Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2015

Best Christmas in Years

Post after post on social media seems to exclaim:  “This is the best Christmas in years!”  I shout “Amen!” as I read them and join in the excitement of my friends.  That’s how I feel this Christmas too!  It has been one of the best in years.  That’s because God did what we could not do! I’ m basking in the love God has for His children.  His desire is for families to be reconciled to Him and to each other.  Reconciliation!  Oh, the freedom of it! Ephesians 2:14 says:   For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. I listen to songs proclaiming the peace of Christmas and read the words in Christmas cards.  This year that peace fell upon our home and our family as we experienced the gift of it in a long awaited prayer request for someone dear to us.  As we enjoy our days together this week, we can’t stop talking about the goodness

Christmess

I heard a great truth during one of my pastor’s sermons during December and it grabbed a hold of me.  He said:  “I think Christmas should be changed to “ Christmess .  Because when Jesus is invited into our messes,  He rescues us from all of our shame, all of our depression, all of our sickness,  all of our sinful choices.” That line stayed with me throughout this holiday season carving new life in my soul and in the way I pray for myself and others. Yesterday I overheard my husband speaking on the phone to our youngest granddaughter.  “ I’m happy you are coming to Papa’s house and I can’t wait to see you.  We have lots of toys and lots of lights.” We have lights! I pray that to be so spiritually as well.   1 John 1:5 states that Jesus is the light.  In Him there is no darkness at all.  No messes; He is perfect.  I ponder the messes I create and realize my need for Him to clean them up as only He can and fill my soul and my home with His light.  T

Abba's Lap

I noticed a behavior pattern in little Amy, twenty months old, that I want to imitate.  She moves fast engaging in one toddler activity after another spinning like a whirlwind from one room to another.  Yet, she pauses,  intermittently , long enough to get refreshed.   I want to be like this grandchild of mine because she knows where to go and how to get comforted. Amy moves at record speed, putting more miles on a pedometer in one hour than my accumulated weekly workouts at the gym.  She can build a skyscraper so tall, I wonder why those bright pink Lego’s don’t topple to the ground as she continues to stack just one more piece on top. I learned never to leave the room to get another cup of coffee.  Once, when I returned, I found her climbing past the couch with hands and feet reaching for the living room drapes. She has a consistent habit that I admire.  In the midst of her activities, as she moves robustly from one play area to another, she pauses in front of her

Holiday Movie Comes to Life

It’s uncanny when a new holiday movie comes out and resembles your personal life.   I came clean to my husband on that drive to the Harkins in Sedona confessing that the movie got bad ratings.   It isn’t the type of movie that he would choose to see in the first place.   Rotten Tomatoes gave it one star.   My prince charming replied:   “ Let’s see what we think of it and rate it ourselves.”   Yes!   High five to his palm! It started out as a fun afternoon date.   It would have been perfect if the lady directly in front of me didn’t have on super-strength perfume.   Smells can be troublesome when you’re prone to headaches.   I stuck my head in a big bucket of buttered popcorn; you know-- to alleviate her fragrance, because popcorn smell is less offensive.   What else is a girl like me to do? We named the genre “drama with comedy.”   Cast of characters acted like the typical family scene at Christmas time.   On the drive to the show, we joked about what a Christ