In preparing to decorate our house for Christmas, I needed to first take down all the stuff we put up for the Haloween/harvest season.  This included removing the corn stalks we had tied to the columns on our porch.  Never wanting to waste anything that has any value, I removed the corn cobs from the stalk... Continue Reading →

This is the third year in a row that I will challenge myself to hold to a daily Advent discipline of capturing a photo each day based on a prescribed daily theme. I will again post these photos in three locations: The VMWishes blog site (here) The VMWishes photo gallery The CTS Lutheran Facebook page The rules I... Continue Reading →

Arrival   The long wait is over! In the still, dark hours of the night, A child has arrived. And the world is forever changed.  

Name I have nothing to add to my post today. Merry Xmas everyone!  

Prophecy 1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Matthew 2:1-2... Continue Reading →

Jubilation Unbridled jubilation is a rare thing. But when we see it, how can we help but smile? Even if it comes through a fictional character...

Peace Christmas is almost here! There is still so much to do. My wife and I are handling the stress very differently—and I suspect we are adding to each other's stress as a result of these different approaches.  She has been scampering around doing thousands of tasks.  I am in denial—and will begin scampering over the... Continue Reading →

Sing "I've heard there was a sacred chord that David played. and it pleased the Lord ... Hallelujah!! "  

Comfort I was stuck on today's word when I was thinking about the comfort (n) rather than comfort (v). Yes, we live in such extreme comfort compared to most of the world and most of history.  But that didn't feel right for this photo-a-day discipline (Thanksgiving, fine... not Advent). But, all of the food, warmth, safety,... Continue Reading →

  Filled Bowl filled with good soup, tale of renewed Christmas Hope, souls filled with new warmth.