Month: December 2011

Posted on in 2011 Posts

A Surprise Homecoming—A Christmas Miracle!

Wow, I did not expect a Christmas anywhere near as special as this year’s just even a week ago.  As most of you know, my oldest son has been in Afghanistan this year and was not expected to be home for Christmas.  I had accepted that fact and was trying to still enjoy the holiday with the other 6 kids and 4 grandkids that were home.  Friday night we headed to my sister’s house for our annual get together with our families.  We were enjoying good food and catching up with each other when all of a sudden things changed.

My daughter-in-law arrived and told us all to be quiet that she was getting my son on the phone.  When he got on the phone, they handed it to me.  I started talking to him, but it wasn’t sounding like the normal “drive-through” tone that conversations from Afghanistan were supposed to sound like.  The next thing I knew, he was walking through the door!  How exciting was that?!  Totally caught off guard and in shock, I was elated that my family would be together for Christmas!

We had brought Christmas gifts for my son’s wife and kids but since I had no idea he would be there, I had sent his gifts to Afghanistan for him to have in time for Christmas.  He always loves Christmas and gets excited about opening his gifts.  I felt so bad as he had nothing to open as everyone else opened up theirs all around him.  I just didn’t know, so I wasn’t prepared.

I started thinking about this and about the day when Jesus comes back.  I pretty much expect my heart to be racing just the same as it was Friday night, a little bit of shock and awe, and then I started thinking…will I be prepared?  Will I have a gift to offer Him?  What will that day really be like?

Then I quickly realized, the story will be the same.  It’s not about the physical gifts I give.  My son’s gift that night was the fact he was able to be with his family and essentially be the Christmas miracle of the year!  I suspect Jesus will feel the same way.  He is the only Miracle we need.  He doesn’t want our stuff on that day, He wants us.  We don’t have to have gifts wrapped and tucked away for that special day and time, we just need to be ready with the gift of ourselves.  By that I mean that we need to have accepted His gift of eternal life and be living every day as though it was the day of His return.  For by living our lives for Him, we are earning our jewels for our crowns that we will lay down at His feet when the time comes.  Those crowns and jewels will be our symbol of our life lived for Him–our gift so to speak.

The Bible says in Matthew 24 (NKJV),

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,but My Father only…

42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…

44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

When that day comes, it won’t matter the type, size or grandeur of the gifts we have to offer such as those the wise men presented at His birth.  The only thing that will matter is our relationship with Him.  Have we accepted Him as our Savior, served Him, loved Him, shared Him, and cherished Him while in this life on earth?  Just as my son’s homecoming was a huge surprise, so will that of my Savior’s be as well.  I think I had a little taste of the joy that may be present on that day this weekend.  I suspect though that nothing can compare.

Are you ready for that day?  Have you given Him your life?  Are you working on a relationship with Him that will far surpass any physical gift you can conjure up to give?  In reality, the only gift He wants is you.  I am not a musician and I certainly cannot sing.  However, I like this song that I found to remind us the day when we will lay our crowns at His feet…our gift of our lives lived for Him…our offering to our Savior.  Enjoy and I’ll see you next year!

http://youtu.be/6DZSjWW57mQ

Posted on in 2011 Posts

Stand Out, Be Different, Take the Challenge!

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone already.  By the next time I write a blog, we will be done with our Christmas celebrations and moving onto the new year—2012.  I remember the day when the 2000’s sounded so space age and here we are, twelve years into it already!  I apologize that my writing is late today but I had some early morning errands that needed to happen and by the time I had chased all of my squirrels along the way (as those of us with A.D.D. might say), here it is 4:00 and I’m just getting started!  Have you ever had a day like that?  You start out with good intentions and distractions along the way pull you in various directions until you find yourself on the couch, out of energy and no more time to do what you originally set out to do?

Sometimes I look at the years gone by, not just days, and think, “Wow, where did time go?  What do I have to show for my life at this point?”  I think this year I was a little more motivated than others because I had certain things I wanted checked off my bucket list before I hit the big 5-0.  Some years I have looked back and thought, “I didn’t get a thing done that I had on my goal list.  As a matter of fact, what did I do?”

