A simple Christmas...

I'm feeling a tug towards a simple Christmas...I want there to be plenty of room in our Christmas for contemplating THE Gift; the Presence, not the presents.

God, wrapped in infant flesh, came and dwelt among us. How do we celebrate that?

I want to focus on His Word this season - the beautiful prophecies, the fulfillment of promises, the enduring comfort, encouragement and challenges entrusted to us.

I plan to focus on family and home...not a whirlwind of shopping, events and general craziness. I want to make time to drink gingerbread spice tea, sing Christmas songs and make cookies for my neighbor kids. I will enjoy admiring my tree - especially the hand-traced angels, paper gingerbread men and popsicle stick reindeer of years gone by.

I will be deliberate in giving the gift of encouragement, affirmation and affection to those around me - in my home, my neighborhood, my church - and the grocery store.

"O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago."
Isaiah 25:1

Christmas blessings, from our family to yours!

Precious beyond telling...

I'm sticking with a "thankful" theme in Scripture memory for November - because I am all about the Thanksgiving this month!

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
2 Cor. 9:15

I've been familiar with this verse, but never really studied it in context. Chapter 9 is a timely study for me - it's focused on giving generously, cheerfully - it even references seed, sowing and harvest! This season has found us so blessed -- and this chapter stresses that God has made us "rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." (v. 11)

I love that it all comes back to HIM. We love, because He first loved us. We give, because He has given to us. Our giving is not about us, but about reflecting His faithfulness - His indescribable gift!

The Amplified Bible beautifully expands the language of the verse:

"Now thanks be to God for His Gift, precious beyond telling, His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift!"

Compassion...

The Compassion bloggers are on the road again! They're in El Salvador this week and I encourage you to take a minute to follow them as they share their experiences with a wonderful organization and the children who are being reached, touched, loved - all in Jesus' Name. I "followed" a group of bloggers who traveled to India earlier this year and it completely wrecked me - and inspired me to sponsor a child - sweet little Sruthi! Check them out - if you DARE!

Compassion Bloggers in El Salvador

He longs to be gracious to you...

It's November! Where has the year gone? And the holidays are upon us? Whew!

Okay, I'm taking deep breaths now and resolving to savor what remains of 2009. And, in accordance with a resolution made at the beginning of the year, I'm continuing this Scripture memory journey with a verse I just LOVE:

"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"

Isaiah 30:18

He longs to be gracious to you - how does that make you feel? Other translations use the words like waiting, earnestly waits, expecting, looking, longing. What a beautiful picture of God's love for us. He is longing to show us His graciousness, His mercy.

Why do we doubt this? Why do we find it easier to believe that God is waiting to pounce, to punish, to judge? That somehow when He looks at us, He's disappointed, rolling his eyes, shaking His head and making tsk-tsk noises with His tongue? The Bible says He LONGS to be gracious to us - RISES to show us compassion!

So let us wait -- look, expectantly, longingly -- for Him -- His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship. (Amplified Bible)

The unforced rhythms of grace...

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

For Scripture memory for the first two weeks of October I wanted to memorize something in red letters - something Jesus himself said while walking on this earth. And for some reason I was drawn to this familiar passage. I'm committing it to memory in the NIV translation, but check out The Message:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me. Get away with me
and you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me
and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

The unforced rhythms of grace...sounds like something I'd like to learn. I also love the idea that the yoke is not ill-fitting. The Amplified Bible offers more insight:

"Come to Me, all you who labor
and are heavy-laden and overburdened,
and I will cause you to rest.
[I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me,
for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart,
and you will find rest
(relief and ease and refreshment
and recreation and blessed quiet)
for your souls.
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--
not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing,
but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant),
and My burden is light and easy to be borne."

My pastor preached on this passage a while back and he suggested that if our yoke is burdensome, uncomfortable and ill-fitting, chances are it's not the one Jesus has placed upon us.

One commentator offers this: "Jesus' yoke is not lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with us."

His yoke is easy...

Numbering our days...

I'm a little late posting a memory verse for the second half of September...pondering the subject of "time" lately, so I chose one I sort of already know - also because I feel a need to spend a couple of weeks reviewing and cementing a few earlier passages! So, here's the memory verse for the rest of the month:

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

I decided to break out a couple of words for closer inspection -
Number - as a verb - count, assess or estimate the quantity of something...
Aright - correctly, properly...
Gain - secure something desired, favorable, profitable; reach a desired destination...

I think we can all agree that "a heart of wisdom" is something desirable...something to be secured...a destination worth reaching. And attaining that has something to do with how we "number our days;" how we view, live in and respond to time itself.

I just finished up "When the Heart Waits" by Sue Monk Kidd and she concluded with a discussion of some "gifts of the soul" that come to those who've trusted in God as they wait. These gifts include delight, enjoying the gift of creation, God's nurturing heart, authenticity and compassion. Also numbered among the gifts was "attunement" - learning to be genuinely present in life, in the here and now, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. She writes:

"Time isn't a straight line along which we travel.
It's a deep dot in which we dwell."

In "numbering my days aright" I want to dwell deeply in the present - the gift of this day God has given - and make the most of every moment - every opportunity to drink in beauty and delight in God; to share love and compassion; to live authentically.

Teach me, Lord.

Disturb Us, Lord...

I read this poem on the LPM blog a few minutes ago and wanted to pass it along.
Man.


Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.


Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.


Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

---Sir Francis Drake