Do you see what I see

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
"Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With at tail as big as a kit.
With at tail as big as a kit."

You know we have probably sung the Christmas carol "Do you hear what I hear" with its catchy lines and melodies for years.  For years I know I've sung it in the youth choir, as a part of the congregation, and even at home during our holiday celebrations.  It has been on the radio and playing in our cars even more often than this.  I'd probably guess we have heard it a dozen times this month alone.

Mel Lawrenz in his devotional "Christmas Joy Day #20: Star" noted that buried in the scripture behind the song is an amazing truth.  "Only the observant see!"

The scripture for the story and the verse of the song describe the star that the Magi saw in the sky.  The star dancing in the night, the star with a tail as big as a kite is one of the same stars that shine every night.  The star that lit up the sky for the Magi was the same star that appeared over cities and nations all over the area of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the world.  The brightness and peculiarity of it may have been eye catching, but we are told only of Magi who come from the east actually seeing.  Lawrenz said, "Only the observant see!"  The stars where shining.  The heavenly host were proclaiming glory.  I can just imagine them with an extra twinkle or sparkle.  I close my eyes and I see them lighting up the night and pointing out that something spectacular has taken place.  As if each little star and star cluster is jumping up and down like the student who knows the answer in class, or like the person who is giddy with the secret they are bursting to share.  The night sky proclaimed that something special had taken place.  The Magi saw it.

"Only the observant see!"  Though these stars may have spoken to all the world, not all the world saw what the Magi saw and not all responded.  Only the Magi set out to find the King whose star was shouting, dancing, twinkling a bit brighter and announcing something amazing.  They saw it!

Thinking about this quote throughout the day made me ponder what am I missing?  Are there things that I am not looking for?  Do I see?  Am I observant enough to know when the King of Kings is breaking into this world?  Do I see miracles; heavenly hosts; glorious wonders; and wonders to behold?  Are my eyes watching the sky for his return?  Am I awake and alert to the presence of Christ being active in the day to day?  Surely others looked up at the sky; shepherds, kings, queens, mothers and children.  Surely they saw the sky, but somehow like Lawrenz suggests they weren't observant and they didn't see.

God, open my eyes to see.  Let me be observant of what you have planned and prepared and of what you are doing.

Choose better stories

Flipping through my notebook at work, I landed on a page with the words,"Choose better stories." It was a heading I jotted down during a discussion where our team seemed stuck on the negatives of a proposal. Words like "never", "always", and "can't" flew through the air like missiles destroying whatever seeds hope had been planted.  I watched as energy, passion and innovation were repeatedly crushed by harmful and careless words launched like unguided missiles, hitting the intended and the collateral in mass.

In the meeting, as I listened to the words being thrown about and the devastation it was creating I stopped and reflected deeply.  At that moment I realized my life was a lot like that meeting. Somehow, the meeting attendees were allowing fear, doubt and despair to drown out hope, innovation and creativity.  Likewise, in my own life I was allowing fear, doubt, regret and past mistakes the freedom to rain down and drown out my hope. I began to reflect on blogs never posted, ideas never spoken, devotionals never written, and this growing fear of going back to the place of my last epic failure.  The heading I captured was from a blog I read entitled, "Choose better stories.".

My key take away from the blog, the meeting and my life is this:  I don't have to let the past hurt, hamper or dictate the future. Nor do I have to let negative words dominate my landscape and overtake my vocabulary. I too can choose better stories. I can choose to reflect but not regret. To learn from mistakes and see obstacles as opportunities and challenges waiting to be solved. I can let my heart take courage in God and let my thought think the best will arise from my circumstances.  I can take the words of David to my heart, "When I'm afraid I put my trust in you (Psalm 56:3)," and I can keep Paul's words near my heart "All things work together for the good for those who love God."

I can choose better stories about myself and when I start choosing better stories, better words, brighter thoughts and emotions about myself - then I will have the capacity to think better stories about the world around me.

So, today, I will choose better thoughts.

Painful memories have a powerful purpose

Back in the late 90's I played basketball with a group of friends on an outdoor court.  When it rained we often had to use one of the guy's squeegees to help remove the pools of water and dry the court.  With such a large court it often took a long time for one person, so I bought a second squeegee.  After a few years we switched offices and started playing on a much nicer indoor court and I retired my squeegee to the garage. 

Over time the squeegee went from being a needed item to prepare the court for lunchtime basketball to a nuisance that, even in the garage, was in the way.  One day as I moved it around for what seemed like the 100th time, I lamented the purchase, wondered if it would ever be used again, and wished it were trash day so I could throw it out.  However, I didn't, which was lucky for me because later that week I needed the squeegee to clean off all the water on our porch at home following a pressure washing fiasco.

This squeegee reminded me of our how God often sees and uses our past experiences for greater good.  Many times when we are younger we do and experience things which we may lament, wonder why they happened, and we often wish we could erase them out of our memories.  I've had my share of words that wound, actions that damage and destroy, and moments I wish I could redo or never do.  Sadly we can't erase these memories or those experiences.  We can't undo what was said, we can't undo the hurt that was done, and we can't remove the scars that we created or that were created in us.  

However, it is comforting to know that no matter the experience, God is able to use it to bring glory to His name and to lead others into a deeper relationship with Him.  The memory of a loved one in tears, teaches us to guard our lips.  The pain of discrimination leads us to a compassion for the marginalized.  

Our job isn't to understand all the reasons why the painful memories occurred.  Instead, our job is to wait patiently until the divine encounter is created for us to share our experience with others.  In the meantime we can enjoy the comfort of his peace and forgiveness for our past sins.

Scriptures remind us that God's grace is sufficient and his love unconditional.  Whenever painful memories trouble your soul, lean on that grace and fall into his loving embrace and remember: "Painful memories have a powerful purpose!"

Long time no post

So, has it really been since November 19th since I did an actual post.  Well, yes and no.  The reality is I've created many drafts and then forgotten to actually push them live.  I have also forgotten to just do some basic housecleaning and basic blocking and tackling.

For example, where was the post about Thanksgiving?  In my head, where I spend way too much time, the post was already written and pushed live.  In bold letters it would read, "Happy Thanksgiving."  In the body of the post, as I imagined, it would contain all the many wonders of what I was thankful for.  It would start with giving thanks to God for the "big" things

I am thankful for:

• God loving me and sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins
• forgiveness
• grace and mercy
• God giving me a beautiful family
• God restoring my life
• safety and protection while we sleep
• my wife and children
• waking up my family
• health and strength
• peace of mind
• finances and a job
• a roof over my head
• clothes on my back
• food on the table, especially the ham and turkey
• friends, make that good friends

In my mind this type of post was already written and posted.  Yet, sadly I look at my sight and realize that I never moved my list from my head to the actual keys and then to the blog.  Surely, I thought I had written about my thanks for what my kids call silly things, such as:

• White Chocolate Mocha
• Starbucks fresh brewed coffee
• weekend dates with my wife
• quiet time in the office in the morning
• the treadmill being repaired with a quick shot of WD-40
• Coldstone's cotton candy milkshake
• Chickfil-A and the chicken sandwich
• losing weight
• having a truck that, though it is well worn, continues to get me around
• cookies and milk on late night sweet tooth episodes

If I was feeling particularly good, the post may have included thanks for the less obvious things, such as:

• trials and tribulations
• challenges and failures

Somehow in all the thinking and mental hoops I never posted my list.  Somehow I never actually got around to pushing anything live since November 19th.  Well, here is one post to hopefully get the ball rolling.  Happy Thanksgiving and then some.  

What are you most thankful for?