Christmas Spirit

Around Christmas time, I start to see different posts on facebook. Some are excited about it, some are verses from the Bible, some are lyrics of Christmas songs, but then there are those status' that talk about how it's not really when Jesus was born, it's just a pagan holiday, tree's and stockings have nothing to do with Jesus, etc.

What I feel led to say on the matter is that regardless of the exact day Jesus was born, there is one day out of the year where the entire earth knows that we celebrate CHRIST-mas. One day where we all come together and remember The King of Kings left His throne to be born in a manger. One day where churches are packed as full as they get because people feel convicted to go. One day when we gather together with our families and are given legitimate excuses to talk to them about Jesus.

Of course there are those that make it solely about Santa, presents, Frosty, and Rudolph, but, if that's not the way you're choosing to celebrate it, then it doesn't really matter what everyone else is doing. The rest of those things are fun traditions to make with your family and for your kids. If you feel that is detracting from you focusing directly on Jesus, then don't do those things with your family.

I really don't think that God is upset that we come to Him, no matter the day, giving thanks for sending His Son to us. Maybe, Christmas has become commercialized. That really only adds to the fun in my opinion. Gathering with family, eating together, playing games, watching Christmas favorites together, experiencing joy and happiness from the excitement on someone's face for a gift you just gave them, it really all sounds like the important things God gave us life for. Enjoying one another. There may be madness and rush to get to stores, spend too much money, buy the perfect gift, get the tree up and decorated, pop out those Christmas cookies etc, but at the end of the day, after all of that is done, you're just left sitting in the presence of your family remembering the beauty of the best gift ever given.

I remember, as a little kid, I would get so many presents. We had 3 different Christmas'. We did my mom's side, my dad's side, and then a little family one for just us. I was so excited (pretty much only for the presents). When all of the celebrations were finally over and every gift had been unwrapped, I remember, still to this day, the feeling of emptiness and sadness because it was all over. It was a depression deep down that no gift was going to take away. Still, every year I was excited for Christmas. Fast forward years later, I'm now 20. The presents don't matter as much. The wonder has worn off. But a couple years ago, I was laying in my bed Christmas Eve, and the revelation of Jesus being born as this tiny baby into our human care really finally touched my heart. I was weeping and thanking God truly.

Because we have this celebration every year, I had chance after chance to realize the beauty of what God did in giving us Jesus. At first, it was about presents, but then God used it to really touch me. Now, I know that Christmas is just one day and is quickly over, but if you know that you've already been given the best gift, there's so much more to live for than trivial gift after trivial gift.

One of the beauty's of Christmas is that, even if you're celebrating it for the wrong reasons, you know it by the end of the day in the emptiness, sadness, loneliness. Either way, God can use the opportunity to reveal the true "reason for the season," Jesus Christ.

If you're feeling the "day after depression" and want to accept the only Gift that won't leave you empty, just pray the following:

"Jesus, I believe that you came to earth to die for me. I know that I need more in this life, so please, take the empty spaces and fill me with Your Spirit. I repent for my sins. Give me revelation of Your love and help me to love You. Thank you, God. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Family or Acquaintance?

Recently, God's been speaking to me about church being as a family. The Bible talks about us being the body, and, also, that we should love one another like a brother. I haven't been seeing this much lately. I'm including myself here.

One of the things that brought this on was something my brother said after a Christmas party we were both at. He mentioned how everyone scattered and fled after being told the events on the schedule were finished, but the house was open to converse and commune until whenever you wanted to leave. Now, I'm sure everyone was tired, had places to be, children to attend to, etc, but the comment itself made me think about what it means to be family.

I stayed until around 9 at night and was the last one to leave by a long shot. It was also my sister's house. By the time I left, they all had gotten into their comfy clothes and were just relaxing on the couch. How many people do you feel comfortable enough around to be able to do that? Now, how many people from your church that aren't your family are you comfortable enough to do that around?

