A painting of an abstract sunset in brown, orange and blue colors

God is Here When We are Wholly Unaware of It – by A.W. Tozer

always everywhere A.W.Tozer painting sunset

“Men do not know that God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew.

The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. There can be the one without the other. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. He is manifest only when and as we are aware of His Presence. On our part there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work it is to show us the Father and the Son. If we co-operate with Him in loving obedience God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.

Always, everywhere God is present, and always He seeks to discover Himself. To each one he would reveal not only that He is, but what He is as well. He did not have to be persuaded to discover Himself to Moses. “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.” He not only made a verbal proclamation of His nature but He revealed His very Self to Moses so that the skin of Moses’ face shone with the supernatural light. It will be a great moment for some of us when we begin to believe that God’s promise of self-revelation is literally true: that He promised much, but promised no more than He intends to fulfill.

Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us.”

– A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God –

Read this book online / download (free)

The Art of Wintering

The Art of Wintering

By Jeanne Oliver


A little free course made up of conversations, DIY-projects and inspiration to find joy in winter. 

Do this course!

Joyful Winter Videos to Inspire You

Joyful Winter Videos

By Quiet in the Land


A playlist of 9 winter videos that will inspire you in your own home and environment.

Watch on Youtube
Christmas Tree DIY made from branches

Christmas Tree DIY




Christmas Tree DIY made from branches




Last year I made this Christmas tree. I had a lot of fun making it and I’m posting it here so it might help you if you want to make something yourself.  




How to make it
1. Go on a branch hunt

I went out to the forest and looked for straight branches on the ground of different sizes and took them home with me.

You need:

  • Three big, strong branches for the base of the tree, one of them with a fork of two branches at the end of the stick. 
  • A bunch of lighter and smaller branches in different lengths.
  • Take extra branches so you can find out at home which work best

Take note:

There are usually some creatures living on/inside these fallen branches, so lay them out on the balcony or shed for a while so you don’t bring the creatures inside ;-)














2. Take a bit of rope and tie the branches together.

This is a bit tricky, but with a little patience you will get it. Be aware that this tree is not going to be super stable so make it in the place where you would like to have it. 

Start by using the three biggest branches. and place them together so they stand on their own. (see photo) the fork-part can really help here. Then use some yarn or rope to tie the pieces in place.  

After that you start at the bottom with the longest branches and tie them horizontally  to the base. If you want you can hang some ornaments on the branches before you tie them. I hung most of my ornament on little hooks I found on the branches. 

My floor is very smooth so I put a bit of tape on the floor and on the bottom of the branches so it wouldn’t slide and fall. 




3. Make it look nice with ornaments

Some ideas for making it look even better:

  • Hang lights on the tree
  • Find some evergreen branches and tie them to you tree
  • Fill it with your favourite Christmas ornaments
  • I received the star on top from a little girl I know and it finished the tree perfectly. She  made it out of golden cardboard. 
  • Under the tree I made a little snow world by putting an old bed sheet underneath the tree and placing different ornaments on top of it. I also used some pine cones as trees. 

 














It happened a couple of times that an enthusiastic kid would accidentally hit one of the base branches so that it fell. I found that it was actually pretty easy to put it back again, it is more sturdy than you think.
So don’t panic if something like this happens to you. Just put the base back and usually the rest is still in place. (the damage usually looks worse than it is) 




I hope this helps you to come up with your own Christmas tree. Send me a picture if you have made one yourself, I would really like to see all your creations :)

Enjoy!

xx Merith






















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A watercolor painting of leaves and blackberries

Our Blackberry Harvest


The bushes were filled with the joyful fruit we’d been talking about since November. Last night while passing them we said we’d come back tomorrow and pick some of the ripe ones (Thinking there were only going to be a few).

We actually didn’t want to go out this evening – when I said “Let’s take a turn around the block” we’d both been thinking to stay in. Once outside we walked passed the bushes again, took out a plastic bag from one of our pockets and picked one. And one more. And there that one looks really big. Until we were gathering fruit for fifteen minutes and we were still not done. 


I felt restless staying here while there were still so many full bushes along the path, so with some effort we walked on. Some bushes had nice, big blackberries, while on others they looked small and dry. We only picked the plumb ones. 

We forgot the time. We exclaimed “wow, look at this one.” We were pricked. We had little splinters in our fingers, but we kept going. Until we were unsure how long the bags would be able to hold this first harvest. 

Walking home, holding the bags like newborns in our arms, we felt blessed. We’d walked out of the house without any expectation and we had forgotten about our vow to pick the berries today. Yet it felt like the vow was heard by someone else, who knew it would do us good and mysteriously brought us here.  



