Christmas Future. Anticipation.

Christmas Day 2018 is now a memory. Of course, at least for most of us, it's still with us because there's still the clean-up to do. But the celebrating is done and we're moving on to the next thing.

I confess that I've already given a little thought to Christmas 2019. Wondering how we will celebrate next year. And the Christmas after that. That's because, if we stay on the same schedule that has worked for us for all these years, next year will be just the two of us, and our family will all be together for Christmas again in 2020. Christmas this year was a house full of Feasters with all the laughter and fun and chaos that goes along with that!

I'm looking forward to gathering with the family for Thanksgiving next year, and for Christmas the year after that, and to all the Christmases to come. I love my family, and I love the Christmas season!

But I'm also looking forward to the day when we are no longer here on earth celebrating the birth of Jesus. To the day when we are in His presence forever, celebrating Him! 

What a day that will be!

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"  (Revelation 5:12-13 ESV)

Christmas Reflections

Christmas is such a nostalgic time, isn't it?

Every year as the season rolls around, I find myself traveling down memory lane, remembering Christmases past and the people that shared them.

It starts as I get decorations and ornaments out of their storage spaces. Remembering where I bought this ornament or who gave me that one. Remembering my mother as I get out the snowmen she made or as I hang the door decoration she quilted. Remembering travels and the ornaments purchased on those trips.  Remembering.

Throughout the season, more memories flood my thinking. At Christmas I often feel particularly nostalgic about my trips to Israel. A few years ago, for three out of four Christmas seasons, some part of my holiday - either just before Christmas or shortly after Christmas Day - was spent in the Holy Land. One year, in fact, we spent New Year's Eve in Bethlehem!

 

 

As I have hung ornaments we purchased in Israel, as I have placed the olive wood nativity set we purchased in Bethlehem carefully in its place, and as my eyes are drawn to other things we purchased while we were there, my heart and mind have traveled back again and again. Such a flood of memories!

 

This morning I read Matthew's account of Mary and Joseph traveling with Baby Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod. And as I read I could vividly recall our first trip to the Holy Land, before the Arab Spring, which included several days in Egypt. We visited one of the places where it is believed that Mary and Joseph and Jesus lived while they were there. 

 

 

As my Advent readings have taken me through the Scriptures, through the prophecies and through the gospel accounts, my memories have taken me to Bethlehem, to the place of Christ's birth.

 

 

And to a field outside Bethlehem where shepherds first heard the news, announced by the angels, of the birth of the Savior.

 

 

During those visits to Israel, we walked where Jesus walked. We went to Nazareth and to Galilee. And to Jerusalem. There we followed His footsteps from Gethsemane to Calvary. And we stood on the Mount of Olives, the place where one day He will return to earth.

 

 

 

This morning I have been thinking a lot about Christmases past. And I am also thinking a lot about this Christmas we have just celebrated. It was wonderful having all my Feasters under one roof. This morning, as they have all gone back home, I'm missing them. It's very quiet around here this morning, but that gives me time for reflection on all the blessings of this Christmas season.

This Christmas I was able to sing with our Church Choir as we shared "Lessons and Carols". This was my first Christmas in several years to be able to sing with a choir, and what a blessing it was. How thankful I am!

This Christmas I cooked an entire Christmas dinner for my family. That hasn't happened for quite a long time. I have no memory of the Christmas two years ago, when the family was all gathered for Christmas just after I was out of rehab. And while I have been cooking more in the last few months, this was the first family meal I had cooked since before the stroke. How thankful I am!

Having all my Feasters under one roof doesn't happen very often, so each time it happens is very special. This morning I'm reflecting on the love and laughter and good times we shared, and my heart is overwhelmed. How thankful I am!

Christmas makes me nostalgic. It has me looking back. But it also causes me to look forward, to that Christmas yet future when Christ will return to earth. No longer a Baby in a manger, but King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

  



"On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east."  (Zechariah 14:4 ESV)

This morning I have been looking back. Reflecting on the blessings of this Christmas. Rejoicing in God's goodness.

