Women's Ministry

The decision to adopt was one we had spent years praying on. God put it on both our hearts but we felt we would both know when the time was right. So about 5 years into marriage we really both felt the nudge that it was time to start the process.  

Lucas had it on his heart that we would adopt from Asia. 

With trial and error we found an agency that aligned with our values and really supported families on both sides-adoptive and birth parents. 

At this point we were 2 years into the process. 

The timeline we thought would happen is that we would go through all the required training and homestudy steps and THEN would be eligible to match with a child. 

So we were enjoying life, on a snowboard trip when to our surprise, we got an email. The email was the agency letting us know they had a failed match with a child and family. But this child, she felt, would be well fitted in our family. She wanted to check with us first before the child was put back in the waiting child list. 

I quickly opened the document. Saw her picture, read every line of her file. Learned about her medical history, her family, her background, read her social worker reports, learning about her big personality. 

I was doing all I could to not let myself commit, right then, she was the one! Lucas reminded me we need to seek God. We need to pray on this to make sure we both are hearing for our next steps. This child deserved to go with the family God had for her and we needed to make sure we were thinking through this. 

We prayed, read and re read her file. We consulted Doctors with her medical conditions, family, close friends, and our neighbors who had great insight. 

After a few weeks of thoughtful prayer we felt peace that she was our child, and let our agency know. 

We began preparing our hearts. We walked in faith, trusting God with our family and with our child. 

The process from us saying yes to picking our little one up was 1 year

 (About 3 years total).

During that year was an opportunity for our thoughts to second guess, question, fear. Lucas has a gift for steadfastness and trust but I wrestled with doubt and anxious thoughts. 

I remember one night I was having trouble sleeping. I was afraid things wouldn’t work out and we wouldn’t be able to bring our little one home. 

I felt God saying:…. imagine your life with her. Let your brain imagine what it will be like with her in your house. I have given you a promise … let yourself see what that promise is. 

So I did. I saw her at our kitchen table. Playing with Lucas. Running through the house. Laughing. 

I was afraid to let myself dream for fear it might not happen. For fear I might not actually be able to trust God with this. 

God has shown his faithfulness in our life, time after time, what would make this time different? 

We had prayed, felt God’s direction, heard his promise, and now I needed to trust he would provide. 

Almost a year to the date we said yes, we were on our way to Taiwan. We met our beautiful Stevie. Yes the fears and the anxious thoughts came, but the peace and faithfulness that God showed us covered us. He completed our family. He provided his promise. He brought Stevie home. He covered us in the process of adjusting at home. Home adjustment was difficult for all 3 of us but God was so faithful to provide us with friends, family, and his grace to cover us in healing and molding our new family. 

“Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”

Looking back now Stevie is 100% our child. God cared for her in her life circumstances and God brought us a blessing. We prayed, believed, and received. 

We want to thank Lori Johnson for sharing this post.

I remember reading or hearing the story once about a girl who was away at school.  In the wintertime, she needed a coat. So, she called her father and told him that she really needed a new coat, and her father told her that it would be in the mail to her the next day. She thanked him and went about her business. A few days went by, and someone asked her if she needed to go get a new coat, since it was getting colder. She said, “No thank you, I have a coat.” She had not yet laid eyes on the coat, but she still said that she had a coat, because she believed her father who had said he would get the coat in the mail the day after she spoke with him. When the coat finally arrived, she was not surprised, but she now had in hand what she had been expecting since she first talked to her father about it.

To me, this is a wonderful illustration of pray, believe, and receive. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus speaks about prayer when He says, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

What can I pray about and really BELIEVE that I have what I am asking for?  I think we put more limits on that than our Father does.  When I was a little girl, about 4^th grade, I wanted a dog so badly! It seemed impossible that I would ever get one, because my dad was allergic to dogs.  However, one night I prayed with all my heart for a puppy. I was in my room, not praying in front of my dad or mom, just to God. The next day, my dad brought home a puppy that would be a part of our family until I was in college. I so clearly remember that puppy as an answer to prayer!  God really was listening to MY prayers!

I am not saying that our heavenly Father will answer every whim that comes into our minds, but I believe that He is interested in the desires of our hearts. When I began to pray about getting married, someone suggested that I make a list of qualities that I really desired to have in a husband. I did that, and God answered my prayers – even though I didn’t see all the qualities I had prayed about in Kelly Warren at first – God saw them! I believed my Father gives the best gifts, and I received His answer.

