He did not view the outcome as a result of clumsiness, but as a neat trick.

Nicholas practiced carrying his toys downstairs. Until, TUMBLE-CRASH! Noticing the shape of the hole in the wall he exclaimed, "It's a moon!"





































(Can anyone tell me where this last picture was taken?)

*An uncharacteristically short post for me, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to write these four little sentences! You have until tomorrow to post your kid story for Abraham Piper's newest 22 Word Challenge.

Merry Christ-Came-to-Earth-To-Be-One-of-Us-and-To-Die-For-Our-Sins-That-We-Might-Know-His-Love-and-Believe Day!

Try greeting folks with that when you head out to shop for those last-minute stocking stuffers!

So technically, this is post #100, and I am diligently working on my "100 Things". However, it is one week until Christmas, and I wanted to share my Christmas poem! I don't put up much of my poetry or whatever because I'm a little timid, but this is something I like to hand out to strangers at this time of year. It's better than a tract because it's personal. I've given it out to people I've sat with on airplanes, to cashiers in grocery stores, wherever I connect with a person for a long enough moment so that it's not too awkward. I know I should have kept the poem to about half of the 4-liners there are, but I just kept writing. Hmmm...story of my life!

Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and there have been many, many updates from Victoria's mom on the CarePages website. Sign in and be blown away. That family is amazing. We hope to minister to them, and they minister to us!! Keep praying for Victoria. It looks like the chemo is thrusting her into remission, but that is not an absolute fact yet. And even if remission takes place there may be one or two leukemia cells hidden inside her body among billions of other normal cells, so she will still endure many procedures in the weeks and perhaps months to come. Just...visit their website.

Merry Christmas (er, well, you know!), Blogosphere!!!



















A REFLECTION FOR CHRISTMAS

We sing “Silent Night”
And trim up the tree,
Spend hours perfecting
Sweet holiday treats.

We gather with friends,
Throw parties with flare,
Stamp letters to send,
Wrap presents to share.

We play in our mem’ries
Of bundled up youth
And race with toboggans—
Make snow angels, too!

Shortbread and spritz,
We munch with delight,
And brimming tea mugs
Add warmth to the night.

As long as the fireside
Continues to glow,
And long as the rooftops
Are sprinkled with snow,

If harmonies waft
Through radios still
And strangers bid greetings
Of peace and goodwill,

We’ll revive traditions,
Share stories of old,
Tear into packages
Laced with silver and gold.

But what if this season,
Our stockings were bare?
And what if each heart
Like Scrooge, didn’t care?

What would there be, then,
To make Christmas shine,
If hollow were presents,
And drooping were pines?

If snowflakes were square
And berries were white,
If cookies lost sprinkles,
And candy canes, stripes?

If Christmas lost Christ…
How awful to think
We’d abandon our Savior
With hardly a blink,

That holiday fun
And chestnuts that roast
Would become our standard
And matter the most,

That we’d let our hearts
Dwell too much on things,
Instead of adoring
Our Jesus, our King!

Caught up in giving
And getting, perhaps,
He sometimes gets buried
‘Neath ribbon and wrap.

The wonder of Christmas—
When did we let go?
The meaningful story
We loved long ago?

The child in the manger
Whose intent was the cross,
The hope that the season
Too often has lost.

Festivities fade
And candlesticks dim,
Yet something within us
Must turn us to Him.

For in sleigh-bell chimes
And tinsel-tree gleams
In sugar-plum dances
And mistletoe dreams,

Among all the bustle
Beyond credit buys,
And stress from adhering
To advertising lies,

We find only despair
And regret of mistake
When again, we’ve let Christmas
Be observed as a fake.

When our efforts are fixed
On the glittering spruce
We tend not to catch sight
Of this great Christmas truth.

What a treasure it is,
Or should be, to know
That God came to us,
His mercy to show.

The unspeakable gift
Of His heavenly grace
Was received by the meek
In the lowliest place.

