Holidays – Page 2 – I and Thou Reflections

The Gift of Creativity

The Season of Gift-Giving: Gifts That Nourish

Gift Idea Example in Action: Soap in a Dish with Note

This series is about simple gifts—made with care.
Each one, uniquely made with stuff already hiding in your home.

What can you give that nourishes?
Who might need a gift of comfort this season?
How can your creativity become compassion?

When we think of the holiday season, we naturally think about presents. This year, the challenge is to think about presence in the presents. Think of what you can make if you had ten or fifteen minutes.

Before we begin our gift ideas with instructions, let’s prepare our hearts for the season of giving.

To offer what we have.
To share what we create.
To nourish others with love.

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry…
— Isaiah 58:10

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have…
— Hebrews 13:16

Freely you have received; freely give.
— Matthew 10:8

So you see, Jesus wants us to give. To give our time and our talents to those we wish to bless. Let’s invite God to prepare our hearts to create, to share, and to love.

I’ll go first.

As I have been thinking about this series, I decided to make December a GIVING month.

My goal is to create gifts from the heart for the people I will be encountering this month. Nothing grandiose. Just a simple gift from something I already have in my home.

Lord,
Help me come up with a gift idea for the healthcare professional I’ll be seeing today. Give me the words to write a meaningful note. Fill my heart with gratitude.
Amen

Gift Idea Example: Soap

Materials:

Soap
Glass dish or plate
Card or note paper
Cellophane, tissue paper, or wrapping paper
Optional: gift bag

Instructions:

Place soap on or in a glass dish or plate.
Wrap
Place in a gift bag.
Write a note that will be meaningful for the recipient. Use AI to generate ideas for you.

Gift Idea in Action:

Yesterday, I had a medical appointment.

I took a small bar of soap, placed it in a small glass dish, and wrapped it in cellophane with a gold elastic string. I found a Christmas Card and wrote a note describing how the glass represents transparency and integrity, and the soap represents the healing her hands do each day. I placed it in a small gift bag and left it on the counter. I didn’t sign the card.

Why? It was my way of saying “Thank You.” How will she receive the gift? Well, let’s just say that is up to God!

December is about presence. And to me, that means to extend a gesture to those who least expect it. And the rest is up to God.

Let’s give differently this year. Let’s give from the heart.

Let’s Offer the Gift of Creativity
to Ourselves & to Others.

Image Credit: “Being creative with wax crayons…”
by netsnake is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

#Creativity #Transparency #GiftsThatNourish #Faith #SacredGifts #GiftsThatMatter #GiftsOfHope #PresenceInThePresents #MeaningfulGifts #SoulGifts #Holidays

Gifts That Nourish

The Season of Gift-Giving

December marks the season of gift-giving.
Yet, sometimes, it can quickly overwhelm us.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. — 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Let’s encourage each other.
Let’s build one another up.
Let’s create gifts together.

For your partner, family, friends, neighbor, coworker, or a service provider.

Over the next few weeks, easy-to-make gift ideas will nourish our souls as we make and give them away.

In a world that is so chaotic right now, these ideas are simple, yet tangible ways to remind us all that:

We are loved.
We belong.
We are not alone.

Let’s pause this year-long enough to weave a little bit of our souls into easy-to-do, make-from-home gifts to put a smile on someone’s face.

As you follow along this December, may these gifts inspire you to create, to bless, and to nourish. May they remind you that giving is not about what we place in someone’s hands—it’s about what we put in their heart.

Let’s Offer the
Gift of Inspiration
to ourselves & to others.

Image Credit: “Gourmet Taste of Italy Basket” by SherryCreates
is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

#GiftsThatNourish #Faith #SacredGifts #GiftsThatMatter #GiftsOfHope #PresenceInThePresents #MeaningfulGifts #SoulGifts #Holidays

Creativeness in the Sacred

Comfort & Joy

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Take a break. Step away and find a quiet place.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Sit for a while. Ask for God’s presence.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Be still. Close your eyes. Breathe. Relax.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
In the depths of your soul, reach as far down as you can.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Sit for a while. Be open to God’s presence.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Ask God to sit next to you and join you in your thoughts.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
Shh. Quiet. Hear God speak.

