take the challenge? What are your four words?
Mine are hopeful, waiting, love, and shine (thanks, Betty).
Here is this week's Bible verse:
We will be reading Peace With the Psalms next year. I was really wanting to do Seasons of Wonder, but not every activity in it has scripture. It looks like a very fun book with fun activities, and it is biblically based. I think I will read it and try to do most of the activities, and if I feel like sharing anything I'll share it here on the blog.
Today you can purchase this for $9.99 for your Kindle, or $13.99 for the hardcover from FaithGateway.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for Rita as she mourns the loss of her sister.
- Please pray for Kitty’s son, Mike, who is excited about working on his own idea. Pray for Kitty that she can be supportive and encouraging to him as he shares his ideas and developments with her. He is such a good guy and needs something wonderful to happen in his life.
- Keep Rita's daughter Megan in your prayers as she delves into her 3rd and final year of Nurse Practitioner program. Her anxiety is pretty high with the new schedule of work, school and home life balance.
- Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer. UPDATE: Barbara has been transferred to a local SNF. It's the same one where Jenna was, and she is on the same hallway, too. I'm not sure how I feel about that! She is not well enough to go home.
- Carla's prayer request is for all the young people entering the military, the love they feel for the USA to become warriors to fight to keep us free. Let's especially lift up our National Guard as they are deployed both here at home and abroad.
- Pray for my mother. She is declining rapidly.
- Pray for Jenna Meon's family as they mourn her passing. The celebration of life will be December 13th.
- Please pray for Kris's MIL because she has been having some heavy health issues, and Kris is currently her full time nurse. Pray that God will help and bless Kris as she cares for her MIL. Pray that other family members will step-up and will be discerning about what's best for her care.
- Kitty's younger brother is having health issues. Please lift him up in prayer.
- Pray for Kris's husband Terry. He is having intestinal problems due to a blockage caused from a hernial mesh procedure from a few years ago. Pray that Terry will be able to go home, and that both Kris and Terry will not catch anything from the hospital.
- Rita's HS Friend was diagnosed with mouth cancer (tongue) this week. She is having pet scan today and will go to WVU for ENT oncologist consult next week. Surgery will remove part of her tongue, this much we know, lymph nodes undetermined.
- Carla and her husband are visiting her husband's elderly aunts this weekend. She prays to bring them JOY! There is EXTREME family drama on her husband's side of the family. The aunts they are visiting helped raise Carla's husband. They are twins, they are very dear, but life has been difficult for them. Praying for joy, peace, love and patience as they travel and visit.
Today is a peppermint mocha kind of day!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
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