Encouraging.com

There is one gift left under the tree.

Can you see it there in the back, behind the tissue and the gold wrapping paper?

I saved it for last because it is just for you-- from me.

Dec 17

Dec 17 Look What Is Under the Tree: Day 4

The other day our youngest granddaughter and I were visiting about her upcoming birthday party. I asked her who would be at her party and she named several children from her kindergarten class, none of whom I knew. To make conversation, I asked her to tell me about them. A couple of half-hearted answers later, she said, “Don’t tell anybody, but I like the presents more than people.” Words spoken with a six year-old’s honesty, but a sentiment we can all relate to. Who doesn’t like presents?

Dec 16

Dec 16 Look What Is Under the Tree: Day 3

I don’t know about you, but my childhood Christmases weren’t all teddy bears and ballet slippers. It was also the season when practical needs came wrapped in holiday paper. One item I could pretty much count on to make an annual appearance under the tree was a new scarf.

Dec 15

Dec 15 Look What Is Under the Tree: Day 2

Do you remember two-part presents? When it was your turn to select a gift to open, an adult would say something like, “You can open that, but if you do, you need to open this package, too. If they aren’t opened together, they won’t make much sense.”

Dec 14

Dec 14 Look What Is Under the Tree: Day 1

For a child, Christmas is a wondrous time--with most of the wonders wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree.

As if it were yesterday, I remember those last days before Christmas from my childhood. The tree, decorated and sparkling with lights, stood in its traditional corner. Underneath were gifts in all shapes and sizes wrapped and ready to be opened. I knew some of them would be practical; but others would delightful surprises. I would make frequent detours past the living room to catch a glimpse of that scene just to assure myself that it was all real.

Dec 11

Dec 11 Great Love

Love

“You know, it’s all about love.” A simple statement uttered by a simple man, my dad, as he lay languishing on his deathbed. After all his years of working, serving and living, he had discovered the importance of life.

Dec 10

Dec 10 A Blessing in Disguise

Adversity

After the flood, God commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it (Genesis 9:7). In Genesis 10, the genealogy of Noah and his sons confirms they were successful in the job of multiplying.

Dec 9

Dec 9 A Rainbow of Promise

Fear

A torrential flood swept through my hometown when I was a teenager. My grandparents lived in a house that backed up to a creek. As the deluge of rain fell, the creek quickly filled and overran its banks. My grandparents’ anxiety rose in proportion to the rising water in the house. They climbed on furniture higher and higher, fearing the worst. A tractor appeared at their door. They were rescued by climbing in the front-end loader. My grandparents were safe from the flood but remained haunted by their experience the rest of their lives. They anxiously monitored the weather and the level of the creek each time it rained.

Dec 8

Dec 8 A Lonely Feeling

Faith/Trust

The story of Noah and the ark is well-known. Even after digging deeper into this story, the first picture that comes to my mind is one from a children’s book, portraying cute animals and smiling people. But what was the condition of the earth during Noah’s time?

Dec 7

Dec 7 Proceed with Caution

Obedience

My dog and I had just begun our walk when I observed my neighbor high on a ladder. He was trimming one of the large trees in his yard, as he often did. His landscaping was one of the best manicured in the neighborhood. I’m not sure what prompted me to speak that day--maybe his height on the ladder or his far reach of the chainsaw.

Dec 4

Dec 4 Pruning for Purity

All summer long, my backyard rose bush produces hundreds of pink roses. I notice that it blooms and then most of the roses die about the same time. With my garden shears, I cut away the spent blooms. I imagine it sighing and saying, Thank you. Now I have room to grow and bloom all over again.

Dec 3

Dec 3 Painful Plowing

Trials are hard. They’re messy. They’re down right painful. Do you feel blessed when you experience them?

For eight years, I drove by the same field. There were weeds growing, and the grass looked unhealthy and sparse. One day, as I drove by, I noticed a tractor driving over the grass with sharp circular blades cutting through the hard, cracked, dry ground turning the soil. How painful that must be for the ground, I thought.

Dec 2

Dec 2 Refined as Gold

Do you know how precious metals are refined? Smelting is the process in which gold is separated from ore and other metals. The ore is first pulverized with extreme pressure to create tiny particles, which are then melted at almost 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. As the gold becomes molten, most of the impurities are burned up.

Dec 1

Dec 1 Trials Like Fire

No matter how you slice it, life is full of challenges. Each hardship represents some sort of loss; loss of a person, home, safety, stability, or purpose. This is why these experiences can be so painful.

Nov 30

Nov 30 Rescuer of Pit Dwellers

Praise the Lord! He rescues us from the pit! I don’t know about you, but I have been in the pit many times throughout my life. Sometimes it’s sin that throws us into the pit, however, sometimes it is circumstances out of our control that throw us head-long into it.

Nov 27

Nov 27 I Am Secure

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.

God’s words touched her gently, much like the romantic gesture of being presented a single, long-stemmed red rose.

Nov 26

Nov 26 I Am Wanted

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.

The service was unremarkable until the associate pastor announced he would be teaching on romantic love from Song of Solomon.

Nov 25

Nov 25 I Am Beautiful

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.

Nov 24

Nov 24 I Am Valuable