For the Beauty of the Earth...

Valley of Fire State Park

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Light into Darkness, Yet Again

I think I have taken this picture each year for the December Photo Project.  I just can't help it.  When reflecting on the advent of Christ, a main theme is light into darkness, and this is what I think when I see the sun going down and the Christmas lights turning on.  I did, at least, take a new picture.

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

(John 1:1-5 ESV)

Happy December!

Happy December!  We woke up to a white dusting of snow this morning, just enough to make it feel more like December 1st should feel.  The temperatures have been all over (60 on Thanksgiving??), but it seems to have settled into cold now so there may as well be some snow to make it prettier.  There, I said it.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, and the other decorations are slated to be finished today.  Edwin got our outside lights hung in mild weather the day after Thanksgiving; it was probably the first time he wasn't miserably cold doing that chore - a huge improvement over last year's job, which came after our mid-November blizzard.

I am not sure where November went (along with the entire last 6 months!), but I am happy to see December.  There is much to do, but we are looking forward to time spent with family and friends, contemplating the birth of our dear Savior.  Here at the beginning, we pray that we will keep our focus properly, and not be thrown around by the business and busyness of the world. 

 I waited patiently for the LORD;
  he inclined to me and heard my cry.
 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
  out of the miry bog,
 and set my feet upon a rock,
  making my steps secure.
 He put a new song in my mouth,
  a song of praise to our God.
 Many will see and fear,
  and put their trust in the LORD.
(Psalm 40:1-3 ESV)

Coming Soon...

Busy, Busy

Well, well, yes, it has been a while since I have visited my blog!  So I would not be surprised at all if no one is out there to read this...

I've been a bit busy with work and fun over the last months, and that really hasn't changed now.  I do hope to get back to writing here sometime soon, but what used to be my early morning computer time has now been largely replaced by morning runs and (for once) keeping up with school planning and grading.  I have to admit that those activities are probably a better use of my time than blabbing away here about whatever comes to mind.  But I am not ready to say I won't be back here eventually.  Winter is coming, and the time seems to slow down then...

I do hope to finish up a quick update to post here soon, maybe with a few pictures.  The super-quick summary is this: the kids are really tall and happy, Las Vegas had some fun stuff even for a nature-nut like me, the beach is beautiful as always, I have run over 300 miles this year, and school gets more complicated every year!

Hope to see you soon!