dusty frames. he remembers with compassion...

As 2010 draws to a close and 2011 approaches...
and is now a day away...
I have been, once again, drawn to self-examination.


What goals had I hoped to achieve during 2010?
What lifestyle changes had I planned to tackle in 2010?
What heart issues had I been compelled to inquire of the Lord
to examine for the upcoming 365 days?


Sadly, I don't even remember.


Perhaps I wrote the answers to the above questions
in a journal entry from 2009...
and I suppose I could get that journal and revisit that time
but, I dare say I would find my thoughts being quite the same.
Because at year's end, I have typically run the emotional gamut...
and have ended up falling too deeply into introspection;
the old narcissistic pool of pride that looks like this...


Sadness...another year gone.
Guilt...too many opportunities slipped past me.
Despair...why can't I follow through?
Defeat...I don't persevere in anything!


A few days ago I was drawn to meditate on Psalm 103:13-14,

"As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust."


In particular, the phrase "he remembers that we are dust"
seemed to reach out and grab me...
and in my pride and self-righteousness
I began to pray and ask the Lord to help me
when I am quick to get exasperated with Sweet Husband
to remember that he is dust.


(I know...you have to laugh to keep from crying...)


But, being the compassionate Father that God is,
he was ever-so-quick to redirect my misplaced attention
from my Sweet Husband's dustiness to my own...
and remind me that it is only when I am humbled by 
God's compassion towards me in remembering my dustiness
that there will be less exasperation in my own heart
with what I perceive as Sweet Husband's dustiness.


So...what does this have to do with the price of tea in China
or the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011?


Reflecting over the past year and setting goals for a new year
are beneficial exercises, I think.
But, I need to be careful to see them
not through the defeating introspective lens of self-determination,
nor the judgmental idolatrous lens of self-exaltation,
but, through the redemptive and restorative lens of the gospel. 


Perhaps then my emotional gamut would look something like this...


Sadness...another year gone
...turns to...
JOY..."For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Guilt...too many opportunities slipped past me

...turns to...

FREEDOM..."There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1

Despair...why can't I follow through?
...turns to...
PEACE..."But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:21-23


Defeat...I don't persevere in anything!
...turns to...
VICTORY..."No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39


So...as we, believers in and followers of Jesus Christ,
reflect on 2010 and anticipate 2011...
may we rejoice with exceeding joy
that it is GOD who is at work in us
both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)


...and I will prayerfully seek to be patient,
kind, gentle, loving, unselfish, humble,
gracious and merciful towards Sweet Husband...
not because I'm mindful of his dustiness...
but, because God is infinitely compassionate to remember mine.


By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone,
Happy New Year!

a less familiar carol. give a listen and consider...

This is now a favorite carol of mine.
I really like Allison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma...
and the Irish melody soothes, while evoking a tear at the same time.
But, the true beauty lies in the lyrics...

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His beloved Son.
With Mary [gratefully we] pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blessed Messiah born.

In the last minute, frantic rush to prepare
for the excitement, laughter and chaos
of tomorrow morning...
take a moment to listen
and consider the ultimate sacrificial gift...
Jesus...Messiah...Christ the LORD.

May we ponder like Mary and respond like the shepherds!

Merry Christmas and may God bless us...everyone!

putting it in reverse. have a nice trip...

So, I'm going to back-track a bit.

Life has been so busy that I haven't really had the time
to sit down and write a blog post about our 3rd annual
Thanksgiving trip to Telliquah Falls.

It was WONDERFUL!!!!

The highlights...then the pictures...

1) We were ALL together...Sweet Husband, me, Josh, Meggie,
Bethany, Peter, HUDSON, Jake, Loren, and Drew

2) My parents were able to join us...they rented the cabin
nearest to ours

3) Mike's parents and sister joined us for Thanksgiving day
and dinner

4) Did I mention Hudson?  Our first grandchild was with us?!

5) Peter built some awesome fires for us!

6) Auburn won the Iron Bowl!  WAR EAGLE!

7) Hudson.  Hudson came!  Did you hear?  Hudson came!!

8) We started a new tradition...Advent Baskets. (Thank you, Molly Piper for writing about them on your blog!) My mom is AWESOME... she stayed up with me late one night and sat on the hard floor helping me wrap gifts for the baskets. I owe her...in a HUGE way!  That floor was really unforgiving!!

9) God met us in a special way during our time of worship...

10) HUDSON was there...have I said that already?

11) Ben Finch came and took family pictures on our last day.
You can see some of them here on his photography blog. While you're
there...visit awhile and enjoy Ben's work. He's downright talented!!! If
you're needing / wanting pictures made...give him a ringey-dingey.

Now for some pics... Enjoy!!

We were all so excited to see Josh and Meggie!

Brooklyn NY is so far away...

we miss them A LOT!!!

Oh, yes! Did I mention Hudson Jude Hedger

made his inaugural visit to Telliquah Falls this year?

He drew quite a crowd...

no matter what room he was in or what floor he was on.

