Merry Christmas

Holidays are stressful.   I battle daily with the issue of control.  Holidays are hard because they involve a change of routine and structure.  I don't always know what is happening next and it unnerves me.  I'm sure that sounds strange to some but if you have ever had your very being shaken to its core or had your ability to control anything stolen from you, you get where I'm coming from.  

This Christmas season has been no different.  I have found myself following "old patterns" of relating to others, of responding to stress and trying to resurrect that old mask that says everything is okay.  Then when things don't go well, I get defensive, I withdraw and ultimately am miserable. (This causes everyone around me to be miserable as well.)

Darkness is a lot safer than light when I feel out of control.  I can hide, I can wallow, I can be the old me. But, in  the very early and dark hours of this morning (like 3am!) I felt God nudge me to spend time in His word.  This wasn't something I wanted to do since God's word would shed light into my "safe" darkness.  Reluctantly I obeyed.  

I turned in my Bible to Luke.  This seemed logical since it is almost Christmas.  As I read the familiar story, I tried to imagine what Mary must have felt.  She was so young.  She had lost all control over her circumstances and yet she obeyed.  She gave birth in the darkness of a stable. She could have stayed in that darkness, but the greatest gift ever given would have been lost if she had.  

Thank goodness that we don't have to stay in the darkness and be miserable!  Light destroys darkness and reveals truth and a full life.   A life filled with Christ.  A life filled to overflowing with love, grace and mercy.  There will be times when living in the light is uncomfortable but it beats fumbling around in the darkness!  We each have a gift that can't be shut away in the darkness but must be shared in the light. 

God's love for us is so great that He can't be hidden if we truly believe His promises to us.  He shines in and through us. Take a look at Luke 1 and 2 and see for yourself how darkness was overcome by a courageous woman and the birth of her baby.  

Merry Christmas!

Ice Storms

We are supposed to have a day of sleet, freezing rain and rain in Virginia. It's Sunday and for now, church is on hold for our family. It certainly doesn't mean a day away from God though. Spending time every morning in His word and reflecting on His promises, happens no matter the weather outside. 

I sometimes think that God orchestrates things like ice storms to allow us to slow down and spend quality time, maybe even unplanned time with Him. If we had a normal day today, I'd go to an awesome church service and have family time this afternoon (both good things); now I hope I'm listening as God may reveal His heart in my "forced" slow down. 

What are your plans today? Church?  Shopping? Decorating?  Watching football?  Maybe God's greatest desire is for you to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence. 

Acorns

There seem to be a lot of acorns this year. As I walked outside yesterday I noticed squirrels scurrying around gathering them. They are moving them away from their parent tree. They are taking them to new places, new ground. I was reminded that God does this with His followers. We grow from his massive branches and deep roots.  Then in obedience, we spread to the ends of the earth. 

Like an acorn we are "part" of the parent. When we are replanted and grow, we resemble our parent. A replanted acorn grows into an oak tree. A replanted follower of Christ grows into a disciple. It is God's desire that we share who we are in Him in our new place. We do that by being rooted in His word daily and by extending our branches to reach and embrace those who do not know of His great love for all people. 

Where we have been replanted is not an accident.  Our workplaces, neighborhoods, ball fields and schools all have people that God is placing within your reach.  As we interact with others, are we reflecting our parent "tree"?  Are we leading others to know Christ?  

Today I'd like to highlight an agency doing amazing work. Richmond Justice Initiative is a local agency working to eradicate human trafficking. They are hosting an Abolition conference on January 10 and 11.

The registration cost is $40 through December 5.  After that, the cost is $50.

Please visit www.richmondjusticeinitiative.com for more information and to register.

December 2 -
I'm so grateful that God doesn't really care if I'm happy or not.  Of course, God wants us to be full.  "Full" of what?  Full of grace, full of faith, full of love, full of obedience, full of peace?  Yes, all of those.  What he spoke to me about most recently though was being full of joy.

You see, I was meeting with my pastor several months ago and he commented that I needed to be joyful about where I am, not wishing my life was different.  In my flesh, I wanted to say, "What??"  You have no idea about my life and all that I have going on.  I left somewhat annoyed and not really sure exactly what he meant.

God continued to stir my heart as that comment kept coming to my mind throughout the day for several days. I just couldn't get my head around the idea that I could be filled with joy when there was so much chaos around me.  Relationships were hard, work was not what I wanted it to be, my parenting left a lot to be desired and even ministry work was frustrating.

It was during one of my quiet times with the Lord several weeks later that I heard a clear response to my confusion about being joyful.  Joy is internal and is what is happening IN you, who you are in Christ.  Happiness is external and is based on what is happening to you at a particular time.  It was very clear that we can be both unhappy and joy-filled at the same time. Of course there are other combinations of these. Happy and joy-filled, unhappy and joy-less, and even happy but joy-less. What my pastor said made so much sense in that moment. I definitely could be filled with joy even when I was unhappy with the chaos around me.

