The Day THAT You Were Born

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Janet

As I look out my window

On this beautiful morn,

I think of what it was like

The day that You were born.

Was the air a little crisper?

Did the sky seem more blue?

Was the beauty in the sunrise more intense

As it rose in honor of You?

Did all of creation’s groaning stop

As it welcomed you that day?

A precious little baby

Who came to show us the way.

You came to look though human eyes

And touched with human hands.

To feel the pain that we all feel

To be God and yet a man.

You came to give the sacrifice,

The one that covers them all.

From the largest of all my sins

Down to the very small.

What gift can I give You?

How can I repay?

I have nothing but my life.

Take it all I pray.

As I look out my window

On this beautiful morn.

I worship Emmanuel, God with us.

And thank Him that He was born.

You Still Make My Heart Go Boom Boom

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Janet

It may sound a little corny, but it’s true. After 26 years together, I can’t imagine a more perfect match for me than my sweet husband. It’s the little moments, like last night, when we stopped at a convenience store to get a couple of diet root-beers to drink during our evening out. I hop back in our blue Charger that he bought for me as an upgrade from all the SUV’s and minivans I’ve dutifully driven for the past 18 years or so raising 4 kids, and he has “our song” playing on the stereo. The one that was in our wedding 26 years ago. “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams. (That’s going to date me. Lol).

At times I forget how much we have in common, Our music taste, our love for sushi, how we love to hold hands when we walk, etc. Then there’s those sparkly eyes. The first thing I noticed about him 26 years ago. They still sparkle whenever we catch each other’s glance. I’ve been one blessed girl. If there is one thing that I can say about our relationship it would be that I have been loved by him and I have been loved well. And that love has been a gift from God who has helped us to build our lives on Him together. A few more days and our 26th Anniversary will be marked. Thanks for doing life with me baby! You’re my dream come true, an answer to my prayers. I love you!

(Picture of us 26 years ago. A few days before we got married. He was such a hottie)

“Always Winter and Never Christmas”

Posted on December 20, 2018 by Janet

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is one of my favorite books of all time. It is an allegory representing Satan as the Witch and Jesus as the Lion. In the book, a Witch has cast a spell (that the Lion eventually breaks) leaving the land of Narnia in constant winter. Layer after layer of snow and ice have plagued the land for such a long time that few remember what it was like to see green grass and flowers. “It’s always winter and never Christmas.” Is a quote from the book and a song by Reliant K on their Christmas album called “In Like A Lion”. It has been rolling around in my head this morning. It’s hard to imagine a world that never changes seasons, staying cold and frozen. Growing up in my neck of the woods, it is even harder to imagine a cold winter with no Christmas. That’s all I’ve ever known. Summer ends, Fall comes in with changes of color and temperatures, winter is introduced with cold, short days. Christmas is celebrated and then it’s just a matter of a few short months and the thaw begins. Buds appear on the trees. Green returns in the grass, and wearing my Birkenstock sandals outside with no fear of cold toes becomes the normal chosen footwear for me, FREEDOM!! It’s funny what a little more time with your part of the world tilted toward the sun does for you.

That is how life is. Circumstances tend to bury us beneath icy and cold layer after layer of hurt, unforgiveness, hatred, bad choices, and more. We can find ourselves feeling like thawing out and seeing the beautiful in our lives will never come. “It’s always winter and never Christmas” may be the reality of our world, or so we think. Isaiah 9:2 talks about our world just as Christmas dawned on it. ” The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Jesus came on the scene 2000 years ago and gave us Christmas. The start of the great thaw and change of seasons in our hearts. Things that were layered with the solid ice of sin and heartache melt in His love. The hopelessness of darkness and fear is driven out by the warmth of His light.

That light began to shine and continued to go on and on touching all who have been willing to let it shine in their lives for centuries to come until now.

So this morning as I sit by my Christmas tree wrapped in a fuzzy throw blanket sipping on a hot cup of coffee. I’ve been reflecting on some ice cold areas in my own heart that still need a little light of the Son to shine on it. Things that I thought would always remain buried under the ice and snow of many years of disappointment are showing the tell tale sign of dripping melt from icicles on my heart. I no longer have to face the prospect of “always winter and never Christmas” because His light has shone on me resurrecting the hopes of a green spring with colorful flowers in situations that seemed to never change. The more I reflect on it all I do believe that it really is amazing what a little more time with your world tilted toward the Son will do for you. FREEDOM!!! Winter Scene I Painted in a Bob Ross Painting Class