Wisdom for Wednesdays

"Wise men are only wise because they make their priority the seeking of Christ.
All our moments, all our waking -- all the globe is a looking glass to God, and the wise keep seeking the presence of Christ in a thousand places, because you only come to yourself when you come to Him.
And your God, He's coming now, everywhere, for you."

-Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

Tuesday Talk #11: Fear Not

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Right?

Yet in the midst of the joyful preparations, the twinkling lights, the festive parties...I find myself experiencing some feelings that aren't so wonderful.

Fear. Worry.

We've had a couple different situations lately within our families that have been the cause of my anxiety. Yet I allowed those feelings snowball into habits of daily worry.

A few evenings ago, my husband was out of town and it was just me for the night. The Christmas tree was on and I lit the candles on the Advent wreath. But something was missing.

Peace. The tranquility that a night like this would normally bring me. It was then that I realized how much I had let fear take hold within me. It was becoming less about the outcomes of the family situations and more about my attempts to control them, my need to know the future, my exhausted efforts to go beyond my abilities. And I realized these were not just reactions and emotions anymore-- they were habits. They were symptoms of a deeper problem. My lack of trust in God. My lack of faith in Him. That He would be with me whatever the outcome. That He knows, He sees, and He is a good God.

I reflected on Mary, who carried the Son of God in her womb as she traveled with Joseph to Bethlehem. A journey we too often forget about in our hurry to celebrate the Nativity. It must have been a journey of hunger, fatigue, uncertainty. Did they wonder about their next meal, their next bed, the health of baby Jesus in all that traveling?

Yet God was with them. Literally. And He provided for them every single step of the journey.

Just as He does in our own uncertain paths.

I watched this video that evening (moms send us such good stuff!). About peace, About stillness. About trust. I cried through it. And I repented of my lack of faith. Of my desperate reaching for control when a loving God has it all in His hands.

I sat before the Advent candles burning before my manger scene--the one my mom bought for me years ago as a little girl and promised to give to me my first year of marriage. Tears drying on my face. I felt it. Maybe for the first time this season.

Because I had let go. Those hands that had held so tightly to a false control were now open to receive it.

His peace.

"And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people." -Luke 2:10



Want to join this week's link up? Grab our button below and link back to one of the hosts!

The hosts of Tuesday Talk

Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls ~ Michelle - Grammie Time
Keri - Living In This Season  ~ Christina - Waltzing In Beauty
Lauren - Simply Elliott~  Becky - BYBMG
Jess and Katie - Sweet Little Ones ~ Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
Laura - Life Is Beautiful ~ Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things
Sarah - Abiding In Grace ~ Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me
Emily - Morning Motivated Mom

You can join us on Pinterest, too!

Follow Sweet Little Ones's board Tuesday Talk Features on Pinterest.

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A Cookbook for Under the Tree

This book is a feast for your eyes. Seriously. My number one desire for a cookbook is a lot of pictures!! This one does not disappoint!

I'm a huge Food Network fan and their products (and their chef's products) are usually pretty trustworthy when it comes to quality. If you have not heard of Giada De Laurentiis before, she is one of the Food Network chefs, a lovely Italian with an infectious smile. This particular cookbook is a comprehensive one, including all the meals as well as snacks and treats and holiday cooking. It tends to focus on simplicity, enjoyment of cooking, and clean eating. 

I actually just enjoyed looking through and reading this book even when I wasn't in the kitchen! The ideas and pictures are delicious and it's fun to see the different topics. Most of the recipes were fairly healthy yet original and flavorful. I appreciated the variety as well-- casual breakfasts or gourmet dinners, even a section on "gifts from your kitchen." There were quite a few posed pictures of Giada herself throughout the book. At first I thought this seemed a little odd or too Hollywood, but then I also thought it does give a more personal feel to the book, like you're getting to know the chef and seeing her work with the recipes she shares. My other disclaimer would be that many recipes are not for the beginner chef (including myself in this category!). Though she does a great job explaining recipes, some of them just seemed a bit complicated or included ingredients that were above my budget or knowledge. It would be fun to branch out and make these for a special occasion but not for an everyday affair. However, she does have several other recipes that do fit my style, taste, and budget.

All in all, if you're looking for a gift for the chef in your family, this would make a lovely gift under the tree-- and would provide many future gifts on your table!

More Info on Happy Cooking (and a coupon code!)

About the Author (she went to cooking school in Paris!)

[This book was provided to me at no cost in exchange for a review. This review contains my honest and original thoughts. Thank you, Blogging for Books!]

Wisdom for Wednesdays

"So go to the window. Go to the hills, the desert, the corner, the back door, and be ravished and taken and awed, and you who were made by Love, made for love -- be still and know and watch love come down. 

