Keeping it Real

Keeping it Real was the 'theme' of the Christmas Eve service today. Fitting.

As I mentioned in my last post, we are celebrating Christmas differently this year. I pray VERY often about the situation that we are currently in right now and as I was doing just that this morning, a 'new' revelation came into my heart. In the recent years, we had it ALL wrong.

Christmas is about our Savior coming to save us all. NOT Christmas presents. The focus should be on HIM. It wasn't. While giving gifts isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is when THAT becomes the focus of Christmas. I replayed how buying gifts and spending time with family became a stress for people. Would the kids fight, break something, be to loud? Walking on eggshells. No talk of Him. The Reason.

I thoroughly enjoy Christmas Eve service. One of my favorites. Last year.....we didn't even make it to church. Now, there was terrible weather and there was a lot of stress that day. However, we were going in that direction anyway and we knew the bad weather was coming and could have gotten ready sooner, but we didn't. Ouch.

I prayed and reflected on those memories and couldn't help but wonder if it was better for us to separate from the 'usual' so that our family could come back to the Lord. REALLY make Him our priority, just as we had prayed for.

Today, a normally hectic and crazy day, has been very relaxing and we've experienced way less stress. Elmbrook has many Christmas Eve services, so we started to get ready and decided to go to the 1:00 service, then afterwards, Emily (and now Michael the sleepwalker) could nap before heading to my parents for the evening. We were only a couple minutes late to church and even though there were quite a bit of people, we were able to sit in our 'normal' section, which was nice.

The message was about Christmas and Jesus. Normal for Christmas, right? However, our pastor asked if we were celebrating the Real thing this Christmas or the 'plastic' version. I immediately thought of my morning prayer time and realized, the past few years, our Christmas had become plastic. I was flooded with thankfulness. Thankful that the Lord had opened my eyes and revealed to me that we were on the wrong track. He also showed me through Pastor Philip, that we were still valued and God still 'wanted' us. So, instead of feeling guilty, I felt renewed and thankful.

Tomorrow morning, in addition to reading about Jesus' birth with our family, we will also talk about keeping God as our focus. That He is the Real Reason for Christmas and we are extremely blessed!

Merry Christmas, everyone! May you too celebrate the Real and not the 'plastic'.

Luke 2:9-14

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

A Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Christmas?

For the first time, I reluctantly watched the 'remake' of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I had no interest in seeing it because the first one still gives me the creeps....and the way Johnny Depp looks playing Willie Wonka....well, that certainly didn't help.

It took a bit to get into it because of Johnny Depp and I found myself having flashbacks of the old movie as I watched. However, when there was only about 20 minutes left, I had to put the kids to bed and found I was disappointed because I wanted to see the rest. Since it was playing on TV, I hit the record button. So, somewhere in there, it sucked me in. :)

Switch topics for a minute.

This Christmas has been different than that of years past. There is a conflict with extended family and so celebrating will be a little different this year. However, God provided and gave us (our immediate family) all peace, joy and happiness regarding the situation.

Another difference, finances. Now, we've always been a paycheck to paycheck family, right up until a few months before I stopped working outside the home in order to be home more with the kids. This year has been especially tight. We are scraping up any money that we can find for groceries, gas and gifts.

Yesterday morning, I was listening to Joyce Meyer on my iPod. The series 'just happened' to be about worry. She mentioned that worry is like you're not trusting God because God said...


Isaiah 41:10
¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you; 
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 
I will strengthen you and help you; 
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.



At the time I wasn't worrying about anything, but I meditated on it for future use...if you know me, and/or my extended family, you know we are a bunch of worriers. I knew it would happen at some point :)

So, of course, about an hour or two after the teaching, I started worrying frantically about our finances. As I was 'really getting into it', Joyce's voice popped into my head. Even though I know we're barely, barely making it this Christmas, I had a choice. Would I continue to worry or would I trust God with my finances and trust that He would provide? Now, trusting God with my finances doesn't mean someone will magically show up with money. Most of the time, whatever you 'picture' God doing is far different from what He actually does....yet He still provides, whatever you may NEED not WANT. :)

I chose trusting God. It took a quite a bit of discipline to stick with my choice. A good part of the morning and early afternoon, I struggled as worry would creep up on me. Each time, I would reaffirm that I trusted God, and the worrying thoughts became less frequent and less severe. By early evening, I had a joy inside of me that I cannot explain. It was a peace that surpasses all understanding. No one had magically shown up and given me anything, our financial struggles didn't disappear. The ONLY thing that changed, was that I chose to trust God. He gave me peace. THAT was greater than any amount of money I could ever receive.

Back to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I finally finished it today. I really enjoyed it....and re-learned some things.

I am very thankful that since the accidents we are becoming more and more rooted in God as a family and we're sticking together.

Augustus Gloop reminded me---
I am very thankful we have decided and implemented more healthy eating habits for our children. I can definitely tell a difference in their health and attitudes.

Veruca Salt reminded me---
I am very thankful our children are not as spoiled as spoiled as they might be if we had more money (even though I was teasing Emily and calling her Veruca :)

Violet Beauregarde reminded me---
Life isn't about winning contests or signing the kids up for sports/classes/lessons all the time. Family time is more valuable than any of that and there is a balance.

Mike Teavee reminded me---
Time limits on video games/computers are a good thing.

Mr. and Mrs. Bucket reminded me---
When you're down to nothing, stick together and find the good. You can still love well when you don't have much money.

Charlie Bucket reminded me---
If you raise raise your kids 'right' and teach them what is valuable, chances are, they'll make better decisions...even if they have to give up a chocolate factory.

Maybe it's corny...that's okay.
The peace and joy we have in our homes can only come from God and for THAT, I am so thankful.

I pray that each and everyone of you has a very Merry Christmas and that you experience many blessings of God. That you may each get what you NEED.

Merry Christmas!!!

^{Phillipians 4:7
7} And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Gifts

‎"And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God." Hebrews 13:16


Love this verse.

Giving 'things' usually comes to mind first. Money, gifts, 'toys', clothes and such. What about something WAY more expensive than any thing? You know, Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness, Understanding, Love, Patience...things of that nature.

Have you received any of those at anytime in your life? Then, you know what an amazing gift it is and how wonderful it feels when someone shares THAT gift with you, especially when you're in need.

Give the gift that truly matters this holiday season.

Merry Christmas :)

Beast

I have really (with the help of the Lord) been working on 'chilling out.' It is pretty easy for me to get worked up over unjust things. It has been going fairly well and had been getting better (really slowly) with each new (always something) challenge. However, it is still almost impossible for me to stick to that when it involves my children.

When I see or hear of how others treat my children poorly, there is this type of beast that comes up inside of me and wants to scratch someones eyes out. Obviously, I know I cannot....especially when it involves other children. So, I've had to rely on the Lord to guide me in the correct direction. Unfortunately, I've had to deal with this and fortunately, God has been faithful and calming. :)

However, what I have felt today has taken some extra restraint and major help from the Lord. I've found that when a family member who is supposed to love your children, and claims to, does something to hurt your children, the beast inside of me is worse than I have ever felt. I'm sure it wasn't by accident that the Lord had me experience it while driving. We don't talk on the phone while driving, so calling and 'freaking out' on the person wasn't an option. All I could do, was hold Mikey's hand and pray.....mostly for myself.

By the time we had gotten home, I had calmed down enough to keep praying and refrain from doing what I 'wanted' to.

I am so thankful that God continues to guide me and my family and I KNOW He will bring the truth to light.

1 Corinthians 4:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.