(And All My) Work Be Praise

Have you seen the Christmas ornaments "celebrating" 2020? Toilet paper rolls, face masks, quarantine, social distancing, distance learning . . . all of the bizarre things of this year "commemorated" to be chuckled (or cried, depending on your year) over for Christmases to come. I cannot count how many times I have uttered (or heard uttered) the phrase, "what a weird season." And a long one, too -- a season we're not out of yet, though I join with those who are optimistic for an upswing by the end of January or so. This morning we sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing  at church, and ever since my praise team rehearsed it on Thursday, I can't stop thinking about the second verse: "Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I'm come." The story of the Ebenezer stone from 1 Samuel 7 is one I've carried with me since my divorce in my mid-20s, when a friend gifted me a small stone with reference to Samuel. "Thus far the Lord ha...

Today was "use up random ingredients" day -- a third of a jug of apple cider, the bottom cup of a jug of orange juice, blueberries that had been at the bottom of the freezer for a while. I made apple cider waffles (quadrupled the recipe) and orange-blueberry bread (instead of muffins, because honestly I just didn't feel like scooping batter into muffin tins). This isn't my usual orange-blueberry muffin recipe , so I can't vouch for it yet, but it smelled yummy while baking! Between the last ten weeks of prepping/baking and the bulk pork purchase, our garage freezer is now stuffed to the gills! That puts me in a great place for the holiday season: plenty of food on hand for easy breakfasts and dinners, and Fridays freed up for holiday prep. Of course, I don't anticipate much actually happening  for holidays this year (thanks, COVID), but it's still nice to feel a little ahead of the game in early November! I'll have to remember this next fall. :)

We've done a variety of things in November to keep a running gratitude list leading up to Thanksgiving. Take note that not a single thing here is Pinterest-worthy in any way. I'm a firm believer that a roll of butcher paper and a box of markers, maybe a cookie cutter and some scissors if time allows, is more than sufficient to accomplish discipleship. 2012 tree  (when I had a 3-year-old, 2-year-old, and five-month-old) 2013 leaves  (when the new toddler would've ripped anything off the walls) 2014 chart  (when Sid the Science Kid was all the rage in my house) In November 2015, we were packing up our house to move to Minnesota. There was no time for projects. In November 2016, Calvin was a month old and I was absolutely swimming in new-baby-hood. There was no mental capacity for projects. 2017:  The Thanksgiving Alphabet. This was the year we put "baby" on the list right before I found out I'd miscarried. Some holidays carry sadness, you know? 2018: I couldn...