The Christmas Season

I don't like the Christmas season.  

Hear me clearly:  I don't like the Christmas season.  I love celebrating the birth of Christ.  

I think that at this time of year it's easy to get swept away in chaos and frenzy of other people's ideas about what Christmas should be.  Retailers entice us with glittering lights and deals "that can't be beat".  There are parties to attend, some of which are attended merely out of obligation.  There is a lack of time:  we get to sleep later and rise earlier.  We squeeze things in where there is really not time to do them. 

To me, this is what has become the American Christmas season.  I don't think this is what God intended. 

God announced the birth of Christ to shepherds, in the dead of night, with the presence of angels.  The announcement was grand but it was not harried.  Check it out for yourself in Luke 2:8-15 The announcement of the birth of Christ ends with the angels saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (v.15)


This season let's remember the true reason for Christmas.  Amidst the bags, bows, bells, and whistles, there is a baby who was born in a stable and placed in a manger, the Savior of the world.  He became a man and died a horrible death on the cross for me and for you to save us from our sin.  He overcame death so that we can live with Him forever. 

That is the greatest gift of all. 

Dropping the Mom Ball

I dropped the mom ball recently.  I juggle several balls at once and am fairly successful but I let the mom ball go, hands down.  Kersplat!  I didn't actually just gently release it.  I inadvertently threw it to the ground. 

 I felt like a total bust.  It was so stupid, the releasing of the mom ball.  I was grumpy, the day had been long, and with a wicked and resounding thump, that usually light, airy orb dropped to the ground like a rock.  A boulder even.  One unthinking little (really, I mean, little) act on my behalf and disappointment was instantaneous.  Hurt and confusion were apparent in the eyes of my child.  No amount of explaining could rationalize what I had done in a moment of selfish pettiness. 

Funny how a split second can change everything. 

Thank God for repentance and forgiveness.  After a deep breath I said, "I'm sorry.  I won't do that again."  (Repentance means saying,  "I was wrong and I won't do that again".)  And my baby looked at me and said, "It's okay.  I love you."  We've moved on.  That was moment has become a drop in the bucket of our history, of our story.  That forgiveness liberated me from my selfishness. 

Again, funny how a split second can change everything.  This time for the better.  

All that from a child.  How much more does Jesus forgive us when we turn to Him in true repentance, after repeated acts of selfishness, pettiness, and sheer rebellion and say, "It's okay.  I love you." 

We've all dropped the ball on some front.  Maybe it's not the mom ball for you; maybe it's the spouse, sibling, friend, child, co-worker ball, or complete stranger ball.  Maybe it's the Jesus ball. 

Jesus paid everything for us because He loves us that dearly.  He is waiting anxiously for us to say, "I'm sorry that I haven't lived for You, Jesus." Pass the Jesus ball to someone else today.  Give them the chance to hear the Savior whisper gently to their hurting heart, "It's okay.  I love you." 

What Do you Call Me?

One of the things that Pastor Jeff said during the sermon was that Jesus doesn't call me by my sin, He calls me out of my sin. Man, oh, man!  The world call us by our sins.  "ou're the adulterer, the drunk, the thief, the liar, the (fill in the blank)".  They remember us for what we have done and don't want to know us for who we are now, in Christ.

Now here is the sticky part:  how do we label fellow Christians?  How do you label me?  How do I label you?  If I am stepping on your toes, don't feel bad.  I am dancing the jig on my own as I write this.  Do we, as Christians, remember that fellow Christians are just as forgiven as we are?  Jesus tells us to forgive others (Mark 11:25) but He also tells us that if we don't forgive others that God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15, John 20:23). 

Let me tie two things together for you, for me.  If I don't "unlabel" my fellow Christians, if I choose to remember their past (sordid or otherwise) while claiming that my own has been forgiven, why would I ever expect that the world would see forgiveness as whole, all encompassing, and total?  Why would I expect that non-Christians would believe that Jesus can forgive when I don't act like I believe it? 

Ouch.  Maybe even double ouch. 

Division in the church is a great tactical weapon of Satan and labels fuel discord among believers.  My prayer for us all that we will not only present but truly live in such a way that we show a united and forgiven front to the world.  I pray that we will allow the light of our God to shine brightly through us and pierce the dim, hopeless darkness that covers this world. 

The Scars of My Past

If you know me or have met me you have probably noticed that I have a tattoo on my chest.  Actually, I have a rather large tattoo bat emblazoned across my chest.  The "battoo" (as I am fond of calling it) comes from another lifetime, a part of my life that is so distant that I seem to recall reading about it in a book and that the life belonged to someone else, not me. 

