Saturday, December 10, 2011

O Come Let Us Adore Him

It’s Christmastime! Houses are decorated and glowing, trees are twinkling and stores are filled with music. It seems to lend itself to those who are sentimental, nostalgic and okay, sappy in nature. That would be me! We bake the same cookies every year and all of us in the family agree it wouldn’t be Christmas without them. Our Christmas breakfast will consist of the same menu that it has always been and we spend a lot of time looking back over Christmases past. It is a time of remembering. But isn’t that what Christmas really is? Remembering that,” there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

When our children were young, we wanted to do things that would remind them that Christmas was about the baby in a manger who is our Savior. One of the things we used was an Advent wreath. It was a very simple wreath with five candles. Each candle represented a part of the Christmas story leading up to the birth of Christ. There was a Prophet’s candle, Bethlehem candle, Shepherd’s candle, Angel’s candle, and the one in the center was the Christ candle. On each Sunday leading up to Christmas we would light one candle and Jim would read that part of the story. When God led us to the Ozarks and to our first church, we took the Advent wreath. It became apart of our worship as the church would gather on those December mornings. I can still see the children running up to Jim after Sunday school asking who was going to light the candle that Sunday. I have such treasured memories of our own children around our table and the children of that sweet country church at Christmas time around the advent wreath.

Advent is the anticipation and celebration of the arrival of our Christ. And just as I witnessed children circled around a wreath, it is us turning our focus and desiring our lives to circle around Him, as we remember Him coming to earth as a baby to rescue sinners. To rescue me! I have attempted to do this through the years that have been void of an advent wreath on our table and little children to constantly remind what Christmas is really about. I read through the prophesies of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament and Luke’s account of Mary and Joseph, shepherds, angels and a baby in the manger. I ask God to allow the words to be fresh again and that I will not just read them like a story that I have memorized but that He will give me new eyes and nuggets of truth.

This week as I read the names of our Messiah in Isaiah, I was amazed as I thought through who He really is. “His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father and Prince of Peace.” The world and many around offer counsel; He knew we needed the Wonderful Counselor. Little gods abound and give no strength or power; He knew we needed a Mighty God. This life and most of what is in it is temporary and offers no security; He knew we needed an Eternal Father. Most of the places that we seek peace have no authority and are fleeting; He knew we needed the Prince of Peace. He promised to meet all of our needs. They were and are and will be met in Jesus! May we remember.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him….

Isaiah 9:6, Philippians 4:19

Saturday, December 3, 2011

In His Hands

She calls me, “my momma D” and I call her “my Bella Boo”. I am convinced her sole reason for being given to us is to steal my heart. She will turn three in a couple of weeks and with that comes so many things that come with being two-almost-three. She loves pretend play; in fact I’m pretty sure Buzz Light-year, Woody, and Jesse were all at our table at some point over the Thanksgiving holiday. She loves books, running, and singing….and….I love her! She is also at the point in her little toddler life that she loves to assert her independence. I heard often the words, “I do it by self, Momma D”. Now, I know she meant to say, I will do it myself, but when you’re two-almost-three, your sentences kind of come out in code and it is up to the adults around you to figure it out! On one such occasion we were about to cross a busy street, Jill had the baby and multiple other things in her hands, so she said to Bella, “take Momma D’s hand”. Bella looked at me, crossed her arms across her chest and said….you guessed it, “I do it by self, Momma D.” Which I just responded, "not this time,sweetie", grabbed her chubby hand and crossed the street. I kind of giggled to myself as I thought about my daughter raising this little strong-willed, brown eyed, delight. She was not ugly or throwing a fit as she stated her independence, just very confident that she was capable and strong enough for the task. I know the type, I have raised one myself, and to be completely honest, I am one myself! God has shown me over and over how I always try to be the strong one and am convinced that with the right planning, surly I will be capable enough to pull off or fix whatever is necessary. WARNING: This is a lie, it does not work, and should not be attempted at home…or any place for that matter!

As I grabbed Bella’s hand that day, a story that I was told years ago came to my mind. Jim and I knew an elderly pastor that visited our church when we were first married. He told a story of how he wanted to take his granddaughter out to play in the snow; it was the first snow of the season, and she could not wait to get out in it! The porch had iced over during the night and was dangerous if one was not cautious. He told his granddaughter to take his hand. She would grab her grandpa’s hand, only able to clutch a couple of his fingers. Inevitably, she would slip off and he would catch her, before she fell and hurt herself. This happened a few times and then he said, “instead of grabbing grandpa’s hand, let me take hold of your hand.” He held out his big hand and she placed her little hand inside of his. As he grasped her hand, it totally disappeared inside of his. As they walked across the ice covered porch, her feet slipped and wiggled but she never fell because he had her and she was going nowhere outside of his control.

In this season that I find myself in I am in control of nothing and I cannot plan the next step. Not one part of it plays to my strengths and my weaknesses are glaring like a flashing neon sign! How often have I looked at my heavenly Father and said,” I do it by self.” Oh that I would let my hands, plans, and weaknesses disappear in His hand and find rest in the fact that the Blessed Controller of all things has me in His hands.

John 10:27-30, Psalm 37:23-24