"remember that Christmas is not YOUR birthday"

max lucado

Dear Jesus,
It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord.  These children, Lord.  Innocence violated.  Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas.  But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night.

The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty.  Dark with violence.
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,

Your Children

---

© 2012 Max Lucado

"When we  ask our children 'What do you want for Christmas?', we are asking a question that breeds selfishness.  

In order to develop selflessness we should be asking 'What are you going to give?'  

Christmas is the celebration of God's great gift- giving -" 

~robert flatt

last year, my friend Jill from work and I made these and had them on our desks for the month of December. the goal? to remind us of our challenge. To not buy anything for ourselves from 12-1 to Christmas. 

i mean, yes. I can buy lunch and the occasional latte, but it more relates to clothes, makeup etc. stuff I really can do without. yes, I know lattes fit into that catergory as well, but that's not the way we set up our little challenge. and it's my challenge so i can choose :)

i had completely forgotten about this until Jill texted me Saturday asking if we were doing it again. 

i tried to think of excuses. 

there are none. 

i can do it.

here goes :) 

"we have been blessed to be a blessing"

love this. :) happy friday ;) 

tuesday

“To have faith in Christ means, of course, trying to do all that He says. 

There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. 

But trying in a new way, a less worried way. 

Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. 

Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

yes you :)

Not Moses

so for the first few weeks of being a Mrs., I felt like to be a good wife I had to be around Drew all the time. Like if he was in the living room watching TV, I had to be in the living room too. while yes, it is nice to be in each other's presence and such, I am also realizing that I can still go in a different room, cozy up with a blanket and a book and not have to be observing his every move. :)

so this new found hobby of mine (okay well that makes it sound like my new hobby is being in a different room than Drew, but you get my drift) has got me reading like books are going out of style. which is weird? does that saying still count if you read on your ipad? but anways.

my current book? Mended by Angie Smith. I love her, i love her, i love her. GO GET THIS BOOK.

this story from her book has just been on my heart all week.

Angie was on a roadtrip with her family, and started reading Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim Tale out loud to her husband. this is what she read:

"Do you know the story of Rabbi Zusya?" he asked.

"He was a Chasidic master who lived in the 1700's. 

One day he said, "When I get to the heavenly court,

  God will not ask me, Why weren't you Moses?"

Rather he will ask me, "Why were you not Zusya?"

The man speaking let that thought hang in the air for a moment, then continued.

"Churches should be places where people come to hear the

story of God and to tell their own. That's how we find out

how the two relate. Tell your story with all of its shadows

and fog, so people can understand their own. They want a 

leader who's authentic, someone trying to figure out how to

follow the Lord Jesus in the joy and wreckage of life.

They need you, not Moses, " he said.

Wow.

They need you.


not that perfect lady who can run twice as fast as you on the treadmill at the gym and clearly has NO problem limiting her frozen yogurt after dinner. Not her, ME. me with my "love chub" aka the lovely weight that has climbed onto my hips since getting married. Me and my slooowww pace on the treadmill.
Me.

He will ask me "Why weren't you Lindsay? They need Lindsay. I needed you to be Lindsay"

and that my friends, is very empowering spoken from the Big Guy. :)

monday oh monday

not yet

trust God's timing. 

"Not yet" doesn't mean "No." 

happy friday and end of summer :(
but onto bigger and better things.:)

hope you have as a weekend as grandma rita had boogy-ing at my wedding. you go girl. :) 

girlfrands

MY FRIENDS

remind me, by 

their very 

steadfastness,

 that truth, 

beauty, and 

goodness exist

 in the world, 

and that no 

matter what, 

there are and 

always will be 

people loving 

people through 

THICK AND

THIN. 

praying hard today, and wishing it didn't take something like this or it's anniversary to make me pray hard. 

thanks for sharing, JPJ

thankful

i could be annoyed that i have gained a couple of good ole lb's since the nuptials.

i could be annoyed that drew and i are training for a half marathon and 3 miles literally felt like a FULL marathon.

i could be annoyed that summer is almost over :( and the days of rain are settling in.

i could be SO annoyed at the darn mole that is digging in the yard. it's ugly AND it makes moving that horrid lawn even more difficult because you have to swerve around like a flipping obstacle course. (not to mention how freaking FAST the lawn grows in the first place.)

or i could be annoyed that i got kicked out of Drew's fantasy football league because the other guys thought it was "unfair because basically Drew got two teams."  rruuuudddeeeee, so what if i needed a little help sometimes.

i might just SCREAM if i get one more political phone call on my cell phone. i always answer weird numbers thinking I may have won the $5,000 Target shopping spree but nooooo. it's always "Dominic from Minnesota wanting to talk taxes." Vomit.

i could be annoyed that when i was getting my blood drawn today they asked if I minded if a medical student practiced drawing my blood. I smiled and said "of course not" when really I wanted to scream, NOOO." I could have been annoyed when he poked me like 6 times and then started mumbling, "Mr. Veiinnnnnn, come out and playyyyyy." needless to saaaay, "Mr. Vein" did not like him apparently and we had to have another lady give it a go. ;)

these things actually really annoyed me today. and at one point, I was complaining about what a bad day it was, after I dropped the last bite of my m & m cookie on the floor at work.

i am thankful for:

~the taxes I pay because it means that I am employed.

~the clothes that fit a liiiitle too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

~a lawn that has to be moved, windows that have to be washed and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

~the spot I find at the end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking. 

~all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech. 

~the lady behind me in church who sings off-key because it means that I can hear. 

~the HUGE pile of laundry because it means my loved ones are nearby. 

~the alarm that goes off in the early morning because it means that I'm alive. 

~pinterest

such a great way to get a little perspective. :)