My parents live in an historic home settled on fifteen acres surrounded by thick woods and a beautiful pond. It is a wonderland for my girls to explore and play because there is always something happening. Whether it is watching deer by the back door, riding on the tractor to pick up tree brush, or walking to the pond to check the turtle trap, it is a place of adventure and excitement.
My husband and I closed the back of the U-Haul truck with the final load from our home. We were moving hours away to be close to family. Before driving away from my hometown, we had to make one final stop to my friend Natalie’s house.
My girls were invited to a homeschool Christmas party at a local church. Arriving at the event, we could see that the other students were playing on the playground while the adults were setting up the activities for that afternoon.
My family and I received some terrible news a few months ago. My nephew was no longer with us. The event shook my family to the core.
My five year old loves to sing. One particular morning she was in the bathroom looking in the mirror, brushing her hair, and singing. She was belting out a tune at the top of her little lungs. It was a song she put together using truths she had learned in school.
God interrupted the commonplace. The glory of God shattered darkness. A message from an angel broke the silence. The Savior, Christ the Lord, had been born! As shepherds in the field beheld the angel, their initial response was fear. But with the announcement of the birth of the awaited One, fear turned to determination. The shepherds said, Let’s go…and see...(Luke 2:15). They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the heralded baby lying in a manger.
The Christmas story is about small beginnings. It revolves around the birth of an infant—one vastly different from any other infant ever born. This infant was the majestic, eternal Son of God. The mighty Lord God became man to fulfill His work of salvation offered to all mankind. A small beginning became God’s greatest work and greatest gift to you and me.
I spent hours cleaning and smoothing each piece of the nativity greenware. I carefully packed the pieces and headed to the ceramic shop. On the way, a small item fell from the car dashboard and beheaded Joseph! Heartsick, I asked the owner of the shop what to do. She responded, “You can glue it, but it usually pops off in the firing.” However, it worked! “Figuratively” speaking, Joseph got his head on straight!
Those who walk closely with the Lord will at times find their paths taking unexpected turns. That is God’s design. He plans our walk with Him to be faith growing. And so, He leads us in directions that challenge us and force dependence upon Him.
With these words a 400-year silence of God was broken. Zechariah received God’s message from the angel, Gabriel, who announced the birth of a son filled with the Holy Spirit. He would be used of God to prepare the way for the Lord. Another message came from Gabriel shortly thereafter. He proclaimed to the virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God.
In our culture, it is known as a spoiler alert. In Scripture, it is called prophecy.
Puzzles come in all sizes and degrees of complexity. The Christmas puzzle we will assemble this week is of the jumbo variety; big, chunky pieces and few details. But they will be enough to adequately illustrate the story we want to tell.
Now we go to our pile of puzzle pieces to look for those with a straight edges. They will connect the corners and frame the puzzle.
The first step of puzzle assembly is finding and putting down the four corner pieces, 90 degree angles out. In our Christmas puzzle, the corner pieces represent God’s nature because the real Christmas story doesn’t begin with the angel’s appearance to Mary, but in the eternal plan of God.
We just returned from a road trip to visit family “before the snow flies.” When your relatives live in the upper Mid-West, this is not an expression but a date certain.
The day Drew moved out followed ten months of limbo. It had been an awful day. The kids cried themselves to sleep. It was late when Dana climbed into bed. She sat propped up on her side of the double bed and opened her Bible. She hadn’t planned to read Romans 8, but the words were there for her that night.
Eight months had passed since Drew’s and Dana’s ten-year marriage started to unravel. Uncharacteristically, Drew accompanied Dana and the children to church one Sunday morning. It was Valentine’s Day.
Drew and Dana began marriage counseling with a Christian counselor soon after their move. Drew finally admitted to having an extramarital affair. As devastating as the news was, Dana expressed the willingness to forgive him. Her commitment to keep their family intact held steady. Drew wanted a separation, but he took no action to move out.
Following Drew’s confession that he didn’t love her, Dana’s feelings continued to reel. She felt lost at sea one moment and anchored by faith the next. Soon thereafter, Drew received his new job assignment that required moving fifteen hundred miles away.
Dana felt sweet anticipation as the day began. It was her 10th wedding anniversary. Drew, her husband, was home from completing some out-of-town professional training for his new job. The last few months they’d only spent a few weekends together so she was excited about celebrating today.
