A Post To End The Year

It's almost time to bid 2016 good-bye. I'm not good at looking back, giving 365 days a sweeping overview and concocting a tidy analysis of all that was, wasn't and might have been. I'm also not good at looking ahead and, as many do, choosing a word for the new year. It sounds so magical when others talk about it. I tried it once and come about March I couldn't even remember what the word had been.

So, I'm not really sure why I'm trying to write an end of the year post. Maybe because it seems like the thing to do? I would always want to be sure to do the expected thing, you know.

I did do a quick check back through the titles of my blog posts for 2016 to get an overview of my year. I give every post a label (or more often several labels), so I did a quick review of those too. In my reviewing I discovered that - not counting the labels in the January and June series - I used the labels "humour" and "tid bits" the most often at seven times a piece. "Grief" came in a close second at six. "Building" and "new house" fell low on the list with only two a piece which shows you .... well, if you take seven plus six and subtract two you'll see what it shows you.

Not Much.

Except that, if you knew much about 2016, you would realize that it was dotted with "building" and "new house" a lot more than twice a piece! I suppose what that really shows is that I get tired of talking about it. Or maybe, on a much deeper level, it had far less of an impact on my year than I would have thought.

On further consideration, I think I'll go with Not Much.

Looking ahead at 2017, I will leave you with two things. First of all, I don't have a word for the new year but this quote says a bit about the desire in my heart for the year ahead ----

-- Thomas Blake

I want to learn to draw more deeply from the source of all strength; to meet my days with my ear tuned to His voice.

Secondly, I am planning to do another series for the month of January. I'll be starting with the first post on Monday, so you can get ready to listen in and contribute all your valuable input in the next days and weeks.

Thank you to all of you who keep coming back here to read in my little corner. You bless my life, you really do.

Having said all of that, I shall hit publish and add the label "humour" to this post thereby giving it the highest usage of eight. I now feel that my year has been a success. Amen.

Merry Christmas and a Winner!

Two days after I posted the birthday giveaway, I realized that I never said when I would select a winner. Whatever. I guess it didn't really matter, just bothered the perfectionist part of me a little.

I confess I wasn't especially into the birthday giveaway idea this year. Almost I skipped it. How long do you keep dragging up the subject, after all? And besides, my ideas for the package felt lame and pulled together at the last minute.

I guess I forgot how fun it is to read the comments that come in ... or maybe I was afraid there wouldn't be any this time. At any rate, y'all didn't let me down and I loved hearing the ways you are like your mom. Thank you so much for commenting and making my day!

It's always hard to pick a winner. I'm usually tempted to hand pick my favorite comment or the person I think "deserves" it the most. But I was a good girl and numbered my comments and used random.org. I commend them. I couldn't have picked better myself!

Years ago, on the day my mom turned 43, a baby girl named Kayla was born in our community. I don't know how old Kayla was when her mother began the tradition of giving a gift to her "twin" every year on December 13 but for years and years my mom received a birthday gift. I now own one of them!

I think it's very fitting that random.org chose Kayla to be the giveaway winner this year! Kayla, send your address to christopherbethany@juno.com and I will get the package sent your way.

Christmas vacation begins this afternoon and we are getting ready to settle in for a whole lot of no plans. ☻Whatever your plans are this Christmas, I hope you find the love of Jesus filling your heart. May the remembering of His coming to earth bring Hope and Joy and Life to you and yours.

Merry Christmas from the Eichers!

Birthday Giveaway!

On this day, seventy-three years ago, a baby girl was born. The youngest in a family of five, little Lavina took the spot of 'baby' in her family. Thirty-six years, one month and twenty-two days later, another little girl was born and little Bethany Ann took the spot of 'baby' as the youngest in her family of six. I don't know the numbers but I could actually back up and tell of another little girl born who took the spot of 'baby' in her family. That little girl was Katie, and she was Lavina's mother!

Lavina's first grade picture

As you may have figured out, Lavina was my mother and today she would have been 73. It was always special to me that my mom was also the 'baby' in her family. Probably mostly because I could count on her to stick up for me when it came to the "spoiled baby" conversations. I always loved to hear her come back to people who said that the baby in the family is always spoiled, "Well, it wasn't my fault!" she would tell them.☺

For the past two years since mom's death, I have done a little giveaway for her birthday. It's been a fun thing for me, especially getting comments from people I had no idea were reading my blog!

This year I am, again, filling a brown envelope and sending it to one lucky winner. Several of the things that will be included are ---

* A little collection of some of the articles mom wrote for a column in the Calvary Messenger that she edited for many years. It's nothing fancy but it's special to me.

* A Little Lavina paper doll for the little girl in your life who needs a gift from you. Or maybe to stick in your drawer for that special something for little people to play with when they come to your house.