...and there was always a lap just the right size,

whether it was PawPaw's

or Uncle Josh's

or Great-Aunt Sheree's.

On Thanksgiving day, while cooking was going on,

there was a lot of fellowshipping going on, too!

Jake and PaPaw, Drew and PawPaw

enjoyed some time together on the porch.

...meanwhile, I was cooking and

Bethany was doing a mean slicing job on MaMaw's

homemade sourdough bread.

All together now... YUM! YUM!!

The end result looked really delicious!

We only had to sound the dinner bell once...

they came a'runnin'.

I might have forgotten to mention that

HUDSON JUDE HEDGER

was there!!

He wears his banana well...don't you think?

Nonnie (my mom) blistered us in Scrabble...

she always does...

and she's so nice about it!

Peter and Jake played some other game

that was way over my head...

at least in Scrabble three-letter words are an option!

The girls weren't interested in the Iron Bowl,

so they piled onto a bed and watched "Criminal Minds".

I know...I couldn't believe it either...

perhaps they were a little frightened by Nonnie's

deeply guttural, "GET HIM!!"

It can be overwhelming.

There was lots of snuggling, cuddling, nuzzling that went on...

Hudson...got it from every direction.

He loved it!

Aunt Meggie introduced Hudson to some

apple-core-gnawing.

Where was Aunt Meggie when I was a child?

All I got was an old chicken leg bone!

Advent baskets...one gift to open beginning December 1st

and ending December 25th...with an envelope

each day that contained either a name of God or

an attribute of God to meditate on during the day.

Some gifts were pretty practical...some very random.

I hope each one has been enjoyed and

each heart drawn to marvel and worship anew

as Christmas Day approaches.

When we returned home, the kids were so thoughtful 

and caring...they went to the store and bought 

a bunch of pork chops, which Sweet Husband grilled,

Meggie, Bethany and Loren made homemade

macaroni and cheese (oh, my!!), steamed broccoli,

and I was blessed by their desire and willingness to serve us!!

Nonnie got in some good time with Hudson

while the cookin' was going on.

So...Telliquah Falls 2010 drew to a close...

it seemed so long in coming and

so quick in passing.

These are the people I love most in this world.

I'm drawn to love Jesus more whenever I'm with them.

This picture...that we're all in it together

is quite a miracle...

and not a testimony to our efforts or abilities.

This is a portrait of God's grace and mercy...

and Hudson...did I mention that Hudson was there?!?

impossibilities? uh, no...

Just watched the video below... pretty impacted by it.

Our pastor preached from Luke 1 today.
He commented that Mary was probably around 12 or 13
when the angel Gabriel visited her.

A 13 year old girl was sitting in front of me
next to her father.
I couldn't help but wonder
how Mary had such incredible faith...
at such a tender age;
but, as the angel said,
"For nothing will be impossible with God." (vs. 37)

My thoughts moved from the child in front of me
to myself.
I didn't / don't carry the Son of God in my womb
but he has taken up residence within me...
not because of anything I have said or done,
but only because of his sovereign grace.
It was an impossibility for me...
but, as the angel said,
"For nothing will be impossible with God."

"When love came down to earth and made his home with men,
the hopeless found a hope, the sinner found a friend.
Not to the powerful, but to the poor he came
and humble, hungry hearts were satisfied again.

When every unclean thought and every sinful deed
was scourged upon his back and hammered through his feet;
the innocent is cursed, the guilty are released,
the punishment of God on God has brought me peace!


What joy, what peace has come to us!
What hope, what help, what love!"
                          (from the lyrics by Stuart Townend)

This truth...and only this truth
is the reason for a Merry Christmas!

i've been thinking. i know...miracles never cease...

So, I've been pondering prayer / approaching God /
"living by faith" / my heart's desires...
the past couple of months...
and this post and subsequent ones
will probably be a bunch of questions,
observations, scripture, which will lead to
a bunch more questions...no doubt.

I'm a "face value" person...
meaning I take things pretty much at face value.
It can be a positive trait...
I see with relatively simple eyes...
as well as a negative one...
black and white can be grossly unloving.

It serves me that I'm not morbidly introspective,
but sometimes "face value" means
I struggle to see "another side,"
I struggle to ask "but what about...?" questions,
I struggle with being critical, judgmental,
impatient, unmerciful and unloving...
and I call myself "Christian"?

Now...I'm totally aware and wholeheartedly believe
that my being "Christian" is absolutely and only about
God filling me with faith to believe
who Jesus Christ is and to trust
in his sacrifice on the cross on my behalf.
Yes, he suffered God's wrath, which I deserved,
for my sin...critical, judgmental,
impatient, unmerciful and unloving
sin.

He did what I could never do...
he satisfied God's just punishment
intended for me.

All I know is grace.

Galatians 2:20-21 says,
"I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God,
for if righteousness were through the law,
then Christ died for no purpose."

How often do I
nullify the grace of God
by trying to earn righteousness
through the law...
by what I do, or don't do...
by trying to be what ends up being
my definition of "a good person."

Take the parable of the two men
who went to the temple to pray...
one a Pharisee and one a tax collector.

