Christmas - "the most wonderful time of the year"?

I've never blogged before.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who struggles sometimes with looking forward to when Christmas is over! This year has been difficult for me and I reached a breaking point last Saturday.

This time of year can recall grief of loved ones lost, produce extra financial demands, create the urge to bless others - to make it a "special" time for others, and add extra chores and responsibilities to an already overwhelming schedule. In the midst of all this, the culture around us continually blasts the message that this season should be one of joy and memorable moments with loved ones. No wonder we can be left feeling stressed, lonely, exhausted and empty!

Fortunately, God knows this. And God knows us, better than we know ourselves. Even better, He can handle our raging emotions and doubts.

In the midst of despair and confusion, I ran away from what was "expected" of me and cried out to God. In case this sounds really spiritual, it wasn't! I slipped out of church service to pace the neighborhood, crying, with an overwhelming sense of despair and hopelessness.

Did God abandon me or ignore me? No. He did not. Did He answer all my questions and wipe away all my problems? No. He did not.

Did God meet me that night? Yes. He did. Did God bring along someone with "skin on" to help me? Yes. He did. Did I need to reach out and ASK for help? Yes. I did.

Is God faithful and true? Yes. He is. God reminded me of His faithfulness and love in the Psalms. This promise is for each of us.

"On the day I called, You (Lord) answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul. . . . For though the Lord is exalted, yet He regards the lowly (us), . . . Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me . . . and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting . . . !" Psalm 138: 3, 6-8

Does God love us? OH, YES, so very much!

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will EXULT over YOU with JOY. He will be QUIET (gentle) in His LOVE (for YOU). He will REJOICE over YOU with SHOUTS of JOY." Zephaniah 3:17

Celebrate Thanksgiving All Through the Holidays!

Pumpkin Pie. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. (It also helps that I can smell the warm sweet and spiced aroma of one baking right now!) I think it's the best dessert in the whole world because not only is it delicious, but it also symbolizes family, the holidays and festivity.

As the holidays officially kicked off with Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, I started to think about why thankfulness is worth celebrating every day of our lives and not just one day a year. During a recent talk at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group, I shared ideas for thriving in the midst of stress and helping our children do the same. Everyone was tuned in, probably more than anything because we all had the holidays around the corner and we all know how stressful this season can get with events, relationships or even grief over loved ones we've lost. The sense in the room was "How do I get through this as a woman AND parent my children through it all?"

We talked about things we can do to combat stress physically, emotionally and mentally. But at the end I shared how hope is our most potent strategy during times of stress. Hope in God's promises. Hope in His ultimate victory. Hope that whatever is stressing us out will end at some point! Then, as I drove to my aunt's home for Thanksgiving the next week, we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the highway. The tension began to build in my neck. I noticed I was breathing shallowly and starting to get angry when the kids began fighting while we were crawling along at 10 miles per hour, still 50 miles from my aunt's home. I was officially stressed! Oh yay, I thought resentfully, an opportunity to practice what I preach!

Then I realized something that might be even more important than any of the things I mentioned in my talk when it comes to stress: being thankful. The whole point of Thanksgiving is to think about what we're thankful for. I know we could each quickly rattle off a dozen things for which we're grateful. But if we spend a little more time (time, for example, while we are stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to holiday events...) and really put our minds to it, the list is literally endless. As we spend even a minute or two thinking about it, our mood shifts. I believe that is the living proof of God's promise:

"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation [help] of God" (Psalm 50:23).

Our choice to thank God in every circumstance honors Him and allows Him to show us His work in our lives. Isn't that what we want, more than anything else during the holidays and whatever hectic or intense situations accompany them - to know God is there with us, helping and walking along with us through each moment? That's definitely my hope.

As we continue into this holiday season, let's commit to choose thanks. Every time we do, it will bless God as an offering aroma sweet as that of pumpkin pie baking in the oven. It will model God's will to our kids. It will bless our relationships. And it will make us all a little lighter during the holidays.

Who doesn't want that, with all this good pie around?!

To Know and Be Known - Part 3

Yesterday I had the strangest encounter. I was out for my daily walk when I saw a petite, older woman in tatered clothing shuffling with a cane about to cross my path. Her head was down so she didn't see me. I slowed my steps to go around her and passed by wondering who she was, if she was homeless and if there was anything I could do for her. My heart was broken to watch her, but I really didn't know what to do.

As I continued my walk, I recalled a sermon my son Benjamin had preached a few weeks earlier from James 2, on faith without works is dead. Verse 15 particularly stood out in my mind, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily bread. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it." He also referred to Matthew 25 when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. To the sheep on His right he says, "I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink..."

