This Rugged JoyFull Home

          Welcome Home   Heavy luggage           Smooth floors Security guards           And sliding doors The sound of planes           Ascending, descending Ready to go back home           To your family depending Now you are           Inside a car To go to a place           Not that far Your house           Warm, safe, and cozy Oh, the house is very toasty           You get to see light You get to see rain           And don't have to experience working pain You get to watch           You get to rest And get bitten by an annoying pest           You can read In peace and quiet     ...

O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. It's that time of year when The Cat and The Dog decided to argue right in front of their Advent tray that was seated nicely on their center table at the family room. Strong words went darting  out of their mouths that were sure to pin down their opponent seating right in front of them. Their subject was on history. "You've done this to me" and "you've said this to me a long time ago," and "you are always the 'boss' and I, the 'slave'" and "I will never forget this for the rest of my life" kind of history. Just the two of them, a girl and a boy and the Word War has begun.  Their first of five candles has just been lit, burning, to observe their yearly family tradition of celebrating the Advent season. And Advent as they all know is...

I didn't know that autumn in Moscow could be this winter . How cool is that, literally speaking!  "Is it winter already? I thought autumn had just begun?"  I asked my friend last Friday as we prepared to leave her cozy kitchen after a refreshing ladies' group study on the book of John.  Too many take-aways this day from our discussion as with the weeks past.  As we said our goodbyes, I already planned on tackling my notes the moment I got back home. It's like finding nuggets of gold and you do not want to let go of your precious finds. Someday, when I grow up😊, I'll be able to share my learnings here, how privileged I am to be invited in this bonding of women "to stimulate one another to love and good deeds..." (Hebrews 10:24) and to pray for one another.  The smell of freshly brewed coffee made our meeting even more enjoyable.  " This isn't winter yet, wait till December and January. You'll see. This is just autumn." ...