Inconvenient Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuQFFCI1h34

I love this song. It’s funny and a little far fetched, but it’s also a reminder that even when this potentially stressful time of year comes around, we can just relax and remember what’s really important. How often do we really “have it bad?” Honestly, very rarely. I’m not saying that we don’t have our frustrations—in fact, I did write a new verse to this song that reflected our family’s mishaps! However (as this song reminded me on my most frustrating day this season), we can get through and over the road bumps in life and remember the incredible trouble that Jesus and his family went through in order to give us the ultimate Christmas gift—hope of eternal life.  Don’t let the business and stress of the season distract you from the precious core of this holiday.

Among the bills that I received was a postcard marked, "Apology,

the Christmas gifts you ordered aren't in stock."

So I packed up the kids for grandpa's house,

then a blizzard blew in and the car broke down.

So, we shared a quart of eggnog at a truck stop.

And I said, "Now kids, this is unfortunate,

you think it's bad, well it's inconvenient.

But the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one, when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

By the time we got to Grandpa's house

his Christmas lights had burned it down.

So we had to take him home to live with us.

But he couldn't stand to leave the farm, so now there's cattle in our yard,

sheep on the rug, pigs in the tub, and a rooster at dawn.

I said, "Now honey, this is unfortunate,

you think it's bad, well it's inconvenient.

But the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

A young girl expects a child she can't explain;

forced to walk a hundred miles just to give birth in the hay.

While the king in that same hour,

fearing challenge to his power,

sent his troops to track him down and wipe him out.

Hands down,

the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

Saint Paddy's Day

Happy Saint Paddy’s Day to ya! I be hopin’ that she finds ya in good healt and that ta luck o’ ta Irish be on ya.

As you probably know, Saint Patrick was the first missionary to the Irish. I want to take this chance to tell you modern day mission to the Irish.

 Ireland has the lowest percentage of evangelical Christians of all the English-speaking countries in the world! Only 30,000 (that’s less than 1%) are evangelical Christians. For every believer, there are 133 unbelievers! That's a ratio of 133:1

Ireland ranks in the top of the European lists in reference to teenage suicide, drinking alcohol and unwed mother rates. Cocaine and heroin use is rapidly on the rise amongst all socio-economic levels. Divorce (previously illegal until 1997) is a new difficulty for families, with a 70% increase over just four years.

Many evangelical churches today in Ireland consist of just 20 people, most of which meet in homes.

Please pray for Cross Ireland Ministries!

http://www.crossirelandministries.com/

And just because I’m a fan of Ireland, here are a few links to Irish music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTYt_-jafg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpSZefCKC6U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMGWOAAKs4

An Irish Blessing for You :)

May the blessing of Light be on you -

light without and light within,

May the blessed sunlight shine on you

and warm your heart till it glows like

a great peat fire, so that the stranger

may come and warm himself at it, and

also a friend.

And may the light shine out of the two

eyes of you, like a candle set in two

windows of a house, bidding the wanderer

to come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the Rain be on you -
the soft sweet rain. May it fall upon your
spirit so that all the little flowers may
spring up, and shed their sweetness on the air.
And may the blessing of the Great Rains be on
you, may they beat upon your spirit and wash
it fair and clean, and leave there many a
shining pool where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the Earth be on you -
the great round earth; may you ever have a
kindly greeting for them you pass as you're
going along the roads.
May the earth be soft under you when you
rest upon it, tired at the end of the day, and may
it rest easy over you when, at the last, you lay
out under it;
May it rest so lightly over you, that your soul
may be out from under it quickly, and up, and
off, and on its way to God.

Beautiful YOU

I just felt like I ought to post this video. Hope it makes someone's day. It sure makes mine!
For some reason, the video does not want to play on this website. It's too good a video to pass up, though, so go ahead and watch it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXSkd8apbWM

America the Beautiful?

O Beautiful, for polluted skies,
For grayish strips of asphalt,
For mammoth buildings majesties,
Above the city streets!
America! America!
God has no place in thee
Let’s crown the stars, rich and popular
From beach to crowded beach!

O beautiful for government
Whose stern agendas pressed
To take away our freedom, and said
It was for our best!
America! America!
God’s name is thought a flaw.
Confirm thy happiness with self in mind
Thy demands in law!

O beautiful for idols proved
In televised strife.
Who more than self nothing loved
And money more than life!
America! America!
May the Fed thy paper bills refine
Till all success be selfishness
And every gain be mine!

O beautiful for American dream
That lusts beyond what’s yours
Thine chrome and glass cities gleam
Wells Fargo Tower and Sears!
America! America!
God? Ancient myth is he!
Let’s crown the stars, rich and popular
From beach to crowded beach!

