Advent, Bible, Christmas, community, Holiday, patience, Prayer, Trust, Trustworthy

The difficult ones

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offended diverse women in room

It’s the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The time when things either slow down as you are wrapping up your year, or speed way up and you are preparing for Christmas and trying to wrap up your year. Either way, it is a weird few weeks of time. So many parties, so much to do, snow and icy roads, the list of things you thought you’d get done this year and didn’t. Ahh the Holiday Season. I am a fickle holiday person. I am either all in and loving it, or I am not into much at all. This year I fall to the latter of those. It’s almost the middle of December and I just have my tree up, no ornaments, no tree skirt, no other decorations other than a few snowmen. I don’t really know why some years I could just skip November and December and jump right into the New Year in January. Sometimes it has to do with relationships. You know the ones that are awkward, or hard, or non-existent that this time of year just somehow seems to highlight.

I was preparing for my Advent study, and we were told to read Romans 15:4-13. This week’s word is Hope. This isn’t the traditional Advent where you look at Love, Hope, Peace, and Joy, but we do have a focus word each week. So, like I said, this week’s word is Hope. And at Christmas time, hope makes me think of the line from Joy to the World that says, “The thrill of hope the weary world rejoices.” Something about that wording gets me every time I hear it. This year, I feel weary for many reasons, mostly because I have been going warp speed, with no slowing down in sight. It’s not been a bad year, but it’s a busy one. And when I am weary, I am not at my best people-wise. I bet you feel the same way. It’s hard to deal with someone who isn’t the easiest person for you to get along with when you’re tired.

We all have people in our lives who, shall we say, test our patience. It might be a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, your kid’s teacher, or whoever it is, we all have them. When I was reading Romans 4 for my Advent study a portion of that chapter hit me as the key to dealing with the person in your life that needs a little extra grace. Romans 4:5-7 reads, “Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice. Therefore, accept one another just as Christ has accepted you, to the glory of God.”

That verse has a whole lot going on. When I read it I thought of the person in my life that I have a difficult time with. God has convicted me many times over my negative thinking and judgmental thoughts of this person. I know that it’s ok to not be best friends with everyone, but when it is someone you are around alot, it’s always best if there is peace and not tension. Ok, so the truth is it isn’t about the other person, the one that makes me crazy, it’s about me. There is always going to be people who just rub you the wrong way, but God has a plan to help you get through and it is spelled out in Romans 15:4-7.

I looked into the meaning of a few words from these verses. It says, “Now may the God who gives….” The first thing to do when dealing with someone difficult is to stop doing it on your own. For me, that means praying when I know I am going to be around this person. The next part of the verse tells us what to pray for. Romans 4:5 says it’s God who gives you endurance and encouragement, and He grants you the ability to live in harmony with others. Why does He do this? So God will be glorified. It takes the pressure off to know that it is God’s job to give me endurance and encouragement to live in harmony with others. That is where we start, leaning in to God, trusting Him for endurance and encouragement.

Endurance in this verse means steadfastness, to remain under, to wait, to hope, to expect. It means steadfast endurance, particularly in the face of trials and difficulties, remaining faithful and patient under pressure. Encouragement means calling someone to your side for the purpose of offering comfort. It comes from the same word used in John 14:26 when the Holy Spirit is named the Comforter. Lastly the word harmony means being of the same mind. It often implies a deliberate choice of thought or attitude.

Here is the takeaway. It’s not the person who makes us nuts. It is how we deal with the person that matters. Do we stew over how frustrating they can be? Do we agonize and stress when we know we have to see them? No, we pray and ask God to give us hope that we will find common ground with this person. That the relationship won’t always be strained, awkward, or difficult. We ask God to comfort us when this person hurts our feelings for the thousandth time. We can’t change other people, but we can allow God to change us. So this holiday season, or whenever you are going to be around those people who are difficult for you for whatever reason, remember Romans 15:5-7. Write it down. Keep it somewhere where you can read it, and pray before you are around them.

Let’s choose to accept people for who they are while praying for God to give us endurance, encouragement and the ability to live in harmony with one another. Let’s glorify God in all of relationships – even the difficult ones.

