It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Best of Times

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."   ... Romans 12:15

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There will be no printed-out Christmas letter from Tom and Debra this December.

Why not? Because we had too many blessings this year. And well, those of you who care enough about me to read my blog are already aware of those blessings so they're oldy, moldy news. The rest of my relatives and friends who choose not to read my blog--many of them--would rather not hear about all the good stuff. It will irk them, even if I give all the glory to God, which I always do, since it's always Him who's doing the blessing.

Did you see that verse, above? It's not too hard to mourn with those who mourn, but I'm thinking it takes lots of maturity to rejoice with those who rejoice. Many of us become bonkers when others splash through their good seasons while we're sinking under our bad ones.

We all have good seasons, we all have bad ones, too, but seldom does everybody's 'seasonal timing' occur simulataneously.

So again, there'll be no 2012-was-the-best-of-times letter from my family. We'll mail our cards with simple, loving greetings, instead, for this year I'm feeling it's the right thing for Tom and me to do. But for the record, I hope we'll receive lots of Christmas letters from everybody. I think Tom and I finally became mature enough to handle them with purest joy a couple years ago. :)


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Oh, I am in love with this Hobbit House. Maybe you want your heavenly mansion to look like, well, a heavenly mansion, but I think mine will resemble this, instead. 

Click on 'enlarge gallery' for more photos. The library captured my heart, (but of course), as well as the backyard.

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Strife: Not Welcome Here

"For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."   ... James 3:16

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That one little Bible verse explains why Tom and I are oh-so-careful to keep our arguments short. To get them over with, well, fast.

We refuse to let Strife hang-out with us at Hobbit Cottage lest that open our new pretty red door to every evil work which may or may not include bad times, accidents, financial lack, broken things, anger, danger, theft, broken relationships, confusion, unforgiveness and --- 

Just so you know. Just something to consider.


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Now it's back to Alias. This is Tom's last day off for awhile and it's been an Alias kind of day around here. 

Over and out.


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"Don't let the sun go down on your anger."   ... Ephesians 4:26


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A Woman's Hair, A Woman's Business

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands... " 1 Thessalonians 4:11

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When you write in a blog for over 8 years it can be rough finding subjects you've not already exhausted.

Well, I finally found one. Namely, long hair on women over 40.

Good gracious! Throughout the years I've watched people react with such vehemence on this subject, most of them insisting that no decent, smart woman over 40 would wear her hair long. Do a google search on long-haired older ladies and you'll find 45,000,000 rantings, most of them negative. Most (know-it-alls) say, nothing ages a woman more than long hair.

I say mind your own business.

No, really. A woman's hair is her business and even the Bible calls it her crowning glory.

What brought all this on? Well, as I told you, Tom and I are currently watching Alias reruns until we become bleary-eyed and must stumble into bed. Anyway, two of the actresses, one over 50, the other past 40,  have long hair and both look incredible. Gorgeous. And in the case of Patricia Wettig, I'd even say downright luminescent--though, ok, part of it, I noticed, came from superb lighting inside her psychiatrist office. But hey, does 50+ Patricia's long hair age her into some old hag not to be taken seriously?

Uh, I think not. And here's the other woman I spoke of, Lena Olin, who was 47 at the time of her appearance on Alias:

If ever there were perfect examples that people should just zip their lips on this subject of older women wearing long hair, well, here are those examples. 

If a woman's long hair makes her feel terrific, she should wear it long. And of course, if she feels great with it short, she should wear it short.

But everybody else, I feel, should just keep their opinions to themselves on this very personal subject. And if they did this simple thing? This world would become a tad friendlier, better place with fewer hurt feelings. We feel overwhelmed to bring about huge changes, but so often it's such small things which could--and do-- make all the difference.

If only we'd remember...

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"And isn't long hair a woman's pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering."   ... 1 Corinthians 11:15 (NLT)

"She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."   ... Proverbs 31:26

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"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."   ... copied

"The eyes of full-time critics are blind to so much beauty."  ... Debra

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