Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas in a Box

Here it is. All packed up and ready for the attic for at least another 10-11 months. 

Well, except for the Tennessee room tree. I may let Jason handle that one. 
Our decorations have been up since the first of November. So I decided to tackle the majority of it while I was feeling a little better and out of school. Why is it always more fun setting up the tree than taking it down? Kind of like unpacking from vacation.

I cleared the greenery, lights and angels off of the piano, readying the space for what would go back in its place. Ornaments came off the tree, and were placed back in the boxes. Angels, wise men, and baby Jesus were wrapped carefully in tissue paper. Finally, lights were un-strung and artificial evergreen limbs were removed from their holders only to be placed back in its cardboard casket until next November.
And this is what you and I do. 
Put Christmas back in a box.

For maybe two months at the most, we decorate, we carol, we celebrate, we eat, we buy, we wrap, we give. And then it's over. On to making New Year's Resolutions, only to be broken within three weeks, and thats if we are really dedicated. 
Just like the Santa's and snowmen, but most importantly, Baby Jesus, we've put it all away in the attic, forgetting what we were celebrating just weeks before. 
I am guilty. 
Am I alone?

I discussed (almost argued) with someone a few weeks before Christmas about gifts. Their defense was that "Christmas isn't about gifts. We've gotten away from what the true meaning of Christmas is all about." I wanted to say, "And what is the true meaning of Christmas, because I sure don't see you living it."
Whoa. (And who just put Christmas in a box?) 
Yeah, that would be me.

I dare say that once Christmas is over, we tend to forget about that gift, and what the true meaning is. In December we said, 
"Jesus is the reason for the season." 
But isn't He the reason for EVERY season? YES!
Christmas is about gifts, because we celebrate the Ultimate Gift! 


 Now that my tree is down, and the decorations are gone, the room looks kind of empty. That is just how we feel when we put Jesus in a box in the attic of our hearts. Empty. 
We enjoy Him for a season, but soon remove Him and replace Him with things we like better. However, instead of leaving it empty, the pictures and Willow tree angels take their rightful place back on the piano. Just like all the things that fill the empty places of our lives. 
Jesus doesn't want to be put in a box. Christmas doesn't have to be put in a box either.
We can choose to celebrate year round. For without Him, and the gift that He brought to us in Himself, we will be left empty.

I've kept out a couple of small Nativity scenes. One is a candle holder; one just Joseph, Mary and Jesus. I also have kept out a cross ornament that says Hope.
I do not want Christmas in a box in my attic. I want it everyday. 
And guess what? 
In Christ, I can have it that way.

"For to us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

He can be all that in our lives everyday,
if we don't put Him in a box.
I guess it all goes back to that whole "walking in Truth" thing, huh?



Sunday, December 29, 2013

Walking in Truth

She gets it from me.

A month or so ago, I was trying once again to help my daughter clean her room. To say it was a mess is an understatement. I am not an OCD person, but I seriously think my blood pressure goes up each time I embark on this endeavor of cleaning. I usually find lots of crumbled up paper. Sometimes there are things from outdoors- rocks, wood, grass. Dirty clothes are often found under the covers, at the foot of the bed, or just under the bed. Crackers, pizza, and candy have been left lying around. Sometimes things are hidden under her pillows or under the rug in her room. I usually get to a point where I've had all I can take, and leave her with a garbage bag- or two. 

It was just a few days later, when I was looking for my Charlie Brown Christmas shirt (and it was not in the drawer that I thought it should be), when the Lord clearly said and in my head I repeated back to Him, "Oh, Lord. She gets it from me." Now this was just a minor infraction on my part. I had simply let my drawers become "unorganized." Much like my closet, my cabinets, my "junk drawer." 

The voice really spoke loud and clear when I was trying to clean up for the Sunday School teacher Christmas party at our house. We had been busy up until the day of the party, so as I raced home after school, I busied myself with the cleaning, thankful that Jason had done the cooking. 
As I got to the last minute details-(you know, lighting the candles, making the last run-through with the broom, wiping down the countertops), I noticed a basket that sits on the hearth by our door. It had become a "junk basket." Doesn't everyone have one of those?

So what did I do? I found a quilt, folded it neatly and placed it over the basket to conceal the contents inside.
Just like my daughter, I was just covering up my mess.

I pondered on these things for a few days. I thought about my life, her life, and those around me who (like me) were all good at covering up stuff and sweeping things under the rug. Things that, if revealed, might make us look messy. We want a certain "image," and to protect that image, we cover it with a blanket so no one sees what's really inside. However, the problem is that there are real issues, usually messy ones, which we try to hide. It's easier to just throw a quilt or rug over it. Another problem- we know what's under it. That was the first lesson God was teaching me.

