18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
prayer for holiday travelers, particularly cousin as she comes down to celebrate with us and cook for us.
Prayer for the families of those who lost loved ones this year due to shootings and fires and storms and such.
Prayer for the families of those in our midst who were called Home this past year.
Prayers for my mom to understand the message of the gospel. She is a regular church goer, but today said she wasn’t sure where she would be going when she died. I gave a simplified version of the gospel, reminding her Jesus came and died for us, so that we can know, if we are trusting him for righteousness etc. It was unusual for her to even discuss it and it was a very short part of a visit. She was heading for Mass later with other family members.
Also, prayers for my brother would be appreciated. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer and is quite upbeat about it. The doctor was quite optimistic. The thing that bothers me is that neither he or his wife go to any church, nor read the bible. My mom lives in his house.
Leslie may get to come home today. She is very positive–at least via text. They say part of the nausea is that she has been sick so long her stomach needs to be “trained” to eat food again. To that end I am going to Wal-Mart in a bit so I can make potato soup if she comes home today. (That, right there, ought to tell you what she means to me. It is 7:30 am on Christmas Eve and I uttered the words, “I am going to Wal Mart)
Please keep my friend, Karen, uplifted. She has little strength left.
Kathaleena, 1st John is the book in the Bible that gives reassurance of salvation. You may want to read it to be familiar with it and then discuss it with your mother.
Janice, thank you. My mother has always thought I was a fanatic and seldom discusses much of anything with me. This was a rare occurrence. She once said I surely must have read the bible enough to quit already. Interestingly, her mother read it to her dying day and argued with a priest about something. My mother thought that was funny and admired her mother for it.
Relationships are complicated. It is surely one of the reasons that we are told that some plant, some reap and all in between. God’s ways are creative and wonderful!
Carol left a couple distraught voicemails last night after I’d gone to sleep, one mentioning suicide. She sounds OK this morning when I called her back, and said she might be getting something more (medication wise there) for her paranoia which is still in full swing. I think I’ll send an email to the administrators today, just to make sure they are aware of this.
Carol is constantly hearing people “talking about her” in the dining room.
Prayers for our outing tonight to the Christmas Eve service in Hollywood and pancake meal afterward. The service is at 5 p.m., it’s the early ‘family’ service we usually go to, and Carol’s friend and former roommate, who also needs a walker, is coming along, so that may add a bit of complication to the comings and goings, loading and unloading, part of the evening.
Kathaleena, your last graph is so true. So often, especially within complex, long-standing family relationships, it seems to be the way the gospel gets ultimately and fully shared with an individual.
Among those we’re asking the Lord to keep safe on the road please remember my Flyboy (age 20). Snowfall is heavy right now and the roads are messy. Driving 8-miles home from lunch out after church we saw the aftermath of a 3-car collision and several spinouts. Meanwhile Flyboy is driving 20 miles in a different direction to feed the cats for some friends who are out of town for Christmas, then he’ll be driving 20 miles back home.
The children’s program part of it was merely an acting out of the birth of Jesus, with a couple of the older kids narrating, with some songs interspersed. Then Pastor Billy preached a brief sermon on Jesus being the Prince of Peace. (He’s been doing a series on the descriptions of the Messiah given in Isaiah 9 – Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.)
The Boy was bored for most of it, & Nightingale seemed just a little uncomfortable.
At least they fulfilled the Cub Scout “Duty to God” requirement at a gospel-preaching church rather than the Unitarian “church” she was planning on taking him to.
Speaking of peace, we need some here. In an annoyed, reprimanding voice, Nightingale told Chickadee, “You need to go to your room”, for bickering with The Boy while they were working on their gingerbread houses. Chickadee was getting snippy with him, addressing him in an obviously annoyed tone of voice. Often, the two of them sound more like siblings than aunt & nephew.
I just wanted to cry.
Chickadee was offended & angry, & stalked off. I think she has calmed down by now, but she is keeping herself in my room, playing her video games on Hubby’s computer.
Kathaleena – My mom once admitted to me that she & my SIL were worried that we put too much trust in God. I asked her what had gone wrong in my life as a result of that. She thought about it a minute, then a smile crept onto her face as she replied, “Nothing!”
Sounds like Mama Lion didn’t like someone snipping at her Cub. I can’t blame her. I know it hurts your Mama Lion heart too, but one is a child on Christmas Eve. The other is chronologically an adult.