God says, Hello, precious child.
“I knit you together in your mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:9)
I am so happy to see you. I’ve been waiting for you to ask me to sit with you.
Go ahead and tell me what is on your mind.

It’s okay. Speak your mind.
Stay awhile in this sacred place.

Comfort and joy,
Where can I find this comfort and joy?
In this sacred space, may you find comfort and joy.

Whatever your religious beliefs are or are not, may this season of holidays, encourage you and bring you tidings of comfort and joy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

*****

Inspired by the Christmas Song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen…
“Fear not,” then said the Angel, “let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour, Of pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him, From Satan’s power and might.”
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

#Comfort #Joy #Christmas #SacredSpace #NadiaCraneAuthor #Wine&Faith #RecommendedBooks

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Daily writing prompt

How are you creative?

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Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 12 Twelve Days of Isaiah

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:23

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

Isaiah 7:14 CJB

Therefore Adonai himself
will give you people a sign:
the young woman will become pregnant,
bear a son and name him ‘Immanu El [God is with us].

Matthew 1:23

²³The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El. (The name means, “God is with us.”)

M E R R Y
C H R I S T M A S !

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #Universe #Heavens #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 11 Twelve Days of Isaiah

Day 11~ Isaiah 40:28-31

Is There Room in Your Heart?

To Trust?

To Love?

To Forgive?

If yes…

Let’s Soar Together!

Throughout this chapter of Isaiah, we have read about God’s returning the Israelites to Jerusalem. We have seen the power of God’s creation and how we are like grasshoppers.

Although we become disgruntled and weary, God’s energy and power are limitless.

In this passage, the central theme is hope and redemption. We have a choice. We can get crushed like a serpent or we can soar like an eagle.

What do you choose?

Let’s read this passage in Isaiah. Shall we?

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

^{Soar Like an Eagle}

Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV

²⁸Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31 CJB

²⁸Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard
that the everlasting God, Adonai,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not grow tired or weary?
His understanding cannot be fathomed.
²⁹He invigorates the exhausted,
he gives strength to the powerless.
³⁰Young men may grow tired and weary,
even the fittest may stumble and fall;
³¹but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,
they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;
when they are running they won’t grow weary,
when they are walking they won’t get tired.

*Image Source: Created with AI using Soar Like an Eagle with the scripture above*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #Universe #Heavens #SoarLikeanEagle #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 10 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 10~ Isaiah 40:25-27

Once we can wrap our heads around the fact that we can’t begin to fathom the greatness of God, we must rely on our faith.

If we believe that God is everywhere, the imagery of looking up in the sky reminds us of the vastness and limitlessness of our Divine Creator. Don’t you think?

Then, why do we often feel abandoned or overlooked by God?

Could it be in that very same vastness of the universe? We ask ourselves how God can possibly know our hearts when we seem so small in comparison.
We feel lost.
Lost in the vastness.

In this passage, the Creator of the heavens invites us to lift our eyes to heaven. Why? To show us how Each star in the universe is named, pointing to the fact that God knows every minute detail of ALL his creation, including us.

Let’s read this passage in Isaiah. Shall we?

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

^{Lift Your Eyes to the Heavens}

Isaiah 40:25-27 NIV

²⁵“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.
²⁷Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Isaiah 40:25-27 CJB

²⁵“With whom, then, will you compare me?
With whom am I equal?” asks the Holy One.
²⁶Turn your eyes to the heavens!
See who created these?
He brings out the army of them in sequence,
summoning each by name.
Through his great might and his massive strength,
not one of them is missing.
²⁷Why do you complain, Ya‘akov;
why do you say, Isra’el,
“My way is hidden from Adonai,
my rights are ignored by my God”?

*Image Created by AI using scripture reference and key words*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #Universe #Heavens #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 9 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 9~ Isaiah 40:21-24

This passage speaks of a canopy or curtain that is spread from the heavens to protect the grasshopper from harm.

I can’t help but wonder if this is somehow related to the “veil” between life and death. In Matthew 27, we see that at the moment Jesus dies on the cross, the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. Then, in 2 Corinthians, we read that “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

Could these all be related and point to the sovereignty of God. Not only as the Creator but the divine presence between life and death?

