Merry Christmas!

     The end of the Mayan calendar (a/k/a the end of the world) coincided a little close to Christmas.  As we sat at home, Doom's Day Eve, discussing the matter, my husband asked me, "Is that why you brought home [take out] for supper?"  "Of course.  I'm not spending my last day on earth cooking."
     Then my youngest has the bright idea that "since we won't be here on Christmas, we should open all our gifts now!"  I try to explain to him that it wouldn't matter if he did open his gifts early, he wouldn't get to take them with him when the world ends [tomorrow].  "Yeah, but I can play with them tonight...while I'm here."   hahaha.
     Well, the world didn't end, and the closer it got to Christmas and "the reason for the season," a deeper meaning in my son's statement came to me. 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life." John 3:16

 

God has given us a gift, His son Jesus Christ.  We have accepted that gift and it sits under our tree.  But we choose not to open it until the appointed time.  We spend our days looking at the beautiful wrapping, excited that it's all ours, wondering what's on the inside, anticipating the day when we get to Heaven and can unwrap it.  Then we will see all the love and joy and peace...all the things God promised us brought to life.

 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and

cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,

neither shadow of turning."   James 1:17

 

     But, what if we were impatient?  What if we didn't wait to open the gift?  What if we got so excited we just had to have it now?!  Well...we can!  In fact, God wants us to open our gifts as soon as we get them.  We can unwrap them all and have love, joy and peace while we're here!  And He wants us to use them immediately.  Not set them up on a shelf out of harm's way, just collecting dust, never doing what they were intended to do - be shared with our friends and family. 

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."  Luke 6:38

 

The more we share, the more "toys" we get!  We don't have to wait till we get to Heaven!  Amazing!

     Plus - these things you can actually take with you when you go!

 

no answers

     It’s 7:30 on a rainy Monday morning. I just dropped my son off at school. How can something so simple, an ordinary everyday part of my routine, weigh so heavy on my mind. I could say I know he will be safe, that he will have a good day, that nothing will go wrong. You might say I’m just being overprotective or a worry-wart. But the thoughts of the happenings of last Friday are still fresh on my mind. I’m sure the parents of those children were just doing their everyday thing, believing their children would be safe and happy at school. But that wasn’t how it was.
     I can’t even begin to imagine how those families must feel - and honestly, I don’t want to. I don’t understand how things like this can take place. I know there are bad people in this world and that bad things happen every day. But this....not like this. I just can’t wrap my head around it all. It makes me just want to get everybody I love and care about and put them in one place and make them stay there. Safe. But I know I can’t do that. I can’t dwell on the what if’s or the why’s or how’s. My life must go on, and the lives of my children, my family and friends. I can’t live in fear of what might happen. We can’t let the bad people win.
     But what’s the answer to stop it all? I don’t think banning guns is the way to go. I have no problem with responsible people owning guns. I believe we have the right to protect ourselves. I believe there should be, and probably already are, procedures and requirements to obtain a gun. I don’t, however, believe a person should be able to buy an automatic assault rifle at their local Wal-mart. I think there should be different, maybe stricter, restrictions on those types of firearms. What those should be or how they are to be enacted and enforced, I don’t know.
     I also believe there could be a change or two made in the way mental illness is handled. I think more can be done for these people at a younger age when the signs are first noticed. And I don’t think a few days in a hospital to regulate some medication or a threat of jail is always the right thing to do. Again, I’m no expert in those things, so I can offer no real suggestion on what or how that can be done.
     As I talk this out, I guess I’m left with just a lot of questions, but I can offer no answers. I read a facebook status last night that I thought was very true. It was directed at all those who were saying we never should have taken prayer (and, in effect, God) out of schools. This person pointed out that if you have raised a God-fearing child, He never left. I believe God was in that school in Connecticut. He was with those innocent children and took them to Heaven to live with Him, away from the bad people. I can only hope the adults were as ready to go.  I have to put my faith in that God.  Faith that He will be with my children, wherever they are, and that He has their best interests at heart and can protect them more than I ever could. 
     My prayers continue to go up for the families of those who lost loved ones. I pray for the children who lived through it and will forever have this tragedy as part of their memories. For the family of the man who did this. I pray God will send peace into a small town made the center of media attention. And, in time, forgiveness to the hearts that need it.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Five-Minute Friday: Thank You

Well, here I am doing a "Five-Minute Friday" on Monday.  I hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving weekend!  This week's topic is appropriately "Thank You."  You can check out all the Thanksgiving inspiration of these talented writers at Lisa Jo's website.  For now, here's what I have:

It has almost become a game. Tiny hands picking up pennies off the floor and putting them in my hand. I say "THANK YOU!" like I have just been given the grandest of treasures. This makes the baby smile, and the game continues, each time little hands putting all they can hold into my hands that can hold so much more. And when all the pennies are picked up, again I say, "Thank you!" for a job well done. As the day goes on, there are many more "Thank you’s" to be said for so many little things. Now we sit, all wrapped in a blanket, with a sippy cup of milk. The lights are off and we watch cartoons as this little one tries hard to stay awake. Then I hear soft even breathing as this little bundle relaxes and gives in to sleep. And I have to say another "Thank you!" This time to God above for giving me such a precious gift.

Five Minute Friday - Stay

OK - I know it's not Friday, but I haven't had access to a computer since I saw Lisa Jo Baker's post last week.  This week's Five Minute Friday topic is "stay."  Here's what I got:

I am at a very comfortable place in my life right now.  But I know I can’t stay here.  Soon God will move me to the next plateau.  I have viewed life at many different levels.  As a child who thought my parents could do no wrong, to a grown woman making plenty of mistakes and realizing they are human just like me.  As a new believer at the age of 9, and as a rededicated Christian many years later.  As a young wife and mother of one, then of two, then three, and now as a keeper of my home, seasoned with years of life and death, laughter and tears.  The view from all these levels has been breathtaking.  Some lush and full, others barren and dry.  But one day I will reach the top of life’s mountain.  The peak that reaches through the clouds and into Heaven.  There to stay for eternity.

Click here to meet Lisa Jo and the rest of the Five Minute Friday community.

Right On Time

     Several months ago I had the privilege of giving devotion at a ladies’ retreat. At the time I believe I did what God wanted me to do, but I have never felt completely satisfied with it. Like something was missing. Like I didn’t give the full story or get my whole point across. Well, last night as I was doing some reading, I got it. The "other half" of that devotion. It came to me plain as day, word for word, the prologue to my story:
     "Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Your brain always going over and over the list of things you need to remember? The list you have written down of things you need to do today, this week, some time this month, or just whenever you can get to it, well it just gets longer and longer. As soon as you take time to clean out that closet, then you have to pack up what you’re giving away, find somewhere to store it until you can find a place to take it, load it up, haul it off. Mark one thing off, add four. That’s where I was.
     I had prayed for God to show me something He wanted me to do. Get me out of my comfort zone.  The next thing I know, I’m trying to build a Mary Kay business, believing God had opened that door as a way for me to witness to women I otherwise would never have a chance to talk to. I realized I loved to write, and so found myself writing my church’s article for our district's monthly publication. I also took on the job of putting out the church’s "weekly" bulletin (which I was actually only getting out once a month). I had a lot of plates spinning, and no clue how to let one fall. I prayed daily for God to help me get my priorities straight.
     One particular Wednesday evening, we had moved our church services to a sister church since our pastor was helping them in revival that week. I was just a little late. This had become my normal because I seemed to be working late more and more (not so much too busy as lack of time management). By the time I got there, the place was standing room only. So I quietly scanned the room for a familiar face, and I found one in the back corner. There was one seat left on her pew, and she gladly welcomed me. I sat through the service, but I honestly couldn’t tell you what the sermon was about. All I could think about were the stops I would need to make on my way home and all that awaited me once I got there. Even while I tried to worship, again I could only ask for guidance.
     I heard Him plainly tell me I needed to go to the altar and pray, not just sit in my seat. But when the time came, I put Him off. "Lord, I don’t want to prolong the service. I really need to get home. You know what all I have to do." But it was almost like He was standing at the front of the church saying, "If you want your answer, come to me." (Looking back now, it reminds me of what we do when our children are young. You tell them to "come here;" they stand there and just look at you as if to say, "Why? You can just as easily come to me, or tell me from where you are." So we go get them and bring them to where we want them to be.) So anyway, back to my story... I kept thinking, if they’d sing one more verse I’d go to the altar. They sang the chorus three extra times, and I didn’t move. Finally they stopped singing, and I thought I was off the hook. Then the preacher turns and says, "No, we need to sing one more verse." Are you kidding me! Fine, I’ll go! And I went. I cried like I hadn’t cried in a long time. All my pent-up frustration at myself and my situation just came pouring out. I knew when I got up that God would show me exactly what I needed to change, and I now had the clear vision to see it. There was light at the end of the tunnel.
     As I made my way back to my seat and the service ended, my friend came to me, the first words spoken to me after I got up from the altar - "Would you like to do devotion at the ladies’ retreat this year?" "Yes! I’d love to!" But when I got to the car, I had to question God. "I asked you to show me what I could stop doing, and you give me one more thing to do? I don’t get it!"
     I figured I was just supposed to be a busy person. That was my lot in life, what God wanted from me. I was to get things done. Okay then. Over the next few months things did ease up though. Priorities fell into place at home and at work - God first, Family second, Career third.  My Mary Kay business settled at a level I could live with. And with an extra driver in the house, I could trust him to handle the small errands. Unfortunately, the church bulletin did get dropped, but mainly because my printer ran out of ink and my home computer crashed.
     All this led to the devotion I wrote about in "My Basket of Leftovers" post back in March. I was that loaf of bread. I knew God had a purpose for me, and I was comfortable just getting to dabble in it. But when He called me to do that "big thing," he had to pull me apart to accomplish His purpose. Why all this came to me so clearly six months after I needed it, I’ll never know. Maybe that was just the beginning of something bigger He has in store for me.  Maybe this will reach more people now than it would have then.  One thing I do know - God's timing is always perfect.