I thought of you and your family this morning, Kizzie, when I was at church this morning, and said a little prayer.
If Nightingale was feeling a little uncomfortable at church — and my guess is that the impression you got was correct, as you seem very attuned to your daughters — her discomfort may be some evidence of the Spirit’s work in her heart. Better, IMHO, for an unbeliever to feel some initial discomfort in a Bible-believing church than to feel comfortable in a church that preaches what itching ears want to hear.
(I’m hoping that doesn’t come across wrong. What I mean is that true peace is only found in Jesus, not in feeling good about ourselves in our walk of life without Him. We need to first be shown our sin — an uncomfortable thing — before we see our need for our Savior.)
I’m sorry for the tension between Chickadee and The Boy, and Nightingale and Chickadee. Praying for you, and for peace in your household, Kizzie.
DJ, this may not be anything, but I wonder with Carol if she grew up hearing others routinely disparaged behind their backs. I know mental illness carries with it many complexities, with origins that can be difficult or impossible to trace, but, in my own experience, I grew up with parents who, though loving in many ways, talked about various people behind their backs. This happened on a pretty regular basis, and I never once witnessed them speaking the truth in love to anyone whose problems they felt very free to discuss outside of the presence of those people.
I don’t know if growing up hearing so much negative talk about people influenced my thinking as an adult, but I sometimes struggle with feelings that there must certainly be people talking about me and all my sins and shortcomings behind my back. I do have to remind myself at those times that I need to take every thought captive, and remember that I have no proof whatsoever that people are speaking about me to others without speaking directly to me.
So, anyway, I wonder if Carol has a similar background, and imagines the same?
Prayers for her, and for you, DJ. You’re being a good friend to her.
Praying, also, for all the other requests above, Kim, Kathaleena, Janice, and Kevin. And glad your cousin made it there safely, Mumsee.
6 Arrows, probably, maybe, yes. Her mom was mentally ill and wound up institutionalized, as did Carol’s younger brother (both are deceased). The parents, according to Carol, fought fiercely at times. So not a great childhood environment.
Having a first degree relative with schizophrenia increases the risk of developing it by 10 times – there is a definite genetic component. I did a pathology module on schizophrenia this past semester, and the module talked about all the different areas of the brain that have been shown to be affected in schizophrenics (these areas shrink in schizophrenics, while the neurons become tangled and lose connections with each other). Among the affected areas is the hippocampus which is responsible for storing long term memory with their accompanying emotional associations – these areas are activated during dreams in normal people, and as we all know, when we dream, it often seems as if the dream is real, no matter how illogical and fragmented it is. As the module says: “For the person with schizophrenia, it is as if the dream occurs during wakefulness, and there is no convincing the person that what is happening is not real.”
The Boy’s father has supposedly been diagnosed as schizophrenia. 😦 Even if it’s not that, he does have some kind of mental instability, as does his mother.
Things here simmered down, with Nightingale & Chickadee on speaking terms again. (Although, while cleaning up after dinner, Nightingale did say something that irritated Chickadee, & I could hear her deep breathing to calm down.)
It is difficult for the older sibling to not be bossy to the younger. The younger resents that and, often, competes with the older. It can be healthy to be able to joke about those natural things family order can bring. My oldest is just told she is bossy sometimes and the youngest that she is so spoiled. She just grins and agrees and says she enjoys every minute of that spoiling.
With just two siblings the dynamics will be different, but they are there. It helps to acknowledge them and realize each processes things differently. Even with all the other issues, such a thing might help each realize they are preciously different and loved.
“Increases the risk of developing [schizophrenia] by 10 times” sounds scary, but doesn’t tell 10 times what. If the risk for the general population is miniscule, then 10 times that is still small. I hope Kizzie doesn’t worry too much about the Boy based on that statistic.
A relative of mine was schizophrenic. Her three children, now in middle age, seem all to have escaped it.
We have one relative paranoid/schizophrenic, too. No one else in the family has it, that we know of. He never married and has no children, but does have a lot of relatives.
Wandering Views 
prayer for holiday travelers, particularly cousin as she comes down to celebrate with us and cook for us.
Prayer for the families of those who lost loved ones this year due to shootings and fires and storms and such.
Prayer for the families of those in our midst who were called Home this past year.
