He Has Come

 “but the angel reassured them, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12)

 

I am not big into crying. There was a space of time in my faith walk, when I was very new, that I thought something was wrong with me. At retreats, study groups, and even in service people around me would be in tears, or some other state of extreme emotion, and I wouldn’t be. I used to think that maybe I was holding in my emotions, or that I was heartless, or even better yet that I just didn’t feel what others felt so something must be wrong. I have since learned that I am just not a cryer so it amazes me when a movie can bring me to tears, as it happens so infrequently.

 

I can’t watch the movie “Ice Age”, at least not the beginning, because I can’t understand how a mother could think leaving her baby with a saber tooth lion was better than going with her. I didn’t cry watching the “Titanic” as everyone said I would. And, I was too busy analyzing the wife’s role and level of accountability for “Fireproof” to cry for that one either. I cried profusely the first time I saw “The Passion”, much to my surprise but it was this sobbing cry that was kind of embarrassing because I was sitting next to one of the pastor’s sons. Last night the kids and I watched “Nativity” and it’s not the sobbing I did for the “Passion” but I had sweet tears of joy and amazement. The lights were out and so the kids didn’t get the opportunity to tease me.

 

I see Mary holding the baby. I see Joseph and his tears of joy for this child he helped deliver. I see the shock in the shepherd’s faces as the angel appears to all of them in the country and they move in mass to see this Christ. And, as the wise men deliver their gifts, mission completed, I see the baby again and I stare in awe. Can you imagine holding the hope of the world in your hands? Can you even fathom what a precious gift God gave to Mary and Joseph and the heavy weight they must have felt?  Can you believe that in just a short expanse of time that same beautiful baby would be hanging on the cross? He was born to die and He died so we can live! It’s so overwhelmingly beautiful and as sad as I am that God had to go to those measures to demonstrate His love, I am thankful and glad at the same time.

 

“By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, ‘Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!’. And with those words he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44-46)

Snow Day!

“For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

 

It’s a snow day today and there is no school. Children of all ages, including some very grown up people I know, wait and pray for a day like this. All this past week I could tell that my children’s teachers were hoping for a snow day this week because they sent the kids home every night anticipating the next day to be one (this was actually really annoying). Ah, but behold! We have 1/10” of ice under 2” of sleet under 2-4” of snow. Snow day! Great joy will fill the house as my little babes wake up one by one and realize their great fortune.  The joy will be reversed, however, when the school year gets extended out an extra day and they realize that they could have made their first trip to the pool but instead they are sitting in hot sticky classrooms.

 

People have been waiting for the day when Jesus raptures His children for thousands of years now. I can honestly say that I fully anticipate this day to come every day and I want to be ready. My children have their hats, mittens, games, and anything else they need ready to enjoy this much anticipated day of no school. It’s easier, and not so easy, to be ready for the Lord to come. For me it is a process of learning to not cling to things of this earth. It is a process of loving the people in my life but realizing I could never love them as much as Jesus. It’s a process of getting to know Jesus as much as possible through His Word because I want to know the One I will be spending an eternity with. I may teach kids at church but I need to reach and volunteer out in the community more. I may pray for people in the comfort and safety of my own home but I really need to go pray with them. See, until that day comes I need to keep working and studying for Jesus.

 

My children, and many across the great state of Iowa, have been dreaming of a day just like today. What are you dreaming of? What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a raise or a pink slip? Are you waiting for a husband or a wife? Are you waiting for your kids to get past the stage where they totally grate on your nerves? Are you waiting for your hero to come from the war? Are you waiting for Christmas so you can give the gifts you got for everyone or open the ones others got for you? One of the things I desire more than anything is for Jesus to come! A part of me wants to pause at that though but honestly, nothing I, or my family, could experience could possibly compare to finally realizing that beautiful day….even though my brain wants me to picture everything we would miss a little too long. Lord Jesus, I pray that you come grab us today but if it is not time yet I pray that you let us know what we need to get everything ready so that you can. Amen.

 

“Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)

Silver Bells

“He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20b)

 

As soon as someone says, “silver bells” I am immediately singing the song in my head so obviously when I hear, or see, bells my mind brings me straight to Christmas. There are many songs with bells in them that we sing at Christmastime but I didn’t have time this morning to really research why history has associated bells with this season (think Salvation Army) or how long bells have belonged to this holiday. I guess I will have to do that another time.

