Heavenly Peace

It's 10:00 a.m. Christmas morning, there's a quiche in the oven and coffee brewing, but the only sound I hear is a beautiful Christmas medley playing on the piano as the cat walks across the keys. (Seriously - my cat's amazing that way. :)

It's kind of odd that the boys aren't awake yet. Used to be we would have five eager children all climbing onto our bed at shortly after 6:00 a.m. wanting to tear into their gifts immediately. Strange how as time passes, our appreciation for the gift of sleep increases.

So quietness marks my Christmas morning, and the peace that I long for. But I suspect this peace I feel does not come from the lack of volume in the room where I sit right now. In fact, peace doesn't truly come from the specific circumstances we find ourselves in, but rather the abiding assurance that God loves us, and He's always good. The circumstances of this Christmas season have not been perfect for many reasons, but I guess I wasn't hoping for perfection. I was hoping for simple peace.

I had 30-ish members of my family over for dinner last night (age of 4 months to 78 years). There has been much to do in preparing for this annual event including cleaning and cooking and finding the space to seat all 30 hungry souls. I was only three quarters of the way through my list before our first guests arrived. Soon my home was buzzing with all sorts of energetic activity. So much glorious clamoring noise and yet there was a sweet peace that settled over all of us.

You know...

I didn't get to frost the sugar cookies I baked earlier - just ran out of time. So a few of us decided we'd frost them together after dinner, while telling stories and laughing until we cried. And then we ate them with Christmas tea!

I didn't sweep the hall of those dreadful little dust bunnies before my visitors came, but the grandchildren quickly "hid" them for me by dumping all the toys out of the toy box with playful exuberance.

I couldn't find just the right Christmas plates this year, so we used boring, blue ones. Well they were boring up until they were "decorated" with hot roast turkey and gravy, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and hot rolls all prepared by various members of my family and shared together.

I didn't get that one candle lit or that one Christmas light turned on- but apparently no one noticed. They were too focused on enjoying the Light in one another.

So in the end, every "T" was not crossed, and every "i" was not dotted, but it didn't matter nearly as much as it did when I originally made up my Christmas "to do" list. It seems as though peace does not come as a result of everything flowing along as planned, but rather by something much deeper. We are loved and we love. We have God, and we have one another. We have a hope and a future. We have Jesus.

I pray that your Christmas would be marked by peace that surpasses all understanding.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…and from the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another!”

In Jesus' Name

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I just finished wrapping a pile of presents, and have yet to clean the house and finish the cookie baking before my house is filled with thirty of my favorite people in the world - my family. I confess, I am feeling the pressure that seems to always meet me around this time of year, and so, I am choosing right now, to press pause.

And breathe.

And remember Who this is all about.

Jesus - What a name, eh? I feel my aching muscles relaxing already. Jesus. Name above all names. Literally, "The Lord Saves." What a name of monumental promise to a drowning and devastated world. A name of Hope. "You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." Father saw our state and breathed Jesus into our world. Jesus.

Luke 1:32-33 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Emmanuel - God with us. We're not alone, trying to figure it out by ourselves. The separation is over. God entered our dark and hollow existence, wrapped His arms around us and promised never to leave us. And He hasn't. And He won't.

Mighty God - The mountainous issue of sin and darkness was no barrier to the Lord. He is Mighty to save. His eyes were fixed upon His children and with the fierceness of a lioness rescuing her cubs, He burst through evil like tissue paper torn to shreds. His Right Arm saved us. He is well able. He is God after all.

Everlasting Father - Jesus came and ushered us into a whole new relationship with God by calling Him Father. Father. The One who loves us, cares for us, provides for us and died for us. Father. When He sent His Son, He sent us an invitation to also become "sons". Oh what manner of love is this? It's AMAZING!

Prince of Peace - I love the fact that even though the greatly anticipated coming of the Messiah was the climax of all human history, Jesus came quietly, humbly, as a lamb. It's such a perfect picture of the Peace of God that passes all understanding. He wasn't biting His divine nails, wondering what to do. He wasn't coming up with some big elaborate "crash into the world, fix it and let em know who's boss" scheme. He so gently came on that silent night, as a babe, to a loving mom and a protective dad with only a few barnyard animals as witnesses. He's my Prince of Peace and since that is so, I can humble myself under the authority of my Prince, and allow His Peace to rule my heart, and my mind and throughout my day. Peace. Wondrous things happen in the midst of peace - on silent, holy nights. Let it reign.

If you choose to press pause, I encourage you to take just a few moments to consider the awesome wonder of Jesus, to breathe a prayer of thanksgiving and to look deeply into His loving eyes while listening intently for His words of life. May the celebration of Jesus and ALL that He is, bring you fresh encouragement, joy and hope and may you, my friend, be filled to overflowing with His very presence even now.

