Author: Mari Walker

Let the little children come to me . . . — Luke 18:16

There are few sounds as joyful and smile-inducing as the laughter of children. Or babies! Isn’t it mindboggling that an infant is born with a natural gift of laughter? To hear a baby laugh is, to me, a stop-in-your-tracks moment of realizing how our great and gentle God wants to instill in us unbounded joy.

I am privileged to spend a couple of hours a week with the children of the Charlie Thomas Head Start in the Gardere area. With autoharp or fiddle in hand, I join these three and four year-olds in their familiar favorite songs. They smile and wiggle and clap and then compete in requesting the next song. They love the familiar songs but are very willing to learn the new songs that I sometimes compose to accompany the theme of a storybook we have read. The sillier the lyrics, the more they enjoy the songs. And, believe me, I can write some silly songs like “I’ve Got Tiny Little Teeth in my Mouth,” “Don’t Eat Your Friends” and “No Pigs Allowed.”

One of my favorite songs to sing with the children is the standard “Old Macdonald Had a Farm.” The kids yell out which animal to imitate from verse to verse, but then I demand a turn and suggest that Macdonald has an unusual animal on his farm like a tiger or dinosaur. Sometimes we have to pause to figure out what a platypus or unicorn might sound like, but the song goes rocking on. Some days I suggest that a wolf should be part of the farm menagerie. Squeals accompany the suggestion but the children enthusiastically join in howling. We howl at all pitches, at every tempo, in concert, in disharmony and at great length until we fall out in laughter.

Predictably the teachers are pretty much disgusted at the melee in the classroom. But watching the children enjoy the freedom and release and utter joy of howling brings tears to my eyes. Pure joy, pure fun. That is when I know that I am howling with angels, these precious creations of our amazing God.

Father, you have given us so many beautiful gifts. Thank you especially for children, for the blessing that each child brings to the earth. Thank you for the gifts of laughter and song and fun. Through these special blessings and the ultimate gift of your son, we surely realize that your desire for us is to live life with purpose and joy. Thank you, dear Father! Amen.

Betty Schroeder

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim his praise in the islands. — Isaiah 42:10-12

Sometimes I allow myself to think I’m getting old.  For one thing, the arthritis in my fingers is making fiddle playing progressively more difficult.  And I hate driving at night now.  But coming through the mystery and beauty of the Advent season, my spirit is always nourished and enlivened by the true Spirit, and somehow I feel young and energized and hopeful once again.

And in that newborn state of mind, I seek joy and solace in the beauty of the natural world.  It is there that I have always found my source of inspiration and spiritual enlivening, simply looking at the diversity of God’s creation and being attentive to its intricate and imaginative beauty.

For reasons I don’t thoroughly understand, this past year saw a change in the natural world in the places I frequent.  Most concerning to me was the obvious absence of the spring peepers, tiny frogs that begin their clicking song right after Christmas and continue only through the month of January.  For me these tiny unseen creatures herald the coming of the new year.  In January 2022, they were totally absent.  I searched the wet places they usually call home and found none.  Their absence worried me for the whole surrounding environment, for the disappearance of amphibians is a sign of degradation of habitat, water and air quality.  There also was a noticeable rarity of the larger woodpeckers – the red-bellied and the pileated- in spite of abundantly productive woodpecker habitat.

But this year, still in its infancy, has shown the promise of recovery.  On New Year’s Day, the spring peepers began their song once more.  I startled my dog and several nearby walkers when I heard their unmistakable sound and shouted ‘halleluiah.’  It made me feel like the world as we know it is coming back after the horrors and turmoil of the pandemic.

As I clear the cold-burned vines from my fence and trellises, I am once again reminded of the resiliency of life when I encounter a tiny baby tree frog that almost startles my senses with his electrifyingly green hue.  And once again, I praise God for His greatness, His unending imaginative creativity and for all His beloved creatures, large and small.

Prayer: God of all creation, help us be attentive to all the beauty and blessings you have given us.  Let us live in mindfulness and gratitude every day.  We are humbled by your great love and mercy.  Amen. 

Betty Schroeder

As a new year begins, I wanted to share my reflection on my very first “star word.”  When I received it last year, I immediately went home and taped it to my tv stand.  I literally see it every morning while sitting on my couch and every time I watch television, which, sadly, is a lot. 🙂

My star word for 2022 was “cheer.”  As a journalist, I won’t bury the lead as to what I’ve come up with. Cheer is an action word. Yes, it’s something we feel but it’s not in the same category as happy or joy. Those, in my opinion are “feeling” words. Sure, we can “spread joy” or make someone “feel happy” but I think we need to first “feel” those words to turn them into action. Cheer is a choice. It’s a decision. I believe the Bible verses that contain cheer and its derivatives prove this to be true.

