When Christmas is Over

I spent weeks planning and shopping and five days baking, cooking, cleaning and preparing.  

I made cake pops with some helpful tips from Alyssa at Loving Life 365.  (They turned out much better than last time.)

I baked gingersnaps and dipped them in white chocolate.  Mmmmm.

I decorated sparkling sour cream sugar cookies.

I stirred together a marbled chocolate bark recipe.

I whipped up chocolate covered cheesecake squares and maple sugar candy.

I served, among several other things, cheese and crackers, bacon-wrapped jalapenos, veggies and dip, and gingerbread men with a pumpkin dip (thanks to a good friend).  The table was full, and that night, so was my house.  It was wonderful.  

We ate the yummies, shared lots of laughter, played for a prize, exchanged ornaments.

And cookies.

The fellowship was delicious.

And then it was over. 

There are just a few days left of Advent.  A few more days of lighting hope, love, peace and joy until the light of the Christ child flames.  There are just a few days left of baking and wrapping and secretive smiles and whispered conversations.

And then it will be over.

The lights will come down, the presents will be put away, the ornaments that mean so much stored for another year.  The anticipation of Christmas packed away.

But not the anticipation of the Christ.

I still wait for Him.  And I will keep Christmas.

"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."  Revelation 22:12-13

Come, Lord Jesus.

Keeping Christmas by counting gifts #530 - 550:
 
beautiful cookies brought by beautiful women

Christmas joy

hugs and laughter

sparkling glass dishes

red candles in white snow

a snow day for The Thinker

the question, "Mom, can we pray?"

holding a newborn baby

playing in the snow with my children and my best friend's boys

safely driving on the white stuff

trees laced with snow

The Stinker's first public piano performance

glittering cattails on a frozen pond

finding the perfect tree with my mom and dad

Christmas Town at the Creation Museum

a live nativity

thousands of lights

good in-laws to share the experience with

the story told anew

The Savior

the expectation of His return

When Christmas is Over

Light Leads to Light

The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  Matthew 2:9

The wisemen, led by a star, were brought to The Star.

A star rises from Jacob, a scepter from Israel.  Numbers 24:17

The wisemen, led by light, were brought to The Light.

And now the LORD says . . . "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."  Isaiah 49:6

Jesus, the Light of the World, tells us to follow Him and do as He has done.  We are to be light to those around us.  We are to love as He loves and give as He gives.  We are to live righteously, in goodness and truth.  We are to make the most of every opportunity, to reach out to those in need, so that we clearly reveal The Way for them.  We are to illumine the world around us so that others may see and know The Light that came to those walking in great darkness 2,000 years ago still shines today through us. 

We are to shine like stars to lead others to The Star.   

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 

 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Isaiah 60:1-3

Let's live lives worthy as children of light.  Let's shine.

For more thoughts on The Light of the world, visit Internet Cafe Devotions.

Light Leads to Light

Pondering the Gifts

Christmas is a time for reflection.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19

As I reflect on the cherished ornaments and keepsakes that have been given to me  

and made .  .

as I pull out these treasures that remain hidden in a box for much of the year,

I take the time to remember. 

These gifts stir in my heart memories of days past and point to people that are special to me.  My husband who knows me.  My grandmother, now waiting on the other side.  My friends in other parts of the world.  My mom who knits love and her grandmother before her who did the same.  My children and their preschool days.

While the gifts are beautiful to me, it is the people that are the true treasures.

And when I reflect on the gifts, I'm invariably led back to the Giver who became Gift, and I ponder the Person who is Christmas. 

I treasure His words and ponder them in my heart.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.  Isaiah 9:6

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.  James 1:17

Thanks be go God for his indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 9:15

Pondering and giving thanks for these treasures, these God-whispers, #511 - 529:

memories hanging on the tree

my grandma and grandpas, whom I still miss and will until we meet again

a happy childhood

my husband's thoughtful gifts

Christmas baking

the smell of cinnamon and sugar cookies

warm slippers

thick, fuzzy blankets

the silky feel of Baby Girl's hair as I read to her

sitting between The Thinker and The Stinker during The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

knowing Aslan by his many names here

a church Christmas program

my Christmas angel

and wisemen

the sweetness of an old story told in a fresh way

Christmas greetings from friends and strangers

tucking my children in each night

the angels who watch over them (Matthew 18:10)

a God who gives constant attention to each of us

Pondering the Gifts

God Whispers

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 

1 Kings 19:11-12

God whispers. 
He leans near and speaks softly, gently, closely. 
He breathes words of life and love and truth into our lives.

Let's still ourselves and listen for Him -- this one called Immanuel, God with us.  Let's not miss Him because we are waiting for the grand, earth-shattering signs and trumpeting voice. 

He entered the world quietly once, and continues to speak softly to our hearts today. 

Listen.

Look for God-whispers in His Word at Internet Cafe Devotions.

God Whispers

Taking the Ordinary and Making Us Good

There is something wondrous in taking the ordinary . . . .

and making it special.

There is something almost magical about taking something that is almost nothing . . . .

and creating beauty.

