Not exactly what I was hoping for...

Welcome to our ADVENTure in Advent...a journey to Christmas.

When I was little, I could hardly wait for that special item to come in the mail. Some of you may remember the excitement, the thrill, the perfect anticipation that came in something called the Sears Christmas Catalog. Oh, there may have been others, but none compared to Sears.

I'd quickly flip past the dresses and underwear, past the shoes and appliances, straight to the toys...then I'd carefully get out my notebook and pencil and begin choosing my list to present to Santa. Did you know he used the Sears catalog? Oh, I'm sure he did because I remember listing each item, including the page number so that he would have no trouble knowing just which presents to place underneath my tree.

At our house, Santa came on Christmas Eve because our small little town in South Alabama was one of his first stops. We'd watch the Santa Radar out of Mobile and we KNEW when he was getting close. Sometimes we'd be at my father's gas station when Santa arrived - once we almost frightened him away and we had to rush back out of the house so he could finish putting our toys underneath that silver Christmas tree - you know, the one that rotated and had the different color light wheel that made it change colors.

As you can tell, Christmas was a big deal. I don't ever remember NOT getting just what I'd hoped for. Mama must have worked herself silly trying to locate the things on our list but somehow she always managed to find the most important things. I never quite managed to inherit that amazing talent from her...I wish I had. Somehow, the Christmases since then have fallen, well, a little flat.
Somehow, since I've grown up, I've never quite found what I hoped for underneath my tree. Oh, I've had some wonderful presents, but the peace...the joy...the wonder...they just seemed to have disappeared.

Today, I got to thinking about those shepherds - you know, the ones who were watching their flocks by night. I bet they were hoping for something. They may have been sitting around, talking about how difficult life could be. Maybe they were just talking about the weather and the price of wool. Maybe they were just so tired they just sat and watched. I wonder if inside they had that longing for more..more peace, joy, and wonder.

For years, they had probably heard the stories of the long awaited Messiah who would one day come...one day. They'd heard those stories since they were boys...but that had been long ago. Still, they hoped that one day He'd come. Surely when He arrived, He'd be a conquering king and would finally free them from bondage. He'd probably be big and strong and very kingly indeed. I bet each of them KNEW how they thought the King would come. But they were caught by surprise.

Luke 2 - "Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Not what they were expecting, I am sure....but they didn't let that stop them. They said, "Let's go!"

I want to be more like those shepherds. As Christmas approaches, each of us has in our mind's eye what it's supposed to look like. We have the "perfect Christmas" all mapped out, thanks to our Sear's catalog (do they even make those anymore?) and our internet searches, and our tv shows and movies that show us just how it's supposed to be done. But what if it's not what we were expecting? What if, instead of some shiny impressive King, it comes humbly in a cold manger filled with daily life mooing for attention? What if it's even something that at first makes us, as the King James version puts it,  "sore afraid?" (I've always wondered about that, by the way. How afraid must you be to be sore?)

What if we discover like the Grinch, that Christmas "came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages boxes, or bags!
And he puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore." (There's that sore thing again!)"Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."

If Christmas isn't what I was expecting, will I still do as the shepherds (and even the Grinch) did and go rushing in to discover more? Will I stand there in wonder and be so afraid I am sore? Will I even notice if it doesn't come the way I'd hoped it would come or will I miss the wonder completely?

And the ADVENTure continues...I have to wonder what all I will discover on this journey to Christmas, but I'm pretty sure of one thing...it won't be exactly what I was hoping for. Nope, it will be a whole lot more.

Trusting Him...

Lately I've been coming across the same theme in my devotions - trusting God with EVERYTHING!
It all started one day as I was leaving the gym...I had one of those thoughts come into my head. You know the ones...those that are unmistakably God speaking to you. This one had to do with my giving and I felt like I heard my Father say, "You aren't trusting me enough." I mentioned it to my son as we drove home and just sort of tucked it away for later thought.

Then, for the next few days, everywhere I turned I came across devotions and stories of people who had trusted God with everything and I was getting more and more convicted. This wasn't some sort of "You aren't doing what you should" kind of conviction...it was more of a "Trust me to take care of everything" kind of conviction. I could feel God tugging at my heart to let go of the worry and just trust that He would take care of it all.

My family is like a lot of other families out there right now. Money is tight...okay, that's an understatement. Let's put it this way, if my money were a pair of jeans, we'd be lying on our back, gasping for air trying to get them zipped! There just never seems to be enough. I always run out of money long before I run out of month! And God is telling me to trust Him more? That can't be right - still, there was no doubt in my mind that is just what He was saying to me.

Then, as if to make sure I got the picture, God did something that spoke to me with a shout. He put it on a dear friend's heart to buy my husband and I tickets to see my favorite band. I just mentioned on facebook that I'd like to see them for my anniversary and the next thing I knew tickets were provided...and more! God was not only providing for my needs, He was adding extra! He was blessing me with a want!