My First Five-Minute Friday

I have been reading a blog by Lisa Jo Baker for quite some time, and she has this thing she does every Friday called "Five-Minute Friday."  Once a week, bloggers from all over take five minutes and write on the same topic.  This week's topic is "Quiet."  Here's my attempt to write for five minutes flat, no editing, just typing:

I just got to work. The phone hasn’t started ringing yet. The boss is out of town. Looks like a quiet day ahead. I have a few minutes at my computer to check email. I find myself reading inspirational blog posts and daily devotions. I see that my friends on facebook are living their own lives today. In this quiet time, I hear all those voices. Some needing prayer, some giving praise for prayers answered. Do I hear God speaking to me? Yes, I think I do. I hope this quiet continues so that I can use my own voice to share what God says to me. Will it be profound? Will it be simple? Will it be something I’ve known for a long time but only now is confirmed? Will I need to make decisions that will affect not only me, but the lives of my family and others? As a wife and mother, my life is not quiet. I cherish these moments, when I can sit and listen. Sometimes nothing speaks quite so loudly as the silence.
And right on cue, the phone rings.

Here's a link to Lisa Jo if you want to try it out for yourself:   http://lisajobaker.com/2012/11/five-minute-friday-quiet/

Thank You Adam

     There’s a new preacher in town. He’s a member of my church. He’s a young man with a wife and two small children, a new home and a full-time job. At a time when he is learning his role as husband and daddy and provider, God threw him a curve and called him to preach His Word.
     I have known this man since he was a boy. A laid back, strong, quiet type. To have him now stand in the pulpit and preach to me, to be honest, is a bit surprising. In his same quiet, peaceful manner, he manages to convict my heart through his testimonies and sermons.
     He is pure emotion. He is not yet seasoned with "preacherisms" and phrases commonly used yet not fully understood. His insight into the Word of God is new and fresh. He has been a Christian a long time, but as a new preacher, he sees his life and how he lives it in a different light.
     Not unlike myself, he too rushes home from work on Wednesday evening with barely enough time to eat his supper, get himself ready, and get his family to church on time. But then he has the nerve to tell me that after all that, I should still have the energy to stand and testify about how good God is to me. Just who does this kid think he is? He’s now the man of God. A man who has answered the calling on his life and is trying to lead with an example I should want to follow. After all, as he said, what’s the point of going through all that trouble to get to church if I’m not willing to stand and praise and worship the Lord when I get there. ouch.
     He also brought an outside concern home for me this week. We all have principles we believe in, and we are sometimes called to defend our principles to those who have opposing views, or those who have no views at all and are just going along with what the media and the world have to say about it. While it’s not always easy, we know we are to stand against such evils "out there." But can you go home and stand up for your beliefs and convictions before your family? Before your wife/husband and your kids? What things do you allow or overlook in order to keep the peace at home, but strongly disagree with on facebook or around the water cooler? oh me.
     God has used this young man and his newly acquired deeper understanding of the scripture to bring into light issues in this not-as-young wife and mother’s life. Maybe even a clearer view of just the book of Genesis.  God brought form into the abyss that was my life. And over the years, through the lives and testimonies of Godly people, and countless sermons from so many different preachers, my life became full and I was able to bear spiritual fruit. Still I was left with things wandering through my mind that I could not put my finger on. I knew they were there, but I didn’t know what to call them or how to handle them. It is appropriate that God would use this man to put a name to those thoughts and convictions.
     For his name....is Adam.