I Need a Little Christmas Cheer

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Well, at least in my little condo! I spent the last three days dragging out boxes marked with “Christmas” from my “completely packed to the ceiling” second bedroom closet. It is always an emotional process for me. As I take out each ornament, special Christmas decoration, or come across a family picture taken in front of the Christmas tree, I am reminded of Christmases gone by. I remember the eggnog that my Granddaddy made each Christmas, that we kids were never allowed more than one cup! Then my mind flashes to my twelfth Christmas Day when my Granddaddy went home to heaven. When I hear the Christmas songs I remember my first Christmas as a mom, rocking my precious son, singing “Silent Night!” as tears of joy streamed down my cheeks. My thoughts go back to driving hours in a loaded down minivan as our little family of four made its way to Grandma’s house. I remember all the Christmas Eve’s putting together toys and filling stockings with all the little trinkets that seemed perfect at the time. Now as an empty nester I sometimes long for those Christmases with young children and the excitement that abounded as they anticipated the giving and receiving gifts, the holiday candies, and the fun times with family and friends gathering together.

As I sit surrounded by the sweet and the bittersweet memories of Christmases past I realize that only one remains, year after year. Jesus. You see, the ornaments show their wear and tear of the many times they hung upon a limb and the names on the stockings have faded with the years, but the Hope of Christmas remains. Jesus. I am tempted to be melancholy with my reflections of Christmas- thinking only of what we no longer have or who no longer lives among us. But, Jesus lives. I long for a fresh Christmas memory this year - one that will stand out years from now. Jesus. I am setting my mind, my affections, and my longings on Jesus this year. Looking to Him to satisfy my need for Christmas cheer. My last decoration to put on display today was the baby Jesus surrounded by Joseph, Mary, a shepherd boy and three kings. It should have been the first.

Help! I am Caught in My Lesson and I Can’t Get Out

As a Bible teacher I have come to expect God to work out lessons in my own life before I teach them. However this past Sunday it seemed as if I was living the lesson in the midst of teaching it.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as I walked to church with my lesson and visual in tow. I felt good about what I had prepared to teach that morning and was looking forward to using the illustrations God had provided for me. My topic would be the power of words. That week as I studied I was hyper-aware of the words that came flying out of my mouth. I spent some time confessing, refocusing, and renewing my thoughts and my mouth. I felt that my words were being sanctified slowly but surely!

While walking through the hall toward my classroom I met up with a dear friend who had worked with me years before in a ministry of our church. She stopped me and said that she just had to tell me how much I had meant to the people involved in that ministry. She said, “At the event this week people kept coming up to me and telling me how they missed you and how you had been such an influence in their lives.” I was truly humbled and said, “Thank you that is so sweet of you to say.” She took my arm and said, “No, seriously, I mean it, these people truly were influenced by what you did for them.” Wow! I was extremely thankful for her words and commented that she had just given me another illustration for my lesson that morning. I walked a little taller as I entered my classroom that morning.

I had studied and researched all week the power of our words. The Lord had given me an illustration to bring home the truth of how powerful our words can be. I purchased a brick from Lowe’s on Saturday, along with a crown. I will get to the crown later. The main thought concerning words was: Words are like bricks. They can break or they can build. I passed around the brick and asked several to hold it and described it. They all mentioned that the brick was heavy. At that observation I asked, “Would you consider throwing that brick at me?” They each replied, “No!” For which I was very thankful! We then discussed how words we use to people’s faces and behind their backs are sometimes like throwing bricks at them rather than building them up with encouraging words.

I placed crowns in the middle of each round table where the ladies were sitting. We discussed that what fills the heart comes out of the mouth. Luke 6:45 Therefore we needed to take care of our hearts and be serious about the words we used in conversation. I asked them, “Who is the king/queen of their conversations?” If Christ is truly ruling your heart then allow Him to rule your conversation. Colossians 3:17 We should be able to say, “In Jesus name,” before everything that comes out of our mouths. I have a friend who frequently uses that phrase and it dawned on me that I have never heard any unwholesome words come from her mouth. Amazing! We also talked about how we enter into conversations in order to win, one-up someone, or promote ourselves rather than to show an interest in the person we are talking with or to lift up Christ through our words.

