November: An Invitation to Gratitude {Sacred Waiting}

Photograph by Lisa Moreland

November: An Invitation to Thanksgiving {Sacred Waiting}

Cloudy November days, the ones that hint at rain and blow chilly against the window panes. Soft grey skies a stark contrast to the brilliance in the leaves that toss and tumble across the patio. 

Gazing out across the the woods, mind pondering the brief days left in November, musing on to Christmas. 

The thought arrives... of the young woman two millennia ago waiting, already. 
Many months she has already carried her child. 
Carried sacred knowledge silent in her heart through the passing of three seasons. 
Her whispered thanksgiving already keen for long, long months. 
Her Christmas already a living truth, a swollen heaviness, a beating heart, a mother's patient wait. 

Humbled. 
Grateful.

The trappings of my times fade in importance as I imagine her. 

Two millennia ago she continued the waiting 
with thanksgiving and silent hope. 

*   *   *

Listen to her story as it is sung in this stunning version of Hallelujah.

Additional Posts in An Invitation to Gratitude Series:

Day 1 Attentive Listening
Day 2 Boundless love
Day 3 Time Away
Day 4 New Roads
Day 5 Legacy
Day 6 Indian Summer
Day 7 Transforming Power of Gratitude

Day 8 Homefires
Day 9 Between Times

Linking with the Weekend Whispers, Still Saturday, Coffee for the Heart, and Tell His Story. 

Click on the buttons below to read posts by these communities of faith filled writers.
Click here to link with Share Your Cup Thursday.

November: An Invitation to gratitude {Between Times}

November: An Invitation to gratitude {Between Times}

Autumn hoovers gently as the early morning mist between the exuberance of summer and winter's crisply chilled grip.  Shade loving foliage spread wide, florals risk one last burst of blooms. Spear shaped Elm seeds and tiny Live Oak acorns cast wide for the sake of another generation.

Between times offer grace, holding a place for the promise to come.

Monarch's flit enroute for the tropics. Canadian Geese and pristinely elegant swans glide onto the ponds. Continuous flocks of song birds darken the sky, settling in unison to fill power lines and  treetops. Winged migratory guests taking a brief layover, build reserve until the morning they're gone.

Between times offer grace, holding a place for the promise to come.

Families gather goods for holiday seasons rapidly advancing on calendars. Households harvest the last cool weather produce from the garden, sweep the chimney, stack the wood pile, then walk lazily down leaf strewn paths. New life beats steady and ever so small, cradles deep in mother's precious darkness as a family prepares in patience, prays for the promise, waits in love. 

Between times offer grace, holding a place for the promise to come.

A world revolving on its ancient orbit, turning until it is made new. 
An ancient people humbled by resurrection, living in grace and abundance until the return.

Gratitude for the between times bursting with grace, 
holding a place for the promise to come.

*   *   *

Additional Posts in An Invitation to Gratitude Series:

Day 1 Attentive Listening
Day 2 Boundless love
Day 3 Time Away
Day 4 New Roads
Day 5 Legacy
Day 6 Indian Summer
Day 7 Transforming Power of Gratitude
Day 8 Homefires

Linking with the Weekend Whispers, Still Saturday, Coffee for the Heart, and Tell His Story. 

Click on the buttons below to read posts by these communities of faith filled writers.