Sunday, December 29, 2013

Let's Get Her

Hello Friends.

MOM and I disagree on this.  She thinks this should be a Mischief Monday post.  I do not agree.  So we will let you decide.  I give you the following photographic evidence.

See MOM was taking a group shot of me and my friends.  That's when Bert and I had an idea that we were sure would delight my MOM.  Here's how it went down.
 
"OK Bert on the count of 3 we go in and give my MOM a big old kiss."
"Are you sure she will like that?"
"Oh she will love it.  Ready, 1-2-3!  Go Go!! Stick out your tongue and get her!"
"Right with you buddy.  Woooooo this is fun."
 
With that we got her.  She says this is mischief.  I say if this IS mischief then why when she fell back was she giggling and laughing as we slobbered her up.  It's my understanding that when mischief happens there is no giggling involved.  At least not on the part of the recipient of the mischief.
Blessings,
Goose

Saturday, December 28, 2013

God Kissed

Hello Friends.

My friends and I took a little hike Saturday.  I guess it will be our last hike, well at least for this year.  That set me to thinking about this New Year that is just around the corner.

The sentimental Christmas carol “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” may be the theme song for December 24 and 25. But by the 26th, many have changed their tune.  It’s now “On The Road Again.
 
Whether traveling back from a family Christmas gathering, setting off on a snowy or sunny Christmas week vacation, or just returning to the routine of work and daily travel, journeying is a big part of the season called Christmastide, those Twelve Days of Christmas extending from Christmas Eve to Epiphany Eve.
 
In Matthew 2:13-23, Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus are once again on the move.  Having traveled to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth, Joseph now receives an angelic directive to hit the road again.  A Roman decree, the census ordered by Quirinius, had sent the family to Joseph’s home town for a head-count.  A dream decree, which unveiled Herod’s death-threat, now spurs the new family out of a familiar homeland and into a strange new land. The angelic warning Joseph discerns in a dream is to journey on a “reverse exodus” to flee to Egypt for refuge and the safety of their newborn child.
 
Let’s pause here for a moment to let the bitter irony of this directive to sink in. With the future of the Messiah in his hands, Joseph flees from the Jewish Promised Land and returns to the despised regions of Egypt, the land of Hebrew slavery.  Why does he take this drastic step? Why does Joseph embark on this “reverse exodus?”
 
Well, we can’t know from Joseph’s own words. Because Joseph never speaks in the whole Bible.  He never says a word. He just does.  He’s a man of few words.  No, he’s a man of no words.  Not one grunt or sigh, even.  He’s only a man of action.  He does.  And what he does is trust God.
 
Joseph so trusted the Spirit, and the Spirit’s speaking through God’s forgotten language of dreams, that he drops everything and reverses course on a dream, which he received as a personal word from God. Now let’s be clear. Joseph didn’t receive a burning bush or a pillar of fire by night or a cloud by day.  All Joseph got was a dream. But in that dream Joseph heard a message, trusted the messenger, and whole-heartedly about-faced without qualms or questions.
 
Two chapters later in Matthew, Jesus embarks on his public ministry. Here is his declaration that separated truth from falsehood: “One shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt.4:4).
 
That verse has become a cliché, but the cliché needs to be clicked and poked for a moment.  Notice what Jesus says here: we are promised something more than a staple. We are promised a stable.  Each one of us.  We are promised more than bread, the staple of life.  We are promised a stable in which God speaks to each and every one of us.

The mouth of God wants to kiss the soul of every one of you.  You are God-kissed. The first human being came to life when Adam was God-kissed . . . God “breathed” into Adam the breath of life.  The church came to life when the body of Christ was kissed at Pentecost.  And what a make-out session that was.  Hehe

As someone who has been God-kissed, you don’t just get the staples of life.  You get a stable...  in which Christ is born . . . born in and through every one of you.  And with that stable comes a stabilizing promise that each and every one of you may expect a personal word from God.  Not just some bread baked by someone else.  But a personal staple from a personal stable.  That’s what “Emmanuel” means: “God with us.” As God was with us, so we must be “with” others.

We are each promised moments of direct contact with the Spirit, a personal word of the Lord.  Our faith is not based on doctrines, or inherited rituals, or even on the great words of sermons delivered by learned theologians.  We have been promised a stable faith, a faith installed by and instilled with direct personal contacts with God’s spirit.  God does not communicate to the faithful by some generic “Reply All” posting.  The word of God, the very “mouth of God,” speaks personally to each and every one of us, if only we have ears to hear.
Joseph believed that the creator of the universe had a personal interest in, and a personal message for him.  How many miss messages from God because they don’t’ expect to receive them, or they can’t “read” them when they stare us in the face?

In three days it will be a new year — a time when we celebrate the promise of new beginnings, a time when taking new chances seems reasonable, not reckless.  As the New Year of 2014 approaches and we continue on our Christmas journeys, consider the choices Joseph made that changed his life and why he made them.

