The prairie in all its glory, gives way to fields.  The colors as God intends them are there for all to see.

Nature claims all, loves all and knows all

Spirit is everywhere

Darkness will come

and Elemental beauty abounds

This is magic

Congratulations, you have reached the final level of 2020

I don't often blog here, and yet today I am drawn to it.

This year sucks, hands down.  Things have been canceled that I wanted to do and places I have wanted to go have been closed.

But none of that matters right now.  At least, it doesn't anymore

You see, I got word that a friend from WAY back when I was still a single lady and extremely shy (not that I am an outgoing person to this day) passed away this past week.  This was a friend with whom I used to talk for HOURS on end about anything and everything, and he oddly enough was one of the ones who encouraged me to "go for it" when meeting my now-husband.  And now he's gone, struck suddenly down in middle age.

I have cried ugly tears tonight, and have had some bittersweet thoughts about this dear friend.  But in mourning this loss, I also have reconnected with friends from that time period, friends I didn't think I'd EVER talk to again, as WE mourn our friend.

And right now, I feel oddly hopeful.  Perhaps it is by design that this is the week of Hope in the Advent calendar.  We hope for better things to come.  We hope for better chances.  We hope to have one last time to talk, to connect, to say the things that matter.

This year has been an emotional rollercoaster, but we've made it... Let's keep hoping we can go far, and then actually put that hope into action.

Don't just wish for one more chance.... write a letter, send a text, make a phone call to say what you want to say (I'm a letter/email writer myself because thoughts are easier to type than to speak!)  Don't be afraid to love your friends.

Love and Miss you, dear friend

"This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more." ~ Rachel Held Evans

I have always liked the idea that EVERYONE is welcome in God's presence. I have always liked the idea that EVERYONE is welcome to eat at God's table, and worship God in his or her own way.

I have never liked the idea that anyone is excluded just because he or she may be different. No matter if a person is the wrong ethnicity, the wrong gender, the wrong political ideals, the wrong economic stature, in love with the wrong sex or thinks they are in the wrong body.....

Maybe it's the fact that I have always felt the need to stick up for others when they have been percieved to be wronged..... Maybe it's my own opinion that I have always looked at faith as a personal and spiritual journey and that no two people can have the exact same journey.  Who  am I to just another's journey (or lack thereof) to God? Who am I to have to justify my own journey of faith to others just to belong in God's family?

Jesus chose to dine with the outcasts in society, so who would that look like today?

I will leave you all with this description of Christianity, written by C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity:

     "I hope no reader will suppose that "mere" Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions — as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else.     It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall, I have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into the room you will find that the long wait has done some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.     In plain language, the question should never be: "Do I like that kind of service?" but "Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?"     When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. This is one of the rules common to the whole house."

I used to look for angels in the clouds
I used to have hope for better things.
I don't now what happened.

Expanse
For as far as the eye can see
I am left wondering

God never promised us a life without pain
A life without hardship
A life without a hurting heart
And some fear

God has promised that he will lead us when the going gets tough
But we have to follow

"Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives your purpose and meaning." ~ Morrie Schwartz, as recorded by Mitch Albom in Tuesdays With Morrie.

What ultimately matters is the treasures you build up in heaven, rather than what you have on earth.