what a damp, dreary, dismal day.

so I bought flowers,

found an old jar,

and put them on a Coworker's desk.

yup.

don't tell anyone, but she almost cried.

it was still raining, but I felt Sunshine in my soul.

and there was Sunshine on her desk.

two for the price of one.

good deal, don't you think?

you should try it sometime. 

With Little Men around,
Teachable Moments abound.

One such Moment came when a Visiting Little Person announced he no longered loved his Offending Family Member who made him eat broccoli.

The Fairy Girl seized the Moment by the Horns.

Love is for Always. You might not like someone, you might not want to be around them, but that doesn't mean you don't Love them.

Because Love is for Always.

His Love is for Always, not matter what, no matter how hard you run, how hard you hide, how hard you try... His Love is for always. 

The Fairy Girl knows this to be True.  

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

Jeremiah 31:2-4

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I am realizing more and more just how much He delights in taking things that are Forever Broken, people/relationships/situations that have been thrown on the World's Trashpile, beyond Hope or Healing... He picks them up. "Why, this is exactly what I needed to make something Beautiful."

"I just LOVE shoes... I know God must LOVE shoes... I couldn't love it THIS much and Him not LOVE them too!!" The Shepherd's Daughter, talking about the Leopard Print Shoes He provided on Sale.

I wouldn't be surprised if He did... He talks so much about walking/feet/to stand in His Letter to His Children.

To Stand.

To Walk IN Grace.

To Walk OUT of Capitivity.

The Fairy Girl wears her new 4 inch boots in the Kitchen when she bakes.

And I just bought red heels.

Leviticus 18:4
"You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God."

2 Chronicles 6:14
"and he said: “LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts."

Isaiah 30:21
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Isaiah 52:2
Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed..."

Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

So basically,

because He loves you, died for you, fights for you, chastens you... because He always always always has your back...

Walk tall.

She's barely 5 ft tall.

Small, light, agile, with auburn waves and bright eyes.

And she makes Beautiful Things.

Give her a brush and a bit of makeup, and she will make your face look more beautiful than a Disney Princess.

Put her in the kitchen with a bit of chocolate and the most Divine Desserts will appear.

'I just like to make Beautiful Things,' she confided one night over a bowl of frosting.

Life has not always been so Beautiful.

Right out of high school, she ran off to Paris, turned her back on God, and lived however she pleased.

She came home with the Littlest Man,
who has brought so much Joy to all,
even on the Bad Days.

She was Determined to Do The Right Thing.

She got a new job,
went to church, and
met a boy who said and acted like he loved Jesus.

Except that once they were married,
he announced it was all Fake and started doing things a Husband Ought Never to Do.

And he didn't change...
so she and the Littlest Man came Home.

There are good days and hard days...
You know it's one of the harder days when there's chocolate-filled chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting right after a double layer chocolate cake.

'I just like to make Beautiful Things.'

I have so much respect for the Fairy Girl,
for the hard choices,
for her determination,
and fiercely tenacious faith as she walks it out, one step at a time.

We wait with Expectation... How will the Broken Pieces will fit into a Beautiful Story?

----

Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!

For thus says the Lord:

For thus says the Lord God:

Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
Make them wail,” says the Lord,
“And My name is blasphemed continually every day.

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the Lord brings back Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord.For you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:1-12

Life is funny.

You plan it one way...

and

because He loves you,

He gives you something better.

One of the recent changes means that I moved closer to work,

to a Happy Zoo of Daughters, Fairies, Little Boys, and The Cat.

You never know what will happen... who will be walking through the Door... but there's always tea and chocolate.

And, as always, there are Stories... so stay Tuned.

real hope amid the deep darkness.

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I was on the elevator,

singing at the top of my lungs,

going to what I thought was an empty office,

only to have the doors open

and there was a Coworker, grinning broadly.

ha.

Merry Christmas, folks.

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As a little girl, I listened to this song... I remember it was one of those CD-things. As time went by, the CD dissapeared, but I somehow always remember this song... And this week, I finally found it.

It was just as meaningful as 15 years ago... I found my eyes filling with tears.

Move me closer... Move me closer to the Child.

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"But they say I ask too much of You..."

'Don't you listen to them! You just come to Me with everything... And *I* will tell you when you're complaining.'

Shepherd's Daughter, telling me about a conversation with the Father.

---

Taking Jesus at His word that God is really our Father, we come as His child, telling Him our need in the most simple direct way, asking His help.

A little child who has no shyness or hesitation about asking his parents for what he needs is unselfconciously revealing his helplessness... It's the cap-in-hand stance which we resist because it diminishes us -- a certain amount of pride and self has to go for us to ask for help -- whether of God or of another human being.

God insists we ask, not because He needs to know our situation, but because we need the spiritual discipline of asking. 

Catherine Marshall, Adventures In Prayer.

---

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

And let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“Let God be magnified!”

But I am poor and needy;

Make haste to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

O Lord, do not delay.

Psalm 70: 4-5