Will you read the signs and trust that God wants to kiss your life, kiss your soul in 2014?
Will you trust God enough to act on those kisses? 
Pucker up you are about to get Goose Kissed, I mean God kissed!




Blessings,
Goose
 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The Gifts

Hello Friends

Oh Dog was this a fabulous Christmas.  I hope yours was as well.  For the gift exchange Sarge had me.  Want to see what he sent me?  Of course you do.

A big box just for me from my friend Sarge.
 
Oh my oh my would you look at what is in here.
 
Let me at it!
 
It's a GINORMOUS caterpillar!
 
AND he sent me a whole carton of dog yummy cookies and a yumer yumer bone.  Sarge you are the best.  I LOVE it all.  Thank you thank you thank you!
 
"OK MOM you have had your fun, lets get to the other gifts." 
 
Check this out friends.  I got all kinds of homemade treats (even more than is pictured here), a candy cane rawhide, a talking reindeer, specialty doggy donuts, a cow hoof and an out of this world antler.
 
Oh yes and a bar of dog soap.  Do you see it there behind the antlers.  I know what you are thinking, "Soap?"  I have to tell ya this stuff smells so so good.  My only problem is I think my MOM wants to use it for herself.  I am not kidding.
 
You also might want to know what the card count is.
Goose- 99
MOM-15
Together- 11
Here is my dilemma.  MOM got a card from the children at St. Anne's Homeless Shelter.  It was just one card butt it was from 33 children.  So I ask you my friends, does this count as ONE card or does it count as THIRTY THREE?  I got to say those kids are very special to her, and me too.  I am thinking maybe it should count as 33. 
 
I also wanted to show a couple of gifts my MOM got.  Ready?
 
HAHA!  She got a Weimaraner hoody sweat shirt, a Weimaraner t-shirt, a Weimaraner hat, and a Weinaraner apron (the apron was clean when she got it, but she wore it to the homeless shelter on Christmas and cooked all day long).  Hahaha.  She also got a few six packs of specialty beers and a couple bottles of wine.  Now I ask you my friends, what does this say about my MOM that they give her Weimaraner stuff and beer and wine? 
 
THANK YOU everyone for all the beautiful cards.  My mail carrier is very happy Christmas is over.  Hehehhe
Blessings,
Goose
 

 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Storm Warning

Hello Friends



I did a little watching, warning and chasing yesterday with a few friends and that got me a thinkin' about this the last Sunday in Advent.  Of course it helped that we had just had another storm that we had been watching for, that those weather forecasters were warning us about and then I got to chase about in it.  Here's what I am thinking.

Reading the signs — those written on the skies, walls and windows, and those written upon the winds of a changing world is a hard-earned skill to some and a gift to others. One of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Tribe of Issachar, was known as the tribe that “knows the signs and knows what to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). Jesus also instructed his disciples to learn how to “read the signs.” Or in his words, “You know how to read the signs of the sky. I want you to learn how to read the signs of the times” (Luke 12:56).

But whether we know it, or not, all of us are sign-readers. Every time our peeps watch a stock report they are “reading the signs.” I read the signs when the sun goes down and I watch out Bert's window for my MOM to come to pick me up.  My MOM knows how to read the signs of when I want to go outside, it's the look in my eye and the way I make the door handle jingle when I tap it with my nose.

If you have ever lived in the mid-west, or visited the plains during “tornado season,” you know that one of the most important “signs” you can keep your eyes peeled for is that little funnel cloud that appears in the corner of the TV screen. If the funnel cloud is yellow it means there is in effect a tornado “watch.” A yellow funnel cloud “watch” means it is time to go on “high alert,” to be prepared, to keep vigilant, because the chance of a big, scary storm heading your way is high.

If the funnel cloud indicator on the screen turns red, it is time to “duck and cover.” That color change is an indication that your area is no longer under just a “storm watch.” You are now officially receiving a “storm warning.” Only after someone has put actual eyes on the actual storm, is a “warning” posted. When the forces of change are documented, shared, and on the move — that is when a “warning” is issued to the world. That is when a “watch” becomes a “warning.”

Today we celebrate the final Sunday of Advent. We are in the final moments of a “storm watch.” In three days, a “storm warning” will be declared. The Advent Watch turns into Christmas warning.  I know you are saying "Goose brother don't you mean 'Christmas morning'.”  Nope my friends I mean “Christmas warning.”

The angelic message of the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, the one who brings “glad tidings of great joy to all,” is also a warning message: a message warning us that everything is now about to change. Life can no longer be the same again. Jesus changes everything. With Jesus, the story of God went from being carved in stone to being carved in the heart. And that my friends changes everything.

There is a new way of living and being in the world. The winds of change are going to blow. A truth tornado has touched down. Kingdom come is a tornado touchdown of beauty, truth and goodness.

