What Part Will You Play?

Well, it’s officially the Christmas Season.  People are beginning to decorate home & hearth.  Practice for Christmas cantatas & plays have been going on for weeks now, & I am still brooding about how to celebrate. 

I have been thinking about the first Christmas & wondering how I would have responded to Christ’s birth.  What part would I have played in the drama of God becoming man?? 

Maybe I would have been one of the shepherds.  I can relate to them.  I am living in the middle of nowhere (40 miles to the nearest Walmart)  tending my little flock.  It’s a quiet life, but satisfying.  It would have been amazing to be surrounded by a host of angels singing praises to God!   What prompted God to tell THEM first?  I want to be like the shepherds.  Steady enough to be trusted with the Gospel.  I want God to show me new & wonderful things by His spirit & then share it with the world. 

 The part of the Magi is very enticing.  They are rich!  No, that’s not it.  They were scholars.  Watching & waiting for the King!  Yes, I would love to be a Magi.  I should be searching the scriptures & watching for the signs of His coming.  I need to start packing my camel……

I would love to play the part of Mary.  Not questioning, just trusting & rejoicing in the promise of His coming.   

Joseph was just an average Joe.  (Pun intended.)  He was probably alot like my husband.  Kind, giving, slow to anger, strong but gentle.  Joseph is not mentioned very often in Scripture, but we have to assume a few things about him.  The fact that he was going to put Mary away privately sounds like he was a kind man just trying to do the right thing.  I don’t believe that the Father would have chosen a selfish, ungodly man to be Jesus’ earthly dad.  God spoke to him through dreams & angels.  Cool!   I want to dream dreams & be in tune to the voice of the Father.  I want to play the role that God has chosen for me, to be just an average chick trying to do the right thing. 

Herod & I have alot in common.  Admittedly he was a king, but under the crown he was just a guy with issues.  He was afraid to loose power.  He didn’t want to relinquish his power to Jesus.  That sounds a lot like me.   I have a hard time letting go of the reins, & I keep grasping at whatever I can to regain control.  Oh, Jesus let me loose control to You!

Now the innkeeper is a guy that I understand.  He opened his barn to strangers.  It sounds noble, but if a pregnant girl comes to my door I hope that I’ll give her MY bed.  Too often I do part of what is expected, but I don’t give Jesus the best that I have.  I’ve opened my heart to Him, but I’ve delegated Him to the back, out of sight & not having preeminence in my life. 

 Each of the characters in the story were real, flesh & blood people.  It’s easy to forget that because we’ve heard the story so often.  It’s easy to forget that it’s not just a story when little 7 year olds portray the shepherds & the baby Jesus is a doll. 

Father, help me to remember that you really loved us enough to send your Son.  Help me to remember that you used average, normal people to facilitate the redemption of man.  That the only One in the story that wasn’t average was the Only Begottten of the Father, Jesus!  Help me to remember that Jesus living in me changes me from average to a tool that can save the world!  Help me to trust, rejoice, share the gospel, do the right thing, relinquish control of my life & surroundings & to watch for the coming of Your Precious Son.  Let the story of Christmas change me & make me a new creation again.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Gift of Discontentment

I have found a great post about discontentment.  It talks about discontentment being a gift from God!  I love it!

http://myderbe.wordpress.com/2006/11/06/the-gift-of-discontentment/

The Winter of MY Discontent

Something is beginning to bubble up in me.  Something I can’t really put my finger on, but there’s a sense of discontent beginning to rise to the surface of my being.  I don’t know what is causing it, but I know that it is there. 

Today is Black Friday.  ???  !!!   The news has stories about stores opening at 6am & shoppers pushing & jostling each other to be the first to get at merchandise for Christmas!    Some stores unlocked their doors at midnight to jump-start the season. CompUSA Inc. and BJ’s Wholesale Club opened on Thanksgiving so they could be the first to take your money for the “holy days”.  Some people skipped Thanksgiving Dinner to wait in line to get a PS3.

 Walmart has recinded it’s mandate to employees to not say “Merry Christmas”.  Last year employees were told to say “happy holidays”  it’s a more inclusive greeting.   Because of the backlash (& it’s resulting loss of sales) Walmart has gone back to Christmas. 

Ok, am I the only one in the world who doesn’t want to do this anymore?  Is this how YOU want to celebrate the birth of Jesus?  I don’t!  Is this what we want to teach our children?  To grab & push,  to not spend time with our families so that we can get more stuff? 

I’m tired.  Tired of pretending.  Tired of consuming junk that has no value.  What we do to celebrate Jesus laying aside His glory & being Emmanuel is to consume mass quanitites of stuff.   We gorge on syrupy stories of peace & good-will toward each other on television when we should be concentrating on the peace that only comes from relationship with Christ & commemorating God’s good will towards us!  To remember the gift of eternal life that the Father gave us with the birth of Jesus we break our budgets & our backs with the burden of giving gifts to everyone that we know (including the mail carrier & our 3rd graders substitute teacher).  And sadly, these gifts more often reflect our pride or our financial status than our feelings for a person. 

Now don’t get me wrong.  If you give a present to your mail carrier I do not think that you are doing wrong.  I don’t think that you have succumbed to the demon of consumerism.  I’m just saying that maybe we  (no I should be writing to myself) I should be more thoughtful in the way that I celebrate.  More prayerful.  More sincere.  More real! 

I’m looking for suggestions on how to celebrate the “holy days”.  I want to put Christ first in my life.  I want to celebrate Him & the gift He gave in a real & tangible way.  I want my kids to see that we really have something different than the world has.  That our walk with Christ is worth holding on to.  Worth living for.   Worth dying for. 

Check out JavaDawn’s blog!  She’s said what I feel so much more eloquently.

http://javadawn.wordpress.com/2006/11/15/getting-from-there-to-here/

I’m Smilin’

Today I could just sit down & cry.  But I’m not going to…………

       Here’s my list of things that are making me smile today:

• The weather is beautiful!
• My new “knitting” loom.
• My precious husband! 
• Sarah’s baby is near!  Her blog says that Eva might appear within the month!
• Jesus loves me — even though some people don’t.
• Dee Henderson has a new book out.
• So does Ted Dekker!
• My Christmas crafts are progressing at an acceptable pace.
• I can almost taste pumpkin pie!
• I’m healthy.
• My kids are happy & healthy.
• The Flylady & routines.
• Ps 75:1 We thank you, O God!  We give thanks because you are near.
• Changing leaves.
• My secret pal.
• My new pen.
• My dog thinks that I am great!

Saying Goodbye

I went to a funeral Friday afternoon, & I know that this is completely selfish, but I am so thankful that I didn’t have to say goodbye to my husband that day. 

Saying goodbye is never easy.  And it is always said before we are ready. 

My heart is heavy for the gentleman’s family.  I remember how heavy the weight of loss feels, & I’m praying for you ….. 

I know that funerals are for the living …. not for the dead.  They are to help us say goodbye and to deal with our grief.   I think that they serve another purpose.  Funerals make us think about our lives & where we are.  They make us take inventory of our relationships & our walk with the Lord.  They help us to realize that someday soon….sooner than we think…..we will see Jesus face to face. 

     I Thess. 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

                               For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

                              For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

                              For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:  and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

                               Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the couds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

     Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

I have no words of comfort or wisdom save these.