O beautiful for jet-filled skies,
For imported, modified grain,
For Oprah, her majesty
Who makes her politics plain!
America! America!
God has no place in thee
Let’s save the bears and earth and air
And kill our own babies!

O beautiful for pedicured feet,
And busy moms who stress
Woman’s lib and freedom meet
Sadness no one could have guessed!
America! America!
God, if I like, is ME
I’ll base my life’s path on
My wild thoughts
Don’t need to hit my knees!

O beautiful for gory tale
Of murderous strife
With constant vice,
for man's avail
Men destroyed precious life!
America! America!
God’s blessings all will flee!
Till selfish gain ceases to stain
The hearts of you and me!

O beautiful for children’s dreams
That sees no hope, just fears
Thine crowded, starving cities gleam
Awash by human tears!
America! America!
God won’t be mocked by thee!
Pray nobler men keep once again
His plan for this country!

(c) 2010 Becoming Godly Maidens

Och, Then, for All the Piper Holds Dear!

Do want to know something I love? I love Scottish poetry. I could live and breath Scottish poetry. I enjoy poetry in general, and am the proud possessor of several volumes, the majority of which is Robert Frost. American poems and English poems are lovely. But Scottish poetry is the most beautiful thing I have ever read! When I read it, I seem to find myself sitting on a grassy hillside with a cool breeze blowing the fragrance of wildflowers around. Call me a nerd, but I’d rather read a Scottish poem than a popular novel any day.

The Return (A Piper's Vaunting)
Och hey! for the splendour of tartans!
And hey for the dirk and the targe!
The race that was hard as the Spartans
Shall return again to the charge:
Shall come back again to the heather,
Like eagles, with beak and with claws
To take and to scatter for ever
The Sasennach thieves and their laws.
Och, then, for the bonnet and feather!
The pipe and its vaunting clear:
Och, then, for the glens and the heather!
And all that the Gael holds dear.

The Fairy Dance
The fairies are dancing — how nimbly they bound!
They flit o'er the grass tops, they touch not the ground;
Their kirtles of green are with diamonds bedight,
All glittering and sparkling beneath the moonlight.
Hark, hark to their music! how silvery and clear —
'Tis surely the flower-bells that ringing I hear, —
The lazy-wing'd moth, with the grasshopper wakes,
And the field-mouse peeps out, and their revels partakes.
How featly they trip it! how happy are they
Who pass all their moments in frolic and play,
Who rove where they list, without sorrows or cares,
And laugh at the fetters mortality wears!
But where have they vanish'd? — a cloud 's o'er the moon,
I'll hie to the spot, — they'll be seen again soon —
I hasten — 'tis lighter, — and what do I view? —
The fairies were grasses, the diamonds were dew.
And thus do the sparkling illusions of youth
Deceive and allure, and we take them for truth;
Too happy are they who the juggle unshroud,
Ere the hint to inspect them be brought by a cloud.


23rd. Psalm in Scots
The Lord is my Shepherd in nocht am I wantin'
In the haugh's green girse does He mak me lie doon
While mony puir straiglers are bleatin' and pantin'
By saft-flowin' burnies He leads me at noon.
When aince I had strayed far awa in the bracken,
And daidled till gloamin' cam ower a' the hills,
Nae dribble o' water my sair drooth to slacken,
And dark grow'd the nicht wi' its haars and its chills.
Awa frae the fauld, strayin' fit-sair and weary,
I thocht I had naethin' tae dae but tae dee.
He socht me and fand me in mountain hechts dreary,
He gangs by fell paths which He kens best for me.
And noo, for His name's sake, I'm dune wi' a' fearin'
Though cloods may aft gaither and soughin' win's blaw.
"Hoo this?" or "Hoo that?" -- oh, prevent me frae spearin'
His will is aye best, and I daurna say "Na".
The valley o' death winna fleg me to thread it,
Through awfu' the darkness, I weel can foresee.
Wi' His rod and His staff He wull help me to tread it,
Then wull its shadows, sae gruesome, a' flee.
Forfochen in presence o' foes that surround me,
My Shepherd a table wi' denties has spread.
The Thyme and the Myrtle blaw fragrant aroond me,
He brims a fu' cup and poors oil on my head.
Surely guidness an' mercy, despite a' my roamin'
Wull gang wi' me doon tae the brink o' the river.
Ayont it nae mair o' the eerie an' gloamin'
I wull bide in the Hame o' my Faither for ever.

5-23-10 "Sidewalk Prophets"

Have you heard of Sidewalk Prophets the Christian band? They sing such songs as "The Words I Would Say," which happens to be one of my favorite songs. You can listen to it in the Theatre if you scroll down to the bottom of this page.

They have a really cool website- visit it and join the community! BecomingGodlyMaidens has joined. Click on the link "Sidewalk Prophets" under "Becoming Godly Maidens" to visit BGM's account. 

Happy Listening!