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Leslie was admitted to the hospital yesterday
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A praise: Nightingale & The Boy are coming to church with me tomorrow for the children’s Christmas program! (Not sure yet about Chickadee.)
Praying the Holy Spirit will move upon their hearts, drawing them to the Savior.
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Cousin is here. We are having fresh applesauce and tacos for supper.
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Prayers for my mom to understand the message of the gospel. She is a regular church goer, but today said she wasn’t sure where she would be going when she died. I gave a simplified version of the gospel, reminding her Jesus came and died for us, so that we can know, if we are trusting him for righteousness etc. It was unusual for her to even discuss it and it was a very short part of a visit. She was heading for Mass later with other family members.
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Also, prayers for my brother would be appreciated. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer and is quite upbeat about it. The doctor was quite optimistic. The thing that bothers me is that neither he or his wife go to any church, nor read the bible. My mom lives in his house.
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Leslie may get to come home today. She is very positive–at least via text. They say part of the nausea is that she has been sick so long her stomach needs to be “trained” to eat food again. To that end I am going to Wal-Mart in a bit so I can make potato soup if she comes home today. (That, right there, ought to tell you what she means to me. It is 7:30 am on Christmas Eve and I uttered the words, “I am going to Wal Mart)
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Prayers for all!
Please keep my friend, Karen, uplifted. She has little strength left.
Kathaleena, 1st John is the book in the Bible that gives reassurance of salvation. You may want to read it to be familiar with it and then discuss it with your mother.
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Janice, thank you. My mother has always thought I was a fanatic and seldom discusses much of anything with me. This was a rare occurrence. She once said I surely must have read the bible enough to quit already. Interestingly, her mother read it to her dying day and argued with a priest about something. My mother thought that was funny and admired her mother for it.
Relationships are complicated. It is surely one of the reasons that we are told that some plant, some reap and all in between. God’s ways are creative and wonderful!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Carol left a couple distraught voicemails last night after I’d gone to sleep, one mentioning suicide. She sounds OK this morning when I called her back, and said she might be getting something more (medication wise there) for her paranoia which is still in full swing. I think I’ll send an email to the administrators today, just to make sure they are aware of this.
Carol is constantly hearing people “talking about her” in the dining room.
Prayers for our outing tonight to the Christmas Eve service in Hollywood and pancake meal afterward. The service is at 5 p.m., it’s the early ‘family’ service we usually go to, and Carol’s friend and former roommate, who also needs a walker, is coming along, so that may add a bit of complication to the comings and goings, loading and unloading, part of the evening.
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Kathaleena, your last graph is so true. So often, especially within complex, long-standing family relationships, it seems to be the way the gospel gets ultimately and fully shared with an individual.
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Kizzie, when you can, let us know how church was
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Among those we’re asking the Lord to keep safe on the road please remember my Flyboy (age 20). Snowfall is heavy right now and the roads are messy. Driving 8-miles home from lunch out after church we saw the aftermath of a 3-car collision and several spinouts. Meanwhile Flyboy is driving 20 miles in a different direction to feed the cats for some friends who are out of town for Christmas, then he’ll be driving 20 miles back home.
LikeLiked by 4 people
The children’s program part of it was merely an acting out of the birth of Jesus, with a couple of the older kids narrating, with some songs interspersed. Then Pastor Billy preached a brief sermon on Jesus being the Prince of Peace. (He’s been doing a series on the descriptions of the Messiah given in Isaiah 9 – Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.)
The Boy was bored for most of it, & Nightingale seemed just a little uncomfortable.
At least they fulfilled the Cub Scout “Duty to God” requirement at a gospel-preaching church rather than the Unitarian “church” she was planning on taking him to.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Speaking of peace, we need some here. In an annoyed, reprimanding voice, Nightingale told Chickadee, “You need to go to your room”, for bickering with The Boy while they were working on their gingerbread houses. Chickadee was getting snippy with him, addressing him in an obviously annoyed tone of voice. Often, the two of them sound more like siblings than aunt & nephew.
I just wanted to cry.
Chickadee was offended & angry, & stalked off. I think she has calmed down by now, but she is keeping herself in my room, playing her video games on Hubby’s computer.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Kathaleena – My mom once admitted to me that she & my SIL were worried that we put too much trust in God. I asked her what had gone wrong in my life as a result of that. She thought about it a minute, then a smile crept onto her face as she replied, “Nothing!”
