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Advent in the Woodshop, Part 4
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ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part four, JOY We've come to the end of our exploration of the themes of Advent - presented in wood! So far in our wood turning journey we've selected the wood, smoothed off the rough edges and shaped it into it's final form. Now it’s time to take our creation off the lathe and put it to use. We may have created a bowl for a yummy salad, a snack platter for holiday entertaining, a vase to hold a bouquet of flowers or a dish to keep rings and jewelry safe at night. Or perhaps we made a circular box to store treasures, or maybe an art piece that brings beauty to any room. The uses of the vessels can be as varied as the creator's imagination, but the joy comes in the fact that what was once a rough piece of wood destined for the fire pit has been transformed into something beautiful and useful. The piece has found it's purpose! The joy in Christian life comes when we realize that God loves us, will never leave or forsake us, and continues to work in and around us everyday. We are forgiven, not forgotten. True joy comes when we trade self-focus for surrender to God's leading. This life is not just about us. We have a higher purpose - to be used by God as part of His ultimate and eternal plan. It's often said that Jesus is the reason for the season, but that's not really true. We are the reason for this season. If we weren't so hopelessly messed up and sinful, God wouldn't have had to come in person to save us. But He loved us so much, He was willing to make the sacrifice. And when He came on that night in Bethlehem so long ago, He brought with Him hope, and peace, and love, and yes, even joy! The gifts we so desperately need still today. Click Here to Check our Concert Schedule! Check us out on Facebook! - http://www.facebook.com/PhilandPamMorgan |
Phil & Pam Morgan
We're authors and musicians who loves to talk about faith & spirituality, arts & crafts, and music. Subscribe and join over 2,000+ newsletter readers every week!
ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part three, LOVE Welcome back to the woodshop for another look at the themes of Advent. We've selected our log and smoothed off the rough places. Now it's time to get down to the real work of discovering just what is hiding inside this piece of wood. We'll use a variety of tools, some very aggressive to take off lots of material and others very delicate to create fine details. Along the way there will probably be unforeseen places where a deformity or crack in the...
ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part two, PEACE We continue our look at Advent through eyes of a wood turner. Last time we selected a chunk of wood in hope of a masterpiece hiding inside. Now it's time to chuck it onto the lathe. We start by trying to find the approximate center of the piece. No matter how close we get, the odd shape of the rough wood will cause the lathe to shake a bit as it turns. We ease the roughing gouge slowly toward the spinning wood and it jumps and jerks in our hands as the...
Welcome to December! It snowed here in KC on the first, so that must mean the holiday season is officially here. In this busy time of year, we pray you take time to savor each moment and remember the great gift from God we celebrate with Jesus' birth. This marks the 25th year of our weekly devotions. Phil wrote the first one on December 28, 1999. (We'll include it below.) We've lost count, but over these 25 years, the number of devotions has climbed into the thousands. Our intention was to...