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This is a bit scary to write after a couple weeks ago writing about Mary’s faith and Mary’s acceptance of what had been given her, to be honest.  I feel like God might be trying to tell me something.  But who knows.  I might be off the hook.  He might be telling YOU something!  Ha!

So, it’s almost New Years.  A time when people vow to lose weight, or to make more money, or to spend more time doing the thing they’ve always wanted to do, but life has gotten in the way.  And then two minutes, or days, or weeks, or sometimes even months later, they go back to living how they had been before, and forget those new resolutions.   And, to be honest, I think that’s what happens when we try to do things in our own strength.  Our desires to change are good desires, but when we try to do it in our own strength – we fail.

And I’m not saying not to have those resolutions…especially if those resolutions are something you’re passionate about.  If you’re talking with God on a regular basis, and you have passions buried deep within your heart, those passions are probably from Him.  So, on Monday night, on New Year’s Eve this year, search your heart for your passions.  Ask God which one He wants to play with this year, and then give it to Him.

AND THEN, hold on for the ride of your life.  He’ll ask you to do something about it, probably.  And it might be something small, like writing a blog, or it might be something huge, like going to Africa.  But have the courage to obey.  Because obeying God always takes courage.  Obey, do as He asks.  Get out of your seat and go do whatever He asks.  And then do the same for the next step, and the next.

But know, our God is a God of quiet whispers.  He doesn’t usually write emails about what’s next.  I’ve only heard Him writing in neon on a wall once (well, maybe not in NEON).  I’ve found, in my life, that usually He works through my heart.  I’ll have a gentle (or not so gentle) welling within me of what’s next.  I don’t hear an audible voice.  I don’t get some prophetic word.  I don’t hear a vision.  If I’m lucky, I know that I know that I know that this next step is next. That’s happened maybe five times in my life.  Usually it’s more of a, “Well, this makes sense, and God’s not shutting this door, and it’s something I’m pretty passionate about, so, here goes!”

So, pursue those passions.  Get up out of your safe comfy chair and start pursuing them.  If they’re in your heart, I don’t care how old you are, pursue them.  God’ll give you a way.

There is a song by NeedToBreathe that I love and is incredibly inspiring to me.  Go download it, and as you listen to it, read these lyrics:

“Keep Your Eyes Open”

If you could soldier on
Headstrong into the storm
I’ll be here waiting on the other side
Don’t look back
The road is long
The first days of the war are gone
Take back your former throne and turn the tide

Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
Keep your eyes open, my love
So tell me you’re strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me to
Keep your eyes open, my love

Just past the circumstance
The first light, a second chance
No child could ever dance the way you do, oh
Tear down the prison walls
Don’t start the curtain call
Your chains will never fall until you do

Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
Keep your eyes open, my love
So show me your fire, show me your heart
You know I’ll never let you fall apart if you
Keep your eyes open, my love

Open up
Open up
Open up your eyes
The weight is unbroken
Open up
Open up
Open up your eyes
Keep your eyes open

Don’t let the night become the day
Don’t take the darkness to the grave
I know pain is just a place
The will has been broken
Don’t let the fear become the hate
Don’t take the sadness to the grave
I know the fight is on the way
When the sides have been chosen

Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown
Open up your eyes
Keep your eyes open
So tell me you’re strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me to
Keep your eyes open, my love
So show me your fire, show me your heart
You know I’ll never let you fall apart if you
Keep your eyes open, my love

Keep your eyes (Keep your eyes open)

For your entertainment this weekend before Christmas, a monologue I wrote from an Angel’s perspective two years ago:

(ANGEL comes in carrying a mug of hot water, and a messenger bag that holds a bag of small marshmallows, a spoon, and a packet of hot chocolate.  ANGEL looks slightly hassled.)

Phew.  Glad that’s over.

(Takes a deep breath.  Realizes there’s an audience.)