I realized that I had to go out of my way not to run into this frail lady. "Jesus," I prayed, "did I just walk past You." "Did I just ignore You dear Lord" "Did I just pass up an opportunity for you to know me through service to this woman?"

I decided that after my walk, I would drive back to the place I had seen this ragged woman. When I did, there she was still wandering around. "Can I do anything to help you," I asked. Then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "What do you do?" I was so startled and wasn't quite sure how to answer her question. So I said the first thing that came to mind, "I teach women the Bible." A big smile lit up her face. "Where do you teach them," she asked. I told her the name of our church. Then she shocked me further by saying, "Do you have a card or an email address, I have been wanting someone to teach me the Bible."

I didn't have a card, but I did give her my name and email address along with the name of our church. She smiled and shuffled away. As she left I realized I hadn't done anything for her. So I called out again, "Can I do anything for you."

"No," she said, "I just want someone to teach me the Bible."

Did I encounter Jesus on my walk? I don't know. But I saw someone in need and instead of silently praying for them or saying, "God bless you," I asked them how I could help. I want Jesus to know me not just from His relationship as God, but I want Jesus to know me as I serve Him when I see the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the needy. With all my heart I want Jesus to say, "Yes, I knew you when you fed Me, when you clothed Me, when you took care of Me."

To Know and Be Known - Part 2

As you may know, I am a Starbucks regular. Twice a day, that's where you can find me. In the morning I get a venti black ice tea, no sweetener. And later in the afternoon, I get a 50 cent refill. I love Starbucks---the ambiance, the smell of fresh brewed coffee and the baristas. So recently when I felt led to fast Starbucks for 40 days, it was truly a sacrifice. During the forty days I went to other places to get ice tea, but it just wasn't the same.

When my fast was over, I gladly returned to my routine. For the first several days the barista's at my neighborhood Starbuck's asked me where I had been. "We were afraid you went to another store, or that you had moved or worse that something had happened to you."

In addition to the ambiance and the fresh coffee aroma, I love Starbucks because I am known. Often my drink is ready even before I get to the register. Almost every visit I am greeted by name and asked about my well being and my day. I also try to get to know the baristas. I ask their names and inquire how they are. I offer to pray for their needs and occasionally they seek me out to ask for prayer.

This seldom happens at other coffee shops and bookstores I frequent. And even though they may have good ice tea, I have found that I would rather go somewhere where I know and am known. So, I have a question for you dear reader. What does it mean to be known? How can God know us? (Read To Know and Be Known - Part 1)

To Know and To Be Known

I love to sing worship songs that express a desire to know the Lord. Because truly it is my heart felt prayer to know Him more and more. However, I shudder when I read the passage from Matthew chapter 7 that says, ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' " (Emphasis added)

It strikes a godly fear in my heart to read that there are some who will think they knew Him but were never known by Him. So in addition to the worship songs I sing and the prayers that I pray to grow everyday in my knowledge of God, I also pray that The Father would know me. I often use David's prayer from Psalm 139:23-24 as my own, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I have more thoughts on this passage. But I shared these few hoping to hear from you.

Time with the Maker

For the last few weeks I have been thinking a lot about a book I read to my kids every so often called "You are special!" by Max Lucado. The story is about the Wemmicks, small wooden people who were carved by a woodworker named Eli. Every Wemmick has been made uniquely. Yet... All day, every day the Wemmecks do the same thing. They give each other stickers. Golden star stickers are given to the pretty and talented wooden people. Ugly gray dots are given to the little ones, the chipped ones, the akward ones. (Sound familiar?)

One of the Wemmicks is different though. Her name is Lucia. She has no stars or dots on her. It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it was just that the stickers wouldn't stick, but would fall off. What made her different? Well, every day she would go and visit her maker, Eli, the woodcarver and every day when she would leave the stickers would fall away until over time, they wouldn't even stick at all. Why didn't the sticker stick? The maker spoke softly "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them. The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers... Just come and see me every day and let me remind you how much I care. Remember, you are special because I made you, And I don't make mistakes."

Are you tired of the dots and stars? Do you look at yourself in the mirror and count the stickers, good and bad, that others have stuck on you? I like this story, because it doesn't focus on the people doing the sticking. It doesn't attempt to teach the community to stop the sticker placing. We all do it, we all succumb to it. We can spin our wheels trying not to care what others think. But like the Wemmecks it is our nature. Instead this story focuses our energy on how to live a life where what God thinks of us is all that matters. That's when the stickers can't stick. How do we live this life? By spending time with our maker. Only then can we hear what HE thinks of us over the roar of the crowd. When we spend time with him, the stickers fall off. It doesn't happen immediately, it takes many days, and months of time with Him. But if we spend time daily with our God, we too will be stickerless. I believe it is then that we can truly reflect and glow with the light of Christ because we won't have all those stickers in the way.