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Bible, Easter, Holiday, Jesus, love, Minor Prophets, Studying the Bible, Uncategorized

The weight of sin & the Love of God

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decorative sculpture in park

It’s Easter week. I am a staff pastor at a local church, and I’m sick. Yep that’s what my week is like as I write this. Good news is I don’t really have a “Key” role in Easter Services. I am not the lead speaker, nor part of the worship team which takes some pressure off, but still not the best week to be sick. Although there never really is a good time to be sick, is there? We all have responsibilities and things we do that are important and being sick, like it or not, trumps all of that.

Sickness aside it’s been a rough couple of weeks. I have had a funeral to help plan for a friend’s dad, another friend’s son was taken to rehab for the 2nd time, one friend had vocal surgery and another major surgery in a week, car accidents, kids who broke their arms. and a school lockdown that ended in peace. That’s a glimpse of my world. It’s also what I love about being a pastor. I hate that things go wrong; people get sick, but I love that God allows me to bring help to those in need.

I am in the midst of a study on Amos with women at the church. This small book has so much to teach us – it is blowing my mind. This week we are studying chapter 2. Amos is giving his prophetic word to nations that are going to be judged for their sins. It’s actually more bleak than the last couple of weeks around my world. It seems so hopeless….BUT God. There is this one strange verse that author Jennifer Rothschild points out and expands on. Amos 2:13 reads, “Look I am about to crush you, in your places as a wagon crushes when full of grain.”(Holman Standard Bible). Sounds like God is mad, and He is; but there is more to these words than you read on the page. The wagon is symbolic of God, who is weighed down with the sins of His people. A heavy wagon crushes the ground it rolls over due to the weight it carries. Jennifer Rothschild draws the understanding that God allows Himself to get weighed down from our sins. He feels the weight of sin.

Since this is Easter week my mind immediately goes to the scripture from Isaiah, “He was crushed for our iniquities” (Is. 53:5) God allowed Himself to be crushed by the weight of my sin, and yours. I read the rest of the chapter and finished the rest of this week’s study, and then just sat with the Lord. Here in the book of Amos, God is mad at the sins of the Israelites. In fact He is so mad He’s going to crush them according to this chapter. But we know the rest of the story. While Israel is “crushed” for a season – they are taken into captivity, killed, and scattered – God didn’t fully crush them. He didn’t do what their sins deserved. And He doesn’t give us what our sins deserve either. Israel is gathered back together. They become a people group again.

God hates sin. God loves sinners. God does not ignore injustice, but God does not act in wrath. It’s a mystery and a marvel all at the same time. I mentioned my week at the start of this blog. I pointed out the lows, but here are the highs. I was part of a prayer team who saw tumors dissolve, blind eyes see, a life saved from death, tears of joy, peace and love. In the midst of all that is bad God is moving and blessing, and healing, and saving. God always feels the weight of sin. It grieves His heart so much so that He finally had enough. He broke heaven open by sending Jesus to live and then die for the sin of the world. I believe Jesus felt double the weight of sin. The actual sin itself, and then the effects of that sin on others. We live in a fallen world but there is hope. The weight of the wagon won’t crush us because God won’t let it. No matter what sickness you face, or addiction your family member is tied up in; no matter how dark the darkness gets, Jesus is and always will be the light of the world. Light ALWAYS displaces the darkness. No matter how heavy the weight of the wagon God is always there to take that burden. It’s the crazy beauty of Easter. Jesus died. All seemed lost, until it wasn’t. Jesus rose. Nothing can stop God. Nothing can alter the love that is too great to understand. No circumstance is too far gone for God to redeem.

As Good Friday and Easter Sunday come, take a moment and think about what God did for you. What He saved you from. Then praise Him. If He cares enough about you to send His son to die in your place, then He cares deeply about your situation. Whether it’s due to your sin or someone else’s, God sees it; and He will not let it crush you. He is God and He will make right every wrong, He has made a way for us to come to Him. No sin is too big to be forgiven and no hurt is too deep to not be healed. Because of Jesus we will rise.

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Christmas, cookies, Holiday, Recipes, Uncategorized

A Christmas Kiss to Eat

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I must confess I do like to bake. But somehow I like it even more in the winter and at Christmas. It’s just not fun to bake when it’s 100 degrees. But now its cool/cold-ish and I am baking away. It helps that I have a women’s Christmas event that I am baking for at my church too!