What?  Perhaps you expected an angel to show up with a long white bed sheet and a gold tinsel halo?  Not to mention tissue paper wings?  I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

We don’t wear that stuff.  Honestly, where did you come up with that idea?  It’s not like none of you have never seen us before.  At the very least your pictures could be accurate.  But you humans, your memories are so short.  Appear to you one afternoon, and within a week you’re doubting you ever saw us, and within the month you’ve practically forgotten.  That’s probably why your ideas of us angels are nuts.  Seriously.  Nuts!!!  Why in heaven would we wear bed sheets?  You ever try wearing bed sheets?  Not very practical, and very cold. Very, very cold.   You try floatin’ in air, in the middle of the night, singing at the top of your lungs because Gabriel demands it, and you’re his secretary, so you have to set a good example.  It’s cold up there.  I’m talking snot freezing in your nose, hair becoming an icicle and breaking off in chunks, fingers turning blue, then white, and then being unable to feel anything – cold.  Believe me, we do NOT wear white bed sheets.  I’d LOVE to see you try.  It’s COLD up there I tell you.  COLD.

Speaking of which, give me a moment will you?  My water’s getting cool, and we all know that you can’t have hot chocolate if it’s cold, now can you?

(ANGEL  prepares cup of hot chocolate.)

Mmmm – that’s good.  You guys might forget stuff, but you do make some good hot chocolate.  Anyway, it was cold.  Crazy shepherds.  When Gabriel told me to gather the Heavenly Host because we were going to do a little mid-night serenading, I got kinda excited.  With all the messages being sent from Heaven to Earth recently I thought maybe we might be singing at the birth of The Son. You know, give Mary a little encouragement while she’s in labor, ease her pain – that kinda stuff.  Yeah.  Not so much.  We didn’t even get to witness the blessed event.  We had to go serenade some shepherds who were out in the middle of nowhere, hanging with their sheep.  I’m gonna be honest with you – I was a bit frustrated with this.  I mean, I did my job.  I made sure Gabriel’s mic was on, that the stars were sparkling just right, and that Heavenly Host of angels that I had to assemble were revealed to the shepherds at exactly the right moment.  But I was angry none-the-less.

I mean, seriously.  You guys have horrible memories.  We shouldn’t have been singing for a few mangy shepherds.  We should’ve appeared before the entire town of Bethlehem – and Jerusalem. Not to mention Rome.  We should’ve sung for Herod himself.  We should’ve sung for all the Teachers in the temple, for all the travelers on the road, for…for…for every wife cooking beside her fire, for every daughter fetching water at the town well, for every working son and husband.  But no – we only sing for a few smelly shepherds.  It just….  Gah!  If we had sung for everyone – then no one would have forgotten just who arrived on your small planet tonight.  No one.  People would’ve been talking about our heavenly visitation for the rest of human history.  But as it is, the memory, the knowledge, that the King of Kings has come has been solely entrusted to a few shepherds, a couple travelling kings, and Mary and Joseph themselves.

I mean, what’s going to happen if they forget?  If the rest of you don’t believe?  I might be only a secretary angel, but I know enough about how humans think, and about how God works to know that the two don’t usually coincide.  God’s all about the big plan, and love, and doing things gently when possible.  You guys are all about war, and results right now.  The two ways of life don’t exactly mix well.  If, just sayin’, if you forget that the small baby born tonight is the one and only son of His Holiness, and that you need to do what He says, you’re gonna kill him.  I mean, I know – I KNOW that He left Paradise to come save you guys.  And God knows you need saving.  And I have no idea how in Heaven He plans on saving you, but if you forget He’s God, and you kill him….  What’s gonna happen to you then?  Huh?  What’s going to happen to all of us then?

Don’t forget, okay?  Please, please, don’t forget He’s the Son of God.  Give him your respect, your love, you time, your honor.  But mostly, don’t forget.  Please, please, don’t forget.

Have you considered recently how much God loves you?  Little, insignificant, slightly quirky, not-at-all-perfect, YOU?