The second: as I considered my organization skills, or the lack thereof, I wondered what else had I passed on to Presley. What am I teaching my children? What are we talking about when we sit at home, when we walk along, when we lie down and get up? What spiritual, Biblical truths are written on the door frames of my home and heart that my children are seeing daily? (Deu. 11:19-20)


As we approach yet another "New Year," the answer lies within a traditional present Jason's mom gives us at Christmas. For the past several years, she has given us something with a word that was meaningful to the family for that year. Some have been the Ebenezer stone, Help, Hope, Healer, Content.
This years was Courageous and Walk in Truth.

The two go hand in hand. It takes courage to walk in Truth. Certainly, we know that we may stand alone when walking in Truth, because the Word tells us that narrow is the Way that leads to life, and few find it. (Matt. 7:14)
To walk in Truth also means I have to lift up the rug, remove the blanket. That takes courage, because then our mess may be seen by others. 

I pray it's not a New Year's Resolution, but a "New Day's Resolution." That everyday, I resolve to be Courageous and Walk in Truth.

I'm thankful that I have a Father who will come into my messy rooms, lift up the rug if I let Him, and sweep away the filth. I pray as I walk in the Truth of His grace, love and forgiveness, His light will shine upon my own children, and they too will daily walk in His Truth. More than anything, that is what I want passed on to them.


Saturday, December 21, 2013

He Knows My Name

Jennifer Lynn Brock- the name picked for me before I was born. Most parents have those names picked out long before their child enters the world. 
As I grew, I acquired more names. Soon I became Jenny, which a lot of my family still calls me today. Before long, though, my daddy gave me a nickname. First, it was Sissy. Through the years, he found other names for me: Meaty, which led to Fat Meat-(no, he wasn't being mean- I was as skinny as a bean pole when I was little! I just liked to eat meat all the time and no vegetables.....that's another story!) Then while Sissy was used often, he also would call me Patricia, or Patty. Where he got these names, I don't know! My younger brother became Tom. Even some of the guys I dated had nicknames, although they never knew that! Now, all of the grandchildren have other aliases as well!! There's Thump, Stump, Smooth, Jo and Short-stop. 
Sissy stuck for me, and it's the one he uses most of the time. A few of my uncles called me Sissy growing up, but it really only sounds "right" when coming from my daddy. 

As believers, we are given new names through our faith in Christ:

Isaiah 62:2b-3 -  ...you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

However, here lately, the enemy has whispered other titles and names over me. Names like Failure, No Good, Unable, Inadequate, Unloved. Did I mention Failure? The voices are loud, and easy to believe sometimes. I think it's because we are in a battle not of flesh and blood but against the principalities and rulers of this world. We forget that.

In  Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts' character says this line at the end of the movie: "I want the fairy-tale."
We too want that "happily ever after" life. But we forget that in every fairy tale, there is an evil villain. Such is the case in our lives, a very real enemy that seeks to destroy us. One way he does that is by blinding us and filling our minds with lies. Lies- it has been his strategy from the beginning. So while he whispers those "nicknames" over me and to me, I search for those things that my Daddy calls me. 
Here's what I found:
I am loved. Eph.2:4
I am His workmanship. Eph. 2:10
I am a citizen of Heaven. Phil. 3:20
I am reconciled, free from accusation. Col. 1:22
I am FORGIVEN. Col. 2:13b
I am chosen, dearly loved. Col. 3:12
I am cared for. 2 Peter 5:7
I am valuable. Luke 12:24
I was rejoiced over. Luke 15:10
I am more than a conquerer. Rom. 8:37
I am a child of God. John 15:16
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Ps. 139:14
I have a purpose. Jer. 29:11
I am thought about by God. Ps. 139:17
I am set free. Rom. 6:18
I am healed. Ex. 15:26
I am sustained. Ps. 3:5

There are so many more. 
We can use these verses to encourage others, to tell them who they are in Christ. We can read them ourselves, bringing us to the realization of how much God really does love us. We then hear his voice giving us these names that He chose for us, and it sounds "right" coming from our Daddy, and no one else- but at the same time reminds me of one more thing I found while reading.
I am not my own. I was bought with a price.
1 Cor. 6:19

When reminded of that, I am humbled. I am grateful for my Father and all the ways He has shown His love to me. This brings me back to the issue of the enemy in our "fairy-tale." When I believe those lies, then I am giving the enemy rule and reign over that part of my life. I am not bringing the Lord any glory in the situation. Instead I am too busy focused on those names which the villain has called me instead of what God had already chosen to name me before I was born.
And when I listen to the enemy, I forget about that price that I was bought with- a sacrifice that allows me to be called all those things on that list, and more.
Because of that sacrifice, He can tell us this:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine." Isaiah 43:1b

Thankful and humbled that He knows my name.