I avoid gluten but am not celiac so I can eat it. My mom however is and she doesn’t eat gluten at all. My daughter in law is dairy free and I wanted to make something for people whose allergies or health issues cause them to not eat certain foods. I found a recipe called Coffee Kisses. They were simple and cute as you piped the dough with a star tip and a piping bag into a beautiful swirl. The recipe was not gluten or dairy free, but I thought I would give the recipe a try and swap the butter for a vegan one and the flour for one that’s gluten free. Everything was working out. I got the dough piped out real nice and they looked perfect. I popped them in the oven and waited….

Here is what the first ones looked like after they baked. So flat!

What came out was super flat coffee crisps. My kids said they tasted great. I was disappointed. So I tweaked the recipe a bit more adding more gluten free flour to stiffen the dough and adding baking powder. The result was a dough that did hold its shape but wouldn’t go through the piping bag.

Since the recipe was called Coffee Kisses, I had the idea to shape the dough into the Hershey chocolate kiss shape and bake them. They turned out great. They for sure look homemade but that’s ok because they are. Once you drizzle a little chocolate on top they are perfect. The good news is now anyone can make these – no piping bag or star tips required. Just a mixing bowl a cookie sheet the ingredients and your own two hands.

For all my gluten free, dairy free friends out there I got you covered with this recipe that you WILL be able to make on your own!

Here’s the recipe:

2.5 cups gluten free flour (I used Cup 4 Cup multipurpose gluten free flour)

2 sticks and 2.5 tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsps instant coffee

2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

and a few shakes of the salt shaker.

Directions

Mix the instant coffee in the hot water and stir. Blend the butter and the sugar until creamy. Since it is dairy free butter it isn’t as hard as regular butter so you don’t have to bring it to room temp to mix it! Bonus!! Once that is blended add 1 cup of the flour mix until blended, then add the coffee and water mix, the vanilla, baking powder, salt and the rest of the flour. Mix until well blended. I have a Kitchen Aid mixer that I used but a handheld mixer would work just as well. I did end up mixing the last bit of flour in by hand.

Pre-heat your oven to 325. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Then take about 2tsp of dough and roll into a ball. Pinch the top to form the peak of a the kiss like a Hershey kiss has. Place cookies spaced out evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 mins.

This is the shape of the cookies before they are baked.
And this is after baking them. They held the shape so much better than the first batch.

Once they cool melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips or whatever type chocolate you want and drizzle over the top.

You can add 1/2tsp of coconut oil to the chocolate to help it drizzle better.

Serve these with a great cup of coffee.

Recipe will make 35-40 cookies depending on how big you make the kisses.

**Make sure your chocolate is dairy free or if you forget that like me leave some without chocolate for those who can’t eat any dairy.

Drizzled chocolate on this whole pan before I realized it’s milk chocolate!

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Bible, COVID 19, Easter, Holiday, Jesus, The power of the Blood, Uncategorized

A Sacrificial Easter

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Easter is in a few days. I’ve been feeling like I should write something about it, but I couldn’t figure out what. I just chalked it up to the fact that this year’s Easter is going to be, well, quite different from the ones in the past. Then I woke up this morning and thought, that’s it!

Yes, this Easter will be very different from every other Easter you have ever celebrated. There won’t be neighborhood egg hunts. There won’t be churches full of people. There won’t even be big family gatherings. No fancy Easter dresses, and no pictures with the Easter bunny. Different indeed.

But the more I thought about all that there won’t be, I began to think of all that there will be. There will still be the day that Jesus died on the cross (Good Friday as we know it); and there will still be the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Which is all we need for Easter. The things we are missing this year aren’t specifically bad. Maybe God is removing them so we can focus on Him and what He sacrificed at Easter.

If you’re like me, and I am going to guess a lot of you are, you don’t like sad things. I think it’s maybe our western culture. We don’t do well with death; especial an unfair one at that. So when we mention the cross we call it Good Friday and then skip over to the resurrection – the happy part of the story. So today I’m choosing to camp on the hard part of Easter – the sacrifice. Because without the sacrifice and hardship that Jesus was and did, there would be no Sunday celebration.

Stick with me here. We see it throughout the Bible. Sacrifices are common in the Bible. Maybe so common we skip over them, or maybe we think they are mean, or maybe we simple don’t understand them. But they are there. Specifically blood sacrifices. We see them applied to both forgiveness and healings.

