I also picked up another copy of the Imitation of Christ. I think that will be my Advent reading for this year. I loaned out my other copy awhile ago and now would like my friend to keep it.
This morning at bible study, we began with the Advent lessons for next Sunday. I read Isaiah 11 and admit, I couldn't get through it without tears.
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Lord,
For all you are, for all you have given us, and for all you promise, I am thankful.
3 comments:
Tell me honestly- am I the only person who didn't know what "jesse tree" means for a church's advent practice? I recognized it from scripture, but had no idea what kind of activity was involved! Surely a funny moment that displays exactly how odd it is to be in seminary when you weren't raised in church. :^)
I visited the travel clinic today my dear. I feel rather like a pin cushion, and I've taken a litany of shots that made be glad I'd already paid for the trip! I'm looking online for a good price for Malarone for Malaria (the least side effects but the highest price. I couldn't tolerate the alternatives well.) When are your appointments for the family?? I might suggest you don't do this right at Christmas...I can't imagine my kids would have tolerate these shots at all!
Now off to work on finals. Let's have lunch in 2 weeks!
Much love,
Amy
Hi Amy,
I was an unchurched heathen, too. So, no, I had no idea what a Jesse tree was before coming to Grace. This year we are decorating our Christmas tree with ornaments we make that depict God's promises. So yesterday I went to the craft store and bought wood forms and a coping saw to cut out stuff like the 10 commandments tablets and a rainbow and all the other stuff. The kids are going to paint them and we will gradually add them to the tree over the course of Advent. Finally, on Christmas eve, we'll add the star! It seems more meaningful than a plain Advent calendar, somehow.
I have had a hard time getting through to the travel clinic. :-(
They aren't returning phone calls, so today I made a big fuss and spoke to immunology and asked them to walk a message over to them. I don't think we have as many shots for Vietnam. And we may not need Malaria at all if we stay in Nha Trang. But still, Typhoid, Hep A, maybe rabies. (Ugh). The kids are NOT going to be happy campers.
Any side effects so far?
Hoping to get in sometime in the next week or so.
I will have to poke my head over for coffee or tea and see the tree. :^)
FYI One of the men at the clinic was traveling to the same city in Vietnam and did not need malaria. The Dr. addressed rabies vaccines, but no one was given one- they are hard to find- we were told to avoid all animals, even domestics. The problem tends to be with kids of course, who can't quite grasp the idea.
Call the clinic at Kent hospital- your time is running short! You need a couple of weeks for the immunities to really kick in.
Side effects- arms that felt like I was wearing water wings that were blown up too tightly- lasted about 2 days. I also had a runny nose appear the next day, then by the afternoon I could feel every lymph node in my upper body functioning fully. Amazingly, the sniffle went as fast as it came & so did the gland thing. Now I have just some slightly swollen arms and bruising.
I joked with my kids that I'm going to start eating off the floor because I'm going to be immune to almost everything. :^)
My Indian visa will arrive by FedEx sometime today, and I will be ready aside from packing. Have you given any thought to water purification needs? I am tempted the by infrared light thing, but discouraged by the price tag ($80). The dilemma is I will likely not be able to gag down water done with iodine - the trip is going to be hard enough without that!
Ok, still supposed to be working on finals...
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