I haven’t been in this blog space for over 2 weeks.

Sometimes little obstacles can have a stopper effect.

Courtney’s laptop started whirling and buzzing, creating all sorts of heat.

So, this little laptop, typing these words, took an unexpected trip to college to help a

heavy laden gal finish finals strong.

One post written on our old PC and nearly losing the entire piece, made me wait.

No sooner had the laptop made a trip home, when our modem decided it was tired of

supplying all the devices in our home.

We are entirely too dependent on internet.

I knew this but I really know it now.

My affection for Christmas online shopping suffered.

We have a dryer with a new attitude which sounds a lot like a high-pitched squeal.

We had a furnace which decided to stop working after the flood

brought forth by an oil delivery.

We also have a creak, a squeak and a tapping along our bedroom wall.

We are praying the situation (whatever it is) will be resolved on Friday.

Tuesday night when Carl was pumping up our air mattress and it was making

a piercing whistle noise, all we could do was look each other in the eye

and laugh.

So many temporal situations  in our life right now are squeaky even some

things I can’t share in this public space.

In every case, the noise will cease.

Somehow.

Someway.

What’s squeaking in your life?

This Advent season comes complete with squeaks,

rich with noise when there should be silence, anxiety

begs to be replaced by patience and peace.

There was quite a bit of squeaking in Mary and Joseph’s life

leading up to a shabby manger.

It is time for each one of us to stop, keep taking steps towards Bethlehem

and wait for the wonder.

The gift comes at Christmas.

But why not wait for a gift the days after Christmas?

How about a tangible gift to hold in the new year?

These past few weeks have shown me

in the way of untimely squeaks, that patience is

difficult but brings its own lasting gifts.

Bo Stern has a new book arriving on January 7th.

Not to spin words, but Bo and her family have been doing life

in a glorious way despite the presence of the monumental

squeak of ALS  also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

I hope that you picked up her book Beautiful Battlefields which

chronicled their story and expresses how to fight for and with joy despite

the presence of trials.

Ruthless is a book all about the character of God, the One who fights for you.

I am guessing that many of you are waging a battle against more than

internet connections, failing furnaces and pests.

Most hard place  cannot be “fixed” by a new modem, a serviceman or pesticides.

We need a firm footing when the earth begins to whirl, buzz and tremble.

Allow Bo to take you through 30 days of

looking at different aspects of God’s character.

Start the new year by getting to know the God who ruthlessly pursues

and fights for you.

For an author, pre-orders are so important, kind of like

the bread and butter of book sales.

Pre-order now and you will have a delayed gift in a few weeks or

one to give away.

Order here or here.

Visit Bo’s blog here to read how you can print a gift postcard

for Christmas giving.

Lastly, the days are busy and jammed.

I want to pass along a recipe I tried last week.

It was so easy, tasty and something great to have in my

arsenal of recipes to have when life’s dance card is filled to

capacity or to take to someone going through the squeaks of life.

I doubled everything but the Italian Sausage and the green beans, cooked it in my large crock

pot and enjoyed our Sunday dinner and one more dinner after that.

I made the following adjustments:

I used turkey Italian Sausage, no-sodium chicken broth, and cans of diced tomatoes

with Italian seasonings and omitted the dry Italian seasoning.

Recipe found here along with other soup recipes.

Soup for you!