The first sacrifice made was in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:21 where the Lord made garments of animal skin for Adam and Eve. An animal gave it’s life, and bled to cover them. We see over and over animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins. In Leviticus 14:3-7 we see a bird sacrifice for healing of a disease. We even see Jesus tell the man with leprosy after healing him to go show himself to the Priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing. (See Luke 5:14)

You see the cross and the Blood that Jesus shed and the beatings that He took were His great sacrifices for us. The stripes that he bore are our means to healing. We can proclaim that we are healed by the Stripes of Jesus (Is. 53:5 and Matthew 8:17). We see in Eph. 1:7 and Hebrews 9:12-14 that we have forgiveness and are made righteous by the Blood of Jesus.

So this Easter, as things look a lot different than what we are used to; let’s look at Easter in a way we maybe aren’t used to either. Take time to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made. Take time to understand the power of the Blood. And then on Sunday praise Him from a new place of understanding. Shout praises to the one whose Blood truly makes us clean.

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Bible, Easter, Holiday, Uncategorized

The Simple Gospel

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The Gospel was not something I heard much in my world. I mean, I was used to hearing other words like sharing your faith, living for Jesus. But the use of the word Gospel just wasn’t around much, until recently. I just finished a Bible study by Christine Caine (which I would highly recommend) called 20/20. It’s about how we are all seen, chosen and then sent. Hence the word Gospel being used.

But it also came up in two different books I am reading that are completely different topics, but both both about God. All this use of the word Gospel got me thinking. I mean I am a pastor and I do know what it means, but maybe I didn’t know ALL that it means.

I am sure you are familiar with the word Gospel used as in the 4 Gospels of Jesus. AKA Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And I am sure you have probably known the word Gospel in the sense to share the Gospel with someone. But could you say anything else about that word?

The word Gospel is a rather simplistic word. According to Websters definition it means: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation, one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ also: : an interpretation of the Christian message. Ok simple enough.

Right about now I am sure you are thinking why is this woman writing about this? It’s common knowledge and so far boring. Stick with me.

The Gospel I believe is more than the definition above. It should be a way of life. The first definition is concerning Christ, the kingdom of God and salvation. Yes the Gospel is the road you take to find salvation in Jesus Christ. But from there it is how you conduct your life.

“I received Jesus Christ by faith in His gospel. And it was in and through this gospel that I saw God. In my seeing God through the eyes of faith, illuminated and bright with the gospel’s light, sin could no longer compare to the King of Glory. I’d laid eyes on Someone worth dying for because His death had both lifted my own and ensured that I would be able to die to all that kept me from Life.” Jackie Hill Perry author and poet.

Jeff Vanderstelt stated in his book Gospel Fluency, “The Gospel doesn’t just bring about forgiveness of sins and save us from Hell. The Gospel of Jesus Christ empowers us to live a whole new life today by the power that raised Jesus from the grave.”

Now those are definitions that can get a girl excited about the Gospel. And as Easter is approaching in a little more that a month from now, I am thinking what would it be like if I lived out these two Gospel truths. What would my life look like in a month from now if I lived each day fully aware of the big and little sins that steal my heart away from Jesus but knowing I had the power of God inside me to overcome every time they speak my name? What if I lived fully believing that things don’t have to be the way they are; that by the power of God I can remove idols like TV and Facebook and those things that I go to for attention or to simply turn my brain off? What if I said no to them and Yes to Jesus’s power?

What if I looked at those sins in my life I dare not mention on the internet -the things I keep hidden; knowing that they don’t have any real power over me because the resurrection power of Jesus lives in me?

What if I started sharing my faith with my friends and family not because I don’t want them to go the Hell (which for the record I don’t) but because they are missing life while they are living?

What if the Gospel, a seemingly simple and boring word, became to me and others who read this what it was always meant to be? A powerful, awe inspiring word that leads us to be amazed at a God who is so much bigger than we know.

Will you join me for a month? Will you ask God to daily show you how He wants you live this day in light of the Gospel of Christ? If you do, please share in the comments how it impacted you and others around you.

