Some Things Just Aren't Meant to Be
I am so disgusted! (What a lovely way to start a post.) I spent I don't know how long uploading Christmas pics to my blog yesterday so that each one of you could share in my family's magical White Christmas, and God saw fit to spare you from the boredom of it all. The autosave didn't work and then our computer froze up, and I had to shut it down without saving anything. Stink, stank, stunk!
Oh, well. I felt a little silly making you all sit through all that tedious stuff anyway (though there were some funny pics of Sam, which I may try to put back on here anyway) when you were either there yourself or you had enough Christmas memories of your own that you certainly don't need any of mine.
So, here's a brief, commemorative Christmas summary: food, presents, two-year-old temper tantrum, spankings, food, SNOW!!!!, food, Sam's first Christmas, a few more presents, and food. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I'm starting a new book on brokenness with my girls' group, and it's pretty fun letting God take his scalpel and dig away at your pride. Doesn't it sound like a barrel of laughs? Obviously, He is starting by not letting my blog be so much about me. Really, what do I have to offer without Him anyway? So, I'll continue with what He gave me to blog about the other day, and it wasn't pictures of rhinestone weiner dogs (I'll explain later) or my kids playing in the snow.
The fam was headed to church Sunday for our first worship service of the new year. We pulled to the end of our street, where we always have to stop and wait to turn on the main road outside of our neighborhood. Chris uttered the simple words, "I've never noticed that house before. It's big." I looked up from whatever I was doing which had drawn my eyes and attention downward and saw a large house up on the hill in front of us. There were lots of trees in front of the house, so in the summer, you'd be unable to see it from the road. Still, I was amazed that we have lived in this house no less than 5 1/2 years, and we had just now noticed this house that sits right outside of our neighborhood.
Immediately, God said, "How many times do you fail to look up, past the trees, and see the eternity I'm preparing for you?" And the answer to that would be: pretty much all the time. I always look forward to times like Christmas, spring break, and summer, when we get to take a break from the craziness of everyday life, but it's not long before I see the