And this morning I'm also looking forward. Pondering these words of the Apostle Paul:

"....looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession." (Titus 2:13-14 NASB)

 

 

 

It's Beginning to Sound A Lot Like Christmas!

Have you noticed? The sounds of Christmas are everywhere!

In our churches, certainly, as we're singing the songs and carols of the season.

In malls and grocery stores, Christmas music is playing. And not just the "Jingle Bells" kind of Christmas music, but also "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World". The music of our Savior's birth is also being played. Isn't it wonderful to we get to hear our Savior's name proclaimed in places like the mall and the grocery store!

The sounds of Christmas are everywhere!

In the laughter of children.

In the sounds (and smells) that emanate from kitchens at this time of year.

Maybe you have Christmas music playing in your home throughout the season. I know I do.

As I was looking back over my Facebook memories over the last few days, I realized that, over the last several years, I have spent a lot of the holiday season having medical or dental procedures. As an example, on December 15, 2011, I had a cataract removed from my right eye. What does that have to do with the sounds of Christmas? The surgeon was listening to Handel's Messiah during the procedure!

Five years ago, in the middle of the Christmas season, I had a root canal, and I noted in my Facebook post that there were Christmas carols playing in the dentist's office. Three years ago, I was icing my knee following a steroid injection, enjoying the sounds of Christmas. And of course, two years ago I was just out of rehab and in stroke recovery. I remember hearing Christmas music playing in the gym when I would go for therapy.

Music is a big part of the Christmas season. One of my favorite things about our recent river cruise was hearing the music of Christmas.


We didn't hear this on our cruise, but this is one of my Southern Gospel Christmas favorites:

https://youtu.be/sKzi4A1ldxE

What sounds of Christmas are you experiencing today?

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"  (Luke 2:13-14 ESV)

The Greatest Christmas Miracle

I am a Christmas miracle!

If you are new to this blog, you may not know my story. In November, 2016 I had a hemorrhagic stroke. At Christmastime that year, I had been discharged from rehab and was beginning outpatient therapy. While I was in the hospital, the doctors had told my husband that I might not wake up. That if I did wake up, I would have severe limitations as a result of the stroke. I might not be able to talk normally. I probably would, at the very least, need to use a cane. More likely, I would need a walker or a wheelchair. The prognosis for my full recovery was very bleak.

When I was taken from the hospital to Spartanburg Rehabilitation Institute, I was taken in an ambulance. Three weeks later, I walked out the door, with help from my walker. Today, I need no assistance to walk.

While I still have some limitations, the doctors got it completely wrong! I sometimes mix words up and I have trouble remembering things, but my recovery is nothing short of miraculous!

I have often been told that I have done well because I worked really hard (I did!) and because I am a really strong woman. While that may be true, that is not why I am a Christmas miracle. This is all because of God and His amazing grace! This is a miracle of God's doing!

Why me and why not others? I don't know. I have no answer for that, except to say that God has a plan and a purpose for all things. Just as He had a plan and a purpose for the miracle in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.

The greatest Christmas miracle took place in a stable in Bethlehem. The miracle had been set in place in eternity past, when God had a plan for the redemption of all mankind. Thousands of years before Christ came to earth, the prophets foretold His coming. And in the little town of Bethlehem, Christ was born, just as the prophets had said He would be.

That baby in a manger grew to be a man. Having lived a sinless life, He died on a cruel Roman cross to pay the sin debt for all mankind, just as the prophets had foretold. Just as God had planned. He was resurrected from the grave, and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, until the time comes when He shall return to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Just as the prophets have foretold. Just as God planned in eternity past.

That is the greatest of all Christmas miracles! God Himself has sent Jesus to make a way for us to be in right relationship with Himself. God and sinners

Hark! The herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled."

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies;

With th'angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! The herald angels sing, "Glory to the Newborn King!"

words: Charles Wesley; music: Felix Mendelsson

Listen to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" here: https://youtu.be/SFjMPaOBzXc



Silence

Silence. It's a hard thing to come by at this time of year. 