During this season of advent, it is important that we know the fullness of joy that comes from God living in us.  If you are waiting for the moment when you feel happy to be joy-filled, you may be waiting a long time, like me.  Don't wait - ask God right now to fill you with His joy in abundance.

Waiting...

Well, this has sure been a challenge to keep up with.  I love to talk, I love to text, I love to write but it seems as if I never get to do much of the writing anymore.  I aim to change that!  It's December 1 and I'm going to pledge to post a blog everyday between now and Christmas.

As Advent begins this year, I am reminded about anticipating things.  I am not a great waiter.  I just like to know what's happening - when, where, and why!  Over the years God has worked on me big time in this area.  It's really an insult to God when we assume that WE have to be in control and know everything in advance.  It is when we have faith and trust in God that we allow His plans to guide and direct us.  I plan to use this Advent season (waiting period) to reflect on His greatness and His provision in my life.  I hope you'll join me as I share and reflect on this past year.

God's LOVE In a Dark Place

This past weekend taught me a great deal about God’s LOVE.  As Christians, we strive to be “more like Jesus” daily and I must say that I saw great examples of that from God’s servants.  Let me back up and explain for those who aren’t sure what I’m talking about. 

The city of Richmond hosted an Adult Expo at a local hotel on Saturday.  Initial reactions to this from many (myself included) consisted of anger, disbelief and sadness.  How dare the city allow this! Why would anyone want to attend something like this? How sad that this is considered entertainment. 

Several organizations that work in the city and surrounding counties (including New Creation Women’s Center) began to dialogue about what could be done to stop the event.  Ultimately what developed was so much greater than anything any of us could ever imagine or have planned. 

God revealed that our response would be one of LOVE.

So, preparations began and the weekend started on Friday night at Cornerstone Church.  It moved to the Clarion Hotel and Grove Avenue Baptist Church on Saturday and ended for me back at Cornerstone worshiping God and being broken at His feet on Sunday morning.

LOVE moments were plentiful throughout the weekend:

Ø  LOVE bags were made from items bought with LOVE to be given to those entertaining and selling things at the expo

Ø  Prayers were lifted up by people from many churches, from different ethnic backgrounds, both genders, all ages for the event to be a way to share God’s LOVE with His people.

Ø  Teams of people went to the expo with no motive other than to LOVE people.  They reached out to touch people with LOVE, they washed feet with LOVE, they offered gifts with LOVE, they prayed with LOVE.

Ø  Hotel management was encouraged in LOVE not condemnation. 

Now, don’t get me wrong.  This wasn’t a “lovey dovey” thing.  Through LOVING people, we were able to share truth and bring light to the darkness that was trying to win out.  This was not acceptance or even tolerance.  This was God’s desire to LOVE people so much that there had to be people in place to be his hands and feet and to share His heart.

You see this isn’t something that is acceptable or tolerable.  This event is evidence of the increased perversion in our society.  There is an attitude about sexuality that anything goes and that our bodies are not representative of the way God created us but are representative of “the world” and how the media portrays the idea of sexuality and even morality. 

While we were not there to condemn people, the very idea of the entire event was prayed against from the first mention of it.  The idea that pornography is a secret and hidden away sin was exposed as false when this showed up on the radar as adult entertainment.  Glamorizing prostitution, gentlemen’s clubs and adult magazines in no way reflects God’s heart for His people or His intentions for how our bodies are used.  What is being “sold” as entertainment is rightly named exploitation and cannot be accepted or tolerated.  It must be exposed as sin. 

We don’t have the details yet, but history would tell us that there was an increase in crime in the area Saturday night.  There was likely at least one sexual assault report and possibly more.  While it is unlikely that there will be an increase in reporting, there will be an increase in domestic violence that could be tracked back to men attending the event. 

Hopefully our preparations and presence had some impact.  Some preliminary praise reports:

Ø  No one turned down the request to pray with them.  Many offered prayer requests.

Ø  Softening of hearts and brokenness was witnessed in several women.

Ø  The event organizer responded to my post on Facebook about delivering the bags thanking us for caring about them and showering them with gifts – WOW!!!

Ø  Thankfulness for our presence by the hotel management.

Ø  The collaboration of area agencies with hearts to serve women and combat the social injustice of human sex trafficking and exploitation.

One vendor was overheard saying – “I wonder where the church is?”  I was curious about what he meant.  He thought that there would be picketing and protesting.  He was surprised but encouraged when he found out “the church” was there in full force!  It took away the need to be defensive and helped pave the way to be LOVED by “the church”.

So, God’s LOVE was present along with His truth and grace.  I’m so glad to have been a witness to it first hand and am hopeful that there will be a continued effort to honor and glorify God, not accept or tolerate the sin of sexual immorality.