It's Never Over

Yesterday was a day of affirmation for me in my classroom. We learned about Saint Nicholas, the real man who lived long ago and who embodied the giving spirit.  As they watched and as we discussed the meaning of Christmas, I was able to share the real story.  We talked about how the true story made Saint Nicholas want to be generous and having a heart that saw others' needs.  

One student said, "I'm not asking for anything for Christmas, except for my Nana to get here safely from Honduras."  Other students asked for "love in my house" and "for my family to be back together."  These kids have hearts and some of them are longing for hope and restoration and love.  

Is that so different from the rest of the world?  We see so much darkness, but we refuse to step outside into the darkness to shed some light.  

Christmas is never over...it should just be the beginning...

"It's Not Over"

"It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which
God can throw stars.
When we begin to think 
that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ
in a stable in Bethlehem,
that's just the time
that God will be born
in a place we can't imagine and won't believe.
Those who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes,
listening
always listening
for angel words."

Load to Bear

Do you ever feel like you are carrying a load?  

Do you have a burden that you are carrying for yourself or for someone else?

Has it been hard to walk your faith journey lately?  Is God calling you to go too far, or to carry more than you feel you can bear?

Think about a woman who is carrying a child for nine months.  As the child grows, her load gets heavier, breathing is more difficult, sleep becomes something of the past, and life just gets more difficult.

Mary experienced all of that.  And in the end, God called her to go further...to walk a long, hard journey when she was already carrying a heavy load.

When you feel as if you can't walk another step forward, when you want to sit down and have a melt down, when you feel like this thing you are called to bear is just too much...think about Mary.

And remember, maybe, just maybe, you are carrying Jesus with you every step of the way.  Perhaps your burden will become Jesus to you or to someone else.  Perhaps you are carrying the Light of the World...walk on.

Memories

I love Christmas.  I know a lot of people don't...and yes, it is commercialized, etc, but I still love it.  Perhaps it's because Christmas was a magical time when I was growing up. Grandma made the best sugar cookies and you couldn't eat too many.  Mama Jig took us shopping with her (the only time she went grocery shopping) for the ingredients for fruit cake.  We didn't really eat it, but it was still fun to watch her make it!  I know we didn't have a ton of money, but Mama and Daddy always made Christmas a time for miraculous gifts to appear under afghans and old quilts.  How we never saw them behind the couch, I will never know!  Jamie would come in and wake me up first and then we would drag Bethany out of the bed to see that "He came, Melodie!  He came!"  Shhhh...we can't wake Mama and Daddy up yet...so we sat in darkness by the Christmas tree.  On Christmas Eve we caroled to people in our church and opened gifts from each other.  My parents gave us money to buy a gift for our siblings and that was one of our favorite parts of Christmas.  Crab stew and broccoli cornbread on Christmas Eve...I'm telling you, my parents aren't perfect, but they did a jam up job of making life special, Christmas time and other times as well.

I'm going to miss them this year.  I'm not going to pretend like it won't be hard to be away from my family when we have so many memories and traditions together.  But, there's something about being away that simultaneously makes me appreciate them even more and be incredibly grateful for my family here.  I have a boyfriend who loves me in a way I can't even grasp.  I have his family who has adopted me and treats me like I've always been a part of their family.  I have friends who are family here in Jeff City.  I am loved and that is plenty.

We are making new memories and traditions.  The past impacts the future.  Because I have been loved well I can now love well.  It's a gift I have been given and now I can share it with others.
Let's make some memories together!

Thoughts

"Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself."

 I'm a thinker.  Sometimes I think too much.  I can't stop my brain from going here and there and everywhere...it's a circus in here.  I'll admit that I have a hard time understanding that fact that when Chris tells me he isn't thinking about anything, he really isn't.  

Thinking can be a very productive thing, or it can be destructive if we don't allow God to hold every thought captive.  Mary probably thought a whole lot...in the beginning she most likely thought about her reputation and went back and forth between knowing that she was doing something God called her to do, and then wondering if Joseph could really love her and believe that all this was true.  During her pregnancy, she probably thought about the life within her, with thoughts of joy and excitement when she could feel him flutter within her and kick out as he grew.  She also probably worried, like any mom, for his safety, for his life, for what would become of him.

And then he came...she experienced the sacrificial act of giving life to another...and life was given to her.  And others started to realize what a gift that had been given to the world...and she treasured it...she went within herself, into her thought world and just sat there in silence.

How has God brought wonder into your life so far?  Take a moment and hold those thoughts captive...sit and be still...embrace what the Holy Spirit has done in your life...treasure it and look forward to what is to come.

Figured Out?

Do you have everything figured out?

Do you have God figured out?

Are you working out your faith, or are you living in such a way that God doesn't have room to work or move?

I've always loved the story of Abraham and Sarah...of their journey toward faith and the way God taught them and made them into something they couldn't dream for themselves.

Abraham and Sarah are considered parents of our faith...not because they had everything figured out, but because they finally realized that maybe they weren't supposed to figure God out.  Maybe they were supposed to let God surprise them with joy.  They allowed grace to spring up within them and they waited for the fulfillment of God's promise to them.  

The same elements are present in the Advent season.  We recognize that we need grace to break into our hearts and spirits to heal us.  We need to believe that God's promises to us and to the world will be fulfilled.  We need to laugh at ourselves...because we don't know what we need; God does.

Longing, hoping, waiting...these are quickly skipped over in hot pursuit of the celebration.  But in the longing for something better, for something more...in the hoping for God to work and move and fulfill promise...in the waiting (hard as it may be) for whatever is best for us...

That is where we begin to know what our faith means to us and to the world...and to truly celebrate...for unto us a child is born, a Son is given...and his name shall be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Not for one day, but for an eternity.

Joy

Let's think about joy.

It's the next focus of Advent.  

Joy...my sister's middle name.  Joy...the beginning of a very familiar Christmas carol.  Joy...something that seems elusive in our world this day.

When is the last time you experienced true joy?  I'm thinking back to the day my first niece was born and when I held her in my arms for the first time.  It was as if time stood still and only the two of us were having a shared moment...a moment of knowing that we belonged to each other.  Yes, you may think that is a ridiculous notion, but I'm telling you, there's no joy like a new baby, especially one that deeply connected to you.

One of my good friends recently announced that she is pregnant and they are expecting another baby girl.  My heart is welling up right now just thinking about this new life that I get to be a part of.  

True joy comes in the realization that God is continually making things new.  New life in a baby's cry, new life in a sunrise, new life in the transformation of grace in a person's life, new life in a student recognizing the letter "B," new life in waking up for the day, new life in a hug that gets you through the day.

Joy is life.  Joy is not happiness.  If happiness is our goal, we will fail and be miserable.  If joy is our goal, we will see the transformations all around us.  We will begin to see how God is transforming us within to be joy to others.

Joy to the world.

Hear the Christ child's cry.

Look into his face and know that he belongs to you and you belong to him.

Be joy today.

Noel

Noel...good news...a shout of joy.  

Noel...come and see what God has done!

The light of the world given FOR us!

We sang this song yesterday at our Christmas program at church.  It is powerful to think that God wanted to give us such joy, not only in that one moment, but for eternity.  The light hasn't left.  Christ keeps being reborn.  Rejoice!