Choose Joy in the Journey

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 c...

I flew out to San Diego days before the kids left town for their well deserved R&R.  Alongside my daughter, I learned the routine of the household so that the transition would be an easy one when the “changing of the guard” took place.  My daughter posted instructions on the computer lest I forget which days I must water and when the garbage truck comes.  I reviewed the written reminders.  My eyes dropped down to paragraph three, “In case of an earthquake…” I peeked out the window, past the front yard into the street-- the designated safe place.  The plants, homes, gardens looked lovely!  But I believe in earthquakes and that all it takes for this perfect scene to come crashing down is a crack underneath the foundation where no one sees . Sometimes we Christians have cracks.  Where do cracks come from?  They come from broken spirits leaving us wounded.  How does this happen? Wounds come to us this way: 1.  ...