December 3 for 3: our hearts grew three sizes edition

What I've been up to lately plus work from other creators and cultivators who are helping us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty - all arranged in lists of threes.

 

Tamara’s Note

Let’s be honest. I could fill this entire page with photos of our new grandson. I’ve been searching for a new way to say what almost every grandparent I know is already saying. Since it’s the time of year this cultural reference might work, here’s my latest attempt: Our hearts have grown three sizes this month.

Playing a close second to Julian in stretching our heart’s capacity for joy and love? The beloved kids at Church of the Apostles. I hope I never, ever become too jaded to delight in outright weeping at kids in angel wings, robes, and beards singing their hearts out at Christmas. I recognize that the work behind the scenes for this simple delight is anything but simple and often produces weeping of another kind, so God bless all you children’s ministry directors, school choir leaders, and parents digging through the costume box for anything that will pass for the unseen mystery of Jesus’ first arrival on earth. You made my heart break in all the good ways.

In all the big emotions of welcoming our first grandson and preparing for Christmas, we do our best to nurture moments and days of quiet during Advent. This month, we set aside two mornings to gather in all the corners of someone’s house and not talk to each other for most of the time. We circle around each other, pouring tea as quietly as possible, accidentally dropping off to sleep in front of the fireplace, coloring, crocheting, escaping the over warmed house to take a crisp walk to the Long Island Sound. (my picture above of Seabright Beach near our house). In our three hours of quiet, our senses begin to wake up to the Holy Spirit’s movement and we are amazed at all God speaks to us when we get quiet together.

May you find a pocket of quiet to rest with Jesus this month, friends. I wish you a Merry Christmas and look forward to entering a blessed new calendar year together.

xo,

Tamara

p.s., Here are some other places I’ve kept company with Jesus and his people this month.

 
 

Member Areas

The welcome mat is out. Come on in!

1. A Sacramental Life Community ($17/mo level)

We welcomed guests for our Live Expectantly Advent retreat this month. I’m especially grateful for the time we spent in Lectio Divina with Mary’s Magnificat. That paired with Marilyn MacEntyre’s incisive invitation to live expectantly established a rich foundation for Advent.

2. A Sacramental Life Daybook Meditations ($5/mo level)

We’ve moved into the deep worship of our Advent Daybook with ten days of meditating on the names of Jesus as given us in the early church’s custom of praying Isaiah’s seven mysterious titles for Christ as a call for him to come quickly! The seven prayers (antiphons) form our beautiful hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. O Wisdom! O Root! O Key! O Light! come to us!

3. A Sacramental Life Stories

I’ve been meditating on Mary for the past two years and I share a tiny bit about in this month’s story, Mary, the serpent crusher. I’m sort of giving away the lede with that title. Here’s a bit more:

“Advent is the best liturgical season to amplify women’s voices,” I boldly assert. I think I wanted to offer an invitation to the men in the room to settle into the joy and beauty a woman’s God-reflecting perspective offers rather than the tropes that disguise women as caricatures of femininity only.

And that is when I said if I ever converted it would be for Mary. She astounds me. In the past few Advents, I’ve gravitated to the imagery of her strength on display more prominently than her culturally-praised serenity. Last year I meditated “Let it be to me”. This year I’m meditating “He lifts up the lowly.”

More than her submission and virginity, the icons capturing my imagination highlight the prophecies about her crushing the serpent’s head under her heel.”
— excerpted from what I shared with Stories members this month

Also: One-to-One Spiritual Direction

As you look ahead at 2022, I invite you to consider adding a practice of spiritual direction to your year. You can learn more about spiritual direction and contact me for a free introductory conversation here: What is Spiritual Direction?

Favorite Links

Monthly picks to help us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty!

 
 

Worship God

A Sacramental Life Categories: Spiritual Direction & Practices | Liturgy & Church Calendar | Daily Work & Callings

  1. The perfect song to complete my Magnificat playlist (embedded below!) - Mary's Song (Our King of Peace), Wendell Kimbrough w/ Page CXVI

  2. I never, ever get tired of this series - O Antiphon sonnets, Malcolm Guite

  3. Married to the Minister event, Karen Stiller & Friends - This was a place of consolation for me in November. If you’re married to a minister or you care about someone who is, send them to Karen’s email list so they can find out about the next Married to the Minister event.

Love People

A Sacramental Life Categories: Family, Friends, Church & Neighbors | Peace & Justice | Wholeness & Healing

  1. I’m grateful to my new friend Joanne for sharing this post recently. I hate that she has to understand it from first-hand experience and, yet, so grateful for the wisdom - Holiday Host Etiquette, Sarah Nannen

  2. Thanks to Tim & Katie Hoiland for introducing me to this beautiful project - Donate & Help Families' Dreams Come True, 1MissionOrg

  3. As we await full justice with Christ’s return, a guilty verdict only partly satisfies - The Ahmaud Arbery Case Equips Me for Advent, Kimberly Deckel via CT

Enjoy Beauty

A Sacramental Life Categories: Look, Listen, Make & Do | Creators & Cultivators | Reading & Writing

  1. Daybook members know I’m deeply religious about oranges in Advent and Christmastide and that’s why I loved this brief explanation - The Theology of Citrus at Christmas, Little Way Chapel

  2. I’m always delighted to discover what the Swinger family and the Bruderhof community have been creating lately. Rise Up, Shepherd from Christmas Spectacular, Brudherhof (This year’s musical extravaganza airs live on YouTube tomorrow night!)

  3. Advent Windows 2021, St. Alfege, UK - Last year, our friends at Church of the Cross Austin introduced me to this project based in the UK with their own version, and now I’m hooked.

Currently Reading

From the Book Pile 2021 | See my giant reading list here.

Bonus Feature

Thanks to all the Advent retreat participants who helped me curate this playlist. A blessed fourth Sunday in Advent to you, friends!

Here’s to another month of worshiping God, loving people, and enjoying beauty, friends!

Thank you so much for your continuous support. Every time you mention my spiritual direction offerings, retreats, writing or devotional guides to a friend, or engage on my social media accounts, you're helping to support my work that reaches beyond the scope of this website. I am grateful for your help!

 
3 for 3Tamara Hill Murphylinks, Church of the Apostles