Now, trust me, I'm not some "Name it and claim it" sort of believer; and I don't believe in giving to get. Still, I know when God is showing me something. This time, I'm pretty sure He's showing me that I don't have to worry. The economy may be bad, but He still has His eye on me. I have been blessed with so much more than I realize, and yet He wants me to trust Him for even more....and He wants me to live with an open heart and an open hand. Not sure I know quite how to do that yet, but I'm excited about what God will do as I learn to listen and obey.

We have been blessed with so much more than we deserve...yet we feel like we are poor. How ridiculous is that? I want to walk in the knowledge that if God leads me to give, He's got it all under control.

In all this, I am also having to learn something else that for me is even harder. I'm having to learn to receive. You see, I'm pretty much a "do it myself" kind of girl. I don't like to depend on others...I can handle things just fine, thank you. But God has a different plan it seems. He is MAKING me depend on others...from the person who makes sure I take care of my health by FORCING me to go to the doctor (love you Cheryl!) to the person who provided for a MUCH needed evening with my husband (love you too Candace!!!), God is knitting me into His family. He is teaching me how to receive. I'm not really very good at that...but I'm learning.

So, there you have it. God is working on this old girl teaching her something new. I'm a bit apprehensive about how this will look as I walk it out, but I'm excited too. God is doing a new thing in me. I'd love to hear what God is speaking to you, too. Feel free to comment and share with others. We can all be encouraged together!

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

Luke 21

^1-4Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all!"


Matthew 6: 25 - 34
^25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
^27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Two mites...or putting my two cents in

Why write? Write what? Who cares?

These are just three questions that have had my blog at an absolute standstill for the past few weeks. And, somehow, these questions led me back to a familiar Bible story. You know it - the widow and the two mites. Jesus was at the temple with the disciples and in comes a woman to give her offering - a whopping two mites. Probably not even enough to buy a loaf of bread. In the midst of all the huge offerings - her small gift was noticed.

Why write? I'm not sure why I started writing, but in the process I find that I learn something. I am able for just a moment to step out of my ADD scatteredness and latch onto an idea long enough to process it - I make sense of the jigsaw puzzles that make up my thoughts. Occasionally I go back and read previous blogs and learn along with others the lesson God showed me that first day. (That's one of the blessings of being ADD - I learn new things all the time....sometimes it's the same lesson but I've forgotten so it's completely new to me!) In other words - I write to share whatever lesson I have received.

Write what? I try to look around each day to see the one thought that will become the seed of a blog. Some days they come in such abundance I feel like I could write a book if I could type fast enough. At other times I go days and only find a dried seed here or there. If I am honest with myself, I've allowed my mind to become cluttered too much with the trivial - the soil is just filled with rocks of insignificance and there is just no room for the seed to grow. (Sigh, I may actually have to stop playing games on facebook for a while!) I don't have to have some grand message...it may only be two mites, but I gladly share what I have.

Who cares? Ahhh - there's the problem. The writing often dries up when I worry about bothering others. I know they can just hit the delete button if they subscribe or not hit the link if they read through facebook....but I hate to be a bother. Who am I to think that I have anything worth reading? There are millions out there who have a better message or writing style than me. Insecurity stops me dead in my typing tracks and I stare at an empty screen....or find that I don't even try to log-in in the first place. I succumb to the enemy's whispers that my little bit isn't worth sharing. Gee - wonder if the widow who gave her last two "mites" had to deal with those whispers? Did she worry that what she had just wasn't important enough to share?

There it is....I write because I want to share. I want to share the lessons God teaches me. I want to share the joy He gives. I want to help others through my own foolish mistakes and somewhat fractured thought processes. I want to share the lessons learned in the midst of laughter. I want to give of what I have. It seems like so little in the light of what others can do, but still I share. Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I freely give to you. I may never say as Peter did, "...take up your mat and walk," but I can say lift up your eyes and run! Each day is a gift from God; find the joy and live! I may not be Peter, but I can be the widow.

How about you? Why do you "do what you do?" What motivates you? What is the gift you have been given? Share it! The widow did and we're still talking about her today!

Luke 21: 1-4 (Message translation) - "Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all!"


Acts 3:6-8 (Message translation) - "Peter said, "I don't have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!" He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked."

I really would like to hear from those who read and to be very honest, I'd like to reach at least 100 followers by the end of June. Want to help me in my insanity? First - tell me why you read my blog - or why you don't! I promise not to take it personally....okay, I promise to TRY to not take it personally. Second - please tell a friend or two about the blog, maybe even recommend your favorite one of the past couple of months for them to read. Third - let me know what I can do to make this a place you'd like to visit.