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Advent, Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Hanukkah, Holiday

The Hanukkah Experiment

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First of all, and right off the bat, I am NOT Jewish by birth. However, one could argue that I am Jewish by my faith in Jesus. (See Ephesians 2:19 and 3:6)

A few weeks before Christmas I was doing an Advent study. I love Advent. It makes Christmas less crazy for me and a little more fun. I have admitted in the past I am not crazy for Christmas as some of you out there are. I honestly most years could take it or leave it. It was probably best when my kids were little simply because of their enthusiasm and excitement. But alas, now they are older and I’m right back in the “what is all of this nonsense about?” mode. You have to agree – Christmas is a crazy time of year. Tons of people going nuts about buying the right gift; tons of food that isn’t good for anyone’s waist line (can you say cookies, fudge and cakes oh my?); and if you have allergies like me, well then it is temptation city on top of adding a few “Holiday pounds”. Ok, you get it. I am not in love with Christmas. But I am in love with Christ. Thus my battle with Christmas. Is it really supposed to celebrate the birth of my Savior? I have just never been able rationalize the whole thing. The two – Jesus and Christmas – just don’t go together in my head. No matter how many birthday cakes are made for Jesus on Christmas, it’s still plain weird to me. Before all of you who love Christmas stop reading, I will get to my point. In the Advent study, I read John 10:22-23 which says, “Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Feast of Tabernacles I know. The Passover Feast, yep, know that, too. But the Feast of Dedication, that one I didn’t know. So I looked into it. In researching I discovered that the Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.

And so my search to understand Hanukkah began. All I knew is it’s about the Maccabees and candles and oil for the lamps that last 7 days longer than it should. I will spare you tons of details so this post won’t take you an hour to read. The main points I learned was that a bad guy named Antiochus who called himself Epiphanes which means “God Manifest” defeated the Jews, took control of the temple, and desecrated the temple. On the fifteenth day of Kislev (which would be our November/December), Epiphanes held the pagan Saturnalia ceremony where a pig was slaughtered on the altar in the Holy of Holies, and the blood was sprayed throughout the temple. This was the last straw, and a rebel group of Jews known as the Maccabees fought back against Epiphanes. After a 3 year battle, they finally won. The Maccabees took back control of the temple and began to clean up the horrible things done in the Temple to defame it. The Maccabees lit the candles in the temple and kept them lit for 8 days with only enough oil to burn one candle for one day. The number 8 in the Bible means Resurrection and Regeneration or new beginnings.

The original foundation of the temple was laid in Kislev. In Haggai 2:18 it says, “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, (Kislev) give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought.”

I will put this altogether for you now. Jesus was at the temple during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). The temple was destroyed in the month of Kislev and re-dedicated 3 years later in the month of Kislev. Oh and the original temple foundation was laid on in the month of Kislev. Call me crazy, but things are adding up. And here is where this blog gets good.

With all of that and a few other things I learned while studying, I think celebrating Hanukkah is a way to honor God. So we are going to give it a whirl this year. We will start on December 22nd because that is the day that Hanukkah starts. We will light a candle each night and my husband will read the traditional prayer spoken when the candles are lit. Then we will deviate from Jewish tradition to Storey tradition. Each prayer spoken while lighting the candle has a key phrase in it – the reason you are thanking God. We will expand on those phrases and talk as a family how we can rededicate our temple (our lives, since the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and 6:19-20 that our bodies are temples and the Holy Spirit lives in them.) We will thank God for His goodness and offer a new way to honor Him in our lives.

It will look something like this: Click Here for the outline of traditional prayers and the Storey’s way of dedicating our lives accordingly.

We still have our Christmas tree with gifts galore under it and our advent tree; but this year we have a menorah too. This year in the midst of the craziness we will settle down, light a candle, pray, and reflect on new ways to live for God. It’s my way of pushing back against the self-absorbed ways of Christmas to shout Glory to God in the Highest, and unto us a Savior has indeed been born! That Savior is Jesus who now lives in me and I will honor Him first!

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Advent, Bible, Christmas, Holiday, Uncategorized

The Season Of Advent

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Oh Advent how you make my soul relax, sing, and full of what matters most. Advent season starts traditionally on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and goes for 4 or 5 weeks depending on your religious affiliation. But I’d rather not focus on specifics of Advent but rather the intention and meaning of it.

The word Advent means “coming”. In general it means arrival of a notable person. But to me, Advent means so much more. I have done some sort of Advent calendar for years with my kids. There are so many creative ways to do the traditional Advent calendars on Pinterest. I think I have probably done most of them. But this year I decided to branch out even more in the world and season of Advent and do two Bible studies on the subject.

