Hope

My heart is sad tonight. During this week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, most of us are enjoying some relaxing family time – playing games, watching movies, and just having fun together. But, this evening, there are a couple of families who are dear to my heart who are experiencing some incredibly difficult things, and my heart aches for them.

As I’ve been thinking about them and praying for them, the verse that keeps coming to mind is this: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred – to be re-visited at a later time – a hope to be fulfilled at a later date and perhaps in a way that we had not expected. Yes, our hearts are sick. Yes, we wonder why. Yes, we cry out to God and beg him for a miracle. But, no matter the outcome, all is not lost. Hope is still there – waiting in the wings – waiting for another place and another time - when all will become clear and hope at last will be fulfilled.

So, tonight I pray, and I weep, and I believe - and I hope...

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Healing - a Christmas Gift

Emmanuel – God with us – Wonderful – Counselor – the Everlasting Father – the Prince of Peace. These are just a few of the names that are ascribed to Jesus in the prophecies foretelling His birth. But, the name that I’ve been drawn to this week as I’ve been meditating on Christmas is Jehovah Rapha – the God who heals. I know it’s a name that we associate more with the Easter story than with Christmas, but the events of those two holidays are completely intertwined. Without Christmas, there wouldn’t have been an Easter.

Psalm 103:1-5 says:

"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits –
Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."

When God sent His son to the earth, He provided everything that we need for life and health and strength and salvation. It was – and is – His gift to us. All we have to do is receive it.

My family has been richly blessed this year, and there are piles of presents under our tree just waiting to be opened. But, all of them pale in comparison to the gift of a tiny baby born on that night so long ago in Bethlehem.

If you need healing this Christmas – physical, emotional, or spiritual – remember that gift has already been placed here for you and it’s just waiting for you to reach out and take it.

Joseph

When it comes time to read the Christmas story, most people automatically turn in their Bibles to Luke chapter 2. This account paints a beautiful picture of Mary and the events that surrounded her as she gave birth to baby Jesus on that first Christmas night. I love this passage of scripture, but it really minimizes the role of one of my favorite characters from the Christmas story – Joseph.

I personally think that Joseph was pretty amazing, and the account of Jesus’ birth found in the first chapter of Matthew gives us some insight into Joseph’s story. Think about it – Joseph found out that his fiancée was pregnant – by someone else! He had to be crushed – not to mention a little bit angry – and I would imagine that Mary’s story about what had happened didn’t really make him feel any better… Until, an angel appeared to him in a dream and confirmed what had happened. The angel instructed him to take Mary as his wife and to give the baby the name Jesus. And, then comes the amazing part – Matthew 1:24 says: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” He didn’t argue with the angel. He didn’t say – I need to pray about it. He didn’t say – I need to talk to my mentors about it. He didn’t say – NO! He immediately did what the Lord commanded. That took faith and obedience. And, in his obedience, Matthew 1:22 tells us that he helped to fulfill a prophecy about the Messiah.

Fast forward to the visit of the wisemen: After they had left the family, an angel appeared again to Joseph and instructed him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt in order to protect the child’s life. What was Joseph’s response? Matthew 2:14 says “So (Joseph) got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.” He didn’t argue – He didn’t ask if he could wait until the morning – He didn’t explain how that really wasn’t a good idea since they didn’t know anyone in Egypt – He did ask where they would stay or how long they would be there. He just got up and went. Again, he showed himself to be a man of faith and obedience. And, again, he helped to fulfill a prophecy about the Messiah (Matthew 2:15).

His story continues much the same way throughout the rest of the second chapter of Matthew. God would speak, and Joseph would immediately obey. His heart was towards God. He had no idea of the importance of his actions. He didn’t realize that he was fulfilling prophecies. He didn’t fully understand God’s plan for this tiny baby that had been entrusted into his care for the few short years that He would live here on this earth. But, he loved the boy Jesus as his own child. He picked him up when he fell down. He tucked him into bed at night. He taught him the trade of carpentry. We don’t really hear much about Joseph after those short chapters in Matthew, but we know he was there – always in the background, always watching as the boy Jesus became a man, never turning back from the task that had been given him. A man of faith and obedience – a man who played an integral part in God’s plan to save the world…

Are you sleeping?