Google tells me cheer pops up a lot in the Bible. Here are a few examples: 

2 Corinthians 9:7  Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart;  not grudgingly, or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Job 9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up’.

Mathew 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying ‘Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.’

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones

Giving freely, not complaining or letting fear overtake us, and changing our perspective are all “choices” that begin with “choosing”  to be cheerful. It just might even be the first step in faking it until making it. Translation matters, but cheer is the word that is used and I think that is a deliberate choice.

So how does all this fit into my own life? Well, it’s made me examine my interactions with my students (and others). My profession places me in the direct path of being a “cheerleader” for my students and their work. Every day I  am in a position to make, or break, spirits. I’ve thought a lot about this responsibility and why God put me–someone who has always cared too much about what people think–in this position. Am I giving them what they need or is it what I need to get off my chest? Am I truly encouraging them at all times to be their best or am I dismissive when my time and patience are short? Living with this word has helped me realize how much more I can say and do to encourage and  genuinely “cheer” others. These meditations have helped reshape my teaching style in a way I hope is more compassionate.

Incorporating cheer and cheerfulness in my communication style with others is one thing, but I must consider the relationship I have with myself. How can I become more cheerful hearted? Every morning, that little star reminds me to cheer up and remember that Jesus not only loves me, he forgives me. I don’t always believe that but I’m working on it. It reminds me that God is my greatest cheerleader even when I can’t understand how he possibly could be. That’s when I need to choose to be cheerful and/or take the necessary steps to get there. I must take the “action” to accept His love, forgiveness and encouragement. 

I believe this word was meant for me, and I cheerfully accept the lessons it has taught me and will continue to teach me.

Cindy Carter (cheerleader)

Daring. Leadership. Promise.

These are the star words that I’ve collected over the last few years. I gaze upon them regularly, as they hover beside me 40 hours a week, clipped to the lampshade on my desk. These are the words I carry with me for at least a year, and even beyond, as I really haven’t been able to shake any of them yet. They have taken my breath away; they’ve left my mind pondering, my heart pounding and my soul stirring; they’ve made me pay attention to them.

It’s great to have a star word to hang one’s hat upon for 365 days.

My star word resides in my periphery. For a season or longer, it rests on the tip of my tongue; it is imprinted on my heart. I am keenly aware of it when I encounter it in my daily living, or in worship or in song or prayer; the hearing or seeing of my star word or its illustration prompts me to turn my eyes upon Jesus, praying for guidance, querying its application, or even insisting upon my denial.

Prior to 2020 I had been reading Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything by Anonymous. I was seeking insight as to how to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength, albeit obscurely, as glory is the Lord’s, and vainglory is waste, right?

But then I received my first star word in 2020 – “daring.” Upon seeing it, butterflies erupted in my stomach, and I laughed out loud, wondering what new, exiting, anxiety-inducing thing God might have in store and how daring is obscure. God and I still have a good giggle about that. In looking to The Source, “daring” is living a life of hope, bold in love with Emmanuel, thanks be to God, and the filling-to-overflowing provision of the Holy Spirit by the God that is love forever and ever amen. “Daring.” It’s just wow. It’s star word jazz hands and I enjoy it immensely.

In 2021, “leadership”, garnered a weak-in-the-knees response: “surely I am not a leader”, I muttered to myself – I’d prefer not to be the one in charge, but rather be the bathroom attendant or the valet at the banquet as in the parable in Luke 14. Yet God showed me that leadership is found in servant hood, and I pray that God might make me a faithful servant forever in His service.

Eliciting a “wait a minute, I’m not so sure about this” response in 2022 was “promise”, which I suspect would provide comfort to many as it did for me initially, but I didn’t particularly like “promise”… I was certainly reminded of God’s promise of presence and then acutely aware of my lacking in this relationship and considered a star exchange. But in “promise” God reminded me that my inability to be sinless does not dictate his love for me, and showed me in new ways that His Promise is always more than enough. Jesus fills and covers all.

My star word is a reminder to focus my attention on the Giver of Life, and how I might live into the love so freely given to me, and live into God’s call for me. My star word harkens me back to Him, again and again; it’s a call to contemplation or a call to prayer, a call to mercy, a call to action. It is truly a guiding light illuminating the way to God’s service.

I am excitedly anticipating a new star word for 2023. My draw is my draw and I can’t wait – it’s unlikely I’ll make a trade. Whether the word offers comfort or excitement, or elicits a giggle or bubbles up feelings of discomfort deep within, Emmanuel journeys with us all as no one is obscure to Him.

Be not afraid! May the Light of the World illumine brightly!

Natalie Cooper