I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise Thursday morning.  Vibrant oranges, soul-deep purples, swirling blues, and hints of glowing, golden yellow.  It was breath-taking.  Especially since I consider each and every sunrise and sunset a love letter from Him.  Yes, I know – everyone can see the sunrise and sunset.  It’s not all that personal.  Except… except that every time I see one (breath-takingly brilliant or not) a very deep quiet fills my soul and I know that I know that I know that I am loved.  It’s almost as if I can feel His strong, muscular arms hugging me from behind while we watch His handiwork together.  And that is intensely personal.

And so mornings like Thursday, when I can practically feel God’s strong arms around me, make me think.  How many other sunrises that I didn’t quite get out of bed early enough to watch, am I missing?  How many other little gifts has He left for me throughout the day that I overlook, or worse, taken for granted?  And maybe, even worse than that, how many gifts has He offered me that I’ve thought weren’t really mine?  I thought I wasn’t good enough for; or that they were too good for me; I didn’t deserve them (as if any one of us can actually deserve anything God gives us).  How many things is He telling me that I just need to accept and start living a life that reflects what He tells me; what He thinks about me?

For instance, what if the shepherds hadn’t believed the angels that night?  What if those smelly, tired, more than slightly awkward shepherds thought that God couldn’t have meant that for them; or that they were imagining things.  Or that they needed to go take a bath before hunting down the Messiah.

But no, they didn’t.  They accepted the crazy gift God gave them, and then, in faith, went looking for it.  God hadn’t talked to His people in something like 400 years.  That’s crazy.  And then to be a lowly shepherd and actually believe that the glowy, singing host hovering in the sky above you really is a large choir of angels telling you about the Messiah, and not just you finally going crazy after hanging with the sheep too long, is a HUGE step of faith.

I want to live like that.  I want to live like Mary and the Shepherds.  I want to live a life of accepting (and pursuing) the gifts God has given me.  I want to live a life in search of the small ones He’s tucked away in the grumpy or busy minutes of my day.  I want to be like the shepherds and leave everything behind to go find what the angels are singing about.

Have you ever been in a spot you didn’t want to be?  Whether it was geographically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally? I know I have been for each of the above more than once.  I was in another state when a friend got married, another time a friend was having a baby, and there was the time I didn’t get to be home for a holiday.  I’ve not been able to get a thought out of my mind, and because of that, dwelled on it until that thought ruined everything else around me.  I’ve left God at home, in between the dusty covers of my Bible.  I’ve cried everyday for over a month and not known what to do with myself.  Yes, I’ve been in many spots I didn’t want to be.

Kinda like Mary and Joseph, when they found themselves in Bethlehem.  It was the last place they wanted to be – far from home, far from the people they loved (even if the people they loved were a bit, um, “miffed” at them at the moment), far from the town they knew and loved.  And here they were, pregnant, surrounded by masses of people just as uncomfortable and irritable as they were, not exactly in slipping-through-crowds-with-ease shape, and alone.  Oh yeah, AND GIVING BIRTH!!!!!

And yet, for some crazy reason, that’s exactly where God wanted them.  I think He wanted them there because it makes for a more dramatic story (maybe I’m giving God too many human characteristics, but I honestly think He loves a good story with fun twists and turns).  Somehow, Mary and Joseph being in Bethlehem not only fulfilled prophecy, but it also brought God more glory than if Jesus had been born quietly, in the corner of the house Mary grew up in, with everyone looking the other way, and the neighbors muttering things about loose women and stoning.  Plus, if they hadn’t been in Bethlehem, who knows whether or not they could’ve ever escaped to Egypt, or if the wisemen would have found them, and those poor shepherds never would have been able to see the Christ.