Me & My Silly Husband & the Bat

Alas, when I look in the mirror in the mornings, the bat looks back.  He has not moved over the last 11 years.  His eye is still fixed unseeing on the same object that he has been looking at for quite some time.  And there are days when I see him and I hate him.  I resent the time that brought such a scar to my life.  I loathe the reminder of who I was.

On these days, Satan is whispering fiercely and steadily into my ear, "Look who you are, Michelle.  Look at your life.  No one can change who you are.  Did you think you could really change?"

If I'm not careful, I'll buy these lies of the enemy, these subtle words so carefully crafted and made personal for me.  If left to stand on my own I will fall prey to these horrible things that Satan says. 

Thank God, though, that He sent the cavalry in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  I am not left to my own.  And God loves me enough to have written His truths down for me so that I can combat the enemies lies.  The scripture below is one that I cling to regularly: 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified Bible) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

God has transformed me into a new creature and He calls me His daughter.  I am His own.  I am different than that girl that sat in a tattoo chair a long time ago. And God, in all of His goodness and wisdom, has taken the battoo and made it something beautiful.  Romans 8:28 (NLT) tells us, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

The battoo has made me easy to relate to for teenagers.  It has made other adults feel at ease because they see it and see that no one around me judges me because of it; they are possibly more comfortable with the scars of their own past.  Little children are curious and want to ask questions.  My bat opens conversations with strangers when they comment on it. 

I'll take the scars of my past and offer them up to Jesus every day.  He can use them to do great things! 

Do Over

In the first grade I was a leggy little girl with dark brown hair, big brown eyes., and the glow of summer still on my skin. And I loved to talk.  At Easter that year I had a beautiful dress in baby blue and it had a crenelin and I knew that I looked fancy and grown up in my dress.

After Easter, I wore my beautiful, blue, snazzy dress to school I was convinced that I could not possibly get in trouble for talking that day. I looked too good! Alas, before I could say "back to school" I was in the corner.  How did I end up there?  I looked the part of a well behaved girl but I hadn't changed my habits and my talking was still my talking and it landed me in trouble.

Fast forward to today.  I promised you that I would give you an update on my direction from God to be quiet and I have to tell you honestly that so far, I've been a dismal failure. Oh, I celebrate victory in the first day or two but then as the directive has become commonplace I've slid back back into my chatty old self.

Thank God for do-overs.  

Just like my first grade teachers (there were actually two of them) didn't make me stand in the corner forever and they didn't berate me for talking too much, God doesn't give up on me.  He takes me in His gentle yet firm hands and lets me know that He has given me a direction and that He will be best served if I pay attention to it and put it into action in my life. 

Do you need a do-over today?  If you do, tell your Father about it.  Be open.  Be honest.  Let Him know that you have messed up and you are willing to do it again on His terms this time. 

Your do-over day could be the best day yet of your life.  I know I'm finding that mine is! 

I’ll Go

First of all I want to give a HUGE shout out to Chesnee for today’s message; it was incredible. Chesnee took a difficult, hard topic and broke it down to terms that we can all understand. Also, if you missed her impression of a revival speaker you missed something priceless.

Chesnee said something in the message today that I *know* but that I have never really thought about. She said (my paraphrase) that “there had to be a penalty paid for sin and Jesus said, ‘I’ll go.’”

Think about it. You are in heaven doing your heaven-thing. Your singing and worshiping God and watching Him enjoy fellowship with His creation. Life is good. There is no time in heaven so this is endless bliss – all of your existence is spent praising the Creator.

And then the fall: One apple. One woman. One serpent. One man. One bite. The silence in heaven is deafening. Sin has entered the world. Man has been separated from God Almighty.

What now?

A lone, loving, confident voice speaks and says, “I’ll go.”

Angels gasp. God sighs. Everyone knew the moment would come but no one wanted to believe it to be true. The plans that have been in place since the beginning of forever are set in motion.

Sin has come. A price must be paid. And it is paid with the blood of the Spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ. The Savior born as a babe in a manager who died a death more agonizing than words can describe to save you and to save me.

Jesus tells us in John 9:4 that “as long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me”.

So what are you going to do about it? As Chesnee also said in the message, “What are you going to do with My Son? What did you do with what I gave you to work with?”

You know what Jesus? I’ll follow the example that you set for me. I’ll go, too.