My thoughts this week are turned towards Christmas – and I’m sure that most of yours are as well. I’m trying to make sure that I get all of the last-minute Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped, and food prepared for our big Christmas Eve dinner with our family. But more than that, I’ve been thinking about the real reason for the season.

The events surrounding that first Christmas night are pretty amazing. If you stop and think about it from the perspective of the characters who actually experienced it, you realize that they must have been pretty much blown away by what happened. But, what about all of the people who were there that night in Bethlehem and missed it all? There were masses of people in Bethlehem that night because of the census – so many that there weren’t any rooms left for Mary and Joseph when they arrived. But, most – if not all – of those people were completely unaware of the miracle that was taking place right in their own backyard.

I heard a great song on the radio this morning called While You Were Sleeping by Casting Crowns. The chorus says:

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man and stepped into your world today.
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King.
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

How many of us are essentially asleep at the wheel as we navigate through life? Do we see the miracles that are taking place around us every day – because they surely are happening. Or, do we miss the wonder and power of God stepping into our everyday lives because we’ve been lulled into complacency by the world around us…

I’m going to take some time this week to ponder the miracle of Christmas and the many ways that it is still changing the world some 2000 years later. I’ll be sharing more thoughts throughout the week. In the meantime, check out this great song by Casting Crowns.

Snow Day

This week has really highlighted the craziness that comes along with being a working mom. Take Thursday, for example. We went to bed on Wednesday night with the threat of frozen precipitation and a 2-hour delay already in place for the area schools. So, I got up at 5:30 on Thursday morning (as per usual) thinking that I would get a few things done before school and work only to find snow on the ground, freezing rain coming down, and the schools cancelled for the day. I adjusted my expectations and my plan, and my day went something like this:



Read and respond to work e-mail for about an hour until oldest daughter gets up. Get breakfast for oldest daughter. Continue with work e-mail, rescheduling meetings to accommodate working from home in the morning. Younger daughter gets up. Make breakfast for younger daughter. Help older daughter start on Christmas project for her aunts and uncles. Go into office and close door. Participate in conference call with colleague from Denmark. Finish call and check on girls. Check work e-mail yet again. Make cookies and put them in the oven to bake while I pull together several documents needed for an afternoon meeting. Help daughters again with Christmas project. Participate in prep call for afternoon meeting. Put in a load of laundry. Check work e-mail and respond to phone mail. Send children outside with hubby to walk to the neighbor’s house. Put
laundry in the dryer. Finish up several loose ends for work. Finish getting ready to go out. Grab a quick sandwich. Write note to hubby with instructions for lunch and helping girls finish homework and Christmas crafts. Bundle up and venture out into the weather in order to get to the office for a 2:00 meeting. Dodge deer and ice-laden pine trees hanging into the road in order to get to
highway. Get to office only to find that I forgot to print out documents for meeting. Frantically search for printer in my manager’s office building. Meet with my manager, his manager and the CEO. Have follow up meeting with my manager. Call other stakeholders to report on results of meeting. Navigate icy roads to get back home. Sit down with computer while children are outside. Pay
bills online. Finish work on picture calendars for aunts and uncles and place online order, hoping they will get here in time for Christmas. Realize that it’s time for dinner. Start pulling together pulled pork sandwiches and baked potatoes only to find that there aren’t any burger-style buns in the house. Improvise by using hotdog buns for pork sandwiches. Eat dinner with family. Clean up kitchen and load dishwasher. Watch Christmas show with family. Put children to bed. Straighten family room. Fold laundry from earlier in the day. Lay down on the bed about 10:00 and try to watch a movie. Proceed to fall asleep with lights on and TV blaring.



I am extremely thankful that I work for a company that lets me work from home on days when the kids are out of school unexpectedly. That flexibility is so important to me! But, days like Thursday make me feel a bit schizophrenic as well. I tend to compartmentalize my life a bit in order to separate work (and the stress that sometimes comes along with it) from family. On days like Thursday, all of those lines become impossibly blurred.

