The picture above shows one of several stations which together tell the story of the life of Jesus.  They are located along a walking trail at a monastery where I stayed in Italy.  It is located high upon a mountain overlooking the city of Rapallo.  The following art is done in relief on the station depicting Mary’s visit to Elizabeth….

When the angel told Mary that by the power of the Holy Spirit she will have the baby named Jesus, God’s Holy child, the Angel also told her that her relative Elizabeth is pregnant and 6 months along.  Mary runs all the way to another town to see Elizabeth.  In the picture you see the moment they meet and hug each other.  The bird you see is a dove which is a symbol representing the Holy Spirit.  It means that God is present and working miracles in the lives of both Mary and Elizabeth.

Wow!  Look at the miracle!  If we didn’t get it before, we sure do now! This painting of Elizabeth is by Phil Boatwright and is found in the book “The Indescribable Gift”.  Elizabeth has wanted a baby for a LONG time, and now it is happening!  But she is very old.  When Mary sees her and calls her name, the baby inside her “leaps for joy”.  Now that would have been a jolt for anyone, but especially for someone as old as Elizabeth.  What a miracle!

Mary needed to be with Elizabeth.  She needed someone who understood.  Everyone else in the community did not understand at all.  Even though Mary felt she was especially chosen by God, she must have been scared about the future.

I remember one Sunday during Advent in worship a very young girl stood up to sing.  She was the voice of Mary and her words were from a song by Ken Medema.  She sang in her beautiful clear young voice, “I’ll go tell Elizabeth….she’ll understand….she’ll hold my hand.”  I have never forgotten that moment.  What the young girl Mary felt became so real for me.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months.  God gave Mary and Elizabeth a special friendship which they both needed, and God worked a miracle in both their lives.  You and I are in this story.  God gives us special friends who truly know us deeply and understand. And God continues to work miracles!

Questions to think about….

When you need someone, who are the friends you would run to who know you deeply and understand?

Has there been a miracle in your life, or the life of someone you know?

nk

 

Today we begin a journey of Advent leading to Christmas.  We will experience moments together that we expected because we are familiar with the story of the birth of Jesus.  But we also travel this journey with expectation and wonder, because God is always doing something new, and there are moments when we will be surprised.  I have not yet written the posts for the next 27 days.  I am taking this journey a step at a time with you.  It will be a challenge for me to write everyday but I feel led to do this.  I am smiling as I write because I know it will be special, and fun, and filled with a few surprises as God brings moments to share.

We begin with the Annunciation, the Angel comes to tell Mary about the baby.  The photo above is of a picture of the Annunciation which hangs on the wall of the monastery where I stayed in Florence, Italy.  It doesn’t look at all like most of the portrayals of the Annunciation where Mary kneels in awe of the glorious, golden Angel.   Here no one seems to even notice or care that an angel is present.  It takes place at the breakfast table and the dog is asleep.  Mary is wearing flip flops…I love that! She has either dozed off thinking this is a dream, or passed out overwhelmed, or just napping to check out of something she can’t deal with.  Or perhaps she has already said, “Let it be to me as you have said”, and is now filled with an awesome peace.  What do you think?

Now let’s try this one…

 

This Annunciation is from a children’s book entitled “The Nativity” illustrated by Julie Vivas.  The scene is once again at the breakfast table. The Angel looks like he has had a rough flight.  He was either in a hurry or befuddled over carrying such profound news… he didn’t even get his boots tied.  He looks like a big “little kid”.  He and Mary are having an intense conversation over a cup of coffee.  I am pretty sure she is now saying, “BUT HOW CAN THAT BE???”

The wonder in both of these is that the Angel does come into our everyday world at any moment to bring the message God wants us to hear.  And we, like Mary, are each one called to bring Jesus to the world in some way.

Questions to ponder….

Has an angel come into your everyday world in some way and you knew they brought some word from God?  Where? Who?

How does God want to use you?

nk

• 

We spent Thanksgiving in Boulder, Colorado with children and grandchildren. Fun in the snow with Anna, then Grant and Anna making snow angels. Thanksgiving day we went to friends for a feast….Anna introduced us all to her little friend Meisha, one year old, who won everyone’s heart. She put on her best bow for Steve! Ben and Grant kept in touch with their friends, and we all had a wonderful time!