When we create, I think we feel a bit of that satisfaction that the Creator might feel when He looks at us as we grow and mature. I picture the smile on His face as He works in us and through us, as He molds us from meaningless and gives us purpose.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at.
2 Corinthians 4:7-8, The Message

We may not look like much, but in time, as we follow Him and His plan for our lives, God makes our lives beautiful.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

We are His.  His creation.  His handiwork.  Made for His own pleasure.  (Ephesians 1:5)

God saw all the He had made, and it was very good.  Genesis 1:31

He made us well. 

He makes us good.





Counting ordinary and not-so-ordinary gifts #483 - 510:

helping The Stinker create Christmas crafts

glitter

things that sparkle . . .

including The Stinker's smile as he makes special

a house transformed

a heart transformed

ears to hear

God speaks

poinsettias, pink and red

candlelight

a drive to see Christmas lights

singing carols in the car

Rudolph and Prancer

silver bells

a first good snowfall

a world transformed

Baby Girl's first real snow experience

her excitement

her tantrum because she didn't want to stop playing

snow boots

tiny mittens

big brothers' snow fights

my mom's handiwork hung on the mantle

my best friend's newborn baby GIRL! (after two boys)

new life in the dark days of winter

Immanuel, God with us

The Creator stepping into creation

over half-way to 1,000 gifts and still amazed at how many blessings there are to count

Taking the Ordinary and Making Us Good

The Deaf Can Hear

I lay on my pillow in the hours of night when all should be sleeping and listen to the soft "woosh, woosh" of my heartbeat.  It is all I can hear in the silence.  My good ear is against the pillow, leaving my plugged ear up to miss all those faint night-time sounds.  Instead, I hear what sounds as an empty seashell that has long forgotten the sea.  Nothing but loud air.

For over two weeks now, this is what I have heard, with an occasional ringing breaking the silence or pain when my children speak too loudly.  The medicine I'm taking apparently hasn't made it's breakthrough yet.  I send up another prayer that God would speak life into my ear so that I can hear in that ear again.  I remind Him that He's done this before in much more serious situations.  He has made the lame walk, the blind to see, the truly deaf to hear.  This is nothing -- just a little plugging up for a week that is irritating and occasionally painful.

I wait in the silence, hoping He might just decide that now is a good moment, but there is no change.  So I hope for tomorrow . . . and for sleep.

It is as I am waiting for either to come, that I sense His words.  "Do not turn a deaf ear to Me.  Do not plug up your life with the busyness and business of this season so much that you ignore Me."

I am reminded of the warning in Proverbs 28:9, "If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable."

And my soul smiles.  For this God of mine has given me an opportunity to really hear.  He has indeed spoken words of life into my dysfunctional ear.  Lasting words.  Words that I may remember through the holiday season so that I may never forget the Promised One who brought healing and salvation.

"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert."

                                       Isaiah 35:5-6

May your eyes truly see and your ears truly hear this Christmas season, so that you dance and sing for the One who was and is and is to come!

To "hear" more of the Word, check out Internet Cafe Devotions. 

The Deaf Can Hear

Blessings Given and Taken

We drove through hours of rain this past week.  Pouring rain.  A cold rain that came in sheets and made seeing difficult (but that we gave thanks for because our land was still bone dry).  The roar of the rain combined with the cries from The Princess in the back seat to fill my head with sound louder than I thought I could stand.  I couldn't wait for the car ride to end, and we still had over an hour to go.  But we had a goal and a reward ahead.  Our friends.

Each year we travel to another part of the state, the one we used to live in, with its rolling hills and winding roads.  It was our home for seven years.  It was the place where our two boys were born.  And most of all, it was where I really discovered as an adult what a church family was. 

When we moved four years ago from that home and that place, we left behind part of our hearts.  We joined family here, and the blessings of living near them are many.  It was what I had always hoped would happen -- our moving back home.  I love having my children here near their grandparents.  I love living less than thirty minutes from my sis and closer to my best friend. 

But we left so many behind.  We left the people that became my family when my family was far away.  We left close friendships that can't be replaced.

Yesterday, as I sat across from my husband at a church meal with empty chairs beside us, the contrast was fresh in my mind.  Where before our table was full to overflowing with friends, it's now . . . not. 

"God gives, God takes.
God's name be ever blessed"  (Job 1:21, The Message).



Blessing God's name for gifts #457 - 482:

safety in traveling while the heavens poured

much-needed and asked-for rain

staying with friends

their gracious hospitality

maple pie (mmmmmm)

Baby Girl's quick attachment to Pocahontas

a hand-painted ornament from that Indian princess

a house full of memories

family away from family

Thanksgiving traditions

Christmas traditions

both trees up and decorated

Baby Girl hanging the first ornament

Christmas lights that work!

red everywhere (it's my favorite)

Christmas movies

most of my Christmas shopping completed

good deals

a sister who comes to my rescue

little girls in Christmas dresses

my boys saying prayers in the service at church

Baby Girl loves her sparkly shoes

communion at the table with my love

my husband across from me at the table each day

faithfulness

glimpses of eternity in the every day

Blessings Given and Taken