"Stay Warm!"

Rather than "Goodbye" or "See you later," the final phrase in many conversations around here is now, "Stay warm!" And for good reason...

Last night dipped to nearly 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Wind chills on the prairie are in the 60's below. Schools are closed and most events cancelled for two days running.

We are all trying to "stay warm." I think it's a good day for a detox session in the sauna!

Ice is building up around all our windows and doors.

I refilled bird-feeders in a storm just
before the temperatures dropped so low.
(photo credit: Elsa)

Our huge pileated woodpecker is making use
of the suet to fuel his little furnace.

Today's sunshine helps warm the house
and show off the amazing snow sculpting
left behind blizzard winds.

Mail from Norway

A special package arrived in our snow-capped mailbox last week... from Norway! Even the postage stamps were a thrill as we love lighthouses and have the heart-shaped iron to make those delicious Norwegian vafler.

But the excitement increased with the opening. It contained pewter buttons for the Norwegian cardigans (kofte) Elsa and I plan to make. (The Norwegian wool yarn was also shipped last week... from the UK!) All this comes as the result of a special Christmas gift Mom and Dad managed for Elsa and me. When a friend was touring Norway this fall, they asked her if she could find and bring home a couple knitting pattern books whose fame has spread beyond Norway. The only challenge with Kofteboken & Kofteboken 2 is that they are in Norwegian! Translating is a fun part of the process as we follow the tradition of our ancestors in knitting these beautiful and practical cardigan/jackets.

The package included a handful of mints with the shop name, Lykkelig, which translates to "Happy." These authentic buttons were hard to locate. After a bunch of searching online I finally got in touch with a little yarn shop on a coastal island in Norway which has a domestic mail-order website. They were so kind as to figure out a way to make an overseas sale. 

How fun to realize later that they are in the same region where my great-grandfather, Hans, grew up until emigrating alone in his teens!

Delayed Response

When my reading through the Bible last year took me through the book of Job again, I remembered how early in our health trials, my uncle gave us a volume with short reflections and applications from this ancient book. 

The Gospel According to Job

By Mike Mason

It has been several years since I read from that book, so I am inclined to pick it up again. But more recent reading brought me to another excerpt from Waiting for a Miracle by Jan Markell that fit perfectly.

"God reminds all who suffer that we have limited understanding. He also instructs us through the Book of Job to take heart in the orderliness of nature when we begin to doubt God. If there is obvious order in the universe, we can conclude there is even more order and purpose in what we would call the chaos of our lives. 

"Perhaps the ultimate lesson in the Book of Job is that God's silence does not equate his absence. If we could only get into the mind-set that we can trust God when there seems a delayed response from him. Bigger plans are on the way, as with Job! Delay is just one of God's "filter systems" and his silence is a portion of his strategy.

"God hears. He hears our groaning, our petitions, our prayers, our praise, our weeping. But to God, what happens to us is important and will determine what happens through us. Affliction truly reveals what we are made of, and affliction can become the laboratory for sincere spiritual discovery and growth."

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.

- Psalm 46:1

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 1:6

Winter Beauty

Winter brings unique beauties, 

inside and out.

Lying Dormant

I was surprised once to meet a grown man who had never heard of sun-dogs. But when one has lived most of their life in South Africa, they don't experience the sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures which most frequently produce these wonders. My description could not have portrayed half of the glory of this sight. 

A double sun-dog forming a
near-circle around the winter sun

Whether you live with frigid cold or extreme heat, you have some season during which plants lie dormant. And even the most temperate climes will not protect our lives from what look like dormant seasons. If you feel as if your life is "on hold" - even for years on end -take heart! God is at work in your life even then.

To quote once again from Amy Carmichael's Rose from Brier:

"In South India we have no snow; instead of snow we have great heat.

During the hot weather, when the leaves of the lilies fade, you (if you are wise) do not water the plant; you must not persuade it to make green leaves then; its powers are being used otherwise. For then, in this hot, silent time, the miracle is wrought that multiplies your lily bulb.

In cold lands instead of heat there is the silent snowtime; shall we not trust whether through the heat or under the snow?"

Christmas Snow

Twas the day after Christmas 

and all through the air 

Was glittering and swirling 

Elsa's answer to prayer...

Yes, we love snow! 

All except our cat.

According to Your Word

Psalm 119 used to seem daunting. Not only is it the longest psalm in the Bible, but it is also constantly pointing to God's law, statutes, commandments, precepts, rules... (We could call this the "thesaurus psalm.")

But a couple years ago I downloaded the nearly 18 minutes of audio from the Bible.is app. (*see below) Now Psalm 119 is a favorite to listen to when I need to be refreshed.

Let my cry come before you, O LORD;

give me understanding according to your word!

Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

I long for your salvation, O LORD,

and your law is my delight.

Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments.

Psalm 119:169-176 (ESV)

"O that these holy resolutions and pious breathings were entirely my own! Adored be the never-failing mercy of God! He has made my happiness to depend, not on the uncertain connexions of this life, but upon his own most blessed self,-- a portion that never faileth."

- Henry Martyn (see this earlier post)

*Check out Bible.is for an app that has blessed Elsa and me so much in these years when reading can be hard or impossible.