Christmas Gifts

So, once again it's that time of year. For Christians the time when we celebrate the coming of our Savior as a baby to die for our sins. For the rest of the world, it's a time to celebrate with gift giving and candy canes, trees and lights, Santa and reindeer. Funny, isn't it, everyone wants to complain about Jesus but everyone wants to get in on His birthday too! Anyway, that's not my point.

I will admit, I love to Christmas shop, I love to buy gifts, I love to have a jam packed tree and have a wonderful shock and awe display on Christmas morning. So, in years past, we have somehow managed to pack the tree beyond it's limits and depleted every resource we have to do so. This year, we don't have those resources. And my heart has been heavy as I think of all the extra space under the tree. I have been praying and asking God to help me, show me how to do this, how do I make this Christmas special, how do we give gifts, how do we make it memorable? I thought, well, let's cut back, duh, but what does that mean? So I said, how about 5 gifts each and we'll have each gift fall under a theme, like clothing - and then I got excited because I remembered how Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths and I thought, boy, maybe I could even make these 5 gifts significant and spiritual too! But, I couldn't figure out how to tie the rest of the themes into Jesus. So, back to square one and the frantic seeking of money. I continued to pray, God, there must be an answer!

We put up our tree after Thanksgiving and each year under the tree I put all of our fun little stuffed animals and whatnot. But this year I didn't want to do that. Instead I felt compelled to place the 3 boxes we have that represent the 3 gifts of the Magi under the tree, that was all. (You can probably see where this is heading, but I didn't get it.)

So, last night I got an e-mail from Heritage Builders, the headline was something about how many gifts should you give your kids. Woo-hoo! I'd found my answer, they were going to give me the key I was looking for. Funny thing is, God already gave it to me, but He was kind of subtle, so I guess He decided to get a little more obvious for me, He's such a good God.

Reading the e-mail it sounded just like everything I had been saying - the gifts, the overload, the let down, the stress. Then the answer came. Jesus was given 3 gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh, why not give 3 gifts as well - one to represent the gold given to Jesus - something special. One to represent the frankincense - something to aid our spiritual growth (frankincense was used in religious ceremonies), and one to represent myrrh - something practical (it was a spice used in burial, a very practical gift for someone who came to die, don't you think?) So there it was, I looked at our beautiful tree with the 3 boxes underneath, the boxes now seemed to cry out to me (why this didn't happen before, I'm not quite sure, maybe because I just couldn't imagine Christmas without all the stuff).

The Christmas story is so simple, so beautiful, so why then does the season turn so complicated and chaotic? Shouldn't my family's Christmas look different than the world's Christmas? How can I keep my children really focused on why we celebrate when there are "things" yelling for their attention? Isn't the best possible gift I could give my children a firm foundation on the things of God, not the things of the world?

I sit and I think of what Jesus' birth means to me. Yes, it means I get to receive Him as my Savior and spend eternity with Him in paradise, but it means so much more even in this moment. It means I can enter the throne room of grace boldly and climb on my Daddy's lap and have an intimate relationship with the God of the universe. It means I can have peace in the midst of uncertainty, I can have joy in the midst of hardship, I can have wisdom in the midst of confusion. I live a blessed life. Maybe not in the way the world measures blessing, but I wouldn't trade my version of blessed for theirs any day. And I am blessed because of a baby born to die for me.

So I challenge you - to make this Christmas really about Jesus and giving our kids the greatest gift, let's not just tell our kids over and over,"it's not about the presents, it's about Jesus' birthday", and then we give them hundreds of dollars in gifts... don't you think that's a little contradictory?

My prayer is that when the tree comes down and the decorations are put away and the gifts are forgotten about, I will have given my children a greater understanding of our King and His love for us, and that is a gift they will carry throughout their lives and never forget.

Christians and vampires, can they mix?

Can someone please explain to me why Christians are so enthralled with vampires? Why are we so intrigued with the darkness? Why do we want to entertain it in our minds and before our eyes? Why was their such an outrage about Harry Potter but now those same parents allow their kids to read and watch all the vampire garbage? Where are our standards? Are they liquid? Able to move freely as we so choose? Or are we what we really say we are, believers of The Word - I'm pretty sure vampires don't fall in the category of whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report. It really bothers me that we are so easily sucked into the enemies games and call it entertainment.

Past The Wishing

So, I am sitting here in front of the computer while my wonderful husband is making dinner. How blessed am I! I have been contemplating a lot today. On Wednesday we will celebrate 9 years of marriage. Hard to believe, especially since we knew each other for 5 years before we got married. So, I'm kind of taking inventory of my life, since I'm certainly not getting any younger, nor will I ever. I can look around me and see so much that I am grateful for. I have 3 beautiful kids, a husband who loves me unconditionally, a house, opportunity to sing (perhaps my heart's deepest desire), my husband has a steady paycheck, I've got a sweet as can be dog, the list goes on and on. Why then are the things that play over and over in my mind not these things?

