"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  (Mark 13:32)

How are you at waiting?  Depending on what I can "do" while I'm waiting I can be okay.  If, however, I have to sit still, it is going to take a very long time or doesn't seem to have a time frame at all I am probably (like most people) not very good at it.  I remember reading about a child asking if the waiting time for "in a minute" was really going to be 60 seconds.  I think we can all be wondering how long "in a minute" can be!

Today starts the season of Advent.  On the Liturgical calendar it is the start of the "new" year.  It is a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus birthday AND preparing for His return.  A combination of the "already" -- celebrating the birth of 2000+ years ago, and the "not yet" -- preparing for His return and hoping it will be soon.  This makes for an interesting time of "waiting" and "hoping" while we are preparing for both celebrating the birthday and being ready for the return.  Like we are told, here and in other places, "no one knows" when this will come.

The idea is to be ready, for Jesus return, to happen NOW while celebrating Emmanuel - God IS with us, the birth we are also celebrating.  The idea is to strengthen our relationship with God to such a point we are ready.  The idea is to use the wait time to prepare, with hope for the return.  Maybe we could start our "new year's" resolution today (confuses people when you do!) so we can work on strengthening our relationship with God.  Something to think about..........

"Praise the Lord!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever."  (Psalm 106:1  NLT)

Thanksgiving - a day when we actually, at least think about, stopping and giving thanks.  When we can -- we celebrate with family and friends.  When we can -- we have the day off for said celebration.  When we can -- we eat way too much and watch TV.  Then there are the times we can't -- when a loved one is "far away," for whatever reason (school, active military, or ill), we live "too far away," or there simply isn't enough _______ (money, food, time, fill in the blank).

This is when we can us an "attitude adjustment."  We can make the decision to be "thanks living."  Instead of thinking of one "day" to give thanks we can be thinking about, and praising, God every day.  We can thank God, Emmanuel - God with us (and our loved ones not with us for whatever reason), for not "just" being "with us" but for the strength God gives us (and our loved ones) daily.

We have been talking about "walking the walk."  Now would be a good time to change our attitude to "thanks living" every day instead of "one day" of Thanksgiving.  The decision is ours.......

"In the same way, the one who had received two talents made two more talents."  (Matthew 25:17)

I've been learning some new things this past summer and fall.  No, I don't mean the learning to cook - although I have learned more cooking skills.  I mean with my knitting I have learned some new techniques.  I have been knitting for over 60 years, love sharing the "how to" as well as finished products, but had never even thought of these new techniques.  I admit to some confusion, while learning the process, and a need to NOT be interrupted while learning (and practicing) the new technique.  

The Gospel reading is from the Parable of the "Talents."  Some translations use "silver" or "gold" in place of the "talents."  Many of us have looked at this parable with the idea of the landowner giving his servants "money" but I would like to look at this from a different perspective.  Look at it from the perspective of God giving each of us a "talent," a gift - something we LOVE to do (like we spoke of a couple of weeks ago).  In a lot of cases it is probably something we have been doing for many years -- maybe not over 60 but then again maybe even longer.  The first two servants have "grown" the "talents" given them (vs. 16 & 17) and the third servant "went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money (talent)."  (v. 18)

Which are we?  Are we the servants who have "grown" the talent, or gifts, God has given us?  Or have we ignored, or buried, them?

"Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."  Matthew 25:13

I love teaching, especially needlework, to people.  Young people -- if they want to learn, "old" people, to anyone.  I have worked with the visually impaired, with therapists to maintain movement and with international students.  We may not speak the same language but the motions for needlework are the same the world over.  It is also a good place for them to practice "American".......  One of the questions, I was asked in one of my international classes, was "what does "are you ready for the holidays" mean?

This Scripture reading is Jesus talking to the people about the coming of the Kingdom of heaven.  It is reminding each, and all, of us we do NOT know the "day nor the hour" of Christ's (the Bridegroom) return.  We should, like the 10 prepared be "ready" with a strong relationship, prepared to answer (and do).  Yes, as Caregivers, we are prepared for our receivers, and even our families, but are we - ourselves - prepared with the strong relationship?  If someone were to ask are we prepared to answer about where our strength comes from?

Last week we talked about sometimes we are the only Bible people ever read -- including our families and care receivers.  This week we need to think about how we are preparing, getting ready because even though we don't know "the day nor the hour" we do know Christ (the Bridegroom) IS coming back.