* A CD with my daughter, Jasmine, playing on the piano. Again, it's nothing fancy or professional, just a recording we did ourselves and it has to be played on a computer. Mom always took an active interest in the things her grandchildren enjoyed, so it seems fitting to include this in the package.

* Anything else I decide to slip in the cracks!

For a chance at this birthday giveaway, leave me a comment telling something you share with your mom -- a character trait, a physical similarity, likes/dislikes, anything!

And, if your mother is still living, be sure to let her know how much you love her today!

A Stye, A Quilting and A Prayer

"Please God. Won't you please just heal this eye so that it's all better in the morning?"

It was the wee hours of the night, and the subtle pain I had felt in my eye the evening before was definitely worse. I had known it felt like a stye coming on but had desperately hoped I was wrong. Surely, surely God didn't want me to have a stye in my eye. I had an invitation to a quilting the next day!

This whole story may seem silly to you. A stye, a quilting and prayer? I mean, really.

You have to understand that I love to quilt. From as far back as I can remember, my mom quilted quilts for other people. As a little girl, I remember sitting with her at the quilt. She would give me a needle and a thread with no knot tied in the end and I would happily make stitches and pull them all the way through. Once, someone even put one of my doll quilts in the frame and let me "quilt". There's a picture in the family album to prove it. Sitting at a quilt, and stitching away, is one of the most enjoyable and therapeutic things in the world for me.

"I know you can heal eyes, God. Won't you please just heal it? Whatever you see is best God but I would really appreciate it if you would heal it."

Even in the wee hours I had the sense to add the 'not my will but yours' part of the prayer. I had so been looking forward to going to that quilting but I realized that God knew that. And he knew a lot more about everything else and I realized that too.

I woke up in the morning to a fat eye and a sinking heart.  I shot my friend a text saying I would see how it went and between fixing school lunches and urging people to keep moving, I retreated to my room for a quiet moment with God. I wanted to just sit on my bed and cry.

Ok, I did cry.

Then, as I prayed, something prompted me to say Thank You. Thank you? How do you say, "Thank you for this stye in my eye" when the very last thing you're feeling is gratefulness? Is it even worth saying the words when that's all they are, no true feeling behind them?

But I did. I said the words. And as I opened my mouth and said, "Thank you for this stye in my eye" I added something like "Because it gives you a bigger opportunity to show yourself strong and receive the glory." As the words came out, I suddenly realized this was more about me changing my attitude than anything else and I was amazed to feel a twinge of excitement rise up inside of me. How would He do it? What would bring Him the most glory?

I should explain that I can't really take the credit here. Many moons ago a speaker sowed the seeds in my mind and that morning they brought forth fruit. As clear as day, I can remember this speaker telling the story of Lazarus and how Jesus waiting, not going to him right away, created an opportunity for God to receive more glory by raising Lazarus from the dead, than if He had gone right away and just healed him.

God longs to show himself strong on our behalf but too often we're so busy trying to fix everything that we don't even give Him a chance. Don't waste good problems, the speaker said! Thank God for them and stand back to see how He will show Himself strong.

My eye was not miraculously healed after I said thank you. It did feel enough better that I was able to go to the quilting and have a good day. But my outlook on life, and my attitude about the stye in my eye was healed.

When I said Thank You, it was no longer about how things had to work out in order for me to be happy. It was about realizing that God had a bigger picture here and the stye in my eye was part of it. When I said, "Thank you God for this. Do your thing and be glorified," it allowed Him to do just that. And the main place that He did it was in my heart.

When The Sun Shines

When the sun shines

on a winter day in Ohio

you take note.

I'm not complaining

but there it is,

Winters in Ohio are Grey.

This afternoon the sun 

burst through the clouds 

and my heart sang.

 I grabbed my camera...uh, phone...

and started clicking, capturing random patches of light around the house.

I reveled in the bright rays 

contrasting with dark shadows

and the imagery took me to the 

One Who Is Light.

This is the result when the sun shines.....

"... I am the light of the world. 

whoever follows me 

will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

"Every good and perfect gift

is from above,

coming down from

 the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change

 like shifting shadows." James 1:17

"But ye are a chosen people,

A royal priesthood,

A holy nation,

God's special possession,

that you may declare the praises 

of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." I Peter 2:9

"Your eye is the lamp of your body.

When your eyes are healthy,

your whole body also is full of light.

But when they are unhealthy,

your body also is full of darkness.

See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness." Luke 11:34-35

"The light shines in darkness,

And the darkness has not 

overcome it." John 1:5

"The unfolding of your words

gives light.

It gives understanding

to the simple." Psalm 119:130

"... God is light;

in Him there is 

no darkness at all." 

I John 1:5

May your week be filled with light!

Sisters By Choice

Sisters are one of life's sweetest gifts. And then there are sister-in-laws; sisters by choice, if you will. I am privileged to have four of them, three of whom live in Ohio.