I'm so guilty of going to church, having some small talk, and then going on my merry way, but that's not how families are at all. Family is comfort. Not everyone has had a great family life, but I'm sure we all know what it's supposed to look like. It's being able to sit in silence without feeling awkward, knowing you can tell them anything and they won't judge you, knowing you can do anything to them and they'll still always love you, crying, laughing, arguing, forgiving, confiding, convicting, loving, not having to make a place for them in your heart or life but wanting to.

Family has been such a near and dear thing in my heart, but I haven't been treating everyone as such. I've been too afraid of making someone feel awkward rather than just going up to them and putting an effort into making a relationship. My heart truly is to make everyone feel welcome, as I do my own family, but I've been afraid. Some of that is my fault, but some of that is the church community as a whole. I think we've been looking at each other through wrong lenses. Lenses like, "If they do something to hurt me, I don't ever have to talk to them again" or "We just don't get along. We like different things. It's ok that we're not friends." Jesus never ever looked at people like that. His eyes were always full of unselfish love and compassion without judgement.

Lately, I've been trying to get better about that. I've been pushing myself out there, going up and talking to people when I don't want to, trying to include someone I may not have a lot in common with. It's really hard and sometimes everything in me screams to walk in the other direction and not make eye contact, but we're supposed to be a family. Families talk to each other and actually enjoy talking to each other. How am I supposed to care for and lift up my brother or sister in Christ if I can't even have a five minute conversation with them?

We need to stop judging each other long enough to remember that we are supposed to love each other as Christ loves us. The Church is supposed to be a safe haven where people can come and feel comforted, loved, reassured, and safe, not judged, belittled, condemned, and gossiped about. If we have our eyes on each other as we do our actual family members, then we'll stop at nothing to make sure they know how much we love them.

(Side Note: Please, don't come talking to me about someone else, how weird they are, share their secrets with me, or tear them down to me. I really don't want to have a part in it and neither should you. There's never a good enough reason not to be someone's friend. The number of people I've heard talking about other people lately is outrageous and shameful. We are so blessed that God doesn't judge us as harshly as we judge each other. For ever being a part of tearing someone else down or speaking words I shouldn't, I apologize.)

My urge to you is to make real relationship with the people around you at your church and make strides to become a real family member to them. If we can't love the people inside our walls, how can we love the people outside of them?

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

Can You Promise I Will Come Back?

Tonight, I went and saw the Hobbit with my dad and some friends. When I was little, my dad and I read the book together, so we wanted to share in the moment of the movie together as well. I think it's so interesting how God can chose to speak to us in different ways, even through movies.

The Hobbit is a great book, and the movie (so far) was good too. It's about a young hobbit who is thrown into an adventure. They portray hobbits as quiet, calm, habitual creatures who stay away from danger or adventure. They live in little, hole homes and never venture from their "Shire." This hobbit, Bilbo, however, gets a visit from a wizard, Gandolf, who wants his help on an adventure to take back the dwarves mountain from a dragon. Of course, Bilbo is flustered, upset, and wants nothing to do with it. He wants to stay in his comfortable home, in his comfortable chair, drinking tea by his comfortable fire.

I couldn't help but relate this to our own lives. God comes to us asking us to go on an adventure with Him, yet we make excuses because of our own comfort. How much do we miss out on by saying no to something God has for us or somewhere he wants us to go simply because it's "not in our nature to be adventurous?"

There was a quote that specifically stuck out to me. Bilbo is sitting in his chair considering the contract Gandolf wants him to sign. It tells of all the different ways he could die and how none of them are to be responsible for it should it happen. He then asks Gandolf, "Can you promise I will come back?" To which Gandolf replies, "No...And if you do, you will not be the same."

I feel like many of us are asking the same question as Bilbo. We ask God for promises before we do things. 

-Promise me that if I quit this job there will be another.
-Promise me that if I pray all the time life will be easier.
-Promise me that if I move there you'll have everything set up for me.
-Promise me that if I give them $100 I'll get even more back.
-Promise me I'll still be as comfortable if I let them move in.