This year I have had a lot of time for reflection because of some health issues I’ve been having so I am looking at things a bit differently.  I am praising God that I was able to accomplish my first book, which hit online today as a matter of fact!  I am also praising Him that I have been able to do anything that I did as the beginning of the year was looking pretty bleak for accomplishing anything on the list.  A lot of the things I had on my original goal list for 2011 didn’t happen though.  Either because I re-prioritized and realized it just wasn’t as important as I thought or circumstances just simply prevented it from happening for reasons unbeknownst to me.

Although we spend a lot of time in our lives that is just simply wasted, I think the Christmas season helps us to get our priorities back in line.  I like the fact that it happens at the end of the year so that we can take time to reflect on the things that matter and hopefully align our priorities for the following year accordingly.   You see, the Christmas season brings our thoughts back to our Savior, Jesus Christ, as it is His birthday we celebrate.   It also helps us focus on our loved ones and seems to be a time where more grace is extended to those we may not always see eye to eye with at other times of the year. It’s kind of a magical time…and I’m not talking about Santa Claus!

When I recall my thoughts last December, I am sure that my list for 2011 had things on it like lose weight, be a million dollar real estate sales person, and get moved into my new home before the new year.  Well, none of those things happened—not one.  However, I’m OK with that.  I don’t think God really put me here on this earth to be skinny, rich and have an easy life.  Rather, I think He had much bigger plans for me.  He knew that in order for me to stay on the path and do what I need to do in this life, He would have to give me a challenge.  If life came easy for me, I would let it and probably wouldn’t try any harder.  But it doesn’t, so I am a driven woman.

I am not driven so much for the things that don’t matter anymore as I have only so much energy to expend right now.  God showed me though that His purpose for me in this life was not to accomplish skinniness, wealth, or other great accomplishments of unimportance.  Rather, He has asked me to speak for Him and tell others about His love for them.  He has stripped me of the energy for the frivolous and only given me the strength for what matters.   He has shown me what’s important in life and it’s not my weekly appointment at Jenny Craig!

My goals for 2012 are going to be a little different than most years in the past.  I am going to actually spend time in prayer this year and ask God what it is He wants me to accomplish in the year ahead.  Then I’m going to make my list of things to do.  However, I’m challenging myself to instead of having various columns on my list, I’m only having one—my spiritual goals.  For the Bible specifically says in Matthew 6:33 (NKJV), But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  I’m really here for one reason—to do what God needs me to do.  For when I am God focused, all of the other things in the world minimize.  It only took me 50 years to figure out that this world really isn’t about me.  It’s about God and what I can do for Him during my time here on earth.

Time flies and none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.  If we’re not careful, we will be in December again in a flash and stand wondering what just hit us!  Will you take the challenge with me for 2012 to not waste another minute on things that are fleeting and of this world?  What is it that God is calling you to do for Him?  Perhaps you’ve got it all together and are right on target for His plan.  However, if not, take the time to pray and ask Him to guide your thoughts to God-centered goals for 2012.  Just think of how different life might be if we were living for Him and using our time to further His goals for us instead of our own.  This life is fleeting…what we do for God is eternal.

Psalm 39

Merry Christmas!

Posted on in 2011 Posts

No Matter How Impossible Things Might Seem…Never Give Up!

I had the privilege to do a devotion Friday night at a prayer group’s Christmas party. As I prepared the message for the night, I thought about the prayer warriors who would be attending.   They meet on a regular basis together to pray for one another and for the burdens each one carries.   I met some of the women about five years ago when I spoke for their group and I was excited to see how God had answered prayers in the time between first meeting them and now.  Although some of them were still praying for the same issues, same people, and seemingly not getting anywhere with their prayers.

It was exciting to me that the message I had prepared Friday night was one that said, “Never give up.”  After hearing the prayer requests of the women, I realized this message God had given me was timely and pertinent to this group.  Since some had been praying for many years with no answers, I pray that my message gave hope to those who felt like their prayers have been hitting a ceiling instead of rising to the ears of God.

