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Christmastide



"It doesn’t take much, we have learned, to keep Christmas:

just a little forethought and a dash of cultural rebellion."

~ Glad & Golden Hours


Greetings, friends, on this New Year’s Eve and Seventh Day of Christmas!


I hope that you have each had a holiday according to your heart, and that, no matter what challenges, fiascos, or disappointments the past days may have held, you have found quiet places for joy to bloom and flourish. We’ve had a merry onslaught of guests, followed by the most blessedly quiet days of the whole year, and while no Christmas is “perfect” in a temporal sense, it’s been one of the most radiant for me in recent years. A huge part of that has been the warmth of your welcome to Glad & Golden Hours, for which Jennifer and I are right heartily thankful. You have made my Christmas a golden one.


 

Coloring Pages


As a final gift for you this Christmastide, Jennifer has created a series of delightful coloring pages, available as a free download.



 

Join us on Zoom this Thursday


And don’t forget—our last live Group Discussion of the book will take place this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Central / 7:00 p.m. Eastern. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Christmastide, as well as any insights you might wish to share as we move gently into 2025. Contact us for the Zoom link.


 

As the sun sets on this year I will be reflecting on some of the ways God has stretched, grown, and blessed me in 2024—the latter of which is largely owing to all of you.


Happy New Year, friends, and may God’s tenderest mercies light your path and crown your days.


Love,









P.S. Do y’all remember the story I told in the book about the Christmas everyone thought I was getting a ring? Philip gave me the loveliest pair of silver hoop earrings that year, which I cherished for two decades until I tragically lost one of them somewhere between the villages of Broadway and Snowshill in the Cotswolds back in 2019. Well, guess what he gave me for Christmas this year—a replacement version in white gold! I confess, I cried.


Fourth Week of Advent



Dear Friends,


Just a quick note to say how much I have treasured making this Advent journey with so many of you. From the book discussion group, to the mentions on social media, to the overwhelmingly kind notes and messages, it has been pure joy to savor these sweet mysteries together. I keep saying that my heart’s desire for this book is that it would be a friend to its readers. But now, on this eve of Christmas Eve, I want to thank you for being such a friend to Glad & Golden Hours.


 


The Christmas Mouse


As a special little Christmas present, I want to give you an original (true!) story, illustrated by Jennifer, available as a free download. I hope you enjoy it, perhaps during Christmastide over a mug of something warm and delicious (cardamom hot chocolate, anyone?).




 

Just a reminder, there will be no Book Group this week, but we will gather on Thursday, January 2nd for our 4th and final discussion. Hope to see you there!


And, in the meantime, every blessing to you and yours, and a heartful of wishes for a Merry Christmas!


Love,







Third Week of Advent


 

"The important thing is not to think much but to love much;

and so do that which best stirs you to love."

~St. Teresa of Ávila


Dear Friends,


Greetings in this Third Week of Advent! I hope it has been a meaningful journey for you thus far, and that you’ve each had glimpses of wonder in the waiting. I’m planning menus this week, making grocery lists, finishing my Christmas shopping and cooking up a storm. I’m also preparing for a houseful on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and when I came across the above quote by Teresa of Ávila during my devotions this morning it was a timely reminder that all of the planning and preparation in the world can never take the place of love itself. Just as traditions serve our relationships, so preparations are the servants of lifegiving connections with God and with the people he has placed in our lives. I cannot wait to open our home to loved ones next week—this is truly my favorite time of year! But I also want to keep my heart tethered to the truth: only the presence of Christ, as both host and honored guest, can illuminate the meaning in all this sweet much-ado.


 
Designed to be printed on Avery Small Tent Cards (2" x 3.5")

Free download: Place Cards


In the name of hospitality, our gift to you this week is a free download of festive place cards. I love thinking about whom to seat where at my holiday meals, changing things up from year to year, interspersing teenagers with adults and placing little children alongside college students. And I love to see each of those names ranged along my tables, in symbol and token of the dear people who will soon occupy these places.


"Place cards may seem stuffy, but a dinner party of any size will only flourish with a bit of such forethought."


 

Join us on Zoom this Thursday


I also want to remind you of our live Group Discussion this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Central / 7:00 p.m. Eastern. It was very special last week to chat together about reducing stress and truly engaging with the beauties of this season from a place of rest. I was challenged and blessed by the insights shared and look forward to connecting once more with this sweet group via Zoom for another hour-long conversation. As this will be our last meeting before Christmas, we will be exploring some of the themes of Weeks Three and Four. I do hope you will join us! Contact us for the Zoom link.


 

That’s all for this week, friends. Praying that joy will find you amid the messes and the merriment, the to-do lists and sinks-full of dishes and last minute errands and pockets of contemplation.


So much love,







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