But God is there replying, "No...and if you do, you will not be the same" because we have to have faith outside of our comfort zone, and you can bet that, if it's God ordained, your life will change forever. It'll change FOR THE BETTER.

There's no promise of life on this earth for today or tomorrow, and it's really not that amazing here anyway. God's adventures could take your life or make your life, but either way everything we have is a gift from above.

What adventure are you saying no to because it might make you uncomfortable??

⁵⁷ Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62

All Is For His Glory

I'm a piano player. I play for 3 hours on Tuesdays. I sometimes play on weekends. Not to mention practice times and making loops in between those. Recently, I had to undergo surgery on my right wrist because I had a ganglion cyst in it. Gross, right? The point of me telling the following story is because of everything I had to learn through it that I feel a lot of other people deal with too.

I suffered with the pain and the slight bump when I bent my wrist for about 4 months. In those months, I prayed. I prayed it would go away. I prayed for God's healing to shrink it. I had other people lay hands on it and pray it would go away. I tried having it drained by the doctor with a needle (again, gross, right?), but I don't think it ever even left let alone "came back." I wondered a lot through this time.
-"Why won't God heal me?"
-"Is there something I'm doing that's not allowing Him to heal me?"
-"Is there a deeper seeded issue that it's connected to that I need to deal with before it will go away?"
-"Do I just not have enough faith?"
I even set a reminder on my calendar to remind me to pray every day for 30 days for it because someone told me that was the way God would heal me. 30 days later, still no healing. I had our healing pastor Ben pray for it. Nothing. I went up for prayer from our healing team during a worship service. Nothing.

I decided to set up an appointment for surgery a week before Thanksgiving because I really was tired of dealing with it and felt a peace about it. The week before my surgery more people touched and prayed over it truly believing that it would be gone before my surgery. I wasn't unbelieving, but I wasn't shuddering at the idea of still having the surgery either. No matter what way it was going, as long as it was gone that was good enough for me. But, my surgery day came, and it was still there.

Someone had told me that maybe I was supposed to come in contact with the doctor for a reason the Lord had set up. I was all for that. I kept thinking that the whole time. Never really was there an opportunity to share anything with him or the nurses, but I was consciously courteous (even when they had to stick me twice in each hand cause they couldn't get my vain). I'm pretty shy when it comes to straight up telling someone about Jesus out of the blue, especially when they're about to cut me open.

I had the surgery. I came out of surgery. Everything went fine.

I went home, and, for the next couple of days, I was basically useless. Something I hadn't thought about before the surgery was how I wouldn't be able to use my right hand AT ALL for a while. I couldn't shower very well, my mom had to brush my hair, and I couldn't even zip up my own jeans. It was frustrating. But, as I went to sleep one night, I thought about my cousin, Allison. She's 12. She had a stroke in the womb before she was born. Because of that, she has almost no use of her right hand and it isn't growing as properly as the other one. Having been through a couple of days what she's been through her whole life, I was moved entirely to pray on her behalf.

The incision was healing. I was gaining more mobility of my hand. Then, I noticed some white, got scared, and ran up to show my mom. She kinda freaked me out and made me think it was getting infected, but I had to go in to see the doctor for my two week stitch removal soon anyway. We made the long trek out to his other office, he assured me that it wasn't infected, and cut the stitches sticking out of the sides. Before we left, my mom gave him a copy of my cd "Come With Me" to which he replied, "Now I have something to listen to on my way back." We were all about 50 minutes away from home.

Now, it's still healing up. I can't move it all the way yet, but I can shower, brush my own hair, and zip up my zipper (Woot!!). The doctor said I'd have 95% mobility in 6 weeks. The incision is looking good, I'm not wearing any band aids, and I haven't been using the wrist brace anymore.

Here's what I don't know: I don't know why God didn't just heal my wrist.

But here's what I do know: The cyst is gone. The surgery went well. I barely had ANY pain. I haven't had any infection. The incision looks good. And BECAUSE He didn't, I was awoken to someone else's pain to pray for them and had the opportunity to share Jesus with my doctor through my music.