Through the years, I have not been afraid to ask God for things that are on my heart. Sometimes, after I have prayed about something, God moves the desire for that thing to the back burner. Sometimes, He shows me something better, and sometimes, He beautifully answers my prayer above and beyond what I would have imagined. I’ve never been disappointed in God or His answers to my prayers. The key is to have that trust in Him as a good Father who loves me, and to believe that He knows how to meet my deepest desires better than I do.

Pray about everything! Believe that He is listening!  Receive His answer, even if it looks different than you had imagined. 

We want to thank Sheri Warren for sharing this post.

**During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2023. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2024!

“For God so loved the world…” John 3:16

What could inspire you more than the words of this passage? God loved us so very much that He gave His one and only Son for ME!  Could I give up my child for anyone?  For God? 

Oh wait, I don’t have any children. Well, biological children. As you can imagine, wanting kids and not having them was very hard for me. But, over the years, inspired by God’s love, I have since adopted many children, that may not be mine by blood, but are mine in my heart.

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17

In my season of desperately wanting children of my own, I was not finding inspiration in God’s love. I was sad, angry, and wondering what I had done so wrong that God didn’t want me to have children? I know now that then, I needed to believe and receive God’s love for me, by faith. I wish I would have read this scripture in Zephaniah and sat in His presence until I understood and accepted His will, until He quieted me with His love. I did finally do just that, but it took me a few years. Well, a lot of years. 😉

“My command is this; Love each other as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

After many years of hard-fought battles, that is what I decided to do. Love others as God has loved me. But I couldn’t do it on my own, I needed God to inspire me. When I married my husband Dewitt, that marriage brought his three children into my life. I worked hard on my relationship with them with God’s help. I grew to love them as if they were my own and let me tell you about my two granddaughters! They call me Granbe and love me like I’m related by blood…and I love them right back!

“And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in the world we are like Him…  We love because He first love us.”  1 John 4:16–19

God wants us to accept His love and then let Him love others through us. He gives us many examples of His love in His word, all you have to do is look for them. How many times was He present for the children of Israel, even when they turned their back on Him? How many times has He loved me, even when I turned my back on Him and felt so unlovable? He loves us so much, so let’s be inspired by His love and choose to love others!

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:4

He has given me a lot of my heart’s desires. Do you know how many children that Dewitt and I have “adopted” into our heart and lives?  We love on many “kids” young and old, black, white, or brown.  I have one son that I asked his mom if I could be his mom when she is not around and she said yes.  I love him and his wife and their kids as my very own. This is only one of many examples. 

How can I do this if not for the inspiration that God gives me to love? I have been told by many that maybe if I had biological children, I couldn’t love you and your children so much.  I want to encourage you to read Psalm 139…it tells us how much He loves us and how He knows all about us.  He knew us before we were even born.  I love the old song, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so.”  But sometimes I like to turn that around and say, “Jesus knows me, this I love.”  He knows me and loves me anyway.  

So, why not be inspired by God’s love and choose to love those around you? 

We would like to thank Debbie Crosby for sharing this post.

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” 

2 Thessalonians 3:16

It’s Christmas 2022 (but celebrated January 2023), and we finally have all the family together at the farm with Larry’s mom and sister, our three kids and their spouses, eight grandkids, and four dogs. It was crazy, loud, and a wonderful chaos!

Peace? Not happening—if you look at peace as being a state of tranquility or quietness, as it says in Webster’s Dictionary. 

The meaning of the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is much richer than just being “quiet and calm or absence of noise.” Biblical peace is represented by safety, well-being, completeness, and wholeness. 

Shalom brings rest, reconciliation, and restoration.

And that is what kind of peace we strive for in our home: a place where everyone is safe, they feel loved, and they can find rest and feel the love of Christ!

In fact, that’s what I feel when my crazy family is laughing, talking, eating, and watching football while the kids are wrestling or throwing balls around, and the dogs are barking. I’m at peace. Shalom!

I am whole, complete, and at rest. 

My family gives me shalom, a wholeness and completeness that comes from love—a deep love that cannot be wiped away by the craziness of the moment! All I can say is thank you, Jesus. This is my circus, and these are my monkeys!

Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

You see, Larry and I made a stand many years ago concerning our home and family. We declared, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15b).

The Lord fills our hearts with love and his peace. And by bringing Christ into our home, it brings the Prince of Peace into our home. By making him the center of our home, we get shalom among the chaos.

You see biblical peace is not something we can create on our own; it is a fruit of the Spirit. God is the source of peace. And peace within our home is our choice when we invite God into our hearts and into our homes. 

