A Real Christmas

I recently heard about a billboard put up by the Atheist Community.  Displaying a picture of the manger scene, it then stated, "You know it's a myth.  Celebrate Reason this Season."  A week later, I heard a sermon which used this billboard as an example.  The pastor went on to state that we could celebrate reason - that Christmas is a reasonable time of year.  He said that it is reasonable that the Creator of the World would seek to save His creation and would send His own Son to do this.  It struck me a bit odd.  I always thought of Christmas more as miraculous, or wonderful, or awe-inspiring.  Reasonable sounds too…normal.  And Christmas, the way that Christians celebrate it, is anything but normal.  A virgin, having a baby?  Reasonable?  I think not.  Angels appearing to lowly, dirty, thieving shepherds, entrusting to them one of the most important messages ever told?  Reasonable?  No way.  God, becoming a baby?  Hardly Reasonable. 

But while I was thinking about this, a different word came into my head.  Real.  This is the word that I want to use to describe Christmas this year.  So often the manger scenes, storybook carols, Christmas services and old traditions get in the way of the reality of what happened 2,010 years ago.  We see an American boy, born into a warm, charming stable and surrounding by happy cows and cute baby lambs.  We sing about his glowing face, and his tearless entrance into this world.   We create a picturesque scene that fits our happy image of what the Lord's entrance into our world must have looked like. 

This isn't real.

Granted, we cannot know all the details, save for what is written in Scripture.  But take a moment and picture the real situation.  A young, pregnant virgin, faithfully serving Her God in a situation that must have been terribly scary and unknown.   And her husband-to-be, a God-fearing man, whose betrothed is pregnant.  Angels, glorious servants of the Most High appearing to both Mary and Joseph.  And then this child is born and He is God, made flesh!  I cannot picture or understand how Mary must have felt. 

But I am overwhelmed by the reality of the Incarnation.  These were real people, with real emotions, real families, real friends.  Mary's life changed entirely when she was visited by the Angel.  Joseph probably had no idea how his life would be altered when he and Mary became betrothed.  But the most amazing part of this story is the reality of Jesus Christ.  He is not a painted picture, or a symbol on a Cross.  He is not stuck in history, as a baby in a manger.

He is real. 

He was born, learned to walk and talk.  He grew up, made friends, learned to carve wood, studied the Scriptures, ate meals, slept and grew into a man.  Fully human. 

He is fully God.

Omniscient, Omnipresent. 

This is the reality.  Fully Man, Fully God.  Stepping into our world.

May this blow you away this Christmas, as it is doing to me.  May we be awestruck by these "unreasonable" miracles. 

May we never cease to be amazed at the Incarnation of our Savior.  

I cast all my cares...

Dear God, 

Take my doubts, and give me faith.

Take my dreams, and give me trust.

Take my steps, and give me wings.

Take my fears, and give me peace.

Take my sorrows, and give me joy.

Take my all, and give me You. 

Love,

Me

"Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God so at the proper time He might exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7.

When Death brings Life

Dying to Self: something I challenged my girls to do each week this summer.  Something I challenged myself to do at least once a day this whole summer.  Not that I did it perfectly by any means, or even understand it perfectly, but since I have gotten back to school, I seem to have forgotten this challenge, this call for my life - to die to self, that I might live for Christ.  Why is that?  I suppose part of it is that it happens naturally.  I go to school and take my classes, and get grades for myself, so I can get a job, to make money for myself, so I can have a good life.  It becomes all about me.  But how do I live this day, living for Christ, and sacrificing my own wants and desires for those that honor and please God?  It is such a paradox to me - that to die to myself would bring a more satisfactory, fulfilling life.  But this is what Scripture promises us. 

The following paragraph was given to us by the WVA faculty and directors in our 'playbook'.  I came back to it the other day and am now posting it - that this reminder of dying to self might not be just a reminder, but might become a way of life.

"When you're forgotten or neglected or purposely set to naught, and you don't sting or hurt with the insult to the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy for Christ, that is dying to self.

When your good is evil spoke of, and your wishes are crossed, and your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence, this is dying to self.

When you're contented with any food, offering, clothing, climate, society, any solitude, any interruptions by the will of God, that is dying to self.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works or itch for commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown, that is dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit, and feel no envy nor question God when your needs are far greater or in desperate circumstances, that is dying to self.