 

My parents get us a silver bell every year. I am staring at my “silver bell tree” right now! Each bell has on it the year and ours go back to 2000 and I know there is a bell under Mom and Dad’s tree right now for me. I get excited every year as I open it even though I know exactly what it is going to look like. You see, my grandpa had given my parents a bell every year and now my parents are giving their daughters one as well. I think it is a neat tradition that they are passing down and I imagine I will do this for my own children. Can you imagine what it is going to be like to sort out these bells as one generation passes it on to the next as it passes on? Morbid thought I know but reality all the same.

 

I enjoy my bells very much. To me they represent my family and many memories. However, as I sit here pondering my thoughts I really wish that one of the things my parents would have been adamant to give us would have been faith. These bells do make me think of Jesus and His birth but I can’t take them with me when I die. Parents have a wonderful opportunity to pass things down and build traditions in their families. Are the things you are passing down and the traditions you are creating something your children can take with them for eternity and do they bring them closer to Jesus? I don’t know about you but that is an excellent question for me to dig into.

 

 

“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matter, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:11)

One Leads to Another

“Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.” (Psalm 5:2)

I woke up early this morning. I didn’t wake up early enough to exercise so I just laid there for a little while. Then I decided I wanted to take advantage of the extra time I could read the Bible and got out of bed. Before I read I always try to pray. Sometimes I feel my prayers are productive and sometimes I don’t. This morning I thought of this past weekend, service, prayer request and family time. As each thing came to mind it would lead me to praying for something or someone else and there is no lack of people who need prayers today.

In our own home I pray for my husband and how hard he works everyday to provide for us. That led me to pray for my friend’s husband who has been out of work for a while now. That lead me to praying for another friend who’s husband will be laid off this week. Thinking of people and their jobs actually helped me remember to pray for a couple schools that have hit our prayer chain in recent times and my friends who work for within those schools. Praying for the community like that reminded me to pray for all those who are homeless right now and all the job cuts we have faced and I hate to say it but these kinds of things always seem to be intensified during the Christmas season where families feel the pressure of not being able to give their children everything they see on T.V. or on the shelves of the store. And, again, this led me to pray that people remember that Christmas is not about the presents, maxing out credit cards, or ridiculously spoiling the people in our lives. I was then lead to pray for our pastors and leaders in our church that they can guide us, and our community, to the heart of Christmas.

Thinking of all the terrible and tough things going on today, all the uncertainty, I was once again reminded of the video we watch in service yesterday. So many things block our way to the cross. The world is going to attack us and the world is going to try to break us down but we do not need to let it. Jesus jumped in and fought the ultimate fight so that we don’t need to. We will still struggle in this life, face hardships, feel lost and blind but through all this we have the hope and we have God who will meet us exactly where we are and carry us when we need Him to.

“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” (Colossians 4:2)

Too Early for Christmas

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2)

 

You will never probably hear a bigger complainer of store decorating for Christmas before Halloween or Thanksgiving than me. Christmas colors just come earlier and earlier each year. To avoid early snows we usually have our Christmas lights up on the house (when we do them) by mid to late October. However, I make my husband suffer by not letting him turn the lights on until after Thanksgiving. So, I am kind of a stickler and when I was moved to listen to some Christmas music last week I was shocked.

 

I have been somewhat preoccupied in my mind, busy in my body, and pulled in every direction here and there. With another busy weekend looming over my mind and hours of homework I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I got out my headphones, getting ready to cram in as much homework as possible, and started the music. Nothing was really appealing to me. I usually like it pretty loud and hard but that wasn’t working. My slower, more prayerful, music wasn’t cutting it either. Not country, alternative, rock, or the oldies. The only option left to try was Christmas. I actually argued with myself a bit because it is way too early in the year for Christmas music….but I pushed play anyway.  I was finally calm. My anxieties slowed down and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in a week. I was ready.

 

How could simple Christmas music do so much? Well, within my collection are a few songs that help me take the focus off of me and put it right where it belongs: on Jesus. They are not classics but they are beautiful. It’s humbling to know that a baby saved me. We look at babies and they are these delicate, soft, cushy, smelly, little people. But one baby was born to save us and changed our world forever. As I am gently reminded of this through the music everything seems to melt away from me and I am no longer all crammed up in myself.

 

What will it take for you to unwind? God is waiting for us to come to Him and loves us enough to wait. If you are struggling, as I have been, He may already be trying to bring you closer to Him but your mind and heart are just not there yet.  I pray that you experience the calm that I did and that you don’t let it go….like I did. Now, I have to start all over again! Already I have God’s Word, Relient K, Big Daddy Weave, and Kate Hurely bringing me into this day with ease and I listen to a little more of this Christmas stuff.  I just have to remember to keep Jesus in my sight and focus. It’s when I forget to focus on Him that the world seems to drift away and fall apart.

 

“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)