A New Year

 

La Balancoire - 1900- Federico Godoy Castro (spanish painter)

This New Year Eve I finished another flannel dress for a mother-daughter set. I guarantee that this dress looks very elegant on the model. As it is displayed in a hanger, it just does not do it justice.

I would have liked to find bright buttons just like the flowers on the fabric but these were all I could find.

The back had to be pieced in strips because there was not enough fabric. I bought what was left on the bolt, but there is supposed to be a new shipment of this fabric in the store soon.

Another view of the back. This dress looks shapeless on the hanger but it really is beautiful on the Mother. The daughter dress will follow.

 

An old friend visited a few days ago and brought me this pretty little lantern. She collects things from yard sales and dollar stores, keeps them in a box in her car, and puts them in gift bags when she makes an impromptu visit.

 

This sparkly ribbon will grace my front porch until March.

One thing I want to do this year is to savor the mornings more, before the responsibilities of the day begin. Today I enjoyed the scent of Very Berry herbal tea in the early morning, while putting reminders in my notebook of things I needed to do.

There is already a Tea Time issue to read this New Year. I have not looked at this one yet.

 

There are many Bible-reading plans available that help people to remember to read it daily. In my reading, I have been noticing how often this phrase is found in the New Testament:

  " Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ," or "Grace and peace be unto you."

I am not sure exactly how many times it occurs, but it is a consistent salutation and valadiction in the letters to the churches of Christ. Almost all of the letters, called Epistles, contain this phrase. As we say "hello" or "goodbye," the Holy Spirit says, "Grace and peace."

I used to race past these salutations to get to the body of the letters. Now, these greetings and endings have caught my eye and become significant. The media surrounds us with worry and fear, impending disaster, and all the stress that can make people mentally and physically ill. The Bible, while saying the world is full of confusion, says to the Christian, "Grace and peace to you."

There is a lot more to these salutations than polite greetings.

Jesus said:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

 

 

 

 

 

 

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