Shilah Writes

  This Christmas, as you are gathered around your table, celebrating the birth of Jesus and eating sumptuously, remember that along with all the warm and fuzzy of being with family, comes also the woolly and thorny pieces.  Much like the humble stable, the manger, the traditional donkey, two camels, and the little babe, it is both glorious and stark. The birth of our Saviour... The Way, The Truth, The Light, shining from the musty hay; like the nativity so often displays. For at the dinner table, the Uncle will repeat that embarrassing story. One of those fine relatives will talk loudly and make the grossest food noises, at least one of them.  An older, wiser sibling will again poke fun at and/or make predictions of failure toward another, all in good fun you know, expecting the same reaction they have gotten for years...a few good laughs and humor. Wherein all parties are expected to feel love, some don't. But they bluff and hide and take the joke because that is expec...

  I guess it might depend on your perspective but I can't really separate hope from reality...I think if you believe in Jesus you shouldn't be able to say it's one or the other. Yet, I know it can feel like a phrase in MEANTIME...'Hoping sure feels dangerous'...song by Joshua Leventhal. I tried to put a link here but it failed...You can find this song on Spotify if you want to hear it. Anyway, I get it. I know the emotion of this thought. But it's not who God is. Neither does He want us living in a hopeless state, where it feels safer to be real and a little down in the mouth because then you won't be hurt later by dashed hopes and expectations.  The thinking goes deeper than facing reality, it also lends an un-helping hand in making your own predictions while assessing what next faulty thing people will do or how something will turn out. It causes negative responses, judges others behaviors, and zaps the life right out of a fella. Whereas hope brings life a...

 'The three little girls'. That's what we were called in our family of eleven. Because we were at the end of the line, the youngest, and often dubbed 'spoiled rotten' too. Families are endearing in this way, I suppose.  'The three little girls' never minded the title and found endless amounts of diversion and entertainment of our own and without the help of the older six. One being the Main Creek that ran through the south end of the woods and farmland of our home in Tony, Wisconsin. Main Creek was a small tributary on the Flambeau River System. The water fluctuation, from spring time thaws, made it a raging river most years, but by end of summer we could often find a way to play a little game we invented. We didn't give this game a name but it involved trying to cross the creek and not getting our feet wet by usage of stepping stones. It was a game we all knew how to play without rules or direction; the creek gave its own rules as you will see.   Even n...

  I drove to Sandpoint in the rain today and thanked God for the unlikely, good weather for Dec the 8th. I'll take the rain and warmer temperatures any day over the beauty snow gives us in most Decembers.  I love a longer drive on a Monday. It gives me a chance to talk out loud to God about a few pressing matters, without the eyes of anyone thinking I am drunk... like Hannah in the Bible was thought of when she cried out all her anguishes to the Lord and was caught at it. Anyway...today I was asking Jesus for peace and joy to go along with my walk of obedience in the kingdom of heaven. Peace for conformation that I am hearing correctly from the Lord and not making any of this 'walk' up, and joy for more strength. Because honestly, a girl gets tired when day after day feels like pushing through without the best sight. I have the faith and trust in God, but a little kick of energy that comes when God also provides peace and joy, well, that is just what I felt I needed. So, I ...

  That's not a very nice title. Or subject either. But you know...sometimes we need to look at the things that aren't super comfy and take ownership of our part in them. So here goes. Me addressing this part of relationships that no one wants to talk about. I will use myself for an example. Since God slapped me upside the head with the truth that ending slander and meanness and unkind speech starts with me; I suppose it is only fitting that I become aware of barbs and prickles. And I'm not talking about the ones that I receive and the judgement of the ones giving them. I'm talking about becoming aware of my own speech and my heart revealing what it holds by the barbs and prickles that come out and land in places I never intended when I opened my mouth. And don't you go acting like you don't know of which I speak. We all do this. We all reveal what we hold in our hearts by the words we use and comments we make. I'm sure you've heard the phrase, 'hurt ...

  Bruce and I made a quick trip to Germany to see Toria. We carried a backpack each and went minimally, which is great fun for the both of us, until we've been up walking and catching flights for 24 hours. Then, feet begin to hurt and spirits are weak.  We arrived in Germany pretty early in the day and caught a shuttle bus to the train station where Toria had arranged to meet us. Two matronly German ladies engaged Bruce in animated chatter about travel and cultures and age. They thought he was charming as he flattered them with guessing their ages younger than what was visible to the eye. I was too tired to care. We spent several hours walking to a bountiful market and city center and a part of Frankfurt not mentioned in travel guides where we found great food and refreshing drinks.  The market reminded me a lot of Pikes Market in Seattle, tho instead of fish flying through the air, there were sausages, hams, and other cuts of meat hanging from the ceiling and overflowing...

  Praying can often be more time waiting at doorways than entering in to answers. Going through a doorway may feel like an answer, a new arrival to less questions...clarification and rest. But what about the idea of watching and waiting and trusting outside the door in the hallway?  There are many things we learn about God when we are forced to wait, to watch for what He will do, and to trust what He brings us while we do that. Watching and waiting are interchangeable actions that rely on putting our hope in God. Your faith grows and trust in Almighty God is rooted as you practice both.