Meanwhile Susan and her family experienced the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. A special moment occurred when Susan saw her Drill Team Instructor in the parade who had brought Susan to NYC 23 years ago to dance in the parade. Susan called out her name and she looked directly at Susan, recognizing her and remembering. What an incredible moment as they shouted with joy and blew kisses! What are the odds of that happening? Such a gift!

So very much to be thankful for this season. All of life is truly a gift from God!

I am going to do a daily message during the Advent Season beginning this coming Sunday. Feel free to invite anyone to join along by clicking on “follow” if they wish to receive daily thoughts during the days leading up to and including Christmas Day. Blessings to all….

nk

My foot is healed!  I had a stress fracture in my heel so I had to wear the boot you see above for several weeks.  Notice that it is all taped up at the top.  That is because it has had a bit of wear and tear over the past few years.  My sister wore it twice…the second time was during our trip together earlier this year.  All over Italy she hobbled in that boot, on and off trains, down into catacombs, up and down a mountain.  Amazingly it never slowed her up one bit, and she never missed a beat!  So when it came my turn to wear it, I considered it somewhat of a badge of honor.  If you’ve ever worn one, you know it can be a nuisance.  But I was proud to wear this boot!

I also wore the boot twice.  The first time for me was when I broke the same foot falling off a table at church on Sunday morning.  You know the song “Footloose”….lyrics go “Kick off your Sunday shoes”… Well, I should have when I climbed up on that table, but I didn’t.  So when I fell, I caught the heel of my shoe in the hem of my dress and landed on my foot backwards.  I also broke my wrist.  We have christened this boot the “Ballard Boot” because my Dad also wore one when he broke his leg falling off a horse.

There was one other episode with my feet when they broke out in an itchy rash.  I went to the Dermatologist and he determined that I was allergic to a certain Italian leather.  He rubbed some soothing antibiotic cream all over my feet, then put my feet into baggies and my shoes back on my feet to wear home.

Lovely!!  I walked to the elevator feeling very conspicuous.  When I got on the elevator, I felt all eyes were staring at my feet while trying not to be obvious.  Finally I said to everyone, ” I guess you are all wondering why I am wearing these baggies on my feet!  Well…it seems I am allergic to my shoes!”  There was a deadly silence.  No one laughed but me.  No one said anything.  Later as I was telling this story at church, my friend Rob Landes said, “At this point you should have introduced yourself as the ‘Shake N Bake’ pastor from St. Lukes!”

Comforting scripture for today….”How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of her who brings good news…”    Isaiah 52:7

nk

  

Yesterday my sister and I had a sudden impulse, or a wild hair, to get away, leave town and head West.  Maybe it’s my West Texas roots, but getting “out of Dodge” for me always seems to mean getting in the car and driving west into the setting sun.  It signifies SPACE to breathe and relax, and FREEDOM to have some fun and find one’s true self.

So, with no particular plan in mind, we headed west and ended up in Brenham, Texas in the middle of the historic town square.  We talked, listened, remembered, laughed, cried, explored, imagined, tried on a few things, and shed a few things.  A favorite moment is captured in the photo above.  We were in the ladies bathroom of the sandwich shop.  Beside the sink was a small collection of old hats….(such a novelty to us since we are not old!).  Perhaps you can tell from the faces whose idea it was to try on the hats, and who went along for the ride with anticipated enthusiasm, and a slight hesitation.

Not only does the photo capture a special moment on a November day in Brenham, even more it captures our whole life together growing up.  We shared a room, and we were very close.  I always came up with the ideas  and she always went along with it.  I honestly don’t ever remember us fighting.  We had a lot of fun!

In addition to the hat style show, we wandered in and out of several places yesterday, leaving a trail of laughter.  My sister found this card…

The memory it contains happened one morning on our trip to Italy together.  I was wearing a certain pair of jeans and announced to her that I was wearing my “sassy pants”.  My definition of that term is really anything that makes us feel a little spunky, free, and unconventional.  It’s sort of the same as getting “out of Dodge”, finding our true selves somewhere outside the everyday ruts of routines.

Happy Trails!

nk