Day 5 -- Heal on This Fifth Day of Advent

Healing happens best when one heals with a friend (ice cream is a plus).

It has been quite a year! Last year at this time, my husband was healing from knee replacement surgery and the effect of the pain medications. Less than a year later, he wound up in the hospital with a bacterial skin infection which triggered an arthritic flare up in his natural knee. We're thankful his artificial knee was not touched! From there, both of us have had visits with the doctors. The privilege of growing older. Yet, I know many friends and family members of all ages and for many reasons are in need of healing right now. For some, eating good food, moving around, and getting some sleep goes a long ways.

For others, healing is more complicated. Still, I like the subtitle on this book cover: "How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes."

Some days all one can do is to "take the next step one knows to take" -- a Dallas Willard saying that has helped me time after time.

Healing, in the midst of a medical condition or healing in the midst of relational issues, is a journey -- a journey that one often awakens to. For me and mine, we gather our resources, we simplify our lives, and we wait, just as Advent is a time of waiting, for the One who comes with healing in his wings. 

Day 4 -- Simplify on This Fourth Day of Advent

Simplify is great word to think about, but I found it difficult to take a picture of it (and truth be revealed: it is a bit difficult to implement at times)! After rejecting several ideas (a calendar with less dates filled in? a closet with less clothes?), I wondered how God simplifies in nature.

I started with a tree (which is pictured below), but decided on the image above because of the three different types of plants. Each holds a key to simplifying. The evergreen in the background can stay green all year, but daily it needs to simplify its branches by dropping a few needles continuously. The red deciduous tree has a simplified rule of life that includes green buds, full green foliage, the beautiful autumn colors, and finally what looks like bareness in the winter. So, too, the grape vine with its buds, followed by leaves and fruit, then dropping of the leaves, and finally a cutting back. Then, each plant starts its cycle again.

I have seasons in my life as well, and I am learning that it is an excellent idea to simplify by dropping activities, cutting back, and then, when the season is right, to begin again. In this way, I can bear good fruit.

And, if all else fails, trust a seven-year-old to show you how to simplify by using one's imagination. No need to buy another nativity set; make do with the one you have.