☀️It Dawned on Me… {#13}
New phone lock screen & desktop wallpaper; The Ministry of Breaking Bread at (in)courage; A Christmas Carol free online class; the Christmas Gift Guide keeps growing; spotlight on lavender
New Phone Lock Screen & Desktop Wallpaper📱
I was thinking of Christmas when I designed this phone lockscreen, but there’s no date and the sentiment is always relevant: use it as long as you like!
Decorate your desktop too!
The Ministry of Breaking Bread at (in)courage
In my December (in)courage article “The Ministry of Breaking Bread,” I challenge us all to open our hearts and our homes this season and view food and mealtimes the way Jesus did: as an opportunity to serve others and for fellowship. When I wrote it, I didn’t realize that I—and my entire neighborhood—would have such an immediate application of it.
Our sweet mail carrier delivers on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and has cancer treatments on Wednesdays, yet she’s always smiling. Drivers operating under a tight delivery schedule tend to rush, yet she’s taken extra time to help us with a recent mail forwarding issue.
Our neighborhood organized a meal train to send food home with her four days a week starting December 1, and it’s already booked through mid-January. We all have to eat, but food is about so much more than basic human needs.
Please join me at (in)courage for the full article.
{Since 2009, I’ve contributed to DaySpring’s (in)courage website for women. If you’re unfamiliar with (in)courage, go check it out—our daily devotions jumpstart the day for thousands of women around the world!}
Breaking bread together involves more than eating; it’s about serving people and spending time with them. It’s about slowing down, sharing stories, and savoring food and fellowship.
~excerpt from “The Ministry of Breaking Bread”
A Christmas Carol Free Online Class
I just signed up for Hillsdale College’s free online class based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. The course includes six lectures, each approximately 30 minutes long. You’ll receive a certificate for the course by completing the lectures and short quizzes. You can also access supplementary Q & A videos, study guides, and a discussion board. Work through the course at your own pace on your own schedule.
You’ll learn profound lessons from the Ghosts of Christmas, explore the true meaning of Christmas through Scrooge’s surprising encounters, and discover how to open yourself to life’s many joys and blessings.
“This story haunts us with the consequences of such a life in order to awaken us to the love, warmth, and childlike wonder that is at the heart of Christmas… take some time, especially in this busy Christmas season, to reflect on the message of A Christmas Carol with family and friends and see how the divine enters our world to transform us.”
Christmas Gift Guide
Need ideas for the people on your shopping list? I’ve added even more items to my Christmas Gift Guide!
Spotlight on Lavender
Lavender, the Swiss army knife of essential oils, is known for its many uses. The fake lavender you smelled in the past may have reminded you of an old man’s aftershave, but real lavender smells like the fields of heaven itself.
Check out the lavender I use here.