As we enter our summer, for many women, this means our regularly scheduled activities are on hold. With little to anchor our days, with vacations and kids underfoot, it will be easy to forget to set aside time with our Maker. Yet how freeing and releasing it would be if our summer is rich with time in God's word. How exciting our fall will be as a community of Christian women if we are a group that is like Lucia, where the stickers just can't stick anymore. Let's encourage each other to be in the word this summer. Let's seek to be a community who releases women to be true to their Maker and His desire for their lives. Let's get excited with each other as we watch those stickers fall away because we are a group who seeks after God, spending time in His word, in prayer and in listening to His kind words of affirmation. As He whispers softly to us "You are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes.

I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth...?

Isaiah 51:12,13

EASTER

Who is this who comes forth from the tomb, with new garments from the bed of death?

He is the One who comes out of Zion, wearing His garments of beautiful colors.

He is the One who is glorious in His appearance, walking in the greatness of strength.

He is your King! He is your Lord! He has saved us from our sins.

He has stained His body with His own blood for this purpose.

He was beaten and bruised, crucified because of Love.

But now, He springs from the womb of the tomb and greets the morning of His resurrection.

He arises, a conqueror from the grave.

He returns with blessings from His Father, for He has made a way for us to meet His Father and call Him "our Father".

It is Christ Alone who brings salvation to all who will hear His words and call on His name.

Was there ever a day so glorious?

None more glorious than the day when our sweet Jesus sprung from the tomb!

Happy and Blessed Easter to you! He is Risen - Hallelujah!!

Feeling alone surrounded by others

Well the retreat is now behind us and we are back to our everyday routines. I don't know about you but I loved everything about the retreat: the speakers, the fellowship, the food, the hot tubs, my roommates, the small groups, the times of prayer and the beautiful and peaceful grounds of the conference center. Upon reentry home, I looked forward to reviewing my notes, checking my prayer pocket and especially contemplating the words on my mask. (For those of you who were unable to be with us on Sunday morning, Traci gave each of us a paper plate mask. On one side we wrote words to describe how we saw ourselves---warts and all. On the other side we wrote words to describe how God sees us. We shared these in our small groups and we helped each other find more words to describe how God saw us.) But alas, in the midst of stripping beds, carrying suitcases and loading cars I misplaced my notebook, prayer pocket and mask. So I have had to use my menopausal memory to recapture all the I gleaned from our weekend away. I confess one memory that continues to haunt me is a word that more than one woman put on the "how we see ourselves" side of the mask. It was the word ALONE or LONELY!
Isn't it amazing that on the outside we can be surrounded by people, even people we know and love, and on the inside we feel all alone? Three times, in my 30 years of walking with the Lord, I have experienced seasons of loneliness. Each time I have called out to the Lord for friends. The first time, I needed Christian friends. The second time, I needed a community of friends. While, the third and longest season I was crying out for a "kindred spirit" kind of friend. The Lord eventually answered each of those prayers. However, the most important lesson I learned through those long and lonely seasons was that Jesus is my always friend!
How about you? Are you alone or feeling lonely? It is my heartfelt prayer for the Lord to meet you wherever you may be in your alone place. I pray above all that He will reveal to you His desire to be your ever present and forever friend, that He will provide you with true and faithful friendships and that you will know that you are never alone!

Listen to the Truth, Leave the Lies Behind

Who I Think I Am (What Lies do I Believe?)

• Not blessed
• Not Special
• Without excuse
• Not cared for
• Would God accept me?
• Condemned
• A pauper

Who God Says I Am (What Truths does God Give Us?)

• Eph 1 Blessed Chosen – a daughter
• Forgiven - released
• Loved
• Adopted
• Rom 8:1 Free from condemnation
• I Peter 2:9, 10 Royalty
• 2 Peter 1: 3 Everything supplied

Reflection Questions

• Do you believe within the depths of your soul, that God has created you in His image?
• What do you worry about? What holds you back from releasing your fears to the Lord?
• What crises or difficult situations have you recently experienced? What have you learned that might be helpful to you or others in future crises?
• Sometimes it is hard to see any blessings in stressful situations while we are going through them. In looking back on difficulties, how did God use it for good? What were the blessings that you experienced during your trials?
• Who influences you in your life in ways that have shaped how you respond to difficult circumstances? Is their influence one that helps you or hinders you? Who would you like to influence you in the future?