Shepherd Boy

“Did you see me?” asked the little boy
His face, lit with eternal joy.

“I was the littlest shepherd,” he said,
The pride coming from his heart, and not his head.

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know it was you,
The littlest one in black, grey, and blue.”

“When the angels spoke, we knelt down,
Before journeying on to Bethlehem town.”

“Yes, yes,” I said, “I saw that. You were wonderful.”
Then we pondered the Living Nativity with our hearts full.

A community coming together to recognize the birth,
Of our Savior, Christ the Lord, who brings us joy on earth.

Living Nativity

Christmas lights shimmer on the bay
As we come home, warm inside
On a cold winter night
With Christ’s birth in sight

His mother cradled him in the hay
We touched the donkey’s hide
As we witnessed the living nativity
Shown to us with glowing activity

Christmas lights shimmer on the bay
As we come home, warm inside
With Christ’s birth in sight
In spite of the cold winter night.

Advent Morning

"Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you . . ."
That song makes me want to dance, sing, and head outside.
But wait, I already did all those things this morning.

The frozen dew sparkled on the neigbhor's field, making it look like something out of a fantasy novel, with every leaf etched in frosty designs, and the 2 acre wood on my parent's property feel like Pooh's 100 acre wood.

The dogs sniffed over animal trails, the girls and I marveled over the curving madrona making a half-circle around a tall pine tree, and Grandma showed us where the little toadstool villages were growing, and the ant-hills with holes dug into them by some hungry animal.

We heard eagles, and saw them flying in perfect formation through the trees and out over the fields. A black-capped chickadee greeted us from his branch, peering at us as curiously as we did him.

We tap danced to Christmas music in our living room, entryway and kitchen, and sang Christmas carols with the radio over breakfast.

All in all, a wonderful morning.

A wonderful, advent kind of morning.

Preparing our hearts for Christmas.

"The weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn,
fall on your knees,
oh hear, the angels' voices,
oh night, divine,
oh night, when Christ was born."

why I love mornings before sunrise

Oh, the beautiful line of tree branches hanging and reaching, black against the dark blue sky that grows ever lighter with each passing moment. A winter sunrise comes with a slow bliss of awakening.

I love my mornings.
I love being able to sit down with a cup of hot tea, my Bible, my own thoughts, and my laptop.
I love writing.
I love sifting through the marketplace of e-zines, and looking for just the right spot for my writing.
I love being inspired by the language and humor of other poets and writers.
I even love submitting my work when it's something I feel really good about, something that I hope inspires, or captures a feeling just right.

I love having enough rest, to wake sleepily and stretch my mind in prayer, and then to get up, stretch my body, and be able to have this time before sunrise, before everyone gets up.

I love my family, but I love them even more when I've had this time alone, with God, with my own thoughts, with my writing. Thank you God, for this time!