Jesus is proclaimed the “Prince of Peace” at his birth. But this “Prince of Peace,” as Jesus himself warned, came “bringing a sword.” This is a Prince of Peace who will be cutting through the protective layers of politics and power and polemics that we shroud ourselves in and use to proclaim our own righteousness. Jesus warned he was bringing “My peace . . . but not as the world gives to you."

The miracle in Bethlehem was not meant to make way for the “miracles” of Wall Street wizardry or the “miracle” of Best Buy gadgetry or even the Macy’s miracle on 34th street. The miracle of Christmas made way for the miracle of life and the miracle of love.

Urban monk and founder of Philadelphia’s community “The Simple Way”, Shane Claiborne, says in one of his books that he once had a conversation with a friend who asserted “Jesus never talked to a prostitute.” When Shane protested that Jesus spent a lot of time talking to prostitutes and other undesirables, his friend came back and said, “Listen, Shane, Jesus never talked to a prostitute because he didn’t see a prostitute when he talked to a prostitute. He just saw a child of God with whom he was madly in love.”

That’s why Jesus left behind him, not peace and quiet, but peace and disquiet, peace and upset, peace and conflict. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection changed the world. And change is never easy. If you have ever gone through a “renovation phase” at your home, you know that change brings about upheaval and a large amount of messiness.

A few decades ago a new team of scientists were born. They were meta-meteorologists — aka “storm-chasers.” Storm chasers literally put caution to the winds and “chased” around after storm cells that looked like they might generate a tornado. Tornados are notoriously dangerous because they are so unpredictable. Because of the (often fatal) work of these storm chasers, much more has been learned about violent storms, their appearances, their trajectories. Storm chasers have saved lives in dozens of communities.

Jesus was the original storm warning – a “good news” message from God that the world is being invited to participate in a new reality called the kingdom of God, a divinely altered reality because of a new redeeming presence of God in this world.

One of the best signs of Christ’s kingdom is that the “stormy” presence of God always disturbs the status quo. Wherever the “life as usual,” “let’s just keep this up,” “we-never-did-it-that-way-before” mentality is in power, that is when the disruptive, disturbing, “unpeaceful” sword of the Spirit will be unsheathed and break forth. False peace is the bulls-eye target of the Prince of Peace.

We can be there, we can be a part of the storm chase team. We can “share” the good news “Christ is born.” We can be a voice against the storm of sin and evil, for as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put it in a verse buried in the bowels of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – “And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said: ‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men’.”

We can be, all at the same time, in a state of kingdom watch, kingdom warning, and kingdom chase, and offer our voices to join the chorus on the side of “peace on earth, good will to all.” On this last Sunday of Advent, I implore you to...

Keep Watching, Keep Warning, Keep Chasing.
Blessings,
Goose

Thursday, December 19, 2013

It's Offical

Hello Friends.

You would think that with all the snow I've had in my area.

 

And the single digit temps that we have had like forever, that it would have been officially winter.  And finally on Thursday we had a VERY rare ice storm followed by a not so rare snow storm.  That must have done it for my MOM because...
 
She finally put on the flannel sheets and winter quilt.  Woo Hoo.  Now where is Billy Moose?  We've got some warm sleepin' to do.  Get the lights MOM.  Goodnight friends.
Blessings,
Goose
 
  

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Whose Counting

Hello Friends.

OK, I guess I am counting.  MOM is just shaking her head.

 
In order for me to share with you the card count I had to wear jingle bells on my ears.  Butt it is soooo worth it.  Are you ready for the count so far?  Of course you are.  Drum roll please........
GOOSE- 74
MOM- 9
Together- 5
 
MOM still wants to count that Thanksgiving card she got AND a card she got from a cable provider, it wasn't even our provider.  No way!  I might give them to her as a Christmas gift, butt for now they do not count.  Thanks everyone for the cards.  Not only does it make me smile butt our postal carrier is getting a big kick out of it.
Blessings,
Goose

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Thursday, December 12, 2013

See Beautiful

Hello my BEAUTIFUL friends.

It feels like it was just yesterday was This Moment See Beautiful.  Well, everyday in the life of this Goose is a See Beautiful moment.  Once a month we have the opportunity to share how we saw beautiful.  I am here to tell you I could make a full length movie every month.  But for now here is just a small snip it of how I saw, shared, and lived BEAUTIFUL.



Yep just another month filled with Seeing Beautiful from me and my friends.  Thank you Sugar for always being just a beautiful host of this blog hop!
Blessings,
Goose

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Message for Santa

Hello Friends and especially you Santa.

Look away Santa.  There is nothing to see here.
Blessings,
Goose

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Frozen Eyebrows

Hello Friends.

Oh my goodness would you look at this!  Could it be snow?  More snow.  I better investigate.
 
It sure looks like snow, even close up.
 
Thank you!  I love to romp in the snow.
Oh and thank you brother Easy for my oh so warm and stylish coat.
 
I think my eyebrows are frozen.  And my nose and the tips of my ears.  You know who likes a cold snooter on her skin????  My MOM.  Hehehhehehhe
Blessings,
Goose