Soul-Full Week Forty-Eight

 

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:

SHINE

Light 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