Where will we put Christmas this year?

You would have to be living in a cave or be a hermit on the mountains to not know that Christmas is upon us. Just check out Facebook and see the many varied ways you all have started your Christmas countdown.

I’m still looking for where I am going to put Christmas this year.  Well, that is the Christmas tree.  Every year I go through this process.  

I face the space battle of where to put the tree.  My daughter Lindsay asks me nearly every day if I have put up the tree yet.  She is waiting for me to say yes, “It’s done.”  It’s her rule, since her birthday is December 7th, that the Christmas tree must be put up and decorated before we celebrate her birthday.  I don’t know how she got to write that rule in our family but she did.  

It’s really her way of waiting for her birthday to arrive.  That’s how she prioritizes the annual day of her life celebrated.  Honestly we all look forward to that one day we too are celebrated, don’t we? 

Celebrations…the days leading up to them seem so long… in the wait.  We wait for the yearly celebrations, the annual Christmas work parties, the 5-10-15-year high school reunions, the family photos to land in our mailbox with all the amazing year’s events crammed in an 8.5 x 11 festive copied letter.  We wait for news from the doctor’s diagnosis, the blood test to be positive or negative, we wait for the pain or cold medication to kick in, and we wait and watch the popcorn pop in the microwave.  

We wait for a baby to arrive.  We wait on and for just about everything.  I waited in a line to save money on some Black Friday sales.    

We don’t mind it seems, unless it’s the immediate answers that we demand of God.

….let’s talk about waiting.  

How often do we get impatient when we have to wait on God?  Have you ever found yourself wondering “when” in your prayers?  

Ahem…well I have.  And every time God answers, oh so gently, according to His loving character.  He taps me on the shoulder reminding me that He invented time.  All the minutes are His, so what are you waiting on God for? 

This morning I read in Luke about a devoted man, Simeon, who waited his lifetime to see the face of his Savior.  Wow….how he must have cried out to God so many times knowing that once he did see the promise of the Messiah King, he would die.  He waited his entire life for one day, one event, one day anticipating and hoping to see the Promised King?  

Consider his wait…he was old, he was “righteous and devout”, he was obedient, he showed up for service to the Lord every day.  “He waited for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” ~ Luke 2:25-26

Simeon waited.  He waited all of his life to see Jesus.  He waited to hold the tiny King in his arms.  He waited for that day with much anticipation.  

What causes a man to wait all of his life for this one day of celebration?  

He believed in the promise of the King.  He believed Hope would come down and rescue the Israelites.  He believed the writers of old who prophesied.  He chained his faith to the only Hope that was believable.  He believed in the promise.  He believed in the consolation of the people who prayed.

According to theasarus.com consolation means relief or comfort.  Simeon believed because the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, impressed upon his heart that Comfort was coming.  Promises are believable when they come by way of holy messengers.  God’s word is chock full of promises.  And each and every one of them are believable.  And worth waiting for.

So let’s talk about waiting…shall we?

All those days of waiting and wondering “when” were immediately erased when Simeon beheld the Promise in his arms.  Simeon waited, the coming of our Savior.   I would imagine he savored in the wait…his heart building with anticipation of Hope, coming to earth for a great celebration.  A great birth.

So now, thinking of waiting for this Christmas celebration has a whole new perspective.  

My prayer:  Oh God, may these days of celebration bring the awakening of our souls, may we tarry in your Holiness, so that we can see the face of Jesus, His Holiness through the decorations, the gifts, the preparations, the specials, the decorated walls and pews…to see you Jesus, to behold you, to make room for you in our hearts and our homes.  Awaken our hearts to make room for you.

Come Lord Jesus come, let us prepare Him room.  May we wait well and with anticipation of Hope today and every day. 

I Hope So!

What does godly hope mean to you?  

When I say the word hope, what comes to mind?  Sometimes hope is a word that I use so casually.

I hope to lose 100lbs by the end of the month.

I hope that the bathroom is clean when I get home.

