The Gift of a Slower Pace

This time of year is so busy. We have gifts to buy and wrap -let’s not forget wrapping the presents, cookies to bake, a tree to decorate, and parties to plan and about a gazillion other things to get done along with the “normal” routine things. It’s enough to drive a person up a wall. It seems as though even if there were a million hours a day we could not get everything done. We hurry from one thing to the next, and truly enjoy none of it.

I want to offer you a gift, the gift of a slower pace. Especially at Christmas, it’s incredibly easy to get side-tracked. We get in such haste to accomplish everything on a “to do” list a mile long that we lose sight of Christmas and maybe some unexpected blessings because we let ourselves get too busy to notice. We are so busy that we can’t or won’t adjust our schedule to accommodate what might be a blessing.

Thinking back to that very first Christmas, the shepherds, the lowly shepherds, were given the privilege of seeing this miracle. Just for a second, imagine how different it would have been if the shepherds in the fields had decided they were too busy to go to Bethlehem to see this “baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.” Instead of playing the “busy” card they left the sheep –which incidentally was their livelihood- and “went to see this thing that the angels had told them.” They were among the first to look upon the face of God. What a Blessing! They would have missed a blessing if they had not allowed for interruptions to their schedule. The baby would have been born, but they would not have seen it.

This Christmas, let's throw out the "to do" list, especially if it means being too busy to stop and help someone else, spend time with the family. Let’s allow our schedule to be interrupted in order that we might gain a blessing, even if it’s only the blessing of giving joy to others. Let’s not lose sight of the eternal among the trappings of Christmas. Christmas was God becoming man. It was not about a Christmas tree, or cookies, gifts or any of the things that we often get in such a hurry over at Christmas. These other things are all good, in perspective, but the real blessing is Jesus. This Christmas, slow your pace. Life will continue if you don’t get that last gift, or send a billion cards, or make oodles of cookies. One thing for sure, if we slow down we may find ourselves enjoying Christmas a little more.

Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a misse...

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road....

Thank you God for Leading us

Thank you God for how you lead us. Like a shepherd leading his sheep. Sometimes through the words you spoke in the Bible, your written word. at other times, it was the wise words from friends, coworkers,or neighbors spoken at just the right time. Still other times it was a gentle tug, a whisper to our heart to move in one direction or another; intuition or a sixth sense that one way or another was right or wrong Yet, when I listened and obeyed I found the way was clear, distinct and easy to follow. You never leave us to guess which way to go. ...

Inspirations

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