I don’t know what it is about uncomfortable moments and uncomfortable places, but sometimes, (only SOMETIMES mind you), God purposefully puts us there.  Sometimes our bad choices put us in places we don’t want to be.  But sometimes God puts us there.  Whether it’s to bring Him glory, or to teach us a lesson, or to shake us up so we pay Him more attention, or He’s simply using us to reach other people, I think He alone (and maybe you) know.

No matter what the reason is though, when you find yourself in those places – take notice!  God’s probably working in your life!  He has lessons to teach you, if you’re willing to learn.  He has His glory to show through you, if you’re willing.  He has blessings to wash you with, if you’re willing and attentive.  And, the highest honor of all, He has other people to reach through you! IF you’re willing to notice (and embrace) the uncomfortable, unwanted spots.

So, this holiday season, notice when you are in an uncomfortable spot.  Notice when you seem to be in Bethlehem and an animal-infested stable.  And then ask God, “So, what did You have in mind?”

A couple weeks ago I was asked to be Mary in my church’s Christmas play…or, actually, in the four scenes to be performed before the four sermons on the four Sundays before Christmas.  And, while practicing my lines, I was struck by a line that I hadn’t ever heard before… I don’t think.  And, the crazy thing is, it WASN’T one of Mary’s.  Actually, it’s Elizabeth’s.  It’s found in Luke, Luke 1:45, to be exact.  Mary has just shown up at Elizabeth’s door, and the baby in Elizabeth, soon to be known as John-The-Baptist, leaps (ummmm – he doesn’t have room to leap, obviously – he probably kicks, or spins about inside, or just does a quick spread-eagle) for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice.  So, Elizabeth greets Mary with prophetic words, words that confirm to Mary what the Angel already said.  AND THEN ELIZABETH ends with “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (that’s the verse 45 part).

Every time I practice (so, 12 times this last Sunday morning to start with) I’m shocked by that.  If I had been Mary, and an angel had come to me, telling me that though I was a virgin, I was going to give birth to the Messiah everyone had been waiting for, I’m not sure I would have believed him.  I would most definitely have questioned him more than simply saying, “But how will this be, since I am a virgin?”  But that’s all she asked, and she must’ve asked with a right heart, for the angel had no problem with her question.

Somehow, even though she wanted to know HOW this was going to be (I would too), she completely believed that God was going to do just exactly what the angel said.  I wonder if that’s why God picked her or had been preparing her?  Because He knew she had the faith to accept the impossible.  How much did her faith play into her giving birth to Jesus?  My guess is, a lot.

Have you ever had anyone come up to you and tell you something from God, or just know in the very core of your heart that God was telling you something, and then, a day or so later, think to yourself, “Oh, that wasn’t God.  That was just a bit of my wishing, a bad night’s sleep, a bit of undigested meat” (sorry, I got a bit Christmas Carol-y there).  I know I have.  Granted, I’ve never been told I’m going to give birth to the savior of the world, but I have been told some other stuff about myself and my life – much more every-day-type stuff.  But I still tend to dismiss the impossible, the improbable, or the just way too good.  And I think, maybe, I’ve been sinning.  I think maybe I need to start believing, or at the very least pondering and testing, those words spoken to me either BY God, or by someone He sent.  It’s actually probably pretty rude for me to not at least consider words that God Himself took the time to tell me.  Kinda like slapping Him in the face.  And that would break my heart.

So, this Advent Season, these four weeks before Christmas, my prayer is to be like Mary.
I want to believe the impossible too.

So last year I talked about being thankful for what we have, instead of right after giving thanks around a table bending in the middle with food dashing out into the mad masses and doing whatever is needed to get the best deal on the biggest, flashest new gadget or gift.

And really, I still definitely feel that way.  But since I’ve already said it, and I haven’t figured out a new, creative way to say it, I just have one thing to ask you.

As you go about in the craziness of this season, whether it’s shopping, or partying, or decorating, or whatever it is you do between now and January 1, 2013, please remember that you don’t need everything that shimmers in the windows and on the TV screen around you.  You probably have more than you need, in fact.  And, in reality, probably whoever you’re buying presents for doesn’t need anything more than they have already either.

