A belated Merry Christmas

Life has rushed by in a whoosh over the past week or so, leaving me no opportunity to post.  So it is a belated Merry Christmas, I hope it has been a peaceful and enjoyable time, however you've spent it.  We have had a quiet, but nice time and my hand knits have been well received.  I think I will blog again this week  about them and show you the pictures I could not show before.



For my sister, who cannot eat Christmas Pudding, I made a Summer Fruits Pudding, using a recipe by Jane Grigson, from her book English Food, a volume I shall be exploring more fully this year.  I was somewhat nervous about it, never having made it before but it was well received and came out of its basin smoothly.  Indeed I have a feeling I will be making this for my sister again, which is no problem as it is little bother to put together and is the same shape as Christmas pudding - my dad even stuck a spring of holly in it.



Although I have had less time than I would have liked for reflection I did find two points very comforting, the first being that the King is coming and that He will come again, simple but true.  The second being most comforted by parts of Isaiah 9, in particular verse seven:

Of the increase of his government and peace
    there will be no end.

God's kingdom is coming here on earth and it is growing and will increase without end.  Amidst all the war, violence and trouble of this world this is a valuable promise.

In fact it seems I cannot count - I said two points - there were other, related verses that have helped and encouraged me this Christmas.  While I was reading the Nativity stories in Matthew and Luke I also looked up some of the Old Testament passages that were quoted, to read them in their context and find out more about them and why they were quoted.  Micah 5.7-8 encouraged and comforted me so much:

He will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
    will reach to the ends of the earth.
      And he will be their peace.

Lastly I've been loving this version of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by Kings Kaleidoscope - do have a listen, or just read the words.

Advent Angels

Advent has dominated my thoughts for quite a while now - I find it very exciting.  It is the season of remembering that Jesus came and joined us here on earth and that He is going to come again.  Of remembering Emmanuel - God with us, forever.

Of course it is also a very busy time of year, although I've been trying to mitigate that by being organised and also trying not to wear myself out, which has led to having to turn down some invitations.  I've not fully recovered from November's spectacular crash unfortunately.  However, I think that keeping it quiet can be a good way to go.  I was even thinking the other day that spending Advent in retreat, focussing on Jesus and meditating on His coming would not be a bad way of preparing for Christmas.



I've been finding this song hugely exciting, the bell like chorus of "Christ is born" is wonderful.  The song and its sheet music, is available as a free download, along with four others, on Kingsway's website, although you do need to create a log in.



The angel above is made using a pattern from ravelry, Nordic Angels, I think they're rather charming and look even nicer when hung up, I'll try to get a picture when we put our Christmas tree up.  The glitter comes from knitting in a strand of Drops glitter, as with the snowman.