 

Everywhere we go, there's noise. Everywhere we go, people are in a hurry. 

 

Have you noticed how many more car horns you are hearing these days? 

 

Have you noticed how people always seem to be rushing about? 

 

Have you noticed the noise in the malls and the shops? 

 

Have you noticed the stress on people's faces?

 

All that may well be similar to what the world was like when Christ was born. Without the malls and automobile horns, of course. People were likely busy with their lives, hustling and bustling about with the activities of daily living. Their world was not unlike ours in that regard. 

 

And into that world, with its busyness and its noise and its daily routines, Jesus came.

No one even noticed.

 

It's still the same, isn't it? We're busy and our world is full of noise. Even though we hear and sing carols about Christ the Savior being born, not many are really paying that much attention. We put out our nativity sets and we sing our carols and we send our Christmas cards, but far too often all that is only done out of a sense of habit. It's December.  Christmas is here, and this is what we do.

 

We buy candy hearts for Valentine's Day. And we wave our flags in July. We buy pumpkins in October. And we talk about Jesus in December. It's what we do.

How sad it is that in all our busyness and routines and noise, we too often lose sight of the reason we are doing all these things.

One of the carols we seldom sing, with words dating back to the 3rd century, says "Let all mortal flesh keep silence."

Silence. It's what's often missing at Christmas time. 

How much better might we understand the magnitude of the Gift we have been given and the reason for our celebrating, if we would take some time for silence. Some time to be still. Some time to ponder. Some time to worship.

It may be challenging to find time for silence.

But it will be worth the effort.

 

 

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, 

and with fear and trembling stand;

ponder nothing earthly-minded,

for with blessing in his hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

our full homage to demand. 

 

Text: Liturgy of St. James; trans. by Gerard Moultrie
Music: French carol melody; harm. from The English Hymnal
Tune: PICARDY

Click here to listen to Fernando Ortega sing this carol:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wl4u8lnDQs

Continually

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that openly profess his name."  (Hebrews 13:15 NIV)



Continually. Continually offer a sacrifice of praise.

Continually. What does that mean anyway?

Dictionary.com gives this definition: very often, at regular or frequent intervals; habitually; without cessation or intermission; unceasingly; always.

Continually. Always. Unceasingly. Habitually. Without intermission.

Even when there's too much month at the end of the money. Even when the roof leaks and the plumbing backs up and the dishwasher quits......


Even when there's devastating illness. Or job loss. Or bereavement.

Even when you don't feel like it.


Even when there's so much to do that you think you can't possibly get it all done. When there's cookie baking and shopping and decorating and Christmas events to attend and gifts to wrap.

Even then.

Continually.

We only have ten days until Christmas Day. Perhaps this is a good time to reexamine our Christmas traditions and exactly how we are celebrating the birth of Christ. In our celebrating are we continually offering our praises? Are we really celebrating Christ? Or are we only giving lip service to Him while we get caught up in elves or Santa or all our other traditions.?

When we stop and really consider what we're doing this Christmas, what is it that we are continually focusing our attention on? 

Is our focus directed toward the "name that is above every name?" (Philippians 2:8)?  Or have we lost sight of the "reason for the season"?

My prayer is that we might all focus our celebration on that Wonderful Name.....Jesus! That we might truly - and continually - celebrate the Christ of Christmas. And not only in December!

Wonderful Name

Mary was the first to hear it, name that came from heaven above;
Name that raises souls from darkness, this the only name worth singing of.

Wonderful name, Jesus! Wonderful name, Jesus!
Name angels sang the night all heaven rang; wonderful name, Jesus!

Heaven touched His name with glory, precious name of Jesus, our King;
In God’s Word is told the story, of this wondrous name the angels sing!

 

Wonderful name, Jesus! Wonderful name, Jesus!

Name angels sang the night all heaven rang; wonderful name, Jesus!

-Roger Strader