What If...

 We go through so much of life contemplating all of the "what-ifs"...  I find myself mulling over many past decisions and situations, often wondering what the outcome might have been had things played out differently.  Tonight on the eve of Christmas Eve, I sit an contemplate another What if...one of much greater significance.

This time of year we often see Nativity scenes on display as we anticipate the Christmas holiday.  I feel like, in some ways, this almost dulls our senses to the gravity of this event...somehow cheapens it by seeing it on display as a lit-up, brightly colored plastic gathering of people in someone's front yard.

Dug this one up from the archives (2019)

Do you ever stop to ponder it, to really imagine what that night might have been like?  If you haven't considered it before, can you take a moment to set the wrapping and the cookies aside to ask yourself, "What if it really happened?" God, entering our world, totally human, in the most vulnerable form imaginable.  

Maybe I've already lost your interest.  Maybe this just seems too farfetched.  But Jesus was real.  He is a well-documented historical figure.  The very dating system we still use today is based around His birth. (BC and AD) 

What if that tiny baby really was God?  

What if He really did come to save you and me?

What if He really did give up His life and die on a cross for the sins of the whole world?

What if He really was who He said He was?

What if the real gift of Christmas was only Jesus, would that be enough to make you want to celebrate?

Jesus - only Jesus...

He's everything...

This is one "what if" I hope you'd consider longer than any other. It's life changing...eternity changing.

And if the stories are really true...if the stories are not just stories but real historical events that took place, the next question you must logically come to is, Why? Why would the God of the universe humble Himself to that extent for you and for me?

How will the acceptance or rejection of this impact your life today?  Will it give you reason to live any differently, act any differently, treat others any differently?  If baby Jesus, was real, would you begin to hold just a little more loosely onto the things of this world and a little more tightly onto God?

I hope I've given you a few things to think about this Christmas season.  The gifts, the gatherings, all the trappings of Christmas will soon come and go and quickly fade from all memory.  But the real gift of Christmas endures.  Jesus, the name means "God is Salvation"...came to save you and me.  Do we even realize we need to be saved?  

Think about it....what if...

Merry Christmas....

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

An Un-Obstructed View

I've had it on my heart to write for some time now....it's just that time seems to be against me these days.  Long days...chasing toddlers, teaching eager and not-so-eager-learners, imparting life lessons to teen/nearly teens.  It's a dizzying combination of parental responsibilities.  But I digress...

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you pause and realize you've just learned a truly valuable lesson, reached a new and important milestone, or could see above the demands of "the schedule" to what is really important?  

Every once in a while, we are given these rare opportunities to see outside of what is so pressing and important to what is even more important, and I cherish these moments and hang onto them with all my heart.

A few weeks back the kids and I gathered a table full of supplies and assembled about 40 bags to hand out to the homeless people we pass on the street every week.  As we began to stop and roll down our windows to hand out the bags, something very interesting has happened.  We've started to have regular interactions with people who before we (sadly) ignored or diverted our eyes from.  We began to see them as real people who could carry on a conversation.  We began to search for words to offer them, to encourage them, began to remember them in our prayers.  Last week one fellow leaned it to speak to the kids and told them, "Remember this one thing, it's about your impact, not your income."  Today a man's face broke into a smile as he saw the bag contained a new pair of socks.  "Oh socks, thank you so much for the socks!"  When was the last time any of us were so excited for a pair of socks...or thanked God that we have socks to wear every day?

One woman in particular has been on my mind again and again.  I've seen her standing on the same block for months now, and she always looks so sad.  Last week, on a very chilly Sunday morning we gave her one of our bags and urged her to stay warm.  All week long though a verse kept coming to my mind....

James 2 14:17 - What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

As we were leaving church today, I saw her standing on the same corner. We started to roll down the window to hand her another bag with socks, gum, a bottle of water, some crackers...but I felt God had been telling me all week to do more.  So I slipped off my coat and asked her if she'd like to have it.  "I can't take your coat!" she exclaimed.  I told her that maybe it could really help her to stay more warm this week and we handed it out the window to her.  She was very grateful.  I will never forget this moment.  

Please, don't praise me for this act of kindness.  I've spent far too many years only thinking about myself.  But I'm trying to open my eyes to see the far-reaching possibilities of living my life in a way that puts others ahead of myself.  God has been giving me a more un-obstructed view of the way He sees others.

Christmas is a time for giving.  If ever there was a time to take stock of all that we already have, this is it.  It's hard not to focus on all the wish lists and gifts under the tree.  It's hard not to get caught up in the materialism that this holiday has sadly become. The stark and humble nativity should be enough to jar us back to reality, to make us consider Jesus, who came so sacrificially for us, never putting on airs or taking the easy path, but having all the same struggles and sensations and temptations and sorrows and pains that we have.

Dear God, I don't know what you are trying to teach me through this experience, to teach our whole family in this season of giving.  Please Lord, help me to have an unobstructed view of what is really important in this life, and of You.  Please help me to keep You, right in front of me and not become so distracted from my reason for being here.  Please help me to have an unobstructed faith too, one that does not depend on my circumstances or convenience or comfort, but recognizes that all my worth, my hope, my strength, my peace comes from You and You alone.  My day to day focus should be in seeking out Your will, and then acting on it.  Give me the courage to live this way.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

* Photo credit to Janeen Chambers, my dear "sister" and friend