Reflecting before a Happy New Year!

As the new year approaches, let's take a moment to sit back, take a deep breath and look at the year that was and will soon be in our rearview. 

As you look over the days and moments, let joy and laughter fill the air, and even let tears and sobs have their share. Smile a bit. Laugh a bit more.  Celebrate and rejoice some, mourn and grieve some. Give space to the moments that scared you and those that excited you, and to the so many different emotions in between.  

Reflect on the things that did not turn out the way you envisioned, those that did, and those that exceeded your wildest dreams.  Consider the lives and relationships that you lost and of those you still have.  Have a brief look back over the different memories—those you want to forget and those you hope you never do. 

Quietly meditate on how, despite a year of bizarre moments, waves of heaviness and anxiety, and the vast crapload of things that hit us unexpectedly, His light and love continued to touch us, warm our souls, heal us, and give us hope.

Y'all, God was there for us, is still here with us, and He will be with us all the days to come— sovereign, wise, loving, good, and present in all the moments and days ahead; whether seemingly good, bad, or in between.

So as we close out this year, may we cry out to Him for our pain and sorrows, but also take time to bless Him loudly and joyously for His great faithfulness. Praying that God will boldly seek us out to receive a harvest of His rich, uncountable and magnificent blessings all throughout the year ahead. 

Love you

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"That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT)!"

A Christmas (re) invitation

Blog: A Christmas (re) invitation

In all her excitement and in all the euphoria of seeing long awaited gifts and dolls, toy cars and dress up clothes, Emma lost one of her most cherished gifts: a box of unopened LEGOs from her older (and some would argue her favorite) sister Gabbi.  

For several minutes she looked for the box, turning up couch pillows and cushions, checking under chairs and blankets, looking under the table and again under the now empty Christmas tree. After her search returned empty she asked for help, and we joined in again as she searched for the box.  We turned up cushions and blankets, checked in boxes and under the tables, looked in other rooms and under other gifts. But the gift was gone. 

Undeterred, Emma asked for help once more. This time all eyes spied the bags of trash, holding table scarps and wads of shredded Christmas wrapping paper.  No one wanted to go wading through the bags of trash and wrapping paper, but Emma insisted she find this gift, and as we emptied the second bag of discarded paper and boxes— out popped and unopened purple box of LEGOs.  Running to the box and bursting with joy, Emma exclaimed "I thought I lost it!"  

By now, for many of us, our long awaited toy trucks or dolls, power tools and power toys, technological gadgets, silver, gold, and pearls, clothes and shoes, gaming consoles and game boards, televisions and tablets have been opened. By now, for many of us, we've reaped in an amazing haul of surprises, feasted on our fair share, or probably even eaten a bit more than we should have. By now, for many of us, we have already Zoomed and FaceTimed, texted and Snapped, updated our online stories and timelines, called family and friends, and taken to our social platforms to publish our favorite pictures or videos.  

Christmas was good! 

Which is why, perhaps more than any other day, God is inviting us to know the hope of Christmas even more than we did yesterday!  Why?  Because unfortunately by now, for many of us, the day after Christmas means that we have already discarded the joy of Christmas, the true Gift of heaven, the love and compassion of family, the grace and comfort of Christ, and all too soon laid aside the hope of "peace on earth and goodwill towards mankind" by letting it be swept up in moving on with the next day's activities. 

Although God's special Gift isn't ever really lost, we do allow ourselves to get distracted by other things, so for many of us, today is a day where God is re-inviting us to Christmas.  Today, perhaps more than any other day, God is inviting us to a much needed time to stop, sit still and know the Christ in Christmas; to go through all the gift boxes and wrapping paper to make sure that we have not left the most important gift of Christmas unopened; to see where like Emma, we may have accidentally lost sight of Christ's goodness and joy and love in the melee of presents, turkey and stuffing, or socially distanced gatherings.  Yes, I learned a lot from Emma including focus and persistent searching for what's important to us.  What about you?

Maybe today, we don't rush out to return that ugly Christmas sweater, or take down the tree, or clean the whole house, or go back to work or move on with our preparations for the New Year.  Maybe today, we look through all the wrapping paper and gifts and see God— His goodness and love and His cherished gift to us in Christ— and we just hold fast to it and not let it be a casualty of moving too fast towards the next thing.

May we ever search for His cherished gift to us, embracing Him and making sure that we don't let Him go, even if Christmas Day in the (current year) has gone. 

Merry Christmas!

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