So, remember to be thankful for what you have – quirks of it and all.  And remember, as you whirl about for the next six weeks, that there are others in this world whom are not as privileged as you.  People who would be grateful for that sweater you never wear that hangs in your closet, or for the leftover slice of turkey you threw away yesterday.

Please, remember them.  Pray for them.  And, as God leads, do something for them.

I’ve discovered that I’m not very good at surrendering the pearl necklace.  Or, more accurately, I’ll surrender it, but the process is SO much more painful than I ever had any clue.

Let me explain.

Sometime growing up I heard the story of a father who gave his young daughter a pearl necklace.  You know the kind – the pearls are just plastic beads and if you rub them too much the pearl paint wears off so it’s just a white plastic bead that doesn’t shine at all.  The father’s daughter LOVED the necklace.  She wore it everywhere.  She didn’t even want to take it off at night, or to take a bath.  And, of course, the pearl paint was wearing off.  So the father decided to do something crazy – he went out and bought her a REAL pearl necklace.  Now, what father gives their eight-year old a real pearl necklace is beyond me; I definitely do not know any fathers like that.  But, that’s not important for the story.  The point is that he got the necklace for her, and when he got home, he asked his daughter to come sit on the couch with him.  She did with joy; she loved spending time with her daddy. But then the unthinkable happened.  He asked her for the necklace back.  She was heartbroken.  She couldn’t imagine why her daddy would want the symbol of his love for her back.  But he asked, and, eventually, with tears spilling from her eyes and her whole body trembling, she did as he wanted.  I like to imagine she was so worked up that she couldn’t undo the clasp of the necklace, and so her daddy had to undo it. And, while her back was to him, he pulled the real pearls out of their velvet pouch in his pocket, and gave her a kiss on the top of her head as he clasped the precious necklace in place.

And the point, of course, is that sometimes God asks us for those things we love most, the very things He’s given us.  And, whether or not we realize why He’s asking for it, we should surrender it back to Him.  He has something better in store.

I’ve always loved that story of the necklace.  I think partly that’s because I love pearls (They’re my favorite stone!), but mostly because I love the idea of a daddy loving his daughter so much that he bought her (and then trusted her with) something so precious.   And she loved him so much she did whatever he asked.

But it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve realized why the daughter was so distressed about giving the pearls back to her daddy.  Call me a late-bloomer, but it’s only been in the last couple years that I’ve become attached to my dreams.  When I was a girl and through my early twenties, I never dreamed of my future – or I wasn’t aware I was dreaming.  And then God started giving me dreams and desires for myself.

But, being the broken girl I was, I didn’t believe they would ever actually happen.  And so I didn’t get very attached to them.   I didn’t dare.  It would’ve been too painful when they never  happened.

Until this summer.  I was in Portland, on a youth group mission trip, and I had it out with God one night.  I was completely heartbroken about how I saw the trip going, and about how God never gave me any good stuff (which is ludicrous, God gives me amazing things all the time).  But you know those verses that talk about God giving us our heart’s desires?  (They’re all over Psalms and in the New Testament).  Well, I never believed that God would do that for me.  I figured my desires were probably sinful and so of course He wouldn’t give me them.  And there were so many other people needing things in the world, why should He give me what was in my heart?   But that night He reminded me how much I love giving gifts to my friends, and then He told me that as much as I love giving gifts, He, who is perfect, loves doing the same for me SO MUCH MORE than I could ever imagine.  And would I trust Him to give me the desires He’s placed in my heart?

So I started trusting.  And over the last four months a couple of the desires have grown crazy-intense.  Painfully so.  Like sometimes they’re all I can think about.

