Mary and Jesus

When I was younger (much younger), I was pregnant five times (carried four to term) and each pregnancy was unique. That's because each child was completely unique. At the very beginning of the pregnancy I never knew quite what to expect.  Each child I carried had their own characteristics even in the womb.  My daughter was comfortable and cozy, my oldest son was a very strong and he packed a hard punch, my second son was quick to move, and my youngest son was comfortable if it was quiet but when the other children were noisy he would move around a lot.  What is interesting is that each of those children exhibited those same characteristics after they were born. 

By the time my children were born I knew their character and was not surprised by their personalities.  My daughter loved to cuddle and sleep, my oldest son posses great strength and speaks bold truth, my second son is quick to move and think and has incredible small motor skills, my youngest son loves to be with people.  I was not at all surprised by their character after spending nine months with them.

While Mary was carrying the Son of God, Immanuel, Prince of Peace, she would have experienced the characteristics of the child she carried.   

What would it have been like to carry this Holy Child? 

I believe she would have had a great sense of His Heavenly Peace, and yet she also would have experienced the urgency that was part of His Coming.  Jesus brought truth, real truth and He knew that would make some extremely uncomfortable.  Jesus knew God’s peace would come after the world relinquished false truth. Jesus was a fighter and He knew the message He brought would pit brother against brother.  Matthew 10:34-36 (NLT) says:

Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
 ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
      a daughter against her mother,
   and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
      Your enemies will be right in your own household.’

Jesus knew in order to follow we would need to let go of the old and receive God’s truth. Jesus was also Love, true love.  He came to show us God’s love and to BE love for us.  He fought for that love.  He fought against the religious culture, mistaken notions of what God expected, and the lies that had emerged because man took matters into his own hands. 

He fought so we would know the truth about God’s character and love.  He fought so we would understand how very much we can rely of God; we do not need to carry the burden but rather we only need to receive what God has for us. 

Mary would have experienced the person of Jesus for Jesus was fully human; she also would have experienced the divinity of God for Jesus was fully divine.  Mary would have known all of that as she carried this Holy Child with her for nine months.  She would have known the fullness of His character and love. 

She would have known He had a purpose like no other human before or since for He came to fight for you because of the fullness of love He holds for you. 

As Mary prepared to give birth, she would have known the greatest miracle of all time was about to happen. A miracle like nothing before, or since…she would have known Jesus came to bring the miracle of the fullness of life to all the world. 

Christmas Past

 I remember Christmas Past when my kids were little.  It was crazy…I MEAN crazy!  We always had extra services and stuff to do at church, all four kids had programs at school, and to make matters worse I was the Editor/Photographer for the county paper.  So, not only did I need to get pictures of my own kids I had to try to capture all the kids on film in the county (or as many as possible). 

The funny thing is that even though it was crazy I remember so many good things.  I remember doing Christmas baking, mostly because there are certain cookie recipes that have been passed down to me from my grandmother and my mother that are always made at Christmas time.  The kids always looked forward to Christmas cookies! 

We didn’t make a lot of money in those days and so my mom and dad would load up their van with supplies and bring us extra food.  Mother would bring large sacks of flour, sugar, powdered sugar, eggs,  yeast, and about everything else I would need.  The kids knew what that would mean!  Cookies AND homemade cinnamon rolls! They would watch for gramma and grampa to come with their little noses pressed against the front window.  

They would also hang around the kitchen just in case there were cookies that broke in half (we had a rule that if it broke you could eat it now). 

What I remember most is having them hang around the kitchen when the cinnamon rolls were baking and as soon as I pulled them out of the oven (while they were ooey gooey) they would grab a fork and scramble to the oven to get a “middle”.  They all fought for as many middles as they could get and they would stuff the hot cinnamon rolls in their mouths as fast as they could chew.  

This ritual with cinnamon rolls went on for several years, even well past high school and college.  What was interesting is that my daughter was 5’1” tall and she didn’t even weight 90 pounds in high school, so there were times I was afraid her brothers would hurt her.  As it turns out she found a way to compensate for her size and she more than held her own. She meant business when it came to hot fresh cinnamon rolls.

By the time the kids started bringing their new spouses to our house I thought the ritual would end…NOT!  I tried to warn the new spouses what was about to happen, but I don’t think they imagined it would be as brutal as it was.  The truth of the matter is, it became a tradition and a competition we all laughed about.  

There were others things that happened on holidays and vacations that were not quite so funny at the time (the white car that caught on fire in South Dakota; the flood through the tent in Colorado; a sick child in New York) but as it turns out, those are the things we remember and laugh about today.

Life is like that.  Things we thought were bad turn out to be good. At one time I was a little embarrassed about the scramble for the cinnamon rolls and I used to try to get them to “be civil”.  Eventually I gave up.  Now years later, something that seemed crazy and out of hand (I mean, really…stabbing each other with forks) turned out to be incredibly awesome memories.  Bad turned to good. 

That’s just like God.  He has a way of turning bad to good. I love it that God does that for us.  What an incredible God He is!  He can take what we are embarrassed of or ashamed about and turn it into the best memory of all. 

Today, your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is to write YOUR story (share it if you’d like) and tell how God turned things around for you in the past or even today.  

Be blessed – KNOW God loves you – talk to God and thank Him for bringing good from the most unexpected places.  