Time was running out and so we quickly read through the rest of the handout I had given them. I ran over our allotted time by 5 minutes and the people who attend the class following mine were more than ready to come in. I prayed a very quick prayer and dismissed the class.

As I was gathering my visuals, notes and Bible I was approached by a “not-so-happy,” let alone, joyous, Christian woman. She began throwing bricks at me. “Can you not finish at 10:30?” “I am so sorry,” I confessed. “Well, I have only 5 minutes now to prepare to sing before our class!” “I am so sorry. Will you please forgive me?” I begged. “Can you not be out of here by 10:30?” is all the reply she gave my request. Again, I pleaded with her, “I am sorry. I will try and do better next time.” “Well I now only have 5 minutes to prepare!” she insisted. If I had had a white flag, I would have waved it furiously over my head at this point, in surrender. Instead, I simply offered one last “I am sorry, there is nothing more I can say,” and walked away like a scorned puppy dog with my tail between my legs.

Bricks break. Bricks build. Words had built me up on my way into class that day and words had broken my joy as I walked out. The rest of that day I couldn’t get those words out of my head and my heart. They were still there when I woke up the next morning.

I have spent the last few days filling my mind with scripture and praying through that “Sunday conversation.” The bricks had left me with the bruises of guilt and shame. I forced myself to think on those things that were true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Philippians 4:8 True: I had gone past my allotted time in teaching my class on Sunday. Noble: I had willingly volunteered to teach my class the best I knew how. Right: The lady was right in asking me if I could be out at 10:30. Pure: My motives were pure. Lovely: My friend had shared lovely words with me prior to class. Admirable: I confessed my wrongdoing and asked for forgiveness. Excellent: God’s word was taught and it is perfect! Praiseworthy: God always is at work! Lesson learned! I will do my best to finish my lessons on time and intentionally give words of grace no matter what type of brick was thrown my way.

Breathe

A few nights ago I woke up to the sound of my husband's breathing. The room was still and quiet. All I could hear was his breathing. . . rhythmic, unencumbered, effortless, constant. I lay in the dark taking in the quiet, soothing sounds of his inhaling and exhaling. Before long his breathing lulled me back to sleep.

A few hours later I woke to the sound of the silence-breaking tone of my alarm. I crawled out of bed and stepped into the freshness of a new day dawning. I slipped on my white fuzzy house shoes and tried my best to walk quietly toward the smell of freshly brewed coffee. I could hear every sound my rubber soled shoes made on the wooden floor and hoped that it didn't wake my still-breathing sleeping husband.

Settling down into my "coffee with Jesus" chair, coffee cup in hand, I laid my head back on the chair cushion and breathed in His presence. Then it dawned on me that the Breath of Heaven, the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit had been there all night watching over our breathing. He never sleeps or slumbers, but constantly, rhythmically, unencumbered, effortlessly He watches, works, guards, protects us through the nights of our lives. It is in the nights, the dark quiet times of our lives, when we sense His breath softly flowing over us.

But day comes, the traffic sounds overpower the sleeping's restful breathing. The traffic of our lives takes over and before you know it His breath, His voice is drowned out with the rushing, the honking, the stopping and starting of our "map-quested day." Yet, He constantly, effortlessly, rhythmically works on our behalf, navigating for us, quietly whispering his lessons in our noise polluted ears.

In Isaiah 48: 17-18 the Lord says, "if only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would be like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." Lord, help me to be still enough, quiet enough to hear your breathing. . . whispers of love, instruction, warning, wisdom and vision. Flood my mind, heart, and soul with the sounds of your river of peace and your waves of righteousness. Breath of God breathe on me; lulling me back into the rest of God once again.