A watercolor painting of leaves and blackberries

Get this artwork


On later days we looked in other places, but nowhere was as good as that particular spot of the first yield. A couple of times we went back there to bring home more berries, and every time again there were more than we could take. Standing in front of a bush I would feel undecided, wondering which ones to pick first as they all looked good. 

We talked about this and were reminded of God’s providence. That His blessings are available in abundance. That you might need to remove some thorns that are in the way, and move carefully past the nettles. But there it is, in abundance. More than you can take.

At home we would turn the fruit into jams, curds, pies, cakes and juice. With grateful hearts we would enjoy them.

What a joy such a simple activity can bring.


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““God help me now!” I murmured, sinking on my knees among the damp weeds and brushwood that surrounded me, and looking up at the moonlit sky, through the scant foliage above. It seemed all dim and quivering now to my darkened sight.

My burning, bursting heart strove to pour forth its agony to God, but could not frame its anguish into prayer; until a gust of wind swept over me, which, while it scattered the dead leaves, like blighted hopes, around, cooled my forehead, and seemed a little to revive my sinking frame.


The Tenant of Wilfell Hall Illustration of moon and stars and trees, Anne Bronte


Then, while I lifted up my soul in speechless, earnest supplication, some heavenly influence seemed to strengthen me within: I breathed more freely; my vision cleared; I saw distinctly the pure moon shining on, and the light clouds skimming the clear, dark sky; and then I saw the eternal stars twinkling down upon me; I knew their God was mine, and He was strong to save and swift to hear.

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” seemed whispered from above their myriad orbs. No, no; I felt He would not leave me comfortless: in spite of earth and hell I should have strength for all my trials, and win a glorious rest at last!”



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How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.  


Walt Whitman on grass, life and death


I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, 
A scented gift and remembrance designedly dropt,
Bearing the owners’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose?


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And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves. 

Tenderly will I use your curling grass, 
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men, 
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them, 
It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mother’s laps. 


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What do you think has become of the young and old men? 
And what do you think has become of the women and children? 

They are alive and well somewhere
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, 
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, 
And ceas’d the moment life appear’d.

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, 
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.”

 

–  Walt Whitman – Song of Myself – Sections of part 6 –



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That’s what John Berger said in the BBC series ‘Ways of Seeing’ from 1972. And even now, 50 years later, it is still an interesting show to watch. It teaches you a new way of looking which you won’t soon forget :)

(But be sceptical of it. ;-))


 15,00 800,00



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john berger our faces mu heart brief as photos illustration

Thoughts on Hope at the Post Office – By John Berger

“The post office at Auxonne is small and the postmistress has blue eyes. I have been there only twice. The first time was to send you a parcel; as the postmistress weighed it on the scale, I imagined your hands opening it. “Four kilos, three hundred grams.” In a parcel, wrapped by hand, there is a message weighing nothing: the receiver’s fingers may unknot the string which the sender’s tied. In the post office I saw in my mind’s eye your fingers untying the knot I tied at Auxonne.


John Berger A Parcel illustration

Get this artwork


Ten days later I again stopped in the town, and went to the post office, this time to post you a letter. I remembered the day when I sent off the parcel and I felt a twinge of loss. Yet what had I lost? The parcel arrived safely. You had made soup with the beetroots. And the bottle of distilled water from the flowers of the orange trees you had placed on its shelf, above your dresses in the cupboard. All that had been lost was the little future of the parcel.
What we mourn for the dead is the loss of their hopes. The man-with-the-parcel was as if dead; he could hope no more. The man-with-the-letter had taken his place.”


From John Berger’s book ‘And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos’.


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Hidden with Christ in God?

This is an instant download inspired by Colossians 3:1+2 - "Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." The title is 'Hidden with Christ'.

Get this artwork


“Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

(Colossians 3:2+3)


This scripture is so interesting and mysterious. Did you know that you died when You invited Jesus into your life? And that the moment you died your life was hidden with Christ in God. Wait, where? I don’t really know, but it definitely means that it is the safest place there is. No fear there at all, all everyone sees when they look at us there is Christ.

But at times we focus on the things on earth – we worry, we think too much of others’ opinions, we feel hurt – and we slip away from Christs’ hiding place and back into our old bodies.
We can be so silly, we exchange God’s joy, peace and safety with things far less valuable, things that are hurtful even. But the good news is that Jesus never lets us go. We only have to look back into His eyes to realize we are still safely hidden with Him up there.

So remember this, whenever you find yourself in anxiety, feeling hurt, discouraged, just glance up to Him. He has covered you completely. He is loving you completely. No matter what you did, or what happened, at that moment all the past is forgotten.

Set your mind on things above. 


This is an instant download inspired by Colossians 3:1+2 - "Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." The title is 'Hidden with Christ'.


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Painting of the place where Jesus was buried. You see a tomb surrounded by a beautiful garden full of life. It is inspired by John 19. The itle of this painting is Where He was Crucified There Was a Garden

Was Jesus’ Tomb in a Beautiful Garden?

