There is nothing quite like family.
Relationships in families can be the most encouraging and also the most devastating.
Families are made of people, imperfect people. Like you, like me.
There will times of solidarity, challenging times, times of change, and sometimes silence. But there will always be love. Even when it is unspoken, even when you think it’s impossible, even when you don’t feel it-there IS love.
Never lose sight of the hearts of the people that God chose for you to call family.
I just came off a 10 day trip! Oh what fun! I got to see parts of the U.S. I had never seen and I enjoyed every place. This also gave me an opportunity to attend church in Washington, DC at National Community Church. I had the privilege of meeting and hearing Mike Godzwa speak. He is the Georgetown Campus Pastor and Team Director of the D.C. Metro Chi Alpha.
First I have to tell you how authentic everything felt. From the worship band to those serving free coffee and bagels! And since this congregation meets in a movie theater, (which I thought was genius and fun!) this was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
Let me tell you that during this trip I took my youngest child to college, moved her into her dorm and prepared myself for the goodbyes. Maybe that is why this message was so relevant to me! I was delighted that God was speaking directly to me (once again!) 1400 miles away from home! But then again, home is where your heart is, and mine is Jesus. What an awesome God we serve.
Mike talked about not only receiving God’s forgiveness, but becoming part of His family. Offering our entire lives to Him as living sacrifices-this is good. Everything we do needs to be an act of worship, honoring God. EVERYTHING! Every word, action, thought and decision. With that in my mind we are able to sincerely live for Him.
This was my favorite: We find God’s will for our lives when we give ourselves to Him. Experience the pleasure of His will. His will works through you to bless others. What He has done in you He wants to do through you. I have always known (well since I gave my life to God) that whatever I am going through is not only for my benefit, but also to allow me to use those circumstances to bless others.
The next statement from Mike shifted my direction, “Be available to be used as God sees fit.” I know this to be true, yet at this stage in my life I realized I was not as available as I should have been. Being wrapped up in so many changes in the past year, I found myself barely keeping my head above water, gasping for air periodically! Now I am using these changes in hopes that sharing them will bless and encourage others who need to see God through me.
Thank you Mike, for allowing God to work through you to bless me!
God, use me for your glory!
Heavy heart? Be grateful it’s beating.
At the bottom? Lift your hands and reach for God.
Desperate? You will move forward on your knees.
Depressed? Prayer changes things.
Lonely? A community awaits you, you were born for relationships.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
This morning I was thinking of Christmas traditions. I have never been one to be stuck on rituals. Don’t get me wrong, I put up a Christmas tree every year, just not on the same day. We decorate it all together, not necessarily with same decorations from the previous year. My daughter and I enjoy baking together but usually it’s whatever we want to at that moment! This year she chose to make Oreos wrapped in chocolate chip cookie dough! (Plus lots of other goodies!) Sometimes I send out Christmas cards (the old-fashioned kind, via snail mail!)-but not this year! Simply because there were things that got “bumped” off the to-do list. I believe when that list becomes a burden and steals time away from the people in my life, things will get bumped. Because people are always more important than things. And the people I would be sending the cards to are well aware of that, so they understand.
There are some things that we do during this time of year that can be considered traditions.
We drive around our neighborhood together to see all the beautiful lights. We have done this since the kids were little and they had sippy cups with warm chocolate in them! Now as young adults they still enjoy it, but they take hot chocolate or coffee!
We play games. Cards, Wii, Crosswords, etc. These do vary by year! It’s the time spent together that I cherish.
We watch movies together. I especially enjoy the movie Elf! We watch old Christmas movies but we also make it a point to go see a couple of new releases at the theater.
We go ice skating. By we I mean the kids. The last time I joined in on a group activity that included a slippery surface was in 2005, when we were in Taos snowboarding as a family (this quickly became a non-tradition!)
We cook together and have fun doing it, each adding our own flavor! We all enjoy cooking so it makes it a great event.
I take lots of pictures. Just ask my daughter-in-law!
We visit family and friends. And since we have lived in so many places, we have learned to do this creatively-via phone, skype, facetime and photo-journaling and of course, when possible, in person!
And we attend church together. This for me has become a sacred and meaningful time as a mother. Because my children grew up in church, when they all moved out on their own I missed them most on Sunday’s. So when we go to church on Christmas and I hear their sweet voices singing and praising God, and see their hands lifted high in worship, that blesses me beyond words.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing this Christmas, make memories, cherish your time, take pictures, and love like Jesus does!
As I was doing my devotion this morning, I came across something that I knew, but reading it again in print made me think of it differently somehow:
God’s grace is greater than our sin.
So that reminded me of this verse in Philippians:
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 NIV)
Therefore, shouldn’t we, being imitators, followers, believers, also have grace toward others when they sin against us?
In most situations, that is not easy and sometimes it does not even sound like an option. However we do it for our God. He will take care of everything else when we obey Him.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:7