Remembering the Past and Embracing the Present

Change can be very difficult and as wonderful as the holidays are, they often bring change.  The holidays often remind us of changes in our lives.  We remember those who have come before and we remember those who had an impact on our lives.  My dad has been gone for over 20 years and I still miss him at Christmas time.  He loved children and he loved Christmas!  I remember my Mother asking him to “stop wrestling with the kids” because they often got really wild (squealing and jumping on him).  I wish he could be with us now…all four children grown and married with kids of their own.  Oh how he would love these babies! 

The holidays also remind us we are grateful.  I am very grateful that my Mother is still with us and that she is so healthy.  She’s a wonderful octogenarian who exercises at least three times a week, travels with friends, can easily cook a meal for 20-30 people, and loves playing with her great-grandchildren.  Truthfully, she can work circles around me.  When she is finished cooking, she leaves the kitchen sparkling clean.  I remember her asking me 30 years ago if it bothered me that she pitches in to help clean the kitchen when she visits.  LOL…  

With four kids (three are boys), we had puddles and messes everywhere ALL the time.  Cleaning was a minute by minute job, and the laundry basket was always full! I was thrilled to have an extra hand!

Mother is coming for Christmas this year, and she told my daughter she wanted a list of things to do during the day “so she won’t get bored”.  She also wanted to know what we wanted to eat (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).  In her “spare time” she’ll be spending time with her two great-grandchildren.  They are older now, and they love to read and play games.  I’m sure they will keep her busy!  You get the idea…I am grateful for God’s goodness. 

Christmas has changed but some things remain.  God is good…all the time (as we say at my church).

I have so very much to be grateful for! 

What has changed about your holidays?  What remains the same?  Grieve as you need to grieve and talk to God about what you miss.  When you are done, make a list of things you are grateful for, and talk to God about those things as well.  Life is good and both are part of life!  

Be blessed…let yourself feel a full range of what’s in your heart WITH God! 

Going 'Through'

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets.  I like Frost because I find his works to be true, yet challenging.  I also find believe “he gets it”.  

 I recently read these words by Frost:

The best way out is always through.

 When faced with difficulty you cannot side-step the issue and expect to win.  You have to face the dragon.  Henri Nouwen says the same thing regarding our inner self.  He says we have to face our shadow side.  In other words, we must face our inner struggle head on.  We cannot run from it and expect it to just go away. Until we face it head on the thing we struggle with will continue to haunt us. 

Talking to God helps us to work through our exterior difficulties and He also helps us face the dragon within.  I used to (mistakenly) think that I need to be good for God and do the right things so I would be deserving of God’s love.  The truth of the matter is that God wants me to be what He created me to be. God knows I’m going to make mistakes and He loves me.  

 Now when I am struggling with something (or someone) I take it to God and talk with Him about it.  I tell God the whole truth about what I feel and God shares how He feels.  I am always blessed when I connect with God and understand how He sees and feels about a situation.  It changes my whole perspective.  

Giving God our time so He can offer us his perspective is time well spent!   

As you hustle and bustle through the week ahead, be blessed and take time for God. God will get you through...

Sitting in God's Love

Spending time with God, just sitting with Him and realizing just how much God loves you and thinks of you is an incredible experience.

Try this exercise: Get in a quiet place.  Relax and get comfortable.  Focus on God.  Give the Spirit permission to take over.  Take 10 to 20 minutes and listen to God.  Don't be alarmed if God is silent.  Take in God's love and care for you.

End your time by expressing your love to God. That may mean you thank God, or you tell God you love Him. 

Life-Changing Conversations with God

When I was 21 years old I had a conversation with God that I believe changed the course of my life. I told God, actually begging, that I wanted to “be all I could be for Him”.  I told God it didn’t matter what it would cost me, how much it would hurt, or how difficult it would be…I still wanted God to hold me to that request.

Looking back, I now know several decades later how naïve I was.  I did not actually think there would be a cost, or would hurt, or would be difficult.  I actually thought it would be grand and glorious, and that it would be easy. 

Understand that I have been blessed, just not like I expected to be blessed.  In a way, the biggest blessings have come from tremendous adversity and great pain.  What I learned along the way is that often when I lose something that I cherished, God replaced it with the gift of Himself.  I learned that nothing, absolutely nothing, is more precious than God’s love and care for me. 

I also learned that when I suffer, God suffers with me.  I now cherish those times.

Today I would tell God the same words.  When I was 21 I was passionate about telling others about the real Jesus – not someone who sits back and throws lightning bolts – but someone who loves them and who died for them. 

When I talk to God, I bask in His love and He gives me what He wants me to be.  I thank Him for being always faithful and for being right here. 

Have you had similar life-changing conversations? If you haven't, what would you like to say to God?

Belonging

As I talk to God I come to the realization of who I am and I have a sense of belonging.

I also have a sense of great peace.  I remember my dad talking about peace a lot when I was a teenager.  I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was about peace.  At that time I was into excitement and challenges.  Peace was about the farthest thing from my mind.  The older I get, the more I realize the importance of God’s peace.  Part of belonging is being in God’s peace and love. 

Song of Solomon 7:10 (NASB) says:

I am my beloved’s,

And His desire is for me.

As I sit with God and we talk, I experience God’s desire for me.  It is like a hot burning fire. 

It’s the same for you.  Regardless of what you’ve done or how much time you’ve previously spent with God, His desire is for you.  God loves you and pursues you with relentless passion.  God desires to spend time with you.  

You are God’s beloved.

His desire is for you.

As you begin to understand belonging to God, you can insert your name into Song of Solomon 7:10:

______ is My beloved.

My desire is for ______.

God is waiting for you to come.  His desire is for you because you are His beloved one.