I can certainly relate to those who wonder at times if God is even listening to their prayers.  About two years ago, Jim and I felt God telling us to get our home ready to sell because we were to move.  So we did just that.  We had some delay with the process with my mom’s illness slowing us down a bit, but eventually we got the house on the market.  As you know if you’ve been reading my blog, we thought we had it sold recently and then the deal fell through.  So here we sit again…waiting.  We really don’t understand the delay as we both felt led to get ready when we started the process.  Saturday night Jim and I were questioning why this process has taken so long?  If God wanted us to move, why haven’t we yet?  We’re living with a lot of our treasured possessions boxed up instead of being in our home where we can enjoy them because we have staged the house to sell.  It’s getting really old having to keep everything in perfect condition too so that at the drop of a hat, we can allow someone to show the home.  We’re growing weary in the process and we were questioning, “Why, when we do all the right things, and try to be obedient to God, do we have to go through these times when it feels like He is not hearing our prayers?”

Last week an article came out about my son’s mission in Afghanistan and it said this was perhaps the most dangerous mission that they have sent the Ohio Army National Guard to in all of the last 10 years of the war.  Seeing that, my heart sank.  I knew he’d been training for a long time for this mission and I knew it was dangerous.  However, seeing it in writing just kind of stung a little harder.  Rob’s wife told him that I was worried when I saw the article, which was true; but I’ve been worried since he left.  Not in a way that I am not focused on God and trusting that He’s watching over Rob.  Rather, I just have my mom beware set at high alert so that I am ready to pray him through at any time, day or night.

This week, I got an email from him I’d like to share a part of with you.  It reads like this:  Everything is fine over here, I’m fine, no major issues.  … but don’t worry about me…  Just keep me in your prayers and trust that everything will work out as it is meant to.  What good is it to go to church and pray and blog and everything else Christians do just to end up worrying and getting all worked up about things anyways?

If you can’t trust God’s will to prevail when I’m in combat, and you don’t have faith that His will is divine and perfect, then what’s the point?  I’m not trying to be preachy, but I just don’t want people worrying about me back there.  Celebrate and embrace the fact that I’m doing what I was MEANT to do. 

Then I went to church on Sunday and the pastor’s main message was “Never Give Up.”  Hummm.  I’m beginning to see a theme here.  He spoke about God’s promise to Elizabeth and Zacharias to give them a baby—John the Baptist.  However, if they were to have focused on their circumstances, they would’ve never believed it possible for God to fulfill that promise as He waited until much later in their lives to actually make it happen.  We don’t really know how old they were when John was born but  we know from scripture in Luke 1:18  that Zacharias said … “For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”  I have to laugh when I read that.  I am not sure I would count it a blessing to have a baby so late in life!  She must have been one special lady!

It wasn’t until yesterday when I was sitting in church that I realized the message I gave on Friday night, was just as much for me as it was for all of the women in the group.  Sunday, as our pastor said the exact words Jim and I had been saying the night before, I knew.   He said, “When you are doing all of the right things, living a God honoring life and praying hard for something that just never seems to be happening…don’t give up.”

It’s true.  If we believe God is Sovereign, then we have to believe that whatever happens is His perfect plan when we are praying and trusting Him to get us through.  Who are we to question Him or disbelieve that He is hearing our prayers?  He is God and we are not.  In fact, He is the same God that I have trusted to watch over my son for the last 30 years here in America that I am trusting to watch over my son in Afghanistan today.

It gives me great peace to know that God’s plan is best for me and I need not worry about things.  I just need to pray and trust that He has it all under control.  So if you’ve been praying for something longer than you think you should, think again.   I hope that during this holiday season, you too, will find peace in knowing that since God is God, we don’t have to worry.  He’s got it all under control!  We just need to keep going and never give up!

From my son’s words may I leave you with this:  May the peace of God find its way into your mind during this Christmas season; as it has permeated your heart through years of answered prayers, hardships turned into blessings, and the promise that a throne awaits all who believe, regardless of how we get there.

Matthew 6:34  (NKJV) 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

1 Thessalonians 5:17  (NKJV) 17 pray without ceasing,