When you receive correction or reproof from one of less stature that yourself, and can humbly submit inwardly, as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, that is dying to self.

Are you dead yet? In these last days the Spirit would bring us to the cross, that I may know Him, being made comfortable in His death.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I live in the body I live with faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me" (Gal. 2:20)."

A Teachable Thanksgiving

Things I learned while I was home for Thanksgiving:

1. There is no place like home.  This year, school has been good for me, but every time I return home, I realize anew why it is so hard to leave.  I love being at home: being in a real house; having my family around; having my bedroom be a completely different place from my living room, kitchen, etc.   I love sitting by the fire, drinking hot cider. I love having a backyard and pets around.  There truly is no place like home.

2. Disinterested love means loving God not for his gifts but for who He is.  I was finishing reading 'Future Grace' by John Piper and he was quoting Jonathan Edwards (of course), and  it struck me because that term defines something that I have been struggling with and thinking about since the end of the summer.  Is my love for God 'disinterested'?  Do I truly love God or do I simply love His gifts?

3. Gabrielle's new recipe for cookies = divine, as Mike Schutt would say.  It's like a Reese's cup - in cookie form.  Amazing.

4. I love kids. (I think I already knew this, but hey. Relearning things is always good!) I got to run a drama rehearsal for my mom - it was a little crazy, but I loved it!  There is simply nothing like being with children, especially when it involves working with music, too!

5. You really don't have to overeat and have a billion people over to have an amazing Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day was quiet, just my immediate family (minus the married big bro) at home.  True, it is nice to have company, and we did on Friday, but I thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful (or lazy?) day that I had at home.

6. Monkey Bread is seriously one of my favorite foods.  I would rather have Monkey Bread on Thanksgiving than the entire Thanksgiving meal.  Honestly.

7. There is still hope for my cooking skills.  I didn't cook much at home but what I did make actually turned out.  Some day, I will be as good a cook as my mother.  Some day…

8. I am to be thankful in and for my struggles.  And I can be, because "I  can do all things through Him who gives me strength" and because "in everything, Jesus has the supremacy". 

9. Hallmark movies are just plain predictable. 

10. The common ground of faith in Christ creates a unity and friendship among people that outlasts shared experiences and creates deeper bonds than any similar circumstances ever could.

I feel like there is more I could share but the thing I am learning right now is this:  if I sat down every week and really thought about the things I had learned about myself, God and others that week, I might see more readily how God is working in my life.  So many days I go through the mundane routines of life without stopping to comprehend what God showed me that day.   When I reach the end of the day,  I simply mark off another day and move on to the next.  But each day is a day that God is changing, shaping and molding me.  To look back and notice, to stop and ponder, to sit and think, I would be more assured of what God is doing in my life.  I would be more ready and able to give an answer concerning what He is teaching me. 

Proverbs 1:5,  "Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance."  I pray that my heart is malleable and that I am willing to let my Savior teach me throughout each day. 

Princess in Training

I spent a half and hour practicing my posture at the occupational therapists on Wednesday.  You know that scene in "Princess Diaries", when Mia learns she is a princess and then she has to relearn how to sit, and stand, and walk?  Yeah.  That's how I felt.  Only not as cool, because I don't get a palace out of this deal.  I just get good posture.   But, Diane, my OT,  says the better posture will relieve stress and tension in my shoulders, thus helping the tension and tendonitis that is in my wrists and elbow.  

It was a week for progress.  A week when, for the first time in awhile, I saw a bit of light at the end of this tunnel.  While the light might have shown me how very long this tunnel is, it also gave me hope.  Monday was my first appointment with the occupational therapist.  Diane used to do gymnastics, and she plays violin.  We understand each other very well.  Coincidence?  I think not.  She discovered tendonitis in my left elbow, so I added that to my list of injuries.  She  talked me through some of what I'll be doing and working on for the next few weeks and months to begin the healing process.  Wednesday, when I went back, she introduced me to good posture.  I heard "Shoulders down"  more times in that half an hour than I have my entire life.  I'm considering hiring someone just to walk around behind me and remind me every three minutes.   While 'fun' isn't the word that I would use to describe therapy (it hurts!), hopeful is.