I was thinking about all of this today, and it occurred to me that the Proverbs 31 woman took on all of that and more during one of her days – and she did it with such grace and dignity that her family stood up and praised her. I’ll give myself some credit for somehow managing to keep all of the balls in the air most of the time, but I have to confess that I don’t always maintain a positive attitude. Sometimes, I can get downright cranky. And, there are days when I’m pretty sure that my family would like to trade me in for another model.

I admit that like many women, I am not particularly fond of the Proverbs 31 woman. She’s a bit intimidating to say the least. But, I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to take another look at her. She was obviously a busy lady, and she still had a great attitude. I love that in verse 25 it says that she could “laugh at the days to come.”

So, I pray that I will learn how to take on the busy-ness of my days with the same strength and grace and dignity that was portrayed by the Proverbs 31 woman. And, I pray that when all is said and done, that my family will call me blessed.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” Proverbs 31:30-31

Worship Wednesday - Waiting

What comes to mind when you hear the word "waiting"? For me, the word conjures up an image of frustration - toes tapping, arms crossed, brow creased - counting down the seconds until some event finally occurs so that I can get on with the next thing on my to-do list.

However, as I've been preparing my heart for the Christmas season, I've started to develop a new perspective. If you think about Christmas, it's really all about waiting. Except, in this case, waiting brings to mind a sense of hopeful anticipation‎ and ultimately results in longing fulfilled. As the waiting draws to a close, it signifies a wonderful new beginning more than the end of a season.

Think of Simeon and Anna who had waited their whole lives to see the Messiah - patiently and expectantly hoping for His appearance. Think of their joy when their hope was finally fulfilled in Jesus. (Luke 2:22-40)

Or, think of the children who start counting down the days to Christmas as soon as summer vacation ends. Think of their excitement as they anticipate the wonder of Christmas morning and the presents that will be waiting for them under the tree.

When you think about waiting in that context, it looks a lot less like something that should be avoided at all costs. In fact, I'm beginning to think that waiting is one of those disciplines that we should embrace as part of our worship unto the Lord.

Consider this quote:

"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. ... Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting - that is, of hopefully doing without - will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As you prepare for Christmas, are you waiting with an open heart and an expectant spirit - or are you frantically rushing through your to-do list with your mind set on just getting through the season?

I think the writer of this hymn understood the importance of waiting:

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit,
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Time...

I read a couple of great blog posts this week about time. They came at the subject from slightly different angles, but the gist of both posts was that if we learn to manage ourselves, then time (or the lack thereof!) suddenly becomes much less of an issue. John Maxwell makes the point that we need to manage our lives, not our time, because ultimately, we all have the same amount of time. It’s up to us how we use it. And, in Greg Darley’s words, he’s “calling bull” on all of us who use the excuse that we don’t have enough time to pursue our passions. He says the time is now!

As a busy working mom who’s trying to squeeze in time around the edges for my passion for worship and music – as well as finding time to work on my newest passion – this blog – I frequently find myself thinking, “I don’t have time.” However, if I’m really truthful, I should probably be saying, “I don’t make time.” I know that there’s a balance because I do need to spend time with my husband and my kids – and I have to eat and sleep occasionally – but I probably play the time card more often than I should.

I guess that a lot of it comes down to good old self-discipline and making good decisions about what we are – and aren’t – going to do. It also requires giving some thought ahead of time to what’s really important. If that’s settled, then it becomes much easier to prioritize and make the right choices when faced with options about how to spend our time.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

Worship Wednesday

I love the Christmas season, and I love the songs that go along with it. I heard this song for the first time a few years ago when my hubby took me to a Michael W Smith Christmas concert, and I always think of it as we enter this season. It speaks to me of the peacefulness and safety and comfort that can be found in the presence of Jesus - no matter what else is going on around us. I imagine what it must have been like to be there in the stable that night when Jesus was born, and I find hope because All is Well.