So, choose today whom you will serve, and let the peace of Christ reign in your home!

We want to thank Bambi Lutrick for sharing this post.

**During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2023. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2024!

I grew up in the church going to Sunday school classes and later attending as an adult, and I had always heard the word God’s Grace but I never really understood what God’s Grace was until my late twenties. Before you read much further I want to define what God’s Grace is because I had heard the words so many times in church but never quite understood them. God’s Grace is… His ability to give us something we don’t deserve, it’s His undeserved favor. It’s those times we sin and don’t deserve His Grace but because Jesus died on the cross, Grace is freely given to anyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord. One instance when I received the grace of God in my life was when I was not making the best choices in the way I was living my life, or the situations I put myself in. James 4:4 says, So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. I was choosing to live my life the way the world influenced me and things of the world are an enemy of God. In those circumstances, I could have received death or hurt because that’s what I deserved for living my life in a sinful way but I received God’s Grace time and time again. God kept me protected, that was His Grace. This was happening even before I fully understood God’s Grace. So I encourage you if this is the first time you’re grasping what God’s Grace is, pray and ask God to reveal to you the times you have received His Grace over your life.

God’s Grace was freely given to me when I accepted Jesus into my heart so I was still receiving it as a young adult, but in my later twenties I actually experienced it as it was happening. I believed this happened because in my late twenties I began to really seek a relationship with the Lord, understand what the Holy Spirit is and started building a Godly community. When my oldest son was in pre-k, I experienced God’s Grace through him. Let me say that again, God’s Grace was deposited on my son and he was the vessel God used so that I could receive and experience Grace for my actions. One morning as we were rushing out of the house to get to school/work I totally lost my self-control, because we were going to be late, and I yelled at my son. I knew better, it wasn’t my sons fault but he was the closest person I could blame. Can anyone relate to loosing self-control and taking it out on someone else? Well in that moment I knew I had messed up. So when we finally got in the car and we were on the way to school, I apologized for my actions and asked for forgiveness from my 4 year old. He looked back at me with a smile and said, “I forgive you mom.” In that moment I knew that was God’s Grace. I didn’t deserve to be forgiven for my actions but God used my son to show how easy it is to receive His grace. I didn’t have to beg or plead with my son to forgive me, he quickly forgave me, smiled and we enjoyed the rest of our ride to school. That’s the same way God gives us Grace.

James 4:6 says God resists(or refuses) the proud. But He gives grace to the humble.

If I would not have humbled myself that day in the car, not only would the rest of my day be ruined but I would have never experienced God’s Grace through my son. Being honest when something is our fault, being kind to an enemy, saying, “I’m sorry” first, tithing are all ways we can choose humility. If we choose to be proud then God will resist us according to James 4:6. Other translations say He opposes the proud. I don’t want God to oppose or resist me, I want to fully experience God and His Grace. I want to be experiencing it when it’s happening and not like my young adult years when I was still receiving God’s Grace but not appreciating it. So today let choose to humble ourselves in our sins so we can fully Experience God’s Grace.

We want to thank Bethany Williams for sharing this post.

**During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2023. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2024!

“Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say upon the Lord.” 

Psalm 27:14 

I remember it like it was only yesterday. It was 2001 off the coast of Greece.  Dressed in a formal aqua gown, I was watching the moon reflect upon the ocean. There is just something so magical about watching the moonlight dance upon the water. It was if the Lord had made this evening just for me. It was like a dream. I felt like a princess that was being blessed by her King. 

As I was thanking the Lord for this incredible season of my life, I’ll never forget the thoughts I pondered in my heart that beautiful evening. “It feels like I should have a husband sharing in this beautiful moment, yet I am alone with you Lord, and I’m ok with it.” 

 He gently spoke to my heart and said, “What if it was you and I always?”  

I  was not expecting such a question from the Lord-In fact, I was a bit shocked. A life of singleness? What would that even look like? I mean, I was ok then, but what about the future? How long would “always” be?  In that moment I honestly believed God was giving me the opportunity to say “yes” to His plan and “no” to mine.  

 Instantaneously the Lord spoke to my thoughts! “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 

When that word came, peace flooded my heart. I knew if this was his plan for me, it would be better than any plan I could have had for myself. I made up my mind at once that I would surrender this part of my life to Him.  “I will remain single if that is your plan… because your ways are higher,” I told the Lord. “It will be you and I for a while,” He said. It was such a sweet, intimate moment with my Lord. His words were so very clear, as if he was standing right next to me. As Jesus called His disciples on the sea of Galilee to follow him, here I was, on the Aegean Sea, being invited to follow Him into a season of waiting and into the unknown. 

