December 21, 2021 a thought for the day, Two may lie so as to hang a third. Danish Proverb

Yesterday I had a beautiful light in my life. I got to see all of my great grand children at one time and in
one place. I am not so sure but hope that will happen at least another time in my life time. My words can’t explain how much it touched my heart to be able to touch each one of them. Then to watch them move about with smiles on their faces in the being with each other as the blood of my family. I am adding a photo of me with my kids. 

I think this weeks food pantry is finding our guests even more grateful that we are here. They will have at least food from our pantry as well as a small gift of extra amounts in their boxes to honor the season. That’s where I spent part of this day. We had a constant movement of people for the hour and half that we were open. We have another pantry day tomorrow. 

Yesterday I had two photos of the day. The first was titled “gift”. I usually put my gifts in a gift bag now days. But my sister wraps her beautifully so this is one of hers. 

I hope to finish the poinsettia memory insert for the Christmas Eve bulletin tomorrow morning. I got an email this morning that the bulletin for the day after Christmas bulletin will be abbreviated. We don’t expect a large turn out of the service being the day after Christmas and will be mostly to honor the season. I am working through a different slant to this particular bulletin.  

The second photo of the day for yesterday was “c is for...” The Christmas tree is perfect.

The word for today is living.  Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. Hans Christian Andersen.  God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. Voltaire. The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. Marcus Tullius Cicero. To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. Voltaire.  I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. Alexander the Great.  Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Martin Luther. The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom. Plato. Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. Horace.  In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present, Lao Tzu.  The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart, Gautama Buddha. 

Today’s photo of the day title is “candy cane”.  I did one shoot of candy cane decorations in a neighbor’s yard. But then found we had boxes and boxes of them at the church so I was able to get a shot of those too. 

Here’s a story about saving things from being thrown away at the same time receiving new purpose. The title of the article reads “Sew what? State workers repair inspected toys for charity donations”.I learned from the article that material inside stuffed toys must be inspected. Samples are supplied from the manufacturers to the Ohio Department of Commerce for inspection. It the required materials are within compliance the toys are good to go, to sell. Then the samples are due to be thrown away.  The article read “to prevent the toys from going to waste while also celebrating the spirit of the holidays, a group of Division of Industrial Compliance employees gather annually during their lunch breaks around Christmas to sew up a few hundred samples”. They call this the “sewing circle”. Some of the employees even take them home to work on them in their own time, some do it at their desks on breaks. This year fifteen of the employee sewed over 300 toys. For the inspection they are opened along the seams. After they are sewn back together, they are given to the St. Stephen’s Community House to be given to families for a variety of needs. 

I think we are having hot dogs for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                     just a touch of yellow for color