Tag Archives: Advent

Old Stone Well Farm

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

If Scrooge Can Love, So Can We

Christmas is almost here and the first snowstorm in Vermont is the perfect excuse to get out a holiday classic to read. “A Christmas Carol” is such a great reminder that there is always a chance for us to do better when it comes to loving one another. It’s a story of hope and redemption. But what is this love that comes to us at Christmas?

Come and snuggle up with a cup of coco and a cozy blanket and join me on this wintery day at Old Stone Well Farm as we enter the last week of Advent and prepare for the coming of the Christ light.

And share this moment of peace and hope with your friends and family. Subscribe to never miss a visit to my 18th-century Vermont home where I write, dream, pray and think about all the God possibilities for me and for you.

But before you click the video below, I’m curious. What is your favorite holiday book or movie? And, how will you be inspired to “keep Christmas well” as it was said of Scrooge at the end of Charles Dickens’ classic. Drop me a note here or comment on YouTube!

Old Stone Well Farm

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

Peace Really is Possible

My friends, a short visit together at the farm table as today we are picking up our new puppy!! Yes, little … (name to be revealed in my Dec. 6 St. Nick Day video) is coming to Old Stone Well Farm where he will meet his brother, RuRu (the cranky cat) and his five sisters, the chickens — Priscilla, Omelet, Nugget, Pot Pie, Biscuit (as in chicken and biscuits).

While we will spend a short time together, I didn’t want to miss lighting the second candle of Advent with you — the peace candle. Peace seems so fleeting these days, but I have found it can be possible.

So pull up a chair and I will share with you an Advent challenge to bring more peace into your live and into the world. Well, I need to get going. It’s an hour plus drive to pick up the puppy and I have some farm chores to get to first. Enjoy.

And please, tell your friends about Old Stone Well Farm and encourage them to subscribe on YouTube. Old Stone Well Farm is a growing channel and I have a big God-dream of getting to 1,000 subscribers — I was going to say by the end of the year which is quickly approaching — but why not? All things are possible and often our dreams are so small compared to the great things God can do!

And, I would love to hear from you and your thoughts on peace (and raising a puppy!).

Blessings to you!

Click below to start listening.

Old Stone Well Farm

Featured

Posted on by
2

Banishing Our Sea Monsters

Are sea monsters troubling you? Keeping you from venturing out into unknown waters where are deepest dreams are yearning to come alive?

I invite you to pull up a chair and join me here in Vermont as I find inspiration from Celtic saints who modeled for great faith and how we can trust an unknown future to a known God. (I also find some wonderful greenery along Lake Champlain in which to deck this old 18th-century home for Celtic Advent, which began Nov. 15!)

Click on the video below, and then share with me how you banish your “sea monsters.” And blessings to you as the Thanksgiving preparations begin!

A Holier Holiday Season

Posted on by
Reply

The Holiness of Hiraeth (Longing for Home)

Where is the season of Advent going? This morning I woke up feeling the holiday pressure to get Christmas done, and then I remembered to breathe, slow down and be in the moment of this holy season. And so, I began to putz around my old 18th-century house and was struck by the memories that came flooding back when I looked at my dollhouse. There’s a Welsh word — hiraeth — which means a longing for home. I think this longing grows stronger in the month of December. Yet as we long, we take comfort in our memories. What memories of “home” do you hold in your heart? Enjoy this midweek time together at Old Stone Well Farm! Blessings!

Old Stone Well Farm

Posted on by
Reply

The Holiness of a Candlelit Breakfast

We continue our quest to have a holier holiday season. Today at the farm, join me for a candlelit breakfast, some thoughts about the joys of simplicity and the blessing of “my daily egg.”
These midweek gatherings are my gift to you and your loved ones — a gift that reminds us all to slow down and savor the God moments all around.

Blessings!

Midweek at the Farm

Posted on by
1

The Holiness of the First Snow

A midweek time to breathe and recenter so that you can truly have a holier holiday season this year. I would love for more people to enter into Christ’s birth with peace, not stress; with hope, not discouragement; and with the beauty of realizing joy is not bought…we really do have all we need already around us. Enjoy!

Pastor Donna

Old Stone Well Farm

Posted on by
Reply

An Angel Named Oscar

Celtic Advent has met up with traditional Advent, and I am so excited to invite you to the farm as we light the first candle on the Advent wreath. This will be a time to share a cup of coffee and hear a little about Celtic spirituality and the monks beliefs in angelic encounters. I will also share with you an Advent Celtic circle prayer. And I can’t wait to tell you the story of a very unlikely angel named, Oscar. So make yourself comfortable, enjoy some old and new holiday songs, and watch the snow fall here in Vermont as we make our way to Christmas together. As always, I appreciate your feedback and support. Share with friends and family. Like on YouTube, and consider subscribing to the YouTube channel. I only need a few more subscribers to get a personalized YouTube channel. Blessings! Donna

Old Stone Well Farm

Posted on by
1

Stir Up Sunday

On this our second Sunday in our Celtic Advent celebration, we get out the old bowls at the farm to whip up some holiday goodies. This day is known in Anglican circles as “Stir Up Sunday,” which gets its name from the collect in the Book of Common Prayer that asks God to “stir up” God’s faithful children. It was a day for families to “stir up” their Christmas puddings and fruitcake, allowing enough weeks for all the wonderful holiday flavors to mingle together.

I wonder, though, what does it take for our faith to be stirred up? What would it look like to live with such a faith? And, as we head toward the Thanksgiving holiday, who has been that special person in your life who has “stirred up” your faith? Think about that person and pause to give God thanks for them in your life.

So, let’s get ready to stir things up!

Blessings to you and your family,

Pastor Donna

Click on video to begin playing.

Old Stone Well Farm

Posted on by
Reply

A Celtic Advent Begins

Observing a Celtic Advent has become a tradition here at Old Stone Well Farm. Beginning on Nov. 15, Celtic Advent is often referred to as a “Winter Lent,” as there are 40 days which leads to the celebration of Christ’s birth.

The Celts used this time to embrace each ordinary day as holy and to ponder Christ’s arrival in the world, in our hearts and his promise to return again. So join me as we begin our Celtic Advent.

Share this new tradition with others and, if you would, please like the YouTube page and consider subscribing. I would love to start 2022 with a channel for Old Stone Well Farm.

Blessings! Donna