That’s just how we ought
To draw near to His birth
He asks not, our wealth,
Our goodness or worth.

If all of the magic
And décor were gone
Erased the commercial,
The apparel, we don,

If, but for a time,
All voices would still,
All hands would unwind,
That our hearts, He might fill.

Whether family is near
Or friends are apart,
If all that we give
Is a worshipful heart,

We’d see that the twinkling
Of lights on display,
Can’t shine near as bright
As the babe on the hay,

That holly and ivy
May garnish the hearth,
But trimming for the soul
Is found in Jesus’ birth,

That the gifts that we give
And the glasses we raise
Are just means to express
His glory and praise.

For the reason we join
Together each year
Is not to lift up
Or honor us here.

It’s Christ that we raise
And His songs that we sing,
Our cheery delight’s,
His love offering.

If we should forget
And make Christmas a day
We set aside faith
And think not to pray,

The joy in our hearts
Would certainly wane
For without God’s Son,
We celebrate in vain.

Without Him, this season
We wouldn’t have peace
And holiday parties
Would soon enough cease.

So this year, let’s look
Beyond pumpkin pies,
Past cranberry tarts
And satisfied sighs,

Let’s continue to sing
And decorate still
Let’s even light candles
And stockings—please fill!

But before we send greetings
And loved ones, embrace,
Let’s fall to our knees
And seek our Lord’s face.

And now we give thanks
For in that silent night,
You birthed into our lives,
Your Grace, Peace, and Light.

This promise brings joy
That we hope will remain
The reason we’ll celebrate
Long past Christmas Day!


Tara (Nelson) Tichner
Copyright 2004

From Suave to Taboo: a 21st century smoker in the White House

I hearby stoop to posting an article I am writing for work because I just haven't tried writing anything else. Maybe this will spur me on!




In a recent NBC’s Meet the Press interview with president-elect Barack Obama, Tom Brokaw inquired about Obama’s personal stance on smoking. Obama responded by admitting that, while he occasionally lights up, as amid the pressure of the presidential campaign, he is actively working at becoming healthier. “What I said was that there are times where I’ve fallen off the wagon,” Obama confessed to Brokaw, when asked if he’d quit. Then, speaking of the White House Smoking Ban he went on to assure viewers, “…I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House.”

Despite the flood of media at the beginning of December regarding Obama’s penchant for cigarettes, the topic of presidential smoking is far from new to the White House; indeed, a former non-issue.

Many U.S. presidents were avid cigar smokers, especially in the early days of the White House, with smoking much more socially acceptable and even considered debonair. Presidents Madison, Jackson, Grant, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, Coolidge, and Kennedy all loved their cigars. According to the autumn 2003 online edition of Cigar Aficionado, “Between the Civil War and the Second World War, more presidents smoked cigars than did not” (Sferrzza Anthony, Carl. 'Our Presidents and Cigars').

Cigarette preferences belonged to Roosevelt and Eisenhower, and even the more recent presidents Nixon and Ford used tobacco products on occasion. Closet smokers included President Harding and First Lady Laura Bush. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was reported as an obsessive chain smoker, always indulging in secret.

Times have changed, as the nation has become increasingly aware of the severe health risks linked to both direct and indirect exposure to tobacco smoke. As possibly the most powerful and influential person in America, many wonder what kind of example a smoking president in this day and age could demonstrate to citizens and their families. Most might agree that when scrutinizing a president, we ought to keep the “main thing the main thing”. Focus on policy rather than personal. However, the fact remains that America has a new president who is trying to quit a habit that tends to have negative physical, mental, social, and emotional implications. How or whether that will play out over the next four years of Obama’s term, time will reveal.

Ironically, it was Obama’s former democratic opponent and personally named secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ultimately directed the White House Smoking Ban. Yet, if President-elect Obama continues along his track to better health, the Ban should not cause much tension. And who would argue against a healthier, albeit inexperienced commander-in-chief?