Christmas Miracles, Christmas Blessings

As I sit here and reflect upon the past few weeks that have gone by, I can't help but acknowledge as Mary did in Luke 1:38: "May it be to me as You have said." The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, to say the least... full of surprises, unexpected blessings and miracles, God-moments... all wrapped up in the holiday we celebrate called Christmas!

Let me list a few... each moment unplanned... each moment God's idea!

An unexpected carload of presents... leftover from the dinner our church helped served for families affected with HIV/AIDs... all donated to our church... enabling us to bless 19 more children in our church's immediate target area. That is nineteen more children from the three that we had originally planned to buy presents for! Talk about being reminded of the Bible story of 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

A God-moment... I hear about a few families in my son's class who have been affected by the recent economic downturn... not being able to provide their children with a merry Christmas... an opportunity to slip a few Toys 'R' Us giftcards into my son's teacher's hand so that she can pass them on... definitely what Christmas should be all about!

Downsizing at my workplace announced the week before Christmas... our department reduced to two people, my boss and myself... resulting in more work for me! Not what I had in mind at all... I wanted reduced hours... but all in God's sovereign hand. I am trusting that He knows best and this is what He wants for me at this moment in time.

So... Christmas has come and gone. We are stuffed from eating too much. The kids are overwhelmed by the presents they have received, to say the least! We are truly blessed. For our family, 2008 has been a year of truly seeing and believing God! As we look towards the New Year, I am definitely looking forward to more of the same in 2009... may God grant us more opportunites to join Him where He is at work!

Joshua 24:15 (NIV) --- "...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Family Christmas Photos

The house is decorated... the presents have been bought... still some wrapping to do... the Christmas portraits have been taken... Christmas letters and cards are being stuffed into envelopes... and will soon be on their way.

We're getting ready for Christmas and our home is abuzz!!! It is our favourite time of the year. Here are some of our family Christmas photos selected from the numerous shots we took! Wow, I can't imagine going back to the non-digital camera age.

Luke 1:35, 37-38 (NIV) --- The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God... For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Simple Christmas

I've been thinking more about having a simple Christmas this year. Quite appropriately, I stumbled upon this video and it fits perfectly with my line of thought today. It is a must-see --- here it is (please feel free to pause the music on the side bar as you watch the video):

 

So, I bring up the topic of a simple Christmas with my kids and we came up with some ideas. My son was quick to say that we should decorate less... his idea is for each family member to pick just a couple of their favourate decorations and only put those up... but we must have the Christmas tree! 

We also talked about spending less on presents so that we can give to the needy... gift baskets for needy families in our community, care packages for homeless shelters, food bank and packing shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. 

We will definitely dialogue more on this as Christmas approaches. As a mom, it definitely is not an easy task to strike a balance between focusing on the real meaning of Christmas and "spoiling" my kids a little bit! I understand that balance to be different for each family. For our family, I know we've reached that balance when my kids want to give more than they want to receive. I don't think we're there yet. One step at a time... slowly, but surely!

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!" ---Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

Looking Back

This week has been an emotional one as I traced back and saw how far God has brought hubby and I (and our children too!) these past 12 months. You see, this week marks exactly one year since God started to jolt us out of our comfort zone in order to send us into an unfamiliar territory --- church planting work! This morning, it felt good to go back into my blog archives and read about how God showed us the way. Some of those entries can be found here, here, here, here and here! 

At this one year mark, I can say for certain that church planting work is definitely not easy, but I definitely wouldn't trade this experience for anything else! Hubby and I have definitely felt God stretch us, mold us, change us and grow us in ways that were unimaginable to us just one year ago. 

You see... 

Once we thought we were already giving more than what's required of our time, energy, effort, talents and finances to God. Through this journey HE has shown us what it means to totally give ourselves away. 

Once we thought we had faith. Through this journey HE has taught us to see how faith can indeed move mountains. 

Once we thought we loved enough. Through this journey HE has shown us to love beyond our boundaries, to love unconditionally, to have our hearts be broken with the same things that break HIS heart. 

Once we thought we had it all figured out. Through this journey HE has shown us how to follow Him without reservation. 

This one year mark represents only the beginning. There are still many chapters to be written in the story of this journey. I said before: I think this is going to be ONE WILD RIDE. It sure has already been! 

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; 

There is no shadow of turning with Thee. 

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; 

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. 

Great is Thy faithfulness! 

Great is Thy faithfulness! 

Morning by morning new mercies I see; 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. 

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me. 

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest; 

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above 

Join with all nature in manifold witness 

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth; 

Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. 

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow; 

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

---Great Is Thy Faithfulness Words by: Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923.

Week 2: Walking By Faith

Tonight, my Bible study group completed Week 2 of Jennifer Rothschild's Walking By Faith: Lessons Learned in the Dark. A few things jumped out at me. They are...

~ Only after I admit my insufficiency, yield to God, and receive His grace do I have something about which to boast.

~ If we settle into the position His grace has placed us, we'll see His strength made perfect there. And we'll experience the joy of our journey following Him.