It seems I am constantly plagued by wishful thinking. I wish we were out of debt. I wish I would lose weight. I wish we had a bigger house. I wish, I wish, I wish. Well, I'm so incredibly tired of wishing. I do not live in a Disney movie, so wishing isn't going to get me anywhere. So how do I put to rest these struggles?

I believe I need to be proactive in my life against these things in order to feel like things are moving in the right direction. It seems all I've done is a lot of wishing, a lot of good intentions and a whole lot of lack of results!

I started the biggest loser club for 23 people - have I really pushed myself at all in the three weeks since it started? No. Talk about loser! So today, today I decided it would be different. Someone asked me, 'how bad do you want it?' Good question. How bad do I want to lose this horrible weight that has sucked up way too much of my life? How bad do I want to taste the freedom of being debt free? How bad do I want to have a home that I'm proud of - regardless of size or location?

It's time for a change. I set goals for myself for the week for my weight loss journey - this week I am going to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, 5-6 days this week. I am also going to write down everything I eat. Then I started thinking about this whole goal thing. Maybe that's how I need to attack all these issues. Set goals. Small, attainable goals that lead to big, overall change.

What is my financial goal for the week? I am researching ways to cut our bills, looking at ditching the cable and home phone and also getting a quote for insurance. This will be done by the end of the week, with decisions made and change in place.

What is my homemaking goal for the week? I am going to go through the clothes that the baby has already outgrown and bag them up. I am going to come up with a game plan to deal with the day to day upkeep of the house.

What is my marriage goal for the week? I am going to make lunch for my husband.

What is my Jesus goal for the week? I am going to spend at least 15 minutes a day with Him, reading, journaling and praying.

That's a lot to start - but I can take a deep breath and feel positive about being proactive. No, everything isn't fixed, yes, the thoughts and frustrations will still come. But I will be moving forward toward the life that I've always wished for.

I love the Sara Groves song Past the Wishing -

I’m standing at the foot of this mountain
Wishing so bad that I could touch that sky
But in the time it takes to make my wish
I never take a step and I never try
I wish that I were closer to Jesus
But not enough to get me out of bed
For an early morning prayer before the
Rushes of my life take me instead
I'm past the wishing
Past the wishing
Past the wishing
I'm gazing in these deep well waters
Where the pennies of my life have all been cast
I’ve decided I am going to save my money
To do something that lasts
You've shown me my man of Macedonia
You're calling me further on
And I'm tired of saying it's a nice idea
I wish it could be done
I don't wish that I could go I am going
I don't wish that I could be I am being
I don't wish that I could do it I am doing
By the grace of God I am doing


I am past the wishing.

Confidence

Are you feeling deflated? Not so sure about the journey that lies before you? Were you all excited, but now the excitement has died down? When we start a journey, many times the beginning can be so filled with positive emotions - joy, excitement, expectation. Then we really begin. Take for instance a long car trip. We have driven to Michigan to see family a couple of times and getting ready to go is always so exciting. The kids are coming out of their skin to get on the road, mom and dad are looking forward to a break from the normal routine and everyone wants to see what's waiting at the end of the road. Then you hit hour 8 and those initial feelings are all but gone. It's now too hard, your butt hurts from sitting for so long, the company is whiny and nitt-picking, the scenery doesn't seem to change much and you wonder if the family waiting on the other end is really worth all this trouble, wherever you are at that moment looks like a great place for a vacation!

Isn't that similar to the life of a dieter? When we start on a plan to change our lives we're so excited, this time is going to be it! We have great expectations for ourselves and we can even see in our minds the result of the journey. Then we get a week or two into the trip and we're wondering what the heck we were thinking. This is hard, the scale isn't moving as fast if at all, maybe I'm just meant to stay this way. The temptation to stay where you are or turn back is always lingering. Where did the confidence go?

The Bible says, "Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 2 Corinthians 3:4-5. I am completely incompetent in and of myself, I cannot place my confidence in that - I am unable to take this journey to the end. I may be able to start on my own, but I won't last. No, I must be confident in Christ Jesus who lives in me, through Him I am competent, because it's Him in me!

So where are you placing your ability to walk out this journey? Are you depending on yourself, your strength, your resolve, your determination? If so, you will fail. We must rely wholly on Christ. He is the only One who can take us to the final destination, and He promises that the final destination is worth every grueling mile of the trip. He will not fail us, He will hold us up, He will deliver us from temptation, He will encourage us, He will give us wisdom, He will guide our steps... as we place our confidence in Him, as we rely on Him.

More than losing weight, this is about dying to ourselves, every bit of ourselves, so that we can live the life that God has imagined for each one of us. So walk in confidence, hold your head up high and look to the One who goes before us, walks beside us and guards behind us.


"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
— Henry David Thoreau


Confident