Christian Christmas

As a child I didn't grow up with Christmas.  My parents, who are Christian and do believe in Jesus Christ the Son on God and Salvation through him, did not celebrate Christmas because it does not ad hear to scripture.

None of their arguments can be disputed as far as I am concerned.  No, Jesus was probably not born in December, and yes Christmas was a Pagan holiday that was transformed by the Catholic church into a Christian holiday.  I could go on and on, but the fact is, that we didn't even really talk about Christmas unless we were being reminded how it was not biblically sound and all we really saw as children is that there were no decorations and no presents.

As a teenager I lived with my grandmother who did in fact celebrate Christmas.  She became a Christian in her 30's and was very adamant about making Christmas about Jesus.  It was not just about decorations and gifts but about Jesus and the gift that He was to us.

As I was decorating my tree this year I was brought to tears by many things.  Some traditions that she shared with me, like the German tradition of hiding the pickle (we used an ornament) on the tree, the first to find the pickle got a special gift.  I have special ornaments that remind me of special people, Grandma in particular, and others in my family.  But mostly I have the greatest gift that she could have ever passed on to me about Christmas.

I put up lots of lights,

 I love them, they are one of my most favorite things about Christmas.  I remind myself as I do this that Jesus came as the Light of the World.  He came to reveal to us what was once covered in darkness and is now replaced by light.  Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior you then have this amazing light, the Son of the Living God, living in you.  Amazing!


 Each thing that I do reminds me of another aspect of who God is and why I want to be r
eminded of Him.  There are always ways to make anything about ourselves.  We can make Christmas about decorations and gifts, or we can choose where we put our focus.  Or...  We can use this special time of year to share the Love of Christ with those around us.

So, this Christmas as I hung the bird house and the Thomas Kinkade ornament and I was reminded of the gift that grandma gave me when she taught me to follow Jesus, all the time, in all we do, even celebrating Jesus on a Pagan holiday.

The Writing on the Wall

You will have to look closely... I took an eraser to the wall after the writing was applied by a very sweet 18 month old child.

Sweet young moms and dads, I would like to take a moment to talk about the writing on the wall.  I have a secret to tell you.  This is not just a moment of when your children were not supervised while you went to the bathroom, took a shower, did the dishes, changed another childes diaper, or the 1000 other things that come up.  This was a moment when your child was just being a child, not being naughty or destructive, they were learning and growing and coloring... on your wall!!!

If you happen to be blessed enough to have these marks on your wall, you are blessed beyond measure.  There is always paint, you can always erase, fix, replace, whatever it takes, but you can never return to this point in time where you get to enjoy these moments of writing on the wall.

So, embrace the moments, don't be upset or distressed over the writing on the wall.  Focus on the joy and the blessings that are now obvious because of the writing on the wall!!

 

Forgiveness vs Consequence

Sin is what separates us from God.  When we are reconciled to the Lord and ask for forgiveness that separation is removed.  The blood of Jesus is what make that permanent.  The bible tells us that as far as the East is from the West, that is how far He has separated our sins from us.  He also tells us that He forgets our sins, they are erased.

Now lets talk about consequences.  Jesus does not cancel out the consequences of our sin.

I sometimes think about Paul and that fact that he persecuted Christians.  I always wonder if he remembered the look on their faces as they were stoned.  Did he wake up hearing the crying or even just remembering their faces?

Sometimes the consequences of our sin is death, we could be responsible for a drinking and driving accident or even just outright murder.  Maybe something that seems less harsh from the outside.  Maybe what you did broke your parents hearts or hurt the feelings of someone.  It could end in an illness or disease.

Even though we have this eternal gift of salvation, we still live in a broken world.  A world were the wages of sin is death and that means living with the consequences of sin even if the debt has been paid.

We also live in a world where Grace is a gift, given with the price of the blood of Jesus.  There is no sin too big or too small.  Every sin must be covered with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  You can never be good enough, you can never make up for what you have done, you can never earn anything that would allow for your eternal salvation.

After you have accepted this amazing eternal gift of salvation that was provided for you by the death of Jesus, the son of God, that resulted in His separation from the father and ended with accession into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the father, then you can begin to allow God to live in you and through His power you can bring glory to His name.

Truly amazing!

Samuel... the call

We read about young Samuel laying in his bed and hearing someone calling his name.  After several attempts at trying to pin the voice on Eli, he was finally told to go to bed and when he heard the voice to answer and ask what God wanted of him.

So it begs the questions, when God calls do you answer Him or do you pass it off on human reasoning?  Do you come up with 100 reasons why what He is calling you to do is not going to work or do you listen and give God what He is asking of you?

God does not only call once, He keeps coming back again and again.  What were you built for?  What did God make you for, preserve you for, allow you to go through to get you ready for what He is asking you to do?

These are hard questions we have to ask ourselves when we hear the voice of the Lord and feel His calling on our lives.  If it is just you and you answer the call it makes it easy for you to follow the Lords calling in your life.

Then we come to the people who are older in life and have people who they have to consider, like husbands, wives, and children.  What if you have heard God calling you most of your life?  What if you know what God built you to do?  What if you have let it go over and over in your life but the person you are married to does not feel called?  Then what?  What happens when you are unable to follow what you strongly feel God is calling you to do?

I guess that is where we do our best to trust that God is in control of all things.

Baby Abby

I can't believe this girls is having her last HS basketball post season starting this week.  It is so weird to see her as a grownup woman.

I am so very proud of you miss Abby!

The smile I see is still the same.  The same girl with a big heart who loves people and puts herself into all that she does.

So go... be awesome!!!!

Enjoying each moment.

Do you ever look in on your life and wonder, what have I learned?

Here is what I have learned over the last few years.  Enjoy each moment.  This is not nearly as easy as it seams.  I have occasionally looked at my sassy teenagers and trust me when I say, I am NOT enjoying the moment.  Then I look at the lives around me and I realize that I am so blessed to have had sassy teenage daughters!


Even the hard moments are a blessing, they are time that I have been given with these girls that I love so very much.

You do not realize how true this really is until you loose a child you care about as if they were your own.

So remember that time really doe fly and you do not have more time.  You have THIS time, right now, to love the ones you have with you.  Do not love them lightly, love them with all you have and all that you are.  Take advantage of each moment, truly and honestly.

And family.... some are blood and some are extra special people that God places in your lives as an unexpected gift.

No matter how your "family"  comes to be your family, lovely them deeply and unconditionally because this is how God has loved us.  It is not because they are perfect or deserving of your love, it is because they are your people and loving them is not as much a gift to them as it is to you.

  

Do you realize that?  The people you love is a gift to YOU.  It doesn't matter how they love you, what matters is how you love them. 

And so as we begin the final paragraph in this chapter of our lives and celebrate Abigail's last senior night, we are reminded that each moment is a precious give and that God brings others into our lives as we move through this life.

Make the time, take the time, enjoy the time, and remember that time does truly pass us by quickly.