~ God is the pilot, and we follow. We aren't invited into the cockpit because we are not in charge of the journey. Our pilot is completely trustworthy. We need not fret, for He is capable of navigating through any turbulence. So we can rest wherever He has lovingly placed us. And when we do, we'll experience the fabulous freedom of following.

~ To follow God, we must die to our own desires, one hammer blow at a time.

~ The desire for complete control denies us the power available to live a crucified life. God is the one in front; living by faith means that God leads as we follow.

~ It's hard to let go of our desire to be in charge, but the life of faith requires us to trust the Lord completely and not our own clever convictions.

~ I have to yield control to the One who is trustworthy, capable, and knows exactly where I need to go. He alone can get me there the best possible way. How silly for any of us shortsighted sinners to bark commands at the One who sees all of eternity. Since God Himself goes before us and prepares the way, following His loving leadership is the surest, safest way to travel.

Can you say food for thought? Definitely! Especially for this girl who likes to know everything, to be in control and to be in charge! Learning to walk by faith is definitely a life-long lesson, one step at a time!

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it."
---Luke 9:23-24

Halloween Snippets

For a narrative of our evening, see this post.

"You are the light of the world."
---Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

Trick or Treat!

Let me preface this post with a portion of an email that I wrote to some friends after Halloween last year:

Up until this year, we were comfortable with doing both neighbourhood trick-or-treating and also going to the church’s event. As you all might have read on my blog, we did go to the church’s event this year. But, after coming home and re-assessing our decision, we were convinced and convicted that God would have wanted us to stay at home all night and make a difference in our community that way on Halloween night. So, that’s what we’ll start doing next year --- a new tradition is born!

Still quite unknown to us at that point in time was God's plan to lead us, a few months down the road, into a church plant whose focus is our own community! God was changing our hearts in preparation for something He had in store for us. That is just awesome! 

So, yesterday started with the kids participating in a Halloween parade at school. The sense of community was strong as parents came to watch the parade. Then, we stayed home last night (as opposed to going to a church event, that is)! The kids went out trick-or-treating with hubby. I chatted with a neighbour while handing out treats. The kids came home and we hung out on the porch handing out some more treats. We interacted with neighbours and friends who we don't normally bump into. It was a great evening! 

During the course of the day, my daughter said something that struck me. She said she is wearing her cross necklace as part of her cowgirl costume because she wants people to notice that there are Christians who do not lock their doors and hide in their houses or disappear into their church buildings during Halloween; that there are Christians who want to be involved in their communities; to let their light shine in a dark place! 

Now, I think that is cool! 

Photos to follow in the next post... 

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." ---Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

Shoebox Time!

It's shoebox time again! This is one of our best-loved family traditions. This year, little cousin A is finally old enough to understand the whole idea of packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes so we invited her to come and join in the par-tay!!! The children (and the mommies --- my sister and me) worked hard and had lots of fun at the same time!

Here are some photos:

All done!Twenty-one shoeboxes filled with goodies ready to be sent off.Great job --- Big A, Big J and Little A!!!We can't wait for the rest of the littler cousins to grow up and join in the tradition!

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

---Acts 20:35 (NIV)

One Proud Mama!

My daughter played keyboard at church for the very first time yesterday! She did an awesome and superb job, I must say. I am ONE PROUD MAMA!!! I am confident that God, our Heavenly Father, was smiling down on her as well. There are very few things in this world that can compare to a young heart that is eager and willing to use their God-given talents to glorify and praise the One who is most worthy of all!!! 

The whole worship experience was made up of KIDS --- from the song selection, to the musicians (keyboard, drums, electric guitar), to the vocalists (two boys and two girls). While I was directing the band upfront, I looked out into the congregation and couldn't help but notice huge grins on the faces of parents and grandparents, beaming with pride --- just like myself! 

As "Children's Ministries Coordinator", it is one of my goals to involve the children as much as possible in the main service. I want the children to feel included and accepted by their church family. I want the children to be visible, not invisible... to be fully functioning contributors to the church body. A children's worship band is a first step and a good start towards achieving this goal. 

It was definitely one memorable Sunday. Oh and one more thing --- three daddies who don't usually attend church were there! Their children were three of the four singers. That warmed my heart as well! 

He said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." ---Mark 10:14 (NIV)

Are Those Snowflakes???

So, while I was working away this afternoon I happened to glance out the window. What do I see? Flurries! Snowflakes! Already?!? Well, I guess so...why not! We do live in the Great White North!

The flurries definitely made me start thinking about Christmas --- my favourite time of year! An email I received today helped jump start that thought as well...reminding me that Christmas is only two months away. Ahhhh...my thoughts immediately jumped to my Christmas "to-do-list", I panic a bit, then I pause to think. Why do we always get so caught up with all the "to-dos" at Christmas that we get all flustered, stressed, out-of-sorts? Do we really have to do all that?

I wondered if we plan for a simple Christmas instead, what would it feel like? What does simple look like? Would it be more special? Would it create more memories? Hmmm...some food for thought! I'm going to think some more on this (since I do still have two months!) and maybe we might just try a "simple Christmas" this year. I like that thought!

Luke 2:10-11 (NIV) --- But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."