The years came and they went. I went from that young “20’s girl” on the ship to a “late 30’s woman” feeling as if life had passed her by. People eventually stopped asking me if I ever wanted to get married. The struggle was real. I was challenged every year that passed to accept being single for the unforeseeable future. However, every year was not always a struggle. God filled many of those years with wonderful opportunities to serve others, travel to far off places, and fall more in love with Him. Those years were not wasted years and I will always treasure them. 

Sadly, at times, I thought I knew better than the Lord and paid the consequences for my disobedience. When I lost hope, he restored it by bringing me back to the truth. Here are a few scriptures I would cling to in those years… 

Uphold me according to your word and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.” Psalm 119:116 

“They shall not be ashamed who wait for me” Isaiah 49:23  

“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 

“My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectation come from Him.” Psalm 62:5 

Susanna Spurgeon said it best when she wrote… “I wait for the Lord, blessed master, I thank you for my waiting times. They are times of love and favor. They draw me nearer, closer, more urgently to your feet. Your delays are not your denials. When you seem slow to answer prayer, it is but to make me more eager for mercy, or to teach me to ask with greater confidence, that you may gather up your blessings to bestow them exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. “ 

 Amy Carmichael, a single missionary to India said, “If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace.” 

22 years have come and gone since that special evening on the sea. I have now been happily married to a wonderful man for the last 5 years and mother of one little girl and a boy on the way! If I had chosen to give in to the lies when the wait seemed longer than I had expected, I don’t know where I’d be today. If I didn’t have all those years of singleness, I don’t know who I’d be today. God’s ways are higher, even when it doesn’t make sense. You can fully trust what he’s asking of you. 

 Whether you are single for a season or for life, God has the absolute best path for you. We are not all promised wedding bells, and that is ok! God has called you to something much better than you could have ever think, asked or dreamed (Ephesians 3:20). My sisters, If the wait has been longer than you expected, trust that God’s got a plan. Walking in step with Him brings greater fulfillment more than anything else.  Beloved, whatever it is you may be waiting on, you will always regret rushing in, but you will never ever regret waiting on the Lord.  

“The Lord knows the way through the wilderness, – all I have to do is follow and to put my hand in his hand, and He holds me.”- Corrie Ten Boom 

We want to thank Julie Posey for sharing this post.

Does your family have a favorite holiday tradition? Do you look at Christmas lights while sipping hot chocolate or apple cider? Have you sung Christmas carols or attended a Christmas Eve candlelight service? Are there things in your family that you just can’t let the holidays slip by without doing?

For as long as I can remember, my parents made Christmas feel so special. Instead of leaving our gifts under the tree, there was always a scavenger hunt. We had to look for what we were receiving. And still to this day, they have carried on this tradition with the younger generations. I never gave much thought to this as a child, and maybe not even as an adult, but as I began to have children of my own, the parallel to the birth of Jesus is beautiful. When the angels appeared to the shepherds, they didn’t bring the messiah to them. The magnitude of heavenly hosts gave the shepherds a mission, “go into Bethlehem and see what God has done.” Then the hunt was on. Some versions say they ran! One version says “they leapt with excitement.” Another version shows them telling others and gathering them to spread the news. All of this just paints a picture of a gift given to the world, the hunt to seek his majesty, and the joy of something new with the promise of a Father. 

Can you smell your grandmother’s cooking if you close your eyes really tight? I can! A tradition I hold so tightly to in my heart is of my great grandmother making chocolate chip cookies. She’d pull up a stool that was just my size and guide my hands through the whole process. To this day, when I have my own children helping bake these cookies, I can hear her voice in my ear “a little of this, give a few more stirs, now let’s add some of that.” I can still smell her sweet perfume. My hands just begin to move and I know what to do. This was a transition I don’t know I was ever truly ready for…to go from a world with her in it at every holiday, to a world without her in it. My heart aches at times, but with His gentle hands, God picks up those pieces and allows me to go into that place again. Many people I know share a similar ache during the Holiday season. I believe Mary even had such a moment, as the Bible says she “pondered these things in her heart”. She knew He was coming for a purpose, but for that moment, she held Him in her arms.