Lessons from Metro Dash

Last Saturday I competed in a fitness challenge called the Metro Dash. I competed with a team of 5 other people from my church. Our team was called Houston's First Most Fit. This all began a few months ago when my friend presented the opportunity to me as a way to train and stay fit. A day before this my daughter had asked me what my plans were for the month and I translated that into "so what are you working toward this month?" That left me speechless; I couldn't think of anything I was working toward at that moment. So, I prayed on my way to the gym the next day and told the Lord how I enjoyed exercise and wondered if He had any plans for me to use this passion to encourage someone in their journey toward fitness. That is when Donna entered the picture! She asked, "I was wondering if you would like to join our team and compete in Metro Dash?" Bingo! That sounded like the perfect goal to work toward and a great way to encourage others. Prayer answered.

So we started training really hard, following their scheduled daily workouts. It was crazy! Some days we would do 250 sit-ups, push-ups, squats, jumps and the list goes on. Well, having a bent toward being obsessive/compulsive combined with my workout partner who has the same tendencies, we needless to say, did over and above what the scheduled workouts required. We were determined to get fit and finish the challenge. We met with our team a few times before the event. I noted each time that I was the oldest person on the team. There were a couple in their twenties, a couple in their thirties, one forty and yes, me in her nifty fifties! With one month to go I developed shin splints, which were very painful. I took all the necessary measures to rehab my shins and rest - that meant no running. Each week I would tell myself that I should quit since I was the oldest and was now injured. My training partner, kept encouraging me saying she would walk with me and would see that we finished together. So, every time I mentioned that I thought maybe I should quit, she could quip back, "No Nanc, I will be there for you and we will finish together."

The day arrived with sore shins and an anxious heart as I set out to meet my team. When we met together, I looked around and saw how fit and young they each were. I told them I didn't think I would be able keep up with them and that it would be fine if they went on ahead of me. My young team mates just had to be one of the first teams at the starting line. We lined up and then circled together to pray. They asked me to pray, of course I had been praying constantly since I woke that morning. We started out running one mile and then did squats for four minutes followed by a short run to where we did push ups. After four minutes of push ups I got up to run to the obstacle course and the doubts began to swirl in my head. I was feeling light headed, my shins were throbbing, and my stomach was queasy. I began to say out loud, "I think I am going to have to quit. I don't want you all to wait on me. I am holding my team back." Donna would have nothing of that. My team mates were there at the obstacle course with words of encouragement. I went through the first four obstacles pretty well, then it was time to do box jumps. That is where you jump up onto a stool that is about 18 inches high. I was suppose to jump up on the stool 12 times. I looked at the stool and my mind couldn't convey to my legs that they were to jump off of the ground and land 18 inches higher than where they were securely planted. I couldn't convince my legs to move. Then one by one my team members came beside me with instructions and words of encouragement. I had to lay down twice with my legs in the air just to get passed the lightheadedness. But they stuck with me and with each jump I seemed to get stronger! I even went on to scale an eight foot wall. After that we had to run four more times with three more challenge points. My run became a walk and my jumps became more like standing on the balls of my feet with my hands in the air- never leaving the ground! My team members stuck with me, though. They said they were there for me and wouldn't leave me.

I finished in a little over 2 hours and a real sense of accomplishment flooded my heart. If it would of just been me, I would have quit. But, because I had a team of people who were committed to competing as a team, we all finished.

Some of the lessons that I have taken away from my participation in the Metro Dash are:

1. In order to pursue a passion you must be willing to take some risks.
2. Commitment hurts.
3. Age is just a state of mind.
4. No one is as strong as all of us. ( An Aggie saying, but one I experienced first hand.)
5. Competing for self makes one strong, but competing with a team makes us all stronger.
6. God made our bodies able to do more than our minds can conceive.
7. The battle is won or lost in the mind!
8. Those that hydrate for several days before the competition are able to finish well.
9. Those that hydrate each day with the Living Water are able to finish life well!
10. What is impossible with man, is possible with God- All things are possible with God.