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Sounds like Mama Lion didn’t like someone snipping at her Cub. I can’t blame her. I know it hurts your Mama Lion heart too, but one is a child on Christmas Eve. The other is chronologically an adult.
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I thought of you and your family this morning, Kizzie, when I was at church this morning, and said a little prayer.
If Nightingale was feeling a little uncomfortable at church — and my guess is that the impression you got was correct, as you seem very attuned to your daughters — her discomfort may be some evidence of the Spirit’s work in her heart. Better, IMHO, for an unbeliever to feel some initial discomfort in a Bible-believing church than to feel comfortable in a church that preaches what itching ears want to hear.
(I’m hoping that doesn’t come across wrong. What I mean is that true peace is only found in Jesus, not in feeling good about ourselves in our walk of life without Him. We need to first be shown our sin — an uncomfortable thing — before we see our need for our Savior.)
I’m sorry for the tension between Chickadee and The Boy, and Nightingale and Chickadee. Praying for you, and for peace in your household, Kizzie.
DJ, this may not be anything, but I wonder with Carol if she grew up hearing others routinely disparaged behind their backs. I know mental illness carries with it many complexities, with origins that can be difficult or impossible to trace, but, in my own experience, I grew up with parents who, though loving in many ways, talked about various people behind their backs. This happened on a pretty regular basis, and I never once witnessed them speaking the truth in love to anyone whose problems they felt very free to discuss outside of the presence of those people.
I don’t know if growing up hearing so much negative talk about people influenced my thinking as an adult, but I sometimes struggle with feelings that there must certainly be people talking about me and all my sins and shortcomings behind my back. I do have to remind myself at those times that I need to take every thought captive, and remember that I have no proof whatsoever that people are speaking about me to others without speaking directly to me.
So, anyway, I wonder if Carol has a similar background, and imagines the same?
Prayers for her, and for you, DJ. You’re being a good friend to her.
Praying, also, for all the other requests above, Kim, Kathaleena, Janice, and Kevin. And glad your cousin made it there safely, Mumsee.
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Flyboy made it home safely.
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6 Arrows, probably, maybe, yes. Her mom was mentally ill and wound up institutionalized, as did Carol’s younger brother (both are deceased). The parents, according to Carol, fought fiercely at times. So not a great childhood environment.
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Having a first degree relative with schizophrenia increases the risk of developing it by 10 times – there is a definite genetic component. I did a pathology module on schizophrenia this past semester, and the module talked about all the different areas of the brain that have been shown to be affected in schizophrenics (these areas shrink in schizophrenics, while the neurons become tangled and lose connections with each other). Among the affected areas is the hippocampus which is responsible for storing long term memory with their accompanying emotional associations – these areas are activated during dreams in normal people, and as we all know, when we dream, it often seems as if the dream is real, no matter how illogical and fragmented it is. As the module says: “For the person with schizophrenia, it is as if the dream occurs during wakefulness, and there is no convincing the person that what is happening is not real.”
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The Boy’s father has supposedly been diagnosed as schizophrenia. 😦 Even if it’s not that, he does have some kind of mental instability, as does his mother.
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*schizophrenic* that should have been.
_______
Things here simmered down, with Nightingale & Chickadee on speaking terms again. (Although, while cleaning up after dinner, Nightingale did say something that irritated Chickadee, & I could hear her deep breathing to calm down.)
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Only three people, out of ten, left standing here and Second Sibling texted me she has it.
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It is difficult for the older sibling to not be bossy to the younger. The younger resents that and, often, competes with the older. It can be healthy to be able to joke about those natural things family order can bring. My oldest is just told she is bossy sometimes and the youngest that she is so spoiled. She just grins and agrees and says she enjoys every minute of that spoiling.
With just two siblings the dynamics will be different, but they are there. It helps to acknowledge them and realize each processes things differently. Even with all the other issues, such a thing might help each realize they are preciously different and loved.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Increases the risk of developing [schizophrenia] by 10 times” sounds scary, but doesn’t tell 10 times what. If the risk for the general population is miniscule, then 10 times that is still small. I hope Kizzie doesn’t worry too much about the Boy based on that statistic.
A relative of mine was schizophrenic. Her three children, now in middle age, seem all to have escaped it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have one relative paranoid/schizophrenic, too. No one else in the family has it, that we know of. He never married and has no children, but does have a lot of relatives.
LikeLiked by 1 person