New Year's Eve - Things To Do

Shortly after we make it through the challenges of December, the dare of New Year's  

resolutions confronts us. I like the idea of choosing to do things better in the year ahead, 
but it brings a few challenges too, if only because of the dismal success rate.   

A statistic I read last January said only 8% of those who make resolutions succeed in

reaching their goals. That means 92% of us fall short, get discouraged, and eventually 
give up. I'm tired of the calendar being the only one who changes each year. It's time
we reached more of our goals, or more importantly, God's goals for us. So what's 
stopping us?

For some of those pursuits, we may be waiting for someone else to open the door for us. 
But whether we live our dream or not isn't their responsibility. A good writer doesn't put 
what matters most to her protagonist in the hands of another person to grant or withhold. 
In the same way, God doesn't place the fate of one person completely in the hands of another. He really does give each of us a special work, and people don't get to decide whether we'll achieve it or not. For instance, a publisher can choose whether to publish a manuscript or not but they can't decide whether we write the book.  

This New Year will only be "new" if we make it a "do" year. 2015 will bring more challenges but also more successes as we do the things close to our heart, the works God has been encouraging us to do all along. 

Have a Happy New Year pursuing, doing, and accomplishing the things that make you
you. And as you do, the people you love most will be blessed. 

Christmas Eve - Things Undone

Quiet morning, cup of coffee, and Christmas tree lights aglow. I hold this moment like a fragile ornament, knowing all the yet to do things on my Christmas list. Still, I hold onto this peaceful moment a little longer. 

Like a soldier home from battle, I can't go back to the store with the crowds and chaos of choices. I've spent more hours there in the last week than I can count. What I've already bought will be enough. I have to remind myself, the things we're shopping for aren't found on department store shelves. 
Contentment, peace, and joy don't wear price tags.

My undone list: I didn't hang twinkling lights in the outside windows. I didn't bake a single cookie. What? That's borderline Scrooge! In my defense, I did decorate the tree, the one that's leaning to the left. My husband said if it tips over the wall will catch it. Peace of mind... And I've only wrapped a couple of gifts so far though a dozen precious people will walk in our front door Christmas morning.

Somehow the presents will get wrapped. My daughter said she might have 
time to bake a batch of cut out cookies - stars, bells, and trees. The ham dinner will most likely come together and land on the table as it did last year. And all this will take place by God's generous grace.  

So what are the truly undone things on our holiday lists? Things like Pastor Saeed, a prisoner in Iran, who is spending his third Christmas Eve in a cell. 
He needs us to pray. His wife and two young children will be without him again as he endures beatings, sickness, and hunger. All because he loves Jesus, the One born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. 

The Baby asleep in a manger surrounded by animals seeking a warm place 
for the night. We see it portrayed in church yards, on Christmas cards, and in our homes. Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds adoring the newborn King, the Light of the world who came to destroy the works of darkness.

Other things undone. Many of us have grown children and grandchildren who have wandered from the truth. In their darkness they can't see what they're missing. I pray they will catch a glimpse of our Savior's Light and find their 
way back to the manger. May they discover Adoration for the only One who 
can destroy the works of the enemy in their minds and hearts. Our prayers are the most valuable gifts we can give our children  for Christmas.

The decorations, gifts, and cookies do help make the holiday bright. But a truly Merry Christmas can only be found in the Light and Peace of Jesus. 

12 Shopping Days til Christmas

"Are you ready for Christmas?" the store clerk asked last week. 

Seeing bread, milk, and nothing gift-like in my basket, she mistook me for one of those early birds who has everything bought and wrapped by the day after Thanksgiving. Only in my imagination. 

"Have you done all your shopping?" a friend asked the other day.

"You mean have I started shopping?" My rhetorical response told her I still had a long list to go. 

Some of us have problems deciding what to buy our loved ones. We want the gifts to please them, but also be something they can use long after the wrapping paper and ribbons. Ready or not, the stores steadily countdown the days until Christmas. In all the stress and flurry, it's good to know Someone already bought us the best gifts of all.

Scripture says God gives us every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). He proved it by sending His Son Jesus to become our Savior. The King stepped  
down from heaven and was born in an out building, where donkeys, cows, 
and sheep took shelter from the cold. We read how wise men from the East arrived later with gifts for their new born King, but He's the one who brought the real gifts.         

       "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His 
       glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and                truth" (John 1:14).

God, in His baffling love for mankind, sent His beloved Son to spend His first night in a manger. As a man, Jesus walked thousands of miles on dusty roads proclaiming the grace of God to a people who for the most part rejected it. He revealed truth, yet many chose to keep living in the darkness of lies. Even so, Jesus continues to offer us the gifts of grace and truth.
  
So it's okay if the sweaters don't fit and they've already read those books.
The DVD's, under the tree, may not be the ones they'd like to get. Yet Jesus 
still brings grace and truth. The more we learn and accept these treasures, 
the more we'll realize that His gifts are priceless and precious.