I hope that piece of wood that I just hit with my tire doesn't have a nail in it and make my tire go flat.

I hope that....

The other day, I realized that I had been using the word hope in place of wishful thinking.  I had to stop and think of what real hope meant.  I discovered that it means more than wishing I had just won a million dollars by clicking a link on Facebook.  Hope is not a gimmick.   

My hope is interlaced with trust.  

My faith is built on my trust in God.  Hope is a by-product of my faith.  The deeper my trust is in God's unseen, the more hope I have.  So hope, in a sense, is expectation, reliance, or confidence in God for whatever happens next, for whatever.  

Hope is vital to trust.  Trusting and hoping go hand in hand.  They are critical in my response to God and through faith, hope and trust is what anchors me to His heart.  God wants me to have faith.  He wants me to trust Him even when I can't see what He is doing.  He desires my trust the most.  Trust is born out of my confidence in God and his history of faithfulness.  

Waiting or hoping with expectation encompasses and strengthens my faith that connects me to God.  While I wait for God to work, I only want to keep my eyes trained on Him.  With love I follow.  With hope I wait.  Under the scope of faith, it really can't be separated on its own.  If I say I trust God, but yet try to design my own solutions to my own problems then my trust rings hollow.  My faith is shallow. I have a false hope.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me."

John 14:1

Hoping in God is the only true hope.  It is Heaven directed and is hinged on my belief in Jesus, the son of God. I can experience the benefits of hope as I pass time in this earthly wait.  I can expect and put full trust, hopeful trust in my promised salvation.  I will falter; even stumble as I journey through this life as I am buffeted by trials.  Hope lifts my perspective from my weary heart to His glorious view.  Hope tells me I am not in this alone. The roughness of my journey becomes less significant.  As I cling to the hope of heaven, I expect that in my life journeys, deserts or not, God will transform as I follow I will learn and love Him more.   

"God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain."  Hebrews 6:18-19.

Let godly hope give you courage to keep holding your head up high as you endure suffering and sorrow.  Chaos in life will always be with us; at times it will press in close.  However, the godly hope, the only dependable one Hope source in God, will keep your heart open and soul anchored in the Light of His Presence.  Jesus our Hope is the only hope we have.  All other hopes are just wishful thoughts.  

What does hope mean to you?

Music Monday [Don't Wait]

This Music Monday is brought to you by Addison Road, compliments of their song "Don't Wait".


Basically this song is a reminder of how temporary our lives are, and while we are here on earth, we need to make the most of every moment.  My favorite line is "Our lives, unpredictable....It can turn on a dime."  I know about that.  One day everything is fine....the next minute everything is falling apart.  Tornadoes destroy, cancer strikes, death haunts, hearts turn away.



The lyrics also remind me that we are to be more "Heaven-minded".  What does that look like?  Praying for the lost, being broken for the things that break God's heart, always being ready to explain why you believe what you believe.


God brings people to their deepest need many times through tough life circumstances.  God redeems these times by bringing those unto Himself and by revealing His character.  When life deals a unpredictable hand, I want to make the most of every opportunity of God's grace by my witness.  I know how God has helped my family through our unanswered questions, and because of those holy moments, I can offer personal lessons learned to help other fragile hearts.  In life's brokenness we gain understanding of who God is.  


Life is uncertain, but death is sure.  Don't delay in making a difference.  


Don't Wait
Today I lost a friend of mine
I never even got to say goodbye
I thought we had time to burn
But life is short
You only get one turn

Whoa, gone before you know
Whoa, so make the most

(Chorus)
We're not indestructible
Our lives, unpredictable
It can turn on a dime
So now is the time
Don't wait
Don't wait
Gotta live today
Gotta live today, today

So here I am wide awake
Blinded by a brand new day
Every breath given to me
Is a gift I want to redeem

Whoa, the minutes they unwind
Whoa, so I gotta make the time

Chorus X2

In the blink of an eye
You snap and time goes by
Time goes by

We'll wonder where it all went
If we forget
So don't forget

What does this song say to you?