I could sit and try to question why things happen the way they do or why He doesn't bend to my will. But at the end of the day, God is still God. He still knows what He's doing. His ways are higher, and His purposes are better.

We may not have all the answers all the time, and everything may not happen the way we wish it did. Sometimes God's plans are bigger than what we can see. The things we see as bad He uses for good. All is for His glory, and we are simply blessed to have a part in it.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Ariel

Beauty

Today, I made this my facebook status,
“There are certain women I can think of who have such a beauty about them that has nothing to do with the way they look. I’ve tried to figure it out before as I study their outward appearance and don’t find anything necessarily special about it. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is solely the way they carry themselves with such effortless grace and maturity. Women where you can almost see the beauty of their soul itself. I hope I’m seen that way. And for women I do see that way, thank you for being such stunning examples.
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Prov. 31:30”

I decided I wanted to take that a little further because there’s such a good message behind it.

Everyone in the world today focus’ so much on outward beauty and appearance. I do too. Way too much.

-“Look what they’re wearing.”

-“How did they let themselves go so far?”

-“Their face would be so pretty if not for all those acne scars.” 

-“Marry the first girl that shows interest, buddy.”

It’s sad but also so true. Some of those were pretty detailed. Mostly because I want to be honest and say I’ve thought things about other people. I’m sure someone just popped into your head that you’ve thought something mean about before. We’re judgmental creatures. But we don’t have to be. As we let our mind be transformed by the word of God, our thinking and the way we view people can and will change. (Repeat to yourself often. It can and will change. Haha.)

I sat on my bed thinking those thoughts about the beauty of certain women that turned into that facebook status. It’s so crazy to me, as someone who puts too much stock into outward beauty, how lovely certain people could be. I don’t even remember why I was thinking about it. It must have just been something God dropped into my heart. I started remembering women and girls I had met, that are friends, or that I’ve been around that have nothing special about their faces or bodies, but that show such a beauty through them. You could look at them once and go, “Eh” or point something out on them that was wrong or unattractive, but through one experience of talking to them you walk away thinking, “I just met the most beautiful woman in the world.”

In this world of daisy duked, size 0, symmetrical faced, airbrushed, bust enhanced, impossible women, it’s so hard to remember that your beauty can come from within. You may look in the mirror and not think much of yourself or look down on the imperfections you see, but the grace, dignity, love, kindness, mercy, patience, character, etc you decide to carry yourself with reveals levels of beauty that you don’t even understand. I know I don’t always carry myself that way. But I know how I’ve witnessed it in other people to know that it is true. 

I know men who care too much about looks (women too). Don’t get me wrong, you need to be attracted to who you marry. There’s just a difference between that and finding a fault of appearance in every single person of the opposite sex. In the end, you either go to sleep alone every night for the rest of your life or you open your eyes to the beauty of a women who will love the Lord with all her strength, strive to love you unconditionally, deliver your 8 pound babies, raise them with mercy and compassion, tenderly care for your wounds and sicknesses, carries your household with strength, has kindness and patience to spare.

The beauty of God is so much more than we could ever outwardly show. You probably don't have His nose, eyes, legs, figure,etc, but you do have His kindness, His mercy, His love, His patience, His spirit living inside of you. That beauty, His beauty, outshines everything else.

But warnings... if we aren't showing THIS beauty, we can't be upset with men for finding other beauty. We can't blame men for not looking for women like this when we're not trying to be those women.

The beauty of this world, the fashion trends, the make up, the magazines, it’s all fleeting. Being a woman of noble character who choses to continually refine her soul lasts forever. AND it IS seen with earthly eyes too. Don’t aim to be America’s Next Top Model. Yeah. They’re pretty. But there is a beauty, wonder, and grace about the women who fear the Lord. Even if you don’t see it about yourself, I promise there are other women (and men), like me, who see it and awe.

Ariel