I love the Christmas season …. I hate Christmas shopping!  I confess I did go shopping on Black Friday.  I shopped for groceries at my favorite famers market.  I bought a few items on the Black Friday specials list along with a week’s worth of meats and veggies.  My gift for braving the crowds:  10% off my entire shopping cart!  I stopped at the outlet mall on my way home to visit one store for one item.  Although the mall was busier than usual, I easily found a parking space and wound my way through the walkways to the store I sought.  I could have bought the item I was looking for at a wonderful price of 35% off the outlet price.   They had the item in two colors – neither color was appropriate for either gift recipient.   I left empty handed and unscathed!
 
Sunday as we drove home, we detoured to a recently-opened local farm stand where I stocked up on stocking stuffers.
 
Cyber Monday morning after Bible Study I went shopping.  After all, it is Monday several weeks before Christmas and I was not online.   There were a few other shoppers at the first store I visited.  Success!
The primary item I was looking for was only available online; I snagged two other items.
 
On to store two.   Yike!  I did not feel crowded by customers, but my patience was tried!  The store-with-in-a-store was jammed with unopened boxes of merchandise.  I squeezed my cart among the boxes and selected the embroidery thread. The sales associate rang up my purchase and surprised me saying,. ‘I gave you 20% off.  This stuff is really expensive.’  Another unexpected gift.  Then I pulled my number from the measuring stand dispenser.  It was 69 and they were serving 54.  There was one measurer at the counter.  The customer being served was confused; the measurer was confused and frustrated; the 14 folks in line before me were frustrated. 
 
It was definitely time for me to visit the fruit stand – the Fruit of the Spirit stand – and ask for Patience.  Friends,  you and I know standing in line is never fun.    Our schedules are full; our gift-selecting anxiety is high;  and sometimes our pocketbooks are stressed.  In this season, the joyous time of anticipating God’s glorious gift of His Son Jesus, remember you have the fruit of the Spirit, Patience.  Give the gift of your patience to all those around you!
 
Merry Christmas all! 

​Roasted chicken is a relatively new menu item for me.  Many years ago my mother gave me a terracotta roaster.  It remained unused in its original box until about four years ago when I discovered the delights of tender roasted chicken.  The basic process is soak the roaster in cold water for 15 minutes, load it with a whole chicken and veggies, put  it in a cold oven set at 450 degrees and bake it for one and a half hours – simple and delicious!  Suddenly roast chicken was on the menu two out of four Sundays per month.  I tried several different techniques for roasting the chicken.  They were all tender; but I found the most tasty versions were created when I stuffed the cavity with onions and lemon halves then slid fresh thyme, rosemary and garlic under the skin of the chicken before placing it in the roaster.
 
What a great picture of our lives this is:  a roast chicken is tastier when stuffed with herbs and savory veggies; our lives are more winsome and loving when we are stuffed with the seasonings of God:  Bible study, prayer, individual and corporate worship, and generous serving.  God’s word needs to get under our skin!  It needs to become a part of us – not something separate and reserved for Sundays – but something that is an integral part of us..  In Matthew 4: 1 – 11 Jesus deflected the arrows of Satan with the word of God. And when the temptations of Satan and the troubles of the world threaten to overwhelm us our lives are so thoroughly saturated with the flavoring of God we are able to stand firm.
 
Romans 16: 19 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.!