Chance of Snow...

The air is turning colder and colder. Every day the raindrops seem to thicken and struggle to become full fledged snowflakes. My hands are busy right now.  Creating, dreaming, imagining new things.

I cannot even describe how blessed I am with all I have been given. The possessions, the family, the resources. So many things given, I only fear that I return far too little.

Christmas preparations are up. So I can't share much on that subject due to the family reading. :) I'm taking lots of ideas from here and here. And really loving this series. Old Fashioned Handmade Christmas.


Just a few of my favorite things:

Old Christmas Tunes - everything from Huron Carol to White Christmas. :)
Hope of snowflakes tomorrow.
How good pizza tastes after almost a week of Thanksgiving leftovers.
Old gentleman in front of me in line (for said pizza) singing Have Yourself  a Merry Little Christmas under his breath with a voice that somehow reminded you of Burl Ives.
Furry cat refusing to step outdoors.
New book. :)
Book chosen for December's "Bookworm's Calendar"

Christmas trees in windows
Candy Canes
Carol of the Bells
Calendar filling with Christmas fun
Stockpile of gifts growing in my closet, making it difficult to move my clothes.
Fake snow to create snow globes, causing glittery messes in my room.
Cranberry Sauce for breakfast   every - single - morning. (I'd eat this for the rest of my life if allowed.)
Vintage mystery stories.
Christmas tree decorated with white and plum colors.
This Photo.


There's a chance of snowflakes tomorrow. I'm eagerly waiting. How about you?

Fine Print: Images not mine. 

Thanksgiving

This is a day that gets zoomed by, overlooked in the rush between towards Christmas. Thanksgiving is no longer even advertised in Walmart, the focus all laying on the day after - Black Friday.

But you know, even though this day is often usurped for tinsel and glitter, there is something to remember in this holiday rush.

The reason we are thankful is because of Christmas.

Had Christ never come, bent and humbled to the lowest degree. Had He never been born in a filthy barn, surrounded by the lowest grade of society. Had He never lived a perfect life in a world of black sin. Had He never stretched Himself upon that cross, eternal-infinite God giving up His own life. Had He never stepped from the grave, alive in a place of death.

Had He never come, we would have nothing.

But because Light came into the darkness. Because Heaven came  to earth. We can rejoice.

There is so much to be grateful for. So many small things that we so often overlook. Our homes, our provision, our families, our government.

But lets not forget the big thing today.

Our God.

To whom we have complete access. To whom we no longer must cringe and keep our distance. But to whom we can freely run, into the outstretched arms waiting to welcome us, and rest, children in the arms of the heavenly Father.

God became man. So that man could see God.

 And for this we must be thankful.

Fine Print: Images not mine

Clouds...

Fog swirls, thick and grey. Damply, it draws it's cold fingers tighter around me. I strain my eyes, my body leans forwards, attempting to see the road of life before me. So many choices, so many life altering decisions, so many optional paths ahead. 

But I can see nothing but the tiny circle of road at my feet. Just enough brown earth visible for one step forward. 

I stand there fearing, impatient, and angry. Waiting for the fog to lift. Waiting for a glimpse of the road. Waiting to move forwards. 

My heart rebels, I cannot wait for the curtain's lifting. Like a little child, I fret and fume at the grey mass. 

I want to run forwards, I want to adventure and conquer for myself, I want my own way. 

But the fog lays hard and heavy. 

"Say not Child of God, that the sun is quenched beacause a cloud has hidden it. Ah no!
He is behind there brewing summer for thee:
For when he comes out again, he will have made the cloud full to drop April showers, all of them mother's of the sweet flowers. "  ~Charles Spurgeon

Never despair because of the cloud. Wait. Just wait. The cloud will lift, the rain will fall, and the path ahead will become illumined.

"Above all, when God hides His face, say not that He has forgotten you. He is only waiting a little while to make you love Him better; and when He comes you shall have joy in the Lord, and shall rejoice in joy."

 Waiting for the clouds to lift.
~Amanda

Fine Print: Images are not mine. Quote

To Have and To Hold

Despite it's name, this book is far from a mushy romance novel. Captain Ralph Percy, a stern soldier and homesteader in this new world of the colonies, is the narrator of the story. Through his eyes we can see the rocky beginnings of the country we now call the United States.