Luke 18:9-14...
"He [Jesus] also told this parable
to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous,
and treated others with contempt:
'Two men went up into the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus...
'God, I thank you that I am not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'
But the tax collector, standing far off,
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying,
'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified,
rather than the other.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Pharisee, obviously a very religious man,
saw himself as deserving...even entitled
to God's attention and blessing.
After all, look at all he did and who he had become.
He was an expert in religious law...
meticulous...self-disciplined...determined...
a user of God.

The tax collector was not "religious."
He was probably a very wealthy man,
after all, he padded his pockets
by charging people more taxes than the government required.
He was a take charge kind of guy...
a self-starter...self-motivated...determined...
a user of people...

yet, he came to see himself as undeserving and totally in need
of God's mercy.

Isn't it interesting that the one Jesus said went home justified
was not the religious man
but the tax collector.

The Pharisee...the religious man...
really didn't recognize his need for a Savior
because he thought he was so good at keeping the law...
so how could God not be crazy about him?

The ironic thing is...
the law was given to expose sin,
to show how God could not be reached by good performances.
It was given to magnify the holiness of God...his "other-ness"...
his unattainability by human measures.

But, true to man's sinful nature...
man accepted the challenge and set out to prove
that he could, indeed, attain righteousness through the law
by "becoming like God"...
the lie we've all been believing since Genesis 3.

The tax collector...the secular man...
recognized the true state of his heart before the Holy God
and did the only thing he could do...
he begged for God to be merciful.

Jesus said he "went down to his house justified."

I wonder what his life looked like after that day?
What should my life look like as a follower of Christ?

Of course, he was just a character in a parable...
he and the Pharisee weren't "real" people like me...

Or are they?

51, 2 and 9. you can't put a value on memories...

Three ladies and a baby...
around 51 muffins,
2 pans of caramel apple sticky rolls,
9 pans of cinnamon rolls...

These are the ingredients
for a well-spent Saturday!

Yesterday, which was Saturday,
I was blessed beyond my ability to express.
Bethany (our daughter) and Loren (our daughter-in-law)
and Hudson (our grandson...the CUTEST...the SWEETEST...
the CUDDLIEST...but, I digress) came to our house
for a day of baking.

Now...I love to cook...though I don't spend as much
time in the kitchen as I used to when the kids were all home.
But, kids coming home is the best reason
to dust off the mixer and fire up the ovens!
It's even better when it's two of our sweet daughters
coming to cook with me!!

All of us (our three daughters and me) are huge fans of
The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe...

among other things...don't even get me started about
Tequila Lime Chicken! Oh. My. Goodness...
smack yo mama good!  ...digressing again;
if you are familiar with The Pioneer Woman, you understand...
of course, if you've ever heard me tell a story, you understand
tangents...I'm easily enticed...
though I never grasped them in geometry or algebra...
if Ms. Killough had only associated them with story-telling
I might have made an "A"!...okay, at least a "B"...

I'm back now.  ...can't guarantee for how long.

With the change of seasons and the crispness of the air,
what could be better than piping hot
Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls and a glass of milk...
while watching "Anne of Green Gables"...
one must never forget Anne...with an "e"...

So...we were agreed upon our mission
and we were ready and armed to carry it out.

This was some of our weaponry.

We were a well-outfitted brigade!

    

This was our ammunition.

It was right on target!

     

Loren manned the mixer for this round...

Bethany was all about technique...

    

"See...it's all in the wrist!"

   

"Good posture while stirring is essential in the kitchen."

    

"Y'all come back now...ya hear!"

    

While muffins were baking and

cinnamon roll dough was rising 

we enjoyed some lunch together...

soup and croissant-wiches...

a wonderful combination!

Hudson enjoyed some delectable rice cereal

and gnawing on his momma's finger...

He's cut one bottom tooth and is working on its next-door neighbor.

Nothing feels quite as good as chomping

on Mommy's finger at times like this!

   

After lunch it was time to get back to cooking.

Here I am making the caramel for the 

caramel apple sticky rolls...

   

It was hard to get Loren away from the mixer...

    

...but, Bethany didn't put up too much of a fight.

She was happy to be in charge of quality control.

 Hudson was happy to help, too...

    

"Say what?!

Caramel apple sticky rolls? You got any in a Gerber brand?"

    

 No, Hudson.  Gerber doesn't come anywhere close to these!

But, you get a few more teeth and you'll be able to!!

    

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

you just have no idea how strong this tooth nub is!

How about some of those?

   

Nope.  I'm sorry, little man.

These muffins are being delivered to someone else.

But, when you get a little bit older

you can sink your teeth (plural) into some of these...

   

The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls 101...

heaven in a pan!

    

"Psh...you just give me one now!  I'll show you what I can do!"

  

When all was said and done,

we accomplished our mission...

share a day and bake together.

It was the "together" part that I enjoyed most.

The baked goods will be long gone

before the sweet memories fade.

God willing, the memories will only grow sweeter...

"We love because He first loved us."  1 John 4:19