Isaiah 7:14...

I love the words of the song, O Come, O Come Emmanuel...

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,

and order all things far and nigh;

to us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,

who to thy tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law,

in cloud, and majesty, and awe. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem,

from ev'ry foe deliver them

that trust Thy mighty power to save,

and give them vict'ry o'er the grave. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Thou Key of David, come,

and open wide our heav'nly home,

make safe the way that leads on high,

that we no more have cause to sigh. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,

and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death's dark shadow put to flight. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Desire of the nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind;

bid every strife and quarrel cease

and fill the world with heaven's peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

I'm so thankful that God did send us our Emmanuel, His Son Jesus,

and I'm oh, so thankful that He is coming again.

Longing for that day...

still following,

Be sure to click on the photo below to see how to enter my giveaway of this 

beautiful Ghanaian Market basket!

Hot Chocolate Station - free printable to make your own!

Baby, it's cold outside!

It's been sunny and blue skies this week in Portland, Oregon, but frosty cold.

I decided it was time to set up a hot chocolate station for the grandkids...

and I enjoy a cup now and then myself!

It's as easy as gathering your supplies and finding a nice tray or tote to set them in.

In my vintage berry tote I put:

 -6 of my favorite Christmas mugs

-some packets of instant hot chocolate,  the kind that you simply add boiling water to

(our oldest granddaughter  knows how to make it herself with these packets)

-a large jar filled with Nesquick chocolate milk powder that you add to hot milk

 (I'm not fond of the packaged hot chocolate so I prefer this)

 -some spoons for stirring

- a jar of mini marshmallows

-a jar of Bob's soft peppermint sticks

 (these melt into the hot chocolate and add the best peppermint flavor!) 

Then I made a little Christmas-y looking Hot Chocolate sign.

Here's a copy for you to download and print.

Now all that's left to do is top it off with a cute bow and enjoy!

still following,

My friend Barbie has just released her new book, Coffee Talk with Jesus and is giving some away.  Click on the link to find out more!

Be sure to click on the photo below to see how to enter my giveaway of this beautiful Ghanaian Market basket!

I'm linking at some of these wonderful places...

     
         

                  

                                                      

                              

              Also linking to Jennifer Rizzo's Fabulously Creative Friday

Giving thanks for beauty in the storm...

An out of town friend and I took an impromptu trip to the beach last Monday.

That afternoon it got quite stormy.

Determined to not let the weather get the best of us,

we bundled up and walked on the beach anyway.

We started walking, facing into the wind and laughing at all the effort it took to walk just a quarter mile.

Walking back to the car, the wind at our back, was almost effortless.

Boy, do I love it when life is effortless, when progress is made with little output of energy on my part.

But those times are rare.

More often than not, there's a storm to be faced in some area of life.

At times, it's tempting to stay inside and burrow into the comfort and safety of home.

However, I've found that when I bundle up,

 face the storm and choose to give thanks and find joy in the midst of whatever I'm facing,

 I inevitably end up experiencing something beautiful in the midst of it all.

**************************

In 2012 I followed the prompts in Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare in counting my thanks.

In 2013 I'm going back to the way I did it in the beginning,

just noticing and recording the many extraordinary blessings in my ordinary life.

And so I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal.

(and capturing some of them via my camera or iPhone)

#4005-4031

11-18-13-

-the Hub's encouragement for me to do fun things 

-a safe trip to Lincoln City

-the beach still beautiful in the midst of a stormy afternoon

-staying up 'til 2am talking to my friend

11-19-13-

-a good night's sleep

-a run on the beach in much better weather

-a car that gets good gas mileage

-a safe trip home

-coming home to the Hubs who had a fire in the fireplace and flowers for me

11-20-13-

-praying with my friend who was having a biopsy for possible cancer

-a sunny, frosty morning

-the Dr. pretty sure that she does not have cancer

-a toasty warm fire in the fireplace

11-21-13-

-youngest granddaughter who's vocabulary is growing every day

-not feeling well, staying home and resting  

-helpful friends

11-22-13-

-feeling much better

-dinner and a movie with the Hubs

-blue skies, cold days, Mt. Hood showing off

11-23-13-

-confirmation from the dr. that my friend's biopsy was negative for cancer

-having fun with the two oldest grands rather than finishing my chores

-tuna melts, tomato soup and popcorn for lunch with the grands

-running around our local fitness trail with the Hubs and the grands on this cold but beautiful day

-the first peppermint blizzard from DQ of the season - a tradition with the grands

11-24-13-

-praying with some hurting women at church

-lunch at Mod Pizza with a dear couple from church

-God speaking some more to my heart about my word for 2014

still following,

See how to enter my giveaway for this beautiful Ghanaian Market Basket by clicking on the photo.

Join the community of gratitude gatherers here...

John 16:24...

I stumbled upon this support piece for a picnic table washed up on the beach 

when I was there early this week for a quick little getaway with a friend.

Some other beachcomber must have set the piece upright.

Right away what I saw was a capital letter A.

A couple of weeks ago, I felt like my word for the coming new year was to be joy.

However, I began to doubt, thinking I just wanted my word to be joy because it was such a more pleasing, more joyful, (of course), word than the word trust which has been my word for 2013.

I kind of knew that if my word for 2013 was going to be trust, 

then I was going to face situations requiring trust.  

Sure enough, I certainly have. 

 Yet, God confirmed my choice of the word in many different ways, so I was confident that it truly was the word He had given me knowing ahead of time that I would need to grow in that area.

Sunday morning as I was sitting in church I had an inward conversation with God about the word joy,

asking Him if I had just chosen the word myself or if it truly was the word He wanted for me in 2014.

As clear as could be I heard Him speak to my heart, 

"I want you to learn what it really means to enter into the joy of your salvation."

And so,  I'm asking in His name, for Him to lead me on this journey 

of learning to really enter into His joy.

still following,

Be sure to click on the photo below to see how to enter my giveaway of this 

beautiful Ghanaian Market basket!

Friday's Faves.....Monticello Antiques all decked out for Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Monticello Antiques here in Portland, Oregon.

Their big "A Vintage Inspired Christmas Show" begins Friday November 22nd, 

and I'm hoping to drop in for a peek sometime this weekend.

In the meanwhile, it's already beginning to look a lot like Christmas there so here's a sneak peek.

I really like this old framed Christmas print.

Some vintage tablecloths on a beautiful old chair.

This old cabinet is lovely, and it is stuffed to the brim with vintage Christmas decorations.

Leather and fur Christmas stockings anyone?

Lovely Christmas baubles in a tiered basket.

Many vintage versions of the jolly old elf himself.

So much Christmas decor, so little time...

Aluminum trees were popular when I was a kiddo...

many of them had motors that made them twirl and a spot light to shine on them in various colors.

We were "old fashioned" with our real tree.

Here's some more neutral colored decor.

A little tree in a crystal pedestal bowl.

An old wooden cubby filled with vintage goodies.

This ironstone pedestal bowl with a little tree in it may be my favorite thing.

Wandering the aisles is a wealth of holiday decorating inspiration.

I loved the beautiful leaded glass doors on this cabinet, and again, 

it's filled to the brim with vintage Christmas decorations.

FaLaLa!!!  I never thought of spelling that out in vintage letters until I saw this display!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of one of my favorite antique malls all decked out for Christmas.

Be sure to click on the photo below to see how to enter my giveaway of this 

beautiful Ghanaian Market basket!

It's almost Friday, friends!

Have a HAPPY, HAPPY Friday

and

a BLESSED weekend!

                  

                                                      

                              

              Also linking to Jennifer Rizzo's Fabulously Creative Friday