Snow has been falling gently for most of the day, fluffy snow, inviting us to go out.  After lunch we answered the summons and headed out to ski with friends. It is a great Friday afternoon activity and I find myself looking forward to it all week.  Last week it was -20 and sunny so we were very rugged up but once we were in amongst the trees it was not too cold.  This week it was a warm -4 so we just had Tshirts under our ski jackets and it was beautiful.

We took a trail none of us had taken before and did not think to look at the board at the beginning to see if there was a map. I guess we thought we would do what we did last week and ski until we wanted to turn around and head back. Once again we were skiing in a wooded area and with no wind snow was piling up on fallen logs and settling on pine cones. Chickadees were flitting around from one side of the track to the other and we stopped several times to hold our hands out to them. They alighted on our hands whether we had seed or not.

There were eight of us spread out along the track and we chatted and sped up and slowed down as we wished. Eventually we came to a junction and had to decide whether to head back, go left or right. We could hear traffic in one direction but thought it was not the road we had parked near. One said, “Let’s just go back, I’m tired.”

A few thought right, a few left, most said,”I don’t know.” So we went right and right again and eventually the path led the way back to the car and the hot apple cider in the thermos.

Snow is falling more heavily now and I have that warm tired feeling from exercising outside in the cold. There is beef stew nearly ready on the stove, so it is time to sit down together and enjoy the end of a busy work week.

Last night we enjoyed having friends over. We don’t see these friends as much as we once did and we miss them. We had a great time. The children had things to show and share, we wanted to hear how our friends’ studies, exams and deadlines had gone and they wanted to know what was new in our life. They are the type of friends who feel quite at home here and we feel right at home having them here.

At one stage we were chatting about the different personalities of the children and my friend said, “Your children are so different and they are so much the same. I love your children. They feel like home.” Our children love them too. It was a gift to us to have them here. As the dining room table is covered in quilt scraps we had our meal at the kitchen table but the fellowship was just as sweet.

My friend and I made a dent in the dishes and discussed the gift giving side of Christmas, how hard it is to find just the right gift for some people and the fact that it isn’t the gift that matters so much as the giving. We talked about the enjoyment of baking for people and giving away cookies because we want them to know we love them. We talked about the gifts we can give that can’t be wrapped, our time, our conversation, our homes, a helping hand when someone’s hands are full. We talked about celebrating the season because of the inexpressible gift we have been given.

Give thanks to God for his inexpressible gift. 2Cor 9:15

I hope that you know the joy of God’s inexpressible gift this Christmas.

A friend gave me this cup to me last Saturday. It is to go in my new china cabinet, which the same friend introduced me to, you might say. This friend and I have known each other for a few years but we keep finding new common interests we can delight in or participate in as “partners in crime”.

A month ago my parents returned to Australia after a wonderful two month stay. As a diversion the day they left, my friend invited me to accompany her to a house which had recently been vacated. The owners wanted to sell anything that was still there. I was after furniture for my living room, which has been a furniture free zone for six years. (except when two Lazy Boy recliners visited for a couple of months..). My friend was after china, linens and vintage Christmas tree ornaments. I spied a sideboard and a couple of other pieces I thought might work. She found some beautiful china, and as I looked over her shoulder I commented on the lovely little black cup, thinking that it was unusual to see black in a delicate piece of china. I was not after china, as I have inherited some from both my grandmothers. We made our mental lists and left to talk to our husbands about how and when to pick up our finds.

When we did go back the sideboard was even nicer than I had remembered and while watching my friend carefully chose her cups and saucers I looked at the cabinet they were sitting in. It would be perfect, only one place for it, it was the same colour as the sideboard, could I have it? Yes. How had I missed it last time? I was quite excited and my friend was just as excited as I was. My living room would be devoid of furniture no longer.

So as I wait for the cabinet to be put in its place and made level I am so grateful for my friend who wished to cheer me up, encouraged me to buy the pieces I’d become smitten with and then rejoiced with me over the thought of filling them and using them in my home.