Life was hard for the early settlers around Jamestown. There was always the fear of hunger, disease, of wild animals, and the Indians. But to the men who first founded Jamestown there was another problem.

They had no wives.

And the fragile new colony faced extinction.

To remedy this problem, King James the first filled up several ships with lower class women. Girls who had strong bodies from working the English fields. Women who had no chance of anything but a hard life of toil and want. In America these women would be treasured by their men, they would have the chance to live, grow the land, and become the mother's of the Jamestown colony.

What King James didn't bargain for was that his ward, the Lady Jocelyn Leigh, would seek safety on the ships and disappear in the wild forests around Jamestown.

Captain Percy, unwittingly, marries the Lady Leigh, only to find out that with the wedding vows he had become a condemned man. Hated by the King, and the King's court favorite, and Jocelyn's old fiance' Lord Carnal.

The story is one of adventure, as Captain Percy fights for the woman he has married. There are pirates, Indians, soldiers, and wild animals all thrown against the dark and foreboding backdrop of the American forests.

2 Notes - Although love, and marriage are important pieces of this book. This is not a "love story" and there is nothing inappropriate. I recommend this book for the brilliant way it shows how true love will fight and battle and war against every odd.

Secondly, Though the original edition is in the public Domain, I do recommend you read the Vision Forum version of the book. The original story had several passages where a very angry Lord Carnal said certain things he ought not to have said. Vision Forum has done an excellent job in removing those, without damaging the excellence of the book.

Lastly, I chose this book for  November because of the incredible history of our early colonists that is portrays. With thanksgiving approaching, we often only think of the Pilgrim's alone in the New England Forests. But there was so much more than that. Reading this book deepened my appreciation for the American heritage. Read it yourself, you'll never think of history the same again!

Fine Print: Images are not mine. In hopes that Blogger will let this post through, it ate my last version of it. :/

Introducing... A Bookworm's Calendar

I love books.

That's obvious from my blog's title right? :)

I read as often as possible, and when I'm working and can't hold a book to read, you'll often find me listening to the Librivox version of the book. (Love Librivox by the way, but that's another blog post.

Anyhow, we haven't talked about books too much. I feel kinda bad about that, like I've neglected a dear friend. :(

Now it's all gonna change.

Every month I'm going to bring to you one book, a book suited to the month, but superbly excellent to read all year round. We'll call it the A Bookworm's Calendar, okay? I'm going to even compose a page (check the top of my blog right beside "About the Abibliophobiac". There I will give you the name of the books I'll be featuring a couple months in advance. That way you too can get the book and read along with me.

Sound fun?!

So, even though it's a little late in the month I'll be featuring November's book ASAP. Hopefully, you'll be inspired to grab it and we'll enjoy it together.

Happy Reading!

Multitudes~ A Place of Safety

"He (God) shall cover thee with His feathers,

and under His wings shalt thou trust, 

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler."

                                            Psalm 91:4

This was my verse for today. A verse so often mindlessly quoted, and forgotten. A verse that holds worlds of sweet comfort. A promise of a safe place of love and protection. This was my multitude for today. 

Fine Print: this is number 98 in the multitudes I am chronicling on Mondays. Image is not mine. 

Of Tea, Colds, and Word Counts.

I'm allergic to writing contests.

I'm sure of it now.

I was pretty sure last contest I did, now I'm positive. Every time I force myself to write I come down with something. Anything, a cold, a sprained arm, swine flue, malaria...  (Just kidding about that one.:)

Anyhow, this is the seventh writing contest I've done, and I had planned on doubling up on vitamins just in case something should try to attack my system. I was a day too late. Night 1 of Nano, I came down with a terrible cold. It's still hanging around.

Feel sorry for me please?

Anyhow, Nano update. I'm loving it, my word count isn't incredibly high, too much of a cold for that. But I am getting somewhere in my story. It's about time, I needed to get this story out of my system.

My room mate is still trying to understand the reason behind Nano. Poor cat.

Back to my cold, the cat has one too. We're sneezing together and pitying each other. She takes her medicine when I take mine. It's nice to have a companion in this.

So there's my life for this week. Between sneezing, writing, and drinking pots full of hot tea it's been a pretty good week.

How about yours?



Fine Print: Tea pot image not mine. Though I certainly would not mind having that little yellow pot on the second shelf down far right. :)