Thinking about this 'princess' posture that I am reminding myself to have, made me think about my role as a daughter of the King.  Sometimes, I feel it's cliché.  "I'm a princess, a daughter of the King!"  Ok, yes.  We get that.  That's nice.  We like to picture being princesses as dressing up, having beautiful, perfect hair all the time, not having to work and being fabulously rich.   But that's seriously not all a princess is.  A princess represents her father.  Raised by him, when she steps out of the palace walls, her name is inevitably tied to the King's.  She did nothing to earn such a title and needs to do nothing to keep this title. She will forever be the daughter of the King.  But her life, and her actions, her words and behavior, these all reflect on the King.  A poorly dressed princess, a rude and selfish princess, a unfriendly, uncaring princess…this all says something about her father.  She is held to higher standards than the rest of the people in the kingdom.  And one day, she will receive her inheritance.   But a princess who reflects poorly on her father will surely not receive the kind of inheritance that a daughter who honors her Father will. 

And so back to the idea that I, as an adopted child of God, am a princess, a daughter of the King.  I did nothing to earn this title.   And I am called to represent my Father.  Learning under his gentle teaching and gracious compassion and mercy, I should live in such a way that when I step outside my doors, people will inevitably tie my name to the King's.   I am held to a higher standard.  I am called to live differently.  I am called to have a "quiet and gentle spirit" and to realize that "charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the [King] is to be praised" (1 Peter 3:4 and Proverbs 31:30).  And one day, I will receive my inheritance.  Will my Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, daughter of mine" (Matt. 25:21)?  

I do not expect to ever receive a palace in this life.  I won't wear fancy dresses, drink tea with the Queen, or ever have perfect hair all the time.  But I am a daughter of the true King.  So for now, I will go back to working on my 'princess' posture and striving to let my life reflect upon my who my Daddy is.

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God".  1 John 3:1

Thank you, Lord...

It was a long week.  It's been a long weekend.  I spent this morning poring over the Psalms, feeling with David some of the anxiety and worry that he expresses.  I wanted to ask God why.  Why take the piano from me?  Why take what I love?  Why my HANDS?  Why MY hands?  But over and over, David and I drew the same conclusion: that His name might be praised.  Be still.  Know that He is God.  Take shelter  and refuge in Him. I know that God is good.  I know that He is faithful.  I can look the future in the face boldy and confidently, knowing that He is with me. 

Even still, today was one of those days…one of those "Thank you Lord, for water bottles" kind of days.  The days when I have to force myself to say thank you for things that don't seem good, until God graciously allows me to see His goodness.

That being said, here goes:

Thank you, Lord, for Sarah H. and her phone call right when I needed it.

Thank you, Lord, that I could type up most of my paper tonight without too much pain.

Thank you, Lord, for Sweet Peas from Hanover.

Thank you, Lord, for Cassie and a reminder that there are people praying for me, even when I don't ask for it.

Thank you, Lord, for an opportunity to grow in my trust of you.

Thank you, Lord, for this pain, if only for the fact that it drives me to cry out to you more often.

Thank you, Lord, for the great plan you have for my future, even if I can't see it right now.

Thank you, Lord, that I have 2 hands and can still hold things, write…

Thank you, Lord, for the Psalms, and for understanding. 

I found this quote the other day and I think it's appropriate right now.  Even when life doesn't necessarily make sense, I am still called to obedience and to a life that clearly, loudly and honestly declares my faith in Christ Jesus.

"I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me. My banner will be clear!"  (emphasis mine)

--This was written by a young African pastor and tacked on the wall of his house.

May the hard times of life drive us to our knees before the cross.  May we "cast our cares on Him, for He cares for us" and may we find shelter in the shadow of His wings. 

Living in this beautiful, broken world...

This gorgeous tree stands behind the Chapel at Grove City College

There are very few things that I enjoy more than Fall...

The Blue Heron, Red Trees, Wolf Creek...beautiful. 

I attempt cool photography...

More amateur photography 

**I went outside and took pictures on campus yesterday.  I've posted just a few.

**Sometimes I walk outside and barely notice the weather, the trees, the animals, the sunshine...and sometimes I walk outside and am absolutely mind-blown by how gorgeous God has made our world.  Even with all the sin, fallenness and brokenness that we live in, there is so much  beauty.