And now He’s asking for those dreams back.  Asking that I trust Him with the timing and the setting and…everything.  Which should be easy for me.  I know the pearl story.  But…  but now that this crazy dream is so alive and consuming in me, it’s hard to trust that God’s taking care of it.  I mean, I KNOW God’s taking care of it…but I want to control things just to make sure that my dream actually takes place.

Isn’t that how we’re raised in America anyway?  If you want it to happen, you have to make it happen.   And KNOWING that God is taking care of it is so very different than trusting, and even further from believing.   AND, it’s so very painful.  I’m rather attached to this dream at this point.  I don’t want to give it up.  I’d much rather be in control than sit back, do nothing and just trust.  (Heh.  “Just trust” – it’s like “just pray” – trusting and prayer deserve anything but the word “just” in front of them.  They can be HARD!)

So, with my heart splitting in half, I’m taking off the pearl necklace.  I’m trusting that what God told me in Portland is true, that He wants to give me good things.  And that He will.  And maybe you need to start trusting Him to do the same for you.  He does, after all, love you better than anyone in this broken world can.

And so, Daddy God, I love You.   Here You go.  Take good care of this dream for me.

Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

I have been on an emotional roller coaster these past two weeks.   I’m actually pretty sure someone kidnapped me, knocked me out, buckled me into “The Twister” (the big roller coaster at our amusement park in Denver), woke me up with a jolt, and set the controls to just keep going.  Never pull up to stop.  I keep passing the “unload” part at sick-making speeds.  I’ve been up and down, down and up, upside down (which isn’t exactly part of The Twister, not sure how that happened), and downside up (can you do that?  It sounds cool….).  All at lightning-fast speed.  Talk about making a girl’s stomach slightly unsettled!

The truly hard part is that it’s going on INSIDE me.  Escape isn’t happening.  Jumping out of the little speeding car going clickety-clack along the tracks is NOT an option.

Two years ago I would have escaped; I would have jumped out of the speeding-bullet little metal car – by reading, or hanging out with friends, or watching TV, or by simply ignoring what I was feeling.  I thought emotions were a sign of weakness and got in the way, not to mention were an inconvenience for everyone around me.  Thankfully, through several hard lessons and some sweet friends, I learned differently.  So this time, I’m choosing not to run from the chaos twisting itself around my heart and innards.

And that’s kinda the point.  My emotions have been all over the place for various reasons.  Frustration with the kids I teach because they won’t be quiet, exhilarated that they finally get a concept, slightly disappointed that they didn’t get it as solidly as I’d hoped.  Basking in the goodness it is to be with friends who just understand you, slightly depressed that some of them aren’t as good as I really need them to be right now.  Super frustrated that I’m definitely not as good at being a friend as I’d like to be right now.  I’m too spent.

And I’m embracing it all.  I’m actually pretty sure God gave us those emotions, and wants us to experience them.  Why else would they be hardwired into every human on the planet for the entirety of the history of said planet?

And so I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to run from them, or numb them.  I’m not exactly sure the whole point yet, but I think it has something to do with experiencing this wonderful world God has given us.  I think our emotions are a reflection of the emotions God feels over us (yes, I believe God has emotions).  I think they’re also a reminder that we need God.  I think most of our loneliness is our heart’s longing to be connected to God like we were originally intended to be.  I think our happiness in the world around us, in the people we surround ourselves with, is a dim reflection of the happiness He feels over us and His creation.  I think our frustration with our loved ones is just a mere glimpse of His occasional frustration with us when we refuse to listen to Him.  I think the crazy, butterfly-in-your-stomach feeling just barely scratches the surface of what goes on in God when He thinks of you.

So, embrace your emotions.  Learn from them.  Look for God in them, because He’s there.  And, if nothing else, they’re one more thing to share with Him.  Run to Him when you’re lonely.  Cry into His shoulder when you’re heartbroken.  Laugh with Him when you’re happy.  Complain to Him when everything is falling apart.