This past weekend I spent time with the Ohio three over the Thanksgiving holidays. It hit me one evening as we sat together what a unique gift we four have been given.

We all grew up in different communities; several of us in different states. We have no blood relation to each other; we may not have even struck up a friendship had we met each other in a crowd. Our one common choice that brought us together was the decision to marry a son of Marvin and Janice Eicher. Our husbands had no sisters, so here we are, thrown into the role of sisters and the daughters that our mother-in-law never had.

We spent yesterday shopping together, along with our mother-in-law and the two oldest grandaughters. Sisters will always have the edge on the whole sister thing, since they grew up with you and know all your quirks inside and out. But sisters by choice are a pretty good lot to have too, at least mine are!

What a fun day yesterday was. We laughed together, exclaimed over each other's treasures and gave The Shoppers (you know, the ones who are always the last to make it to the check out line?) a hard time about always keeping the rest waiting. We disagreed on our taste in pictures and fabric and love of books. We told stories and made memories and learned to know each other just a little better.  At the end of the day we went home to the bond we all share -- a brother we call husband.

Those three will probably never know me quite like my sisters do. They didn't grow up with me and they don't know all the stories surrounding my childhood without having them repeated. I'll probably never be quite as free to be completely transparent with them as I am with my sisters. But we share a special bond that has formed a friendship and I am thankful for each one of my sisters by choice!

         -----------------------------------------------

Quote of the day:
      I'm sitting on a chair, waiting for ... cough cough ... The Shoppers, when an older gentleman joins me on the chair to my left and says, "What are you doing sitting here? This is where the men sit!"

Thanksgiving Eve

It is 'Thanksgiving Eve' and the house is dark and silent, everyone cozy in their beds but me. The fridge is full of food prep for the morrow and the one day of the year when we specifically pause and take note of our blessings.

My heart isn't particularly overflowing at the moment. Not because I have no blessings, far from it! More because I haven't paused to specifically take note.

I was sitting here just now, relaxing in the stillness, and I came across something I wrote during the 500 Words for a week challenge titled "Blessings of four years with 7 people in 726 square feet". With a new house and twice that space just waiting around the corner out of my grasp, I must admit, 726 square feet is not a blessing I have been taking note of too much lately.

So, I thought it interesting that I should have happened upon my writing and that, just maybe, it was no strange coincidence that I should be reminded to take note of the blessing of 726 square feet on the eve of Thanksgiving. I remember a time when 726 square feet was, indeed, a huge blessing to be taken note of and one that I did not take lightly at all!

Five years and four months ago we packed up our belongings and moved our little family from Arkansas to Ohio. For one year we lived in with Chris' parents and then decided to renovate the shop building he had built before we were married. Four years and four months ago we dug our belongings out of dusty, dirty boxes and made these 726 square feet our home. It was amazing to have our own space once again. There was no need to stop and take note of the blessings, my heart was fairly bursting with them!

Time has a way of dulling our memories and I now take every square foot of the 726 for granted. In fact, most of the time lately I chafe at every one of them, knowing that three miles down the road is a house on the hill that promises so many more if only they would ever get completed. And so, tonight as I read over my list of blessings of living in this house, I decided it might be a good thing to stop and take note of, these 726 square feet we call home. Maybe you would like to hear them too...

1) Clean up takes so little time when there's so little space!

2) It cuts down on purchases dramatically. I have no room in my kitchen for all those extra gadgets so I'm not buying them! Same goes for furniture and decor and even, to some extent, clothes...

3) Nobody has the space to go off and do anything by themselves. We're all right here. Together. We hear everything, see everything, know everything...pretty much.

4) There is so much less to take care of. I'm convinced I am far less busy than other women partly because I live in such a small space.

5) It's a great place to teach contentment.

6) It gives an opportunity to cultivate creativity and finding unusual ways to make things work - all the clothes on hangers in the laundry room, bunk bed with full on the bottom and single on the top to accommodate three kids in one room, key board in our bedroom because there's no other space, plastic drawers under short hanging items...the list goes on and on.

7) The little perks - being able to reach anything in the fridge while staying seated at the table, having everything in the kitchen within two step's reach, not needing to gather hangers from hither and yon when doing laundry, and so forth and so on.

8) Hands on examples of the principles of simplicity and contentment lived out for our children in a way that would not have happened other wise.

9) Having only four windows makes the job of cleaning them quite simple (although they still don't get done very often, cough cough).

10) I've had a very valid excuse to not have company over .....wait..... Maybe not so much. I just thought 10 would look better than 9! 😄

Of course, for every pro I could probably name a con. But on this Thanksgiving Eve I am choosing to pause and take specific note of the blessings of 7 people in 726 square feet. The biggest blessing of all is a warm house and the 7 of us all here together and I am so very, very thankful for that!

Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you. May you find time to pause and take note tomorrow!