In the Name of Jesus.

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GOD.

tree.man.fall

promise.son.provision

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PROMISE.SON.PROVISION

TREE.MAN.REDEEMED

GOD.

The “R” word. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

The “R” word. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

Family, Friends and the Wee Ones

I have found that family, friends and/or children are the common denominator of my most cherished Christmas memories. Cookie baking is just a chore, but when you do it with grandchildren, it becomes a hilariously messy, wonderful memory for them, and for me! Shopping alone feels, well, lonely - but shopping with a friend is a happy event that usually involves laughing and sharing a meal together. Wrapping presents is tedious, mundane work, unless I can get my husband in on it with me, while we watch You've Got Mail for the 67th time. Then it's a wonderful holiday evening.

I totally agree with the Whos down in Who-ville. If Christmas comes with no cookies, no shopping, no ribbons and no tags! If it comes without packages, boxes or bags...we'll still enjoy Christmas, if we have each other. Little ones and spending time doing Christmassy things with those we hold most dear, make the season extraordinary.

Cherished memories:
-Making Christmas cookies with my mom, when I was younger - and making Christmas cookies with my grandchildren last year.
-Inviting Christmas caroler friends in for cookies and hot cocoa.
-Playing euchre with my siblings during the wee hours or the morning, laughing til I cried and making entirely too much noise.
-Going to grandma's house and wondering if Santa would know I was sleeping there Christmas eve.
-Taking the kids out to chop down a too-short, too-fat tree in order that we could surprise their father. (Thankfully, later that week he went and picked out a more acceptable one!)
-Having too many friends and family members gloriously crammed into my living and dining room for Christmas eve dinner.
-Singing worship songs with my parents, brothers, sister, nieces and nephews.
-Listening to my father-in-law share a Christmas devotional before anyone could touch the presents.
-And as I sit here next to my husband by the warm crackling fire writing about cherished memories, it occurs to me, here we are in yet another lovely Christmas moment.

Celebrate Jesus with the ones you love. The most special memories always have the most special people in them.

Taking time

I have a good friend, Aaron, who said something to me a few days ago, that has stuck with me. He said, "We're all too busy. We need to encounter Jesus every single day!" I couldn't agree more, though I confess my busy-ness sometimes consumes the day so quickly in the morning, that I don't say much more to the Lord than "Hi" and "Bye" before I'm off and running. To be quite honest, this is not an unusual occurrence for the last month of the year. Sometimes I find myself trying to get "reacquainted" with the Lord in January. It's ironic to me that the season, which is devoted to recalling and honoring the birth of our Savior, gets so filled with activities surrounding our celebration, that we forget to actually take the time to encounter Jesus, our Immanuel. He is my everything - and I want Him as part of my every day.

I wonder what you think of when you hear the word "encounter". I think of something that consists of more than "Hi" and "Bye". Encountering the Lord takes intentional pursuit of Him, though He is not far and certainly not shielded from us. It requires that I stop what I'm doing, stop the lists I'm making in my head, stop doing the 'next thing' and sit down. I'm not sure it requires words, on the other hand, I find when I fix my gaze upon Jesus, consider who He is and His love for me, words sort of naturally flow as a response from my heart. Jesus.

I believe it also requires that I take time to listen. Listen to His still, small voice and receive His life flow into my heart. It means for me, a reconsecration to His purpose and will for my day, my week, my life. "Ahhh, this is all about You, Jesus. I love You. Show me Your heart." Encounter means we sit together for a while and connect. "

Take a minute (or two or ten) and consider Who Jesus Is - today, right now. Hear Him and respond to Him, deeply. Take a moment now to let His life and love flow freely in you and let it fill you with joy, peace, strength and all the grace you need for this day. And then return your love for Him in sincere worship - if only for this moment.

Jesus.

Keep Christmas in December!

So here's a short but helpful hint to simplifying Christmas and decreasing the stress load...

Consumer Reports just released a study that found 13.6 million Americans are still paying of credit card debt from the 2009 holidays. (I got this from Dave Ramsey.)

He wisely reminds us to keep Christmas in December! We need to remind ourselves and our loved ones that little Johnny won't become an axe murderer just because he didn't get some plastic stuff for Christmas. Let's commit to buy what we can afford based on our budget, then draw a line and stick to it! I think our Christmas holidays will be merrier, and we will enjoy less stress knowing that we gave out of what we had - and not what we borrowed. May God provide for your needs and grant you wisdom to know where the line is on spending this Christmas season.