And that’s the rub.  You can’t purposefully stay in one single emotion.  I have known women who ignore any emotion except happiness.  Or being depressed.  And that’s not what God intended.  He gave us a rainbow of emotions, and it’s not monochromatic (that means one color).  You aren’t supposed to stay depressed because you crush dumped you.  And you aren’t supposed to make those life-changing decisions in those emotions.  So, be wise with these powerful feelings, but don’t ignore them either.  See, in each and every emotion you experience, look for God.  He’s in all of them. He’s using all of them to draw you to Him.

But, above all, in all, as my theater professor taught me, “Look for the love”.  God is love right?  So in every bit of this earth, in every bit of this life, in every emotion, is hidden just a bit of love.  In your loneliness, in your frustration, in your heartache.  In your joy, in your happiness, in your love – find it, embrace it, and thank God for it.

And then keep looking for more.

And so the busy season is about to begin.  A season full of friends, yummy food, wonderful memories, shopping for the perfect costume, buying candy for the little kids, feeling guilty for eating half the candy you were supposed to pass out (or feeling guilty for going door-to-door at age 16), stressing about the 2 pounds you put on due to mini-sized Snickers (seriously, you didn’t eat two pounds of candy, HOW does that work?  It makes no sense), working out to lose those 2 pounds, stressing about finding the perfect gifts for the 1,000 names on your list, family visits, stressing about family visits, cleaning (or being made to clean) for family visits, eating turkey and stuffing, feeling guilty about eating SO MUCH turkey and stuffing (and, let’s face it, pumpkin pie), not sleeping so you can beat out everyone else to get the best deal in the store for that pair of shoes, wrapping the 1,000 presents so that they look more like works of art than actual boxes or bags, Christmas parties, cooking (or buying food) for Christmas parties, finding outfits for those Christmas parties, finals, actual Christmas….and…well, I could keep going if you want.

It’s a wonderful season!  And it’s also a season that, as with all good things, can get completely out of hand.  Let’s face it – not “can get”, it’s more “WILL get completely out of control”. SO, before it all starts, in this last ten days before Halloween and the craziness takes over, take time to look around you.

Here in Colorado, it’s fall.  And,  miraculously, this year, we’ve actually gotten a fall!  We have trees in so many gorgeous colors, AND they’ve been colored for weeks now!  THAT RARELY HAPPENS in Colorado.  Usually we have one week of cooler weather, all the leaves turn brown, and then just fall off – dead and depressing.  But not this year!  We have glorious, colorful, wonderful fall (I’m not at all excited in case you couldn’t tell).

I don’t know what October looks like for you wherever you are, but if it’s nice enough outside – go OUTSIDE!  In Colorado, go sit under a tree that looks like what I imagine liquid gold looks like.  Don’t bring anything with you.  Just sit.  For 3 minutes – 3 minutes, that’s all I’m asking.  Breathe in the crisp air.  Close your eyes.  Thank God for your life, for the His beauty in the world around you, for His part in the season that’s about to start.

And remember, as we’re about to start this season of craziness, that everything is supposed to be about Him.  After all, if you’re a Christian, the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Him (I don’t care if that’s the original reason for the holiday or not, HE’s what we celebrate now).  Thanksgiving, ultimately, is about HIM, not about a bunch of Pilgrims.  Those pilgrims couldn’t have survived that first winter if it wasn’t for Him. And Halloween, well… I’m not going there.  BUT, the day after Halloween is All Saints Day (did you know that?), and that’s a celebration of people who have lived a faithful life, lived a life God-centered.  So, He’s there too.

Take a moment to just stop before this all starts, and remember Who is the reason for all of our excessive celebrating*.  Thank Him.  And then keep Him in mind as we enter this self-induced insanity.

*For the record, God LOVES celebrating!  And He’s God, so He totally deserves excessive celebrating.  I don’t want you to think I’m telling you not to celebrate, because that’s not my point at all.  If that’s what you’ve thought – go back and re-read.  Just be sure that He’s the point of your celebration.  That’s all I ask.