The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.

And the greatest gift we can give our great God to to let His love make us glad."

-Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

Tuesday Talk #10: Advent

This season. I love it.

No, not the gift wrapping and cooking baking and parties.

But the quiet moments, the holy hush, the sense of wonder and waiting and hopefulness.

Advent.

As crazy as I am about Christmas (and yes, I'm all into the decorating and the music and the festivities!), in the past few years I've fallen in love with Advent. I see the wisdom of the Church in giving us this season of preparation before the celebration.

Perhaps it's my deeper experience of the world. Of grief. Of brokenness. Of uncertainty and unfulfilled dreams. Advent reminds us in the midst of these things that there's more. There's a Savior who came to save us from these. A Savior who still comes. Who gives such hope and meaning to the events of our lives.

A Savior who took on our flesh. Who knows what it's like to be human. He understands. Our infinite, almighty, all-powerful God understands what it's like to be human...to feel pain and anxiety and weariness.

I think of His Mother, of her faithfulness in the unknown. Her trust in Him when her world was turned upside down. She simply took the next step then the next then the next...and because of her faithful steps, our whole world is changed.

Advent calls me to pause. To reflect. To quiet my soul. There's a holy hush, a waiting. But the waiting is anything but empty.

It's a pregnant waiting, full of purpose and meaning. Full of the Christ-child.

But we must receive Him before we can bear Him to the world.

Join me this Advent? Commit to a quiet time, whether in the morning or evening. Slow down, quiet down. Look for the presence of Christ within you and around you. Hear His voice of hope and joy and love. Let Him grow within you.

And then like His Mother, let us bring Him to those we encounter. Perhaps by our simple, faithful steps day by day, God will change the world through us.

Do you celebrate Advent? How do you seek out the silence? What do you find in the waiting?



Grab our button below and link back to one of the hosts!

The hosts of Tuesday Talk

Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls ~ Michelle - Grammie Time
Keri - Living In This Season  ~ Christina - Waltzing In Beauty
Lauren - Simply Elliott~  Becky - BYBMG
Jess and Katie - Sweet Little Ones ~ Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
Laura - Life Is Beautiful ~ Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things
Sarah - Abiding In Grace ~ Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me
Emily - Morning Motivated Mom

You can join us on Pinterest, too!

Follow Sweet Little Ones's board Tuesday Talk Features on Pinterest.

Join the party, friends, by linking up with your favorite post from the week! Here's the scoop:

An InLinkz Link-up

Wisdom for Wednesdays

"The small Babe of Bethlehem, the dismissed Son of God, the stripped and beaten Messiah hanging exposed on the Tree -- He begs us to spend the attention of Advent on the little, the least, the lonely, the lost.

Because in the rush, in the hurry, in our addiction to speed -- it might just be a bit like stepping on the shoot that sprouts from the stump. [Isaiah 11:1-2]

Advent, it is made of the moments.

This slow unfurling of grace."

-Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

I'll be sharing passages this month from the above book I've been reading. This is a beautiful book for the hushed and holy season of preparation, of Advent. I look forward to sharing more with you.

Tuesday Talk # 9: Holiday

I'm taking advantage of the holiday weekend and letting it squeeze into this week. No post today -- I'm still on Thanksgiving break. (wink, wink)

My house is a mess despite the fact we've been gone most of the past week. We visited my husband's family on one side of the state over Thanksgiving and my family on the other side of the state over the weekend.

We were home on short night in between the trips but it was enough for me to beg gently encourage my husband to bring every single box of Christmas decor up from the basement. And it is now sprawled all over our home, an odd mix of old fall decor like turkeys and leaves and pumpkin candles...and the new Christmas decor of greenery and colored lights and balsam fir candles.

Note to self: unpack from travels before unpacking Christmas boxes.

Got to learn to live in the mess!

How was your holiday? We're officially into the season of Advent, how do you use this time to prepare Him room?

Leave some comment love and or join the link-up party with your favorite post from the week!

If you link up, grab our button below and link back to one of the hosts!

The hosts of Tuesday Talk

Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls ~ Michelle - Grammie Time
Keri - Living In This Season  ~ Christina - Waltzing In Beauty
Lauren - Simply Elliott~  Becky - BYBMG
Jess and Katie - Sweet Little Ones ~ Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
Laura - Life Is Beautiful ~ Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things
Sarah - Abiding In Grace ~ Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me
Emily - Morning Motivated Mom

You can join us on Pinterest, too!

Follow Sweet Little Ones's board Tuesday Talk Features on Pinterest.

Join the party, friends, by linking up with your favorite post from the week! Here's the scoop:

An InLinkz Link-up