When The Light of the World was sent to Earth, it was during a time and in a region where light as we know it today wasn’t available. There were no streetlights to guide the shepherds to the King. There were no lights on houses to brighten the evening path. I always think of this when we are driving through the beautifully lit neighborhoods. No two houses are the same, and I’m blown away at the creativity that goes into many displays. However, I often find myself stopping and taking just an extra minute or two when we approach a nativity scene. My way was lit to get there. I had guiding lights my entire life. I’ve known Jesus to be my Lord and Savior from a very early age, but what did the person standing next to me have to endure? What was their journey to Bethlehem? What light is shining from my own house to make sure a stranger also stops in their tracks to take a minute? To recognize a Father in Heaven who loves them so much, He would send this precious gift to us.

I pray I can encourage you all in this season. As your children giggle with glee of the gifts and games. For those who are having to find new traditions because old ones have faded away. When you are out in the hustle and bustle of the crowds. Enjoy the peace, find the light, shine for others to know His love on Earth.

We want to thank Ashton Riddle for sharing this post.

Have you ever been taken back to a moment in your past by smelling or tasting something? Maybe it was seeing someone or something, hearing a song or hymn that took you back with all the feelings and emotions that were felt at the memory.

On our last trip to the mountains on a rainy day Stewart and I decided to watch an old movie ‘Tammy and the Bachelor’. It was popular during the time Stewart and I were dating. As soon as the music came on with Debbie Reynolds, singing “Tammy, Tammy, Tammy‘s in love”, all those emotions, and all of those feelings came flooding back into my memory, and I was transported back into that time and feelings of my first love.

In Genesis 1 God tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. James 1:17 “ Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” I believe He gave us this gift of responding to sights and sounds, taste and feel as a  trigger to literally take us back to our first love(Jesus)! But like most of God’s gifts, it comes with a choice. We can use it to build a relationship with Him that builds our faith, Or we can use it selfishly for our own good, the world’s way.

Galatians 4:4-5 “ But when the set time, had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

Luke 2:17 “ Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

There were probably many times, places, sights and sounds that took Mary back to Jesus birth and to who He truly was ( The Son of God), Also His reason for coming. We cannot fully celebrate Christmas without remembering the cross and Jesus resurrection.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS everything about it! The sights the sounds, and the gifts!. For God so loved the world, He Gave! At Christmas time I have been given a lot of the gift  of being transported back in time. I can see a Christmas tree and remember our Christmas trees at home when I was still a small child. In my mind they were huge and beautiful, packed with wonderful gifts under the tree. In reality, though, looking back at the pictures from that time-they were scrawny trees with very little presents under them. Everyone was happy and carefree, sharing lots of food, fun and laughter. That part is mostly true. I hear a Christmas Carol, like O Holy Night and remember our children’s Christmas program on Christmas Eve. Back then everything seemed to revolve around Jesus and His coming to this earth to set us free. I have just recently started, asking the Lord to give me eyes to see the sights and sounds and gifts of Christmas through a Child’s eyes! I want to feel that expectation of something wonderful happening, no matter what is going on around me. I want to be able to experience every moment of joy that Christmas holds.To see every Christmas tree as something beautiful and wonderful of God’s creation. To hear a Christmas Carol, and be moved into praise and worship to our glorious King. To feel or smell, something wonderful, and be thankful to our Lord for His goodness. When I see a beautifully wrapped gift. I want to remember God’s incredibly beautiful gift of Jesus.

It has been said “ Life is God’s gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.”  Merry Christmas and a Happy and Full Life! 

We want to thank Elaine Norrell for sharing this post.

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love everything that comes along with it…the decorations, the twinkly lights, the Christmas music, the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, the baking, the family gathering….you name it, I love it!

I remember as a young girl being so excited for the gifts of Christmas. I didn’t grow up getting gifts throughout the year. The only time I got toys was for my birthday or for Christmas. I remember when the Sears catalog came in the mail and I would sit for hours, circling the things that I wanted Santa to bring. I remember one Christmas in particular that I wanted a certain baby doll that I saw in a toy store in the mall. Every time we went to the mall, I would go in that toy store and look up in that glass cabinet when that doll was displayed. Sometimes I got up the courage to ask a store clerk if I could hold him. I longed for that doll for months! Low and behold, Christmas morning came and that doll was under the Christmas tree! I named him Todd and that doll went with me everywhere, until I outgrew him.

The decorations of Christmas bring me so much joy! I begin decorating my house on November 1. It takes me several days to get everything put up just the way I want it. The wreath on the door, the Christmas trees, the mantel lights, the table set just right…all of this makes my house so beautiful, until I get tired of the clutter. The strand of Christmas lights on the tree burn out. The candles are all melted down to the nub. All that’s left is the clean up.

