A New Year Upon Us - Dinner #42

     Another year with new uncertainties . . . 2012 is a year in which my husband and I find ourselves  needing direction and guidance for our little family more than ever before.  Are we meant to stay where we are, and continue to further our education?  Should Brandon try to find a second job, in order to start saving money for missionary deputation? Would God have us move back to Virginia or to Georgia, to serve in one of our home churches for a season? 

     Proverbs 27:1 warns us, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”  The truth of the matter is, anything may change in an instant for ANY ONE of us, and only God knows the outcome.  In Proverbs 3, Solomon tells his son to, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” God says it is better to trust in the Lord WITH all your heart, then to follow the leading OF your own heart!  Psalm 37:5 declares, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”  Let GOD be in control of your path! Let HIM guide your footsteps! 

     This New Year’s Eve, as I began to question and wonder what lies ahead for us, the Lord lovingly reminded me of Isaiah 41:10 - a verse I once claimed as my “life verse”.  In it, the Lord declares, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”  Joshua 1:9, a similar verse, tells us to, “ . . . Be strong and of a good courage: be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”  It doesn’t matter where we are in 2012 – it doesn’t matter what city, or what state, or what COUNTRY even!  God has promised to be with us WHEREVER we are!  He has promised to strengthen us and to hold us up with His loving hand! 

     In Isaiah 41:9, God says, “. . . Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.”  Despite what I may think or feel at any given moment, God has a special plan for me!  A plan that does not change!  Proverbs 4:26-27 “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.  Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”  God says to walk with PURPOSE and walk with BLINDERS ON.  Don’t be distracted by the things of this world!  Do what God has called you to do!

     Do you remember the parable of the soils?  In Matthew 13:22, Jesus explains to His disciples, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”  When we are trying to find the right path for our lives, worries and cares, and what the world has to offer, can “choke” what God desires to show us from His Word. We may not even be able to receive His direction for our lives, if the soil of our heart has become too thorny!  In Psalm 119:105, David says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  The path ahead may seem a bit fuzzy, as we stand on the brink of a brand new year, and yet God’s Word is always clear.  Is the soil of your heart soft enough to receive it?

     Have you stepped off the right path, in 2011? Have you strayed a little from God’s plan for your life?  Paul declares in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  Have you made mistakes innumerable, just as I have? Forget them and PRESS FORWARD!  This is a brand new year for brand new beginnings in Christ Jesus!  Listen to God’s voice, know what HE wants you to do, and “do it with thy might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)!  God Bless & Happy New Year 2012!!

Christmas Blessing - Dinner #41

     After more than a week of feeling nauseous and dizzy, and needing extra sleep, this month, I was pretty positive I was expecting a baby, again.  Things eventually proved otherwise, however, and my excitement of being able to announce to family at Christmas that we were having another baby, came to an abrupt end.    Do you know what happened in my heart, through all of that, though?  The temporary tears of disappointment only made me want to love on our Baby Brooklyn all the more!  It made me want to treasure being her mother, and thank God for blessing us with her, all over again.  We did not know if I would be able to have any children, but God gave her to us!  Psalm 113:9 “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children . . .” Becoming a mother is a joyful, happy thing!  Brooklyn’s smiles, her giggles, her little chirps and gurgles brighten our days with such joy!  What sunshine, those ladies who desire no children, deny themselves!  Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

      The best present of all, that very first Christmas in Bethlehem, was Jesus Christ, God’s Son – the promised Messiah!  Have you ever stopped to think what would have happened if Mary had said she and Joseph were too poor to raise children?  What if she had said she was just too scared to become a mother?  What if she had told God she didn’t want to have any babies?   ALL babies are blessings from heaven, but this One most of all!  Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”  Mary had a willing spirit to carry a very special Baby within her womb.  She rejoiced to be given such a task! Luke 1:46-49 “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.  For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.”

     Jesus could have come to earth as a full-grown man, but that wasn’t God’s plan.  He allowed Mary to conceive the Messiah without ever having been intimate with any man.  He allowed her to feel His Holy Son kicking and moving within her womb.  He let her watch Jesus eat His first solid food and take His first baby steps.  This was something very special!  Mary was allowed to be Jesus’ mother!  She was not holy or perfect.  She, herself, needed a Savior!  But she “found favour with God.” (Luke 1:30)

     Will any other woman on earth have that same blessing? No.  None of us will ever give birth to the perfect Son of God.  Jesus came to this earth just once as a little baby.  When He returns, He will be coming in power and glory, as He Who died and rose again.  Only Mary will ever be known as the “mother of Jesus”.  He was truly her little “Christmas Blessing”.  If we are mothers, we each have “little blessings” of our own, however!  I, and no one else, have the blessing of being Brooklyn Elizabeth’s mommy.  You are blessed to be the mother of YOUR children. 

     How precious it is, if we are able to have our children and grandchildren gathered around us, this Christmas!  As December 25^th quickly approaches, I want to encourage you Mommies to hold dear the child blessings in your life!  Family should mean more to us than any present we could ever receive.  And, above all, cherish the birth of the Father’s Only Son, - the Emmanuel of all mankind!  

GOD BLESS & MERRY CHRISTMAS!