I was so excited for Christmas. I mean what kid wasn’t?

The lights, the parties, the sweets, but mostly the presents. I mean I was only six years old so

of course those were the things that were important to me.

I remember the wrapping paper – red and green stripes. I remember the tag – to Daisy from Mom & Dad. And I remember the excitement of tearing into that gift.

Then I remember being absolutely angry.

It was a cracker box. What?! After all of these weeks of shaking it and staring at it and dying to know what was inside of that pretty red and green paper – it was seriously a cracker box.

So I threw a fit. I mean I was mad mad. And you kids don’t know anything about this but back in the 80’s parents didn’t put up with that mess.

My mom quickly grabbed the cracker box and handed it over to my sister. She opened it and inside was the soft, pink romper that I had been hoping for.

But the gift was no longer mine.

Y’all, isn’t that what we do? God gives us a gift from the heart. Something that we’ve longed for. Something that He knows will be just perfect for us – and we reject it. We reject it because we can’t see past our own assumptions.

This Christmas my hope is that we can all see and embrace the gifts that God has handpicked just for us. Maybe that gift is singing or writing or hospitality. Maybe that gift is cooking or carpentry or cleaning.

Whatever that gift is – thank Him. He handpicked it just for you. Trust God that it’s a good one – no matter what it looks like to the human eye. After all, how lucky are we to have a God that cares about us that much.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” 1 Peter 4:10

Expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. 

Luke 2:11 –  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

I struggle so much with the month of December, the expectations threaten to steal all my joy in this season. There are lost expectations and grief from missing loved ones. I’m constantly managing others’ expectations (or my own guesses about them) as I try to buy the perfect gifts and cook a great meal.  I’m expecting to see the whole family, attend parties and visit with people who have no one to celebrate with. It’s the most wonderful and overwhelming time of year!  I carry all the pressure of these expectations that honestly,  even in my best most “got it together” year I could never meet.  It’s so easy for me to get distracted by comparisons, become disappointed and forget what the season is truly about.

I have heard the Christmas story all of my life and each year I ask the Lord to teach me something new from this story. Today, as I sit reading it again in my house that’s under construction with all of my stuff packed away, God is speaking to me about expectations! 

When Jesus was born, the people were waiting, looking, expecting a messiah, a king, someone to deliver them, overcome evil and rule in peace. God defied all expectations.  He sent a baby….born in Bethlehem- in a barn…to live a perfect life, to die a horrible death and rise again on the 3rd day!  He chose a young, young woman named Mary, and a carpenter named Joseph to be His parents.  We would have expected Jesus to be born in a palace, or the best the world could offer, but God chose a stable, a dirty barn with animals! What did Mary think? She was expecting to be married, not have a baby in a barn with animals and hay! What about Joseph? He was expecting to marry his bride, not become a father. But, they were obedient, and they loved. They put their expectations aside and obeyed God.

God’s gift for you may not be packaged the way you expected it! God has such a beautiful plan, wrapped in ways you could never dream or expect! Our lives may look and feel like that messy barn. You may think God has brought you to the wrong place, and surrounded you with unexpected guests – like Mary. But God’s presence changes everything and fills our hearts with hope and joy!  Like Mary & Joseph, let’s surrender our expectations and embrace His presence.

“Do not be afraid” is the angel’s message over and over. To me, in this season of my life His message is: don’t be afraid, let God work, surrender my expectations. I commit this Christmas Season to the Lord, and I’m asking Him to establish my thoughts and plans. 

Expecting blessings, choosing the Joy of Jesus, & expecting my Savior’s return,Mary

There is something so warm and comforting in the tradition of rereading the Christmas story each December.  It’s a story that is so familiar because we see movies, watch plays, and attend candlelight Christmas Eve services each year that celebrates the birth of Christ. However, in the familiarity of the gospel story there is always new revelation to discover as we dig into scripture.  One of these rhema words, you know those moments the Holy Spirit is speaking straight to your soul, came to me a few years ago as I read Luke 1:26-36.  The angel Gabriel comes to Mary.  Scripture clearly lets us know that she is betrothed and a virgin.  Since we have never experienced a culture where there are arranged marriages, allow me to give a little background.  What Luke was communicating to his audience was that she was in covenant with someone, the bride price and the dowry had been paid but the wedding day had not occurred yet.  She was in a season of preparation for her groom and while his job was to build a place for her attached to his family’s home, her job was to prove her purity.  This was a vital part of this honor-shame way of life.  

     Going back to the narrative, Gabriel appears to Mary and says, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”  The next part is what really stuck out to me.  It says, “Mary was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be”.  This seems so odd. In our western American-dream culture we would immediately be wondering what amazing blessings we were about to receive with this newly announced favor!  Would we be getting that dream job, dream home, dream man?  Would we be so favored to have a large platform to influence millions of people?  I think we would be dancing and celebrating our victory.  But Mary was not only troubled, she was deeply troubled.  The angel goes on to speak over her that she will conceive and give birth to a son.  His name would be Jesus and He would be great.  He would be called Son of the Most High and His kingdom will have no end.  Again…wouldn’t that be incredibly exciting?  That would be even bigger and better than a social media platform or a dream job!  To a 14 year old girl in the east those words meant something entirely different.  In an honor-shame culture it would mean that she was potentially about to be publically divorced and shunned by the entire community because no one would believe she was still pure.  

This weight would be far too heavy for any young girl to carry, but Gabrial states in verse 35 that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. The Holy Spirit will give us the power we need to accomplish our God given calling. Mary responds so bravely and full of faith “I am the Lord’s slave, May it be done to me according to your word.” What a response. She chose without hesitation to walk in obedience and humility no matter what the cost would be. I have to stop here and evaluate my own heart and life and I invite you to do the same. Do I respond the same way Mary did when I am asked to make a great sacrifice for the kingdom? Do I quickly give up the favor bestowed upon me in order to take a safer path? Do I fully trust Him enough to pick up my cross to follow Him? I mean a cross is heavy, and has splinters and leads to TORTURE! Am I ready for the highly favored life? I want with everything within me to say “I am the Lord’s slave.” I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me, and so do you if you have chosen to follow Jesus. So what are we waiting for! Here we are Lord, use us.