The cooking brings me joy! I love to bake sweet treats to take to my neighbors or make casseroles to put in my freezer so that I don’t have to cook when my kids and grandkids come home for the holidays. I love the way my house smells when things are baking, until I have to clean up the mess.

I love Christmas, until it’s over. Then you have to deal with the clean-up, the returns, the extra weight you’ve put on, the “un-decorating”….Then what is left?

That’s where the good news comes in!

Jesus is the REASON for the SEASON. I know that is cliche, but it is the truth. When we focus on HIM throughout the season, the sights, sounds and gifts of Christmas can stay with us all year long! Jesus – a baby who came to earth as flesh to walk with us. Jesus – telling us how to spend eternity with him. Jesus – a man who hung on the cross to take away all our sins. Jesus – calling us to Him. Jesus – the greatest gift of all!

Unlike the doll we received as a Christmas gift, we will never outgrow Jesus. Unlike the decorations, Jesus’ light will never dim or fade. Unlike the sweet treats that make our bodies weary and achy, Jesus will always be a delight for our hearts!

Spend time enjoying the things you love at Christmas – the sights, sounds and gifts of Christmas. Just don’t forget the most important sight, sound and gift of Jesus!

We want to thank Vickie Young for sharing this post!

I adore the Christmas season! It’s all I can do to wait to put up all things Christmas! I actually start celebrating in my heart as soon as the first hint of fall appears. I’d celebrate all year.

The first chance I get, and any time I’m alone, I love to listen to Christmas music. Silent Night, The First Noel, Joy to the World, they all take me back to the Christmas story while I bake cookies and pies.

I love the sights, sounds and gifts of Christmas that is enveloped in the Christmas story. But before we dive in, go back with me to the book of Isaiah, where God showed His love in the promise of the Messiah.

“Look, the Virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel, God with us!” Isaiah 7:14

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.” Isaiah 9:6-7

Even though the promise of the Messiah had been foretold, Israel continued to rebel and God completely stopped speaking to the prophets. During this time the Jews experienced very few peaceful years.

As we move forward, we find Joseph and his fiancé Mary. God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary and tells her she’s been chosen by God to give birth to Jesus. What a sight that must have been! Can you imagine what she must have felt? Just for a few seconds try to put yourself in her place. Joseph and Mary had not consummated their marriage and she’s expecting a child. Through God’s intervening actions He sent an angel to Joseph revealing to him to accept Mary as his wife. I can’t even begin to understand what it felt like to get this kind of news. The promise of the Messiah revealed in Isaiah is coming to fruition right before their eyes!

During this time, a census was ordered requiring Joseph to return to his hometown of Bethlehem. Today, for us, a 90 mile trip is a breeze, but for Joseph and Mary, it was a different journey. Think about it, walking 90 miles over difficult terrain.

As they arrive in Bethlehem, the streets are crowded and noisy from all of the extra people who are also coming to be counted in the census. Remember, Joseph has family living here and makes his way through the crowds to his family’s home. In Joseph’s time and culture, the houses in that day were two levels. The upper portion of the house was the living quarters for the family. The lower portion of the house or Inn was used as a stable to keep the animals in at night and when it was cold. The Nativity that we are all used to seeing isn’t accurate. When we read there’s no room in the Inn, it meant there was no room for them in the upper portion of the house. So, they went to the lower portion of the house- Inn- to stay with the animals.

It is here that the Savior of the World is born! 400 years of silence is broken in the cry of Immanuel, God with us. Oh, how their hearts must have been full of so much joy! Can you feel the love of God as He lays in the manger?

In the meantime, God placed a beautiful star in the sky to guide those seeking Jesus to the place they were staying. The Maji followed the star, the shepherds were guided to Jesus. God made a way for all to know! An angel is proclaiming the Good News while a miraculous sight of 10,000 angels are shouting His praises.

The gifts of the Magi would illuminate the different aspects of Jesus’ identity:

• Gold- valuable kingship on Earth
• Frankincense- the Deity of Jesus, fragrant
• Myrrh- anointing or embalming oil, foreshadow of His death

These gifts would portray the love and grace that He would bring.

So, enjoy all of the sights, sounds and gifts of Christmas, However, remember it’s because of God’s love, His promise and the hope and life that came to us in Bethlehem when Jesus, Immanuel, God with Us, was born! Celebrate Jesus!

We want to thank Janie Keller for sharing this post!