Both studies focus on slowing down and taking time to notice all the sensations of the Holiday Season. They both focus you on Jesus but in very different approaches. For the Christian, that is the purpose of any Advent activity – to focus on God, not ourselves, our wants, our desires. In the words of Ann Vankamp, “He begs us to spend the attention of Advent on the little, the least, the lonely, the lost.”

I shared a blog about Advent last year. You can read it here. This year, my intention in studying Advent a little deeper is learning to find God in every day, and honor Him with every day I live. I am focusing on the little things; slowing down and taking time to savor reading the Bible this season. Paying attention to needs spoken or unspoken by those around me. Taking them to Jesus and seeing how I can be used to help someone else encounter God in a deeper way. I have challenged myself with activities from both studies I am doing right now. If you are looking to do a study on Advent, I would highly recommend either of them. The Greatest Gift by Ann Vankamp and LifeWay Christian Resources women’s study called Advent – The Weary World Rejoices.

As I take time over the next few weeks to prepare my heart and my family for Christmas, I want to know that I am preparing for the right thing, the right reasons. Not a season of chaos, over-indulgence, stressful parties, and endless shopping; but rather on making a lasting difference in the people whose lives intersect with mine.

However you get ready for the Christmas season, I want to encourage you to make Advent part of your traditions. Take time to recognize what really counts this year. Slow down to notice those who really matter to you. Make space in your schedule for God to speak. Then make a resolve to follow through on what God speaks to you. Be courageous this Holiday season. Share what you really believe about Christmas. Take a step of faith and bless someone who can never bless you back; tell a stranger that Jesus loves them. Share your faith journey with someone, and invite them to start their own journey with Jesus. Be intentional about what has your focus and where you give your time. Don’t let the chaos around you determine how you respond to this season.

For traditional advent readings click here.

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Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Uncategorized

Advent-Make room for Jesus

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A week ago I taught at our church’s Women’s Event on Advent.  I shared where and how Advent originated and how it changed over the years.  I am not sure what the word Advent means to you.  But to me it means making room for Jesus.  We have been doing Advent “calendars” in my home for years.  Well actually we have never done a traditional Advent calendar. I’ve always made my own.  I guess it is more appropriate to say we have done Advent Christmas readings for years.

I have done them with my kids at Christmas for at least 8 years but I think probably longer.  We started with the general Advent reading from the Book of Luke in the Bible and a few verses from Matthew.  As my children grew we adapted our Advent readings to include the names of Jesus, the wonder of Jesus, and this year we will look into the gifts God gives us. I have included the scriptures we used in our boxes at the bottom of this post.

I figure since we give gifts to one another we should be familiar with the gifts that God gives us.  So I began to compile a list of the gifts from God mentioned in the scriptures.  And keeping with the gift theme I found little boxes on Amazon

 

 

and then embellished them with ribbons so we can hang one each night on our Advent Tree.

Our Advent Tree is just a little 3 foot tall tree I keep near our kitchen table where we usually do our Advent readings.

You could use any Advent calendar that you add your own verse to like the ones we made at our church this year!

Or you can do ornaments or whatever you like.

My kids have grown quite a bit over the years, but I still try to slow life down, sit together as a family at some point in the day, and reflect on the goodness of God.  I cherish taking a small breather in a day that is filled with so much busyness; to reflect that God is the best gift giver and that God cherishes these moments of reflection and togetherness more than I do.

I want with all my heart for my kids to have a thriving, vibrant relationship with Jesus.  And I want to honor Jesus in Christmas above all else.  It’s funny how the time of year that is supposed to be about the birth of our Savior gets swallowed up in gifts, parties, trees, lights, cookies, and all the other Christmas festivities.  But as I read in the Bible it wasn’t all that different when Jesus was born.  I mean they weren’t decorating trees, and making cookies to share with the neighbors, but it was a busy time.  The entire world at that time was being registered for the census ordered by Case Augustus.  In those days when a Census was ordered you had to travel back to the town you were born in to be counted.

