Manger Throne

(edited 12/17/07 with better photographs)



Manger Throne
Listen to "Manger Throne"
(you'll want to pause the red playlist in the sidebar)

What kind of King would leave His throne
In Heaven to make this earth His home?
While men seek fame and great renown
In lowliness our King comes down

Jesus, Jesus, precious One
How we thank You that You've come
Jesus, Jesus, precious One
A manger throne for God’s own Son

You left the sound of angels' praise
To come for men with unkind ways
And by this Baby's helplessness
The power of nations is laid to rest

What kind of King would come so small
From glory to a humble stall?
That dirty manger is my heart, too
I'll make it a royal throne for You

My heart is a throne
My heart is a throne for God's own Son

This sweet little manger just came to be a special part of our Christmas decorations. We've used one just like this in our church programs for several years, and Brian & I were looking for something that would declare what Christmas is really about. Brian would have made one, but we didn't have any branches left to trim at home, so I asked our church custodian, who made the one at church, to make one for us. We brought it home last night and filled it with wild grasses found on the side of the road (in lieu of hay). The grapevine wreath is intended to be a crown of thorns. Brian put a spot light on it, and we're really happy with it.

Here's a picture of it in front of our house (click to make it larger):

The Holly and the Ivy

Deck the Mailbox
Originally uploaded by thingspondered

Inspired by Meredith, I decided to decorate our mailbox (shared with our neighbor) with clippings from our yard.

We don't have native pine here, and I didn't want to mess with cedar, so I used the holly that Brian had just clipped, some English ivy that grows in our backyard, some sage, and some boxwood to create this little swag. I would have liked to have used more boxwood, but we trimmed them recently, and I couldn't clip too much more off without it being noticeable! I intended to go on a berry hunt just down the road, but then I found these little berry picks in a Christmas storage tub and decided they would work. The swag is weighted in back with a limestone rock to keep it from blowing away. I think it lends a natural and festive touch to our mailbox, and makes receiving Christmas cards that much more fun! And, the combination of the holly & ivy reminds me of this song:

The Holly and the Ivy - author unknown
The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ, Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our sweet Saviour
refrain

The holly bears a berry as red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good
refrain

The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.
refrain

The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.
refrain

The holly and the ivy, now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.
refrain

I also carried several holly clippings inside to add to the decorations in there. I'll have to remember to ask Brian to trim the holly next Christmas, too! Why don't you take a nature walk and see what God may have planted in your path to remind you of Him?

Christmas Card Update

Hmmm....learned something new this weekend. Lumpy Christmas cards have to be hand-cancelled...knew that...but they also cost more to send! Had to add a 17 cent stamp to each card! Also learned to turn the lumpy part away from the stamp area...makes it easier to cancel.

Good to know.

Christmas Cards - Check!

My Christmas cards are ready to be mailed! I wanted to do something special this year, so I did my own spin on a vintage postcard, added glitter & wire & ribbons, & voila! I have to take them to the post office to be hand cancelled, because the envelopes are very lumpy. There are 2 colors, cream & white. Here are samples:


And on the back, a verse of "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen".


Christmas greetings to you, dear readers!

Christmas Roses

Christmas Roses
Originally uploaded by thingspondered

Melissa at The Inspired Room hosted Creative Inspiration Week this week. She had so many wonderful guest hosts who shared the wonderful creative ideas.

After absorbing the creativity oozing from the ladies at McMaster & Storm, I was inspired to see what I might be able to do with tissue paper. This gift is for my sweet husband. I won't tell you what's hiding beneath the roses, in case he peaks at my blog! I had a lot of space to fill in this package, so the gift wouldn't rattle around ,so I decided to squeeze in a dozen roses. The roses are made with pleated & rolled up red tissue paper. The leaves are just torn scraps of green tissue paper, tucked in between the roses. One rose (middle of second row from top) is red paper with Christmas trees...just for fun.

I wrapped the package the traditional way, but I think my husband will be surprised at the special interior of the gift!

Thanks for sharing, Kara & Darcy!

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

I am making progress on getting the house clean. I'm down to bathrooms, vacuuming & mopping, cleaning the craft room, and decorating the tree in our bedroom (yes, we have a tree in our bedroom...more on that in another post). My spirit has been set right, and I'm enjoying preparing my heart (and home) for the celebration of the coming of the Messiah!

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s Strength and Consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear Desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns for the Na­tiv­i­ty of Our Lord

(Lon­don: Will­iam Stra­han, 1745), num­ber 10.
Music: Hy­fry­dol, Row­land H. Pri­chard, 1830

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

I had the best of intentions to write a Thanksgiving post a few weeks ago. My life is full of blessings from the Lord, and I have much to be thankful for. But I got busy packing to travel home and then I was busy cooking and then I was working on Christmas cards and then.....well, the post didn't happen. But let me say, for the record (though in less flowery language than I might have chosen for an "official" Thanksgiving post), that I am grateful. For God, for Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation, for my precious husband and our life together, for my dear family, for my home and job and friends and yes, even for the struggles and sorrows. God is good, all the time, and I am thankful.

That said, I got sick the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but pressed through it to get our Christmas tree up (thanks, Brian!) and decorated. Then we had our Christmas music program at church, with the requisite rehearsals. So I've been busy! I'm not complaining...we're all busy, right?

This brings me to today...when I would really like to post about Advent and Christmas preparations and ideas and decorations and inspirations. I took some pictures of the decorating I've done thus far, fully intending to share, but I hate to show them, because just outside of the frame of every shot, are scenes like this:

Just keeping it real (in the spirit of The Pioneer Woman).

So I'm heading home to see what I can do about the behind-the-scenes mess. And maybe by the weekend I can manage inspirations and ideas and deep thoughts and pretty pictures!

But really, isn't this part of preparing for the advent of the Savior? John the Baptist was sent to declare to us: "...Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him." Mark 1:3b. So as I make straight the paths in my home, I am going to be preparing the way in my heart. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing....


Won't you join me?