Let’s read this passage for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Isaiah. Shall we?

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

^{We are Like Grasshoppers}

Isaiah 40:21-24 NIV

²¹Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³He brings princes to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
²⁴No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

Isaiah 40:21-24 CJB

²¹Don’t you know? Don’t you hear?
Haven’t you been told from the start?
Don’t you understand how the earth is set up?
²²He who sits above the circle of the earth —
for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers —
stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³He reduces princes to nothing,
the rulers of the earth to emptiness.
²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem taken root in the ground,
when he blows on them, they dry up,
and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 8 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 8~ Isaiah 40:18-20

In Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, the question “To whom will ye liken God?” is asked. In this commentary, the error is not worshipping Jehovah by images, but in fact the thinking that God can be created by human hands.

So we ask ourselves, is this the folly of idolatry?

Here is my take on this. I’m sure we all know people of diverse faiths who worship in different ways. Some might pray to Saints and light candles and others may touch or kiss icons as a sign of worship and reverance. Would this be idolatry? No one knows. Yet, if we have faith, we have the ability to discern what might be pleasing or displeasing to God. Afterall, who else do you have to answer to?

Now, we turn to Isaiah 40:18-20.

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

An Image?

Isaiah 40:18-20 NIV

¹⁸With whom, then, will you compare God?
    To what image will you liken him?
¹⁹As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and fashions silver chains for it.
²⁰A person too poor to present such an offering
    selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
    to set up an idol that will not topple.

Isaiah 40:18-20 CJB

¹⁸With whom, then, will you compare God?
By what standard will you evaluate him?
¹⁹An image made by a craftsman,
which a goldsmith overlays with gold,
for which he then casts silver chains?
²⁰A man too poor to afford an offering
chooses a piece of wood that won’t rot,
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to prepare an image that won’t fall over.

*Image Created by AI using faith based words*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 7 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 7~ Isaiah 40:15-17

In Matthew Henry’s Commentary, he writes that all creation “shrinks to nothing” in comparison to the Creator. He says that God’s love for the world led God to send Baby Jesus to earth. To be the lamb. To redeem us. So we can spend eternity in paradise.

Here is my take on this. Is there a God? Well, look around. How did everything get to where it is? Look up. What is beyond the heavens? No one knows. Yet, if we have the faith of just a tiny mustard seed, we can hold on to the promises of eternal life because we have faith. Faith in the beyond. Faith in the creation. Faith in the past, present, and future.

Now, we turn to Isaiah 40:15-17.

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

Specks of Dust

Isaiah 40:15-17 NIV

¹⁵Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
    they are regarded as dust on the scales;
    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
¹⁶Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
¹⁷Before him all the nations are as nothing;
    they are regarded by him as worthless
    and less than nothing.

Isaiah 40:15-17 CJB

¹⁵The nations are like a drop in a bucket,
they count like a grain of dust on the scales.
The islands weigh as little as specks of dust.
¹⁶The L’vanon would not suffice for fuel
or its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
¹⁷Before him all the nations are like nothing.
He regards them as less than nothing.

*5,000+ tons of extraterrestrial dust fall to earth each year…Image Source: livescience dot com*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpriritoftheLord #SpecksodDust #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 6 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 6~ Isaiah 40:12-14

Different versions deliver different perspectives. Not right. Not wrong. Just different.

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

The Spirit of the Lord

Isaiah 40:12-14 NIV

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
    or weighed the mountains on the scales
    and the hills in a balance?
¹³Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
¹⁴Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
    or showed him the path of understanding?

Isaiah 40:12-14 CJB

¹²Who has counted the handfuls of water in the sea,
measured off the sky with a ruler,
gauged how much dust there is on the earth,
weighed the mountains on scales, or the hills in a balance?
¹³Who has measured the Spirit of Adonai?
Who has been his counselor, instructing him?
¹⁴Whom did he consult, to gain understanding?
Who taught him how to judge,
taught him what he needed to know,
showed him how to discern?

*Psalms Painting Series Lucy Adams Art Langley, Bc – Praise Painting* *Source: Paintingvalley.com*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpriritoftheLord #IandThouReflections