We read in Luke 2:4-6 the story of Joseph and his betrothed wife Mary traveling from Galilee to the town of Bethlehem. They traveled somewhere between 80-90 miles.  For most of us traveling that far is nothing.  It’s less then 2 hours in a car, no big deal.  But to travel in those days was a challenge.  You were on a donkey or maybe a camel or even a horse.  You didn’t have room to take much with you.  The road wasn’t a paved highway, but rather a dirt path to follow.  After traveling for somewhere between 4-7 days, Mary goes into labor.  The King Jesus is about to be born.  But the world around them was buzzing with the people going to be counted.  The world around Mary and Joseph hardly took notice that a king was coming to this world to redeem His people.  Luke 2:7 says “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in the swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  Because there was no place for them……

I wonder how many times Jesus is pushed to the side in our lives because there was no place for Him.

While we certainly should have daily time with Jesus, Christmas seems to be the time that is hardest to accomplish.  There is so much to do. And Advent has become my way of daily making space for Jesus in my life and the lives of my family.  My Advent tree is a visual, daily reminder to make room for the King.  It reminds me that all of the fun and festivities are second to Jesus.

God wants us to have fun, celebrate ones we love, enjoy life, but never at the expense of time with Him.  I encourage you to find a way that works for you; but make space, make room in your life for Him this Christmas.  Take time and experience God’s greatest gift to us – the gift of knowing and having a relationship with Jesus!

Gifts of God

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Bible, family activities, Holiday, Memorizing scripture, Uncategorized

A moment to reflect and pause

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I am not Jewish, but I do believe that the Jewish festivals and activities can teach us a lot about our own relationship with God. Now that that is out of the way, I want to share with you a Jewish celebration or maybe tradition that I started doing this year.  It is called Tashlikh.  Tashlikh means to cast away.  The celebration of Tashlikh is done during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Which I realize as you read this is already past; however, I am wanting to get at the heart of this celebration not focus on its actual time frame

Since I am not Jewish I am not going to attempt to tell you how they celebrated this, but I will share how I choose to celebrate Tashlikh.  I asked the ladies from my Bible study to meet me at a pond near our church.  A few weeks before we met at the pond, my co-leader and I gathered some rocks for this day.  We left some blank and painted on a few of them.  We painted words like “faith”, “worthy”, and “loved”.

The day we met at the park I explained to them that Tashlikh is a time when we reflect on what sin or habit or item in our lives the Lord would have us give up or, to use the Tashlikh wording, cast away.  I read to the ladies Micah 7:19 which says “You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea.” I told the ladies to grab a blank rock and a marker, go find a place near the pond and ask God what they needed to cast off in their lives.  After they were done discussing that with the Lord, I instructed them to write it on the rock and then throw the rock into the pond.  So we all took our rocks, found our place to be quiet and pray, and then write on and release our rocks.

While I was sitting talking to God about the word on my rock, He said once we release the rock into the pond we can’t get it back.  It would be next to impossible to find it in the pond.  And even if we could find it by the time we did the words would be faded if not completely wiped away by the water and other items in the pond like sand and dirt and other rocks.  Then God said, “This is how I forgive. I get rid of it – never to be able to get it back or find it again. So why can’t you let things go?” I sat there thinking about that.  Why are we so hard on ourselves?  Why do we hold onto things we should just let go of?  And once they are gone, why do we live as though we are still holding on to them?

One of the points of Tashlikh is using your body to represent what is happening in the spiritual realm.  On my rock, I wrote self-doubt and pride.  I struggle with believing I am good enough – that I have something valuable to give to those around me.  Or I think I am so great everyone should align their thinking with mine all the time.  I never seem to find that balance of humility and obedience.  I have spent hours in prayer on this.  And then it became clear.  It isn’t pride to share what God tells me, and it isn’t up to me to make people accept it. That part is on God.  I am called to love others and point them to Jesus with my life.  The end result is up to God.  Whether I am accepted or not is not the issue. It becomes an issue of obedience to Christ and trusting Him with the outcome.  When we write our issue or sin or word on the rock, we are acknowledging our wrong thinking or wrong actions. When we release them, we are giving them to God and asking him to wash over them.   We are living out Micah 7:19 and Psalm 103:12.  God really does remove our sins, and He says He will remember them no more according to Isaiah 43:25.  It’s amazing how a physical action can help us understand something we know to be true but had a hard time fully understanding.