**I pray that not only would I notice God and His creation each time I leave my dorm, but that it all would drive me to the Cross, where I can fall on my knees and worship the Creator.  My Creator.

**"For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."  Romans 1:20

Because it's a good day for ten...

10/10/10

Ten things for today:

*I wore bright yellow capris that reminded me of sunshine and my mother

*I ate Sweet CeCe's ice cream for the first time: Hello, new favorite ice cream place.

*Thank you to Eric Hancox and John Piper, for reminding me what true joy is and what godly love looks like.

*I studied. Enough said.

*Church was different: a media service on the Sovereignty of God, even during suffering.  Came at a perfect time.  Ironic?  I think not.

*It was 77 degrees and sunny. I love Fall.

*My Redeemer Lives, by Nicole C. Mullen.  New favorite song of the week.  Why?  Because, good gravy, she can sing!  And oh, the beautiful truth of the lyrics!

*I changed my current favorite candy to Airheads.

*My sister's antics made me giggle.

*The Steelers did not play, as they had a bye: no football today.

That's all.

Autumn Wonders

My heart is happy.
No, that doesn't mean life is perfect. I still have achy wrists, and a problematic knee. I still have too much studying and not enough time.  I still overbook myself.  I still have hard days. I still feel like I'm not keeping in touch with the outside world and my friends well.  I still struggle with sin. But my heart is happy.
God has been teaching me this semester like never before.  His Word has come alive to me.  He has shown me His grace. He has been showing me the need to preach the Gospel to myself continually.  He has been teaching me what sincere love looks like, and how lacking I am in it. He has been demonstrating His relentless pursuit of my heart and has been so merciful to me.
I am content at school.  It has been awhile since I felt this way.  I am grateful to be in this place.  I am enjoying my classes, the routines that I have, sharing a room with my sister, getting more involved with my church and growing my friendships.  Currently, I am most enjoying watching the campus be swept into the whirlwind of Fall.
Fall. I cannot say exactly why I love this season - not in complete sentences, anyways.  Perhaps phrases and thoughts will suffice:
Crisp, crunchy apples; brightly colored trees; cool winds blowing; the smell of burning leaves; pumpkin patches; fall break at home with my family; drinking warm apple cider; sitting in front of the fireplace; memories that come because of the weather; sweatshirts and jeans; family time; Thanksgiving...
I am blessed by the changing seasons.  Some days I wish it was Fall all year round but I am thankful it comes when it does, so that I appreciate it's beauty and uniqueness even more.
This Fall has been a time of growth, change, learning, contentment and peacefulness for me.
Mark 7:37: "He does all things well." It has been a joyful season, seeing and acknowledging this in my life. May that solid truth be something I cling to even when the days are hard.  But for now,
My heart is happy.

Life as a Foreigner

*Just some thoughts and quotes on the foreign life. 


"My name is Foreigner, from a faraway land. My feet are covered in dirt, they've been here and back again. I have seen great things from a distance. They beckon me, I answer them. And I move forward. I move forward to Home." -Bethany Dillon, "Move Forward"


*To me, this song is a promise - a promise of things to come.  This earth is not my home - oh the delight in knowing for certain that I will one day reach my true home.


"These [all the men and women of the 'Hall of Faith'] all died in faith, not having received the things they were promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had the opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He as prepared for them a city."  -Hebrews 11:13-16


*I love this part of the verse: "My home is a better country - a heavenly one."  And I must say, I am more than okay with that. 

"I am a sojourner on the earth; do not hide your commandments from me!" -Psalm 119:19

*I love the sound of that - sojourner.  That word seems to help make some of the struggles of this life make a little more sense.  Journeys rarely take the 'easy' road, or the 'high' road. 

"They live in their own countries, but only as nonresidents; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign." -Mathetes, describing the early Christians

*That is how I want to be described, that is how I want to live my life.

*This next quote is one of my favorites.  One day...

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!"  -The Last Battle, CS Lewis

*As we travel this road, may we continue to pursue that which has worth and value in light of our true home.  May we continue on, further up and further in!

Traveling Together,

Emily