Painting of the place where Jesus was buried. You see a tomb surrounded by a beautiful garden full of life. It is inspired by John 19. The itle of this painting is Where He was Crucified There Was a Garden


Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus…

John 19:42-43


In my mind the place where Jesus was buried was always a sandy, empty place. I was surprised when I read this passage in John. Wondering if this would’ve been a real full, green, cultivated garden. And I was reminded of Mary who thought Jesus was the gardener. If that was the first thing she thought, it must’ve been a real, full, green cultivated garden, otherwise it wouldn’t need a gardener.   


Painting of the place where Jesus was buried. You see a tomb surrounded by a beautiful garden full of life. It is inspired by John 19. The itle of this painting is Where He was Crucified There Was a Garden


Painting of the place where Jesus was buried. You see a tomb surrounded by a beautiful garden full of life. It is inspired by John 19. The itle of this painting is Where He was Crucified There Was a Garden

Get this artwork


All this inspired me to make a painting to replace this old image in my head with a new one. I painted it from imagination, and only briefly looked at some middle eastern gardens online to have a bit of feel and idea before I started.
I don’t know if the actual garden was as full of flowers as in this painting, but that would’ve been wonderful if indeed it had been. It’s as if creation knew He was going to rise. It was already celebrating while we humans were crying, thinking it was the end.


Maybe that’s the thing about nature and the calm we often experience walking in the midst of it, that nature points us back to God, all the time. Telling us there’s always hope, a broader perspective, new beginnings and one day even an entirely new beginning for both nature and us. I’m looking forward to that!


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Another Way of Living / Visiting India for the first time

It is strange how there are so many different ways of living in this world. One might encounter it at a neighbour’s house, in a neighbouring town or country, but the difference is striking in a far away one.
How enriching it is to observe other ways of living. To compare your own with theirs and to take home what is beautiful.
Since I’ve visited this place my perspective on ‘how to live’ has changed and is still changing. How much could we grow and learn if we could observe everyone’s ways of living and take what is good and apply it in our own lives. 


A Few Ideas on How to Spend Time With God and Enjoy It

A Few Ideas on How to Spend Time With God and Enjoy It


A Few Ideas on How to Spend Time With God and Enjoy It


You enjoy getting up earlier (Or you’re just up early) and have some quiet time

This one applies to me: The moment I wake up I get comfortable on the sofa, I make a hot cup of English tea and light a candle – I have a little table I set in front of me where I put my Bible, a devotional, colored pencils and a notebook. The tea and candle help me to really take my time.

If I’m done before my tea is drinkable I probably just rushed through and haven’t really connected with God.  The same goes for the candle. When I blow it out I’m more aware that I’m now stepping into my day. Without a candle I would often just get up somewhere in the middle and forgot I was having time with God. Plus the candle makes the time with God special, different from other parts of my day. 


You feel rushed in the mornings, and rather have quiet time later in the day

After dinner and dishes you take a walk outside – while doing that you can pray, listen to a sermon, or read a Bible verse before you leave and think it over while walking. When you come back you make a nice cup of hot drink. You sit somewhere where you feel comfortable and do what you haven’t done while walking. Either praying, writing or reading the Bible. You can also look up scriptures from the sermon you listened to.

If you walk with someone else, try to keep the conversation on God. For example ask each other how you saw God work in the past days, or what you’ve heard/read about God lately. Really try when you come back home to have a little time with God as well. Even if it’s just the time it takes to drink your hot drink. 



 You have young kids and are home with them today

You can’t really rely on certain parts of the day to be quiet with little kids. But there are some things and tasks that come back daily or at least multiple times a week. For example, laundry. What you could do is every time you have to hang/fold laundry or iron that you take that time to communicate with God. Put on worship music and sing along, or take time to pray, for yourself, for your children and the people around you. Or just ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, have a little moment in which you are open and able to hear if He wants to tell you something. You can also read a page in a devotional you’re reading before you start laundry and think it over while doing it.

Make sure your kids are playing by themselves or watching something, so you can set your thoughts on God. If you have had your time connecting with God you’ll probably be a better parent the rest of the day. So don’t feel bad about that.
This way laundry becomes something you might enjoy because it gives you a sense of rest and peace in your day. Laundry is a good one because it doesn’t require much thinking, you can have your mind on other things and still do laundry well. Plus after you’re done with the laundry you can make you favorite hot drink and just enjoy it, sit down comfortably and have a few minutes of rest.