When the ladies were done with their rocks and had thrown them into the pond we all came back together. There is a second part to Tashlikh that is just as important as the first.  Once we gave God our struggle we turn and look for the positive.  I told the ladies to think of something God has done for them this year.  Or think of something God has helped you to overcome.  Basically, now that we got rid of one word, let’s focus on a new word.  For me it was “worthy”.  I have worth and value because God created me and gave His son to take my place so I can have a thriving eternal relationship with Him.  That screams of value and worth.  I also have worth because God has created me with a purpose according to Jeremiah 29:11.

Our words were not all the same and they were not supposed to be.  We are all vastly different with different struggles and different strengths. We got rid of something that was bad, but we are to keep doing something that was good.  We are not supposed to live focused on our sin, but rather live giving glory to God for the good.

So I challenge you to think of something you have been holding onto or a sin you have struggled with for too long. Write it on a rock then throw it into water (somewhere) and let it go. Give to God 100%.  Then think of something good you are doing or an area of weakness you are overcoming – something amazing God has done in you or through you.  Write that on a rock and put it somewhere you will see it often. Remind yourself, God is faithful. He will forgive our mistakes, and He is using us to make a difference for His glory. Go and celebrate Tashlikh.

Click Here for October’s memory verse

 

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Bible, Easter, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Uncategorized

Gearing up for Easter

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Is there more to Easter than a church service, a bunny, egg hunts, and a family dinner?  I know that theologically speaking, of course, there is. But when it came right down to it our celebration of Easter was not much more than that.  A one-day celebration, if you could call it that, with a bunch of mixed traditions.  As my kids grew older I wanted more from the Easter season.  I wanted a rich understanding and deep connection with what Easter really means to us as Christ followers.  I wanted it to be fun for my kids but not void of the gratitude and grace that Easter has.

As Pastors, church services are a given.  I don’t think there was ever an  Easter that my children were not in multiple church services, but something still was lacking.  We read the Easter story.  Watched cute movies about Easter.  I even made a cake for the Easter dinner in the shape of a cross.  Yet still, there was something in me that felt like we were missing the mark; maybe not all together, but we were not as close to the target as I hoped.

Then last year in a bible study I was involved in, the topic of prophecy came up – specifically the prophecies of Jesus.  As I studied and read them, I began to realize I was not as familiar with them as I thought I would be.  Sure I know the basics, but there were so many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His life, many I didn’t remember.  And then it hit me.  What if we took the month leading up to Easter (it helped that that year Easter was at the end of a month rather than the beginning or the middle) to read the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus?  I knew my kids knew the story of Easter, but I bet they didn’t know how many prophecies that Easter alone fulfilled – not to mention Jesus’ life.

I decided that each day for the 30 days prior to Easter we would read an Old Testament prophecy about the life of Jesus.  I bought foam shaped crosses and wrote the scriptures on them with a marker.

I had my husband, who is great at building just about anything I ask, to build me a cross with a stand. I then hammered 30 nails all around to hang the crosses on after we read the verses.  Lastly, I looked up the New Testament fulfilment of the prophecies and wrote those scripture references on more crosses.  I put the 30 New Testament Bible verse in plastic eggs.

On Easter Sunday we read the last Old Testament scriptures and hung up the last little foam cross on the big wooden cross.

 My husband and I hid all the stuffed plastic eggs outside.  We told the kids to go find them.  They were expecting them to be filled with candy like they have been in the past, but as they opened them they were shocked to find more crosses with Bible verses on them.  We told them if they could match each Old Testament prophecy to the New Testament fulfilment they would each get 30 pieces of candy.

They pulled out their Bibles and worked together to match each one.  We talked about how Jesus fulfilling those prophies brings validity to Jesus being who He said He was.  We talked as a family about the importance of His death on the cross, and how He was raised from death to life.

I know there is still more that God wants from me as I head into Easter season this year!  And I am working to accomplish those things.  But I know that helping my kids understand the connection of the whole Bible to Jesus is a huge part of that.  And helping them realize that Easter is more than a holiday with candy, church, and family dinner is a starting point. I want my kids to grasp that Easter is what our faith is about – a Savior who paid the highest price imaginable to be able to spend eternity with us in Heaven.  As I keep praying for them and me to understand this revelation deeper, we will continue to have family fun with our cross matching game.

 

Click here for Scriptures references I used.

 

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