A Few Ideas on How to Spend Time With God and Enjoy It


You have young kids and you go to work today

Try  to go to your work earlier than needed, or stay a little longer at the end to read the Bible. You can combine this with the time you commute between the two places. In this time you can meditate on what you read or take time to pray. This works especially well if you have a private office, but usually it’s also more quiet before and after regular work hours, or find an empty room you can use. Take out your Bible/devotional and have a cup of your favorite drink. If you don’t feel the peace to pray at your workplace, safe that for the commute. 


Questions to ask yourself to make your time with God more joyful:


What place in your house do you find most peaceful and comfortable?

Use that place, if possible, to read and/or write.

What is your favorite hot drink?
As I wrote before, this can help you spend a little more time and not rush off to the next thing. Plus it makes time with God special and enjoyable. 

What slows you down?
For me, lighting a candle helps, but it can also be certain music, or intentionally looking outside at nature. Writing can also help to let go of your thoughts. Do these things while or before you’re spending time with God.

What can make your time with God more joyful?
If you know better now what it looks like, how can you make it better? For example buy a fancy pen or notebook that bring you joy to use. Or choose for the hot drink something special you normally wouldn’t make. Eat something you enjoy. Or make a playlist with your favorite worship songs. Buy a new Bible that brings you joy to look into or nice colored pencils to highlight scriptures. Or instead of writing, make something with materials you enjoy using.



Practical Remedies Against Melancholy – By Sydney Smith

The English Sydney Smith (1771 – 1845) was a writer and a preacher.



Remedy 1:

Make your surroundings as cheerful as possible


“Cheerfulness and good spirits depend in a great degree upon bodily causes but much may be done for the promotion of this turn of mind. Persons subject to low spirits should make the rooms in which they live as cheerful as possible; taking care that the paper with which the wall is covered should be of a brilliant, lively colour, hanging up pictures or prints, and covering the chimney-piece with beautiful china. A bay-window looking upon pleasant objects, and, above all, a large fire whenever the weather will permit, are favourable to good spirits, and the tables near should be strewed with books and pamphlets. To this must be added as much eating and drinking as is consistent with health; and some manual employment for men, — as gardening, a carpenter’s shop, the turning-lathe, etc. Women have always manual employment enough, and it is a great source of cheerfulness. Fresh air, exercise, occupation, society, and travelling, are powerful remedies.”


Remedy 2:

Resist melancholy steadily through little pleasures


“Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach. I once gave a lady two-and-twenty recipes against melancholy; one was a bright fire; another, to remember all the pleasant things said to and of her; another, to keep a box of sugar-plums on the chimney piece, and a kettle simmering on the hob.

I thought this mere trifling at the moment, but have in after life discovered how true it is that these little pleasures often banish melancholy better than higher and more exalted objects; and that no means ought to be thought too trifling which can oppose it either in ourselves or others.”



Remedy 3:

Follow the advice written by Sydney to a lady who suffered from depression


Foston, Feb. 16th, 1820

Dear Lady Georgiana,
Nobody has suffered more from low spirits than I have done, so I feel for you.

1st: Live as well as you dare.
2nd: Go into the showerbath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold.
3rd: Read amusing books.
4th: Take short views of human life – not further than dinner or tea.
5th: Be as busy as you can.
6th: See as much as you can of those friends who like and respect you.
7th: And of those acquaintances who amuse you.
8th: Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely – they are always worse for dignified concealment.
9th: Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.
10th: Don’t expect too much from human life – a sorry business at the best.
11th: Compare your lot with that of other people.
12th: Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy, sentimental people, everything likely to excite feeling or emotion, not ending in active benevolence.
13th: Do good and endeavour to please everybody of every degree.
14th: Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.
15th: Make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant.
16th: Struggle little by little against idleness.
17th: Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.
18th: Keep good blazing fires.
19th: Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.
20th: Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana.

Very truly yours, Sydney Smith.



Remedy 4:

Be aware of all the joyful things surrounding you


“Ennui, wretchedness, melancholy, groans and sighs, are the offerings which these unhappy men make to a Deity, who has covered the earth with gay colours, and scented it with rich perfumes; and shown us, by the plan and order of his works, that he has given to man something better than a bare existence, and scattered over his creation a thousand superfluous joys, which are totally unnecessary to the mere support of life.”


Sources:
The Selected Writings of Sydney Smith
The wit and wisdom of the Rev. Sydney Smith; a selection of the most memorable passages in his writings and conversation.

Read this book online / download (free)


Illustration of The Morning Invitation inspired by Bob Goff in Love Does

Don’t Turn Down This Invitation!

“There is only one invitation it would kill me to refuse, yet I’m tempted to turn it down all the time. I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does.

It doesn’t come in an envelope. It’s ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. It’s the invitation to actually live. To fully participate in this life for one more day.

Nobody turns down an invitation to the white house, but I’ve seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live.”

Bob Goff in Love Does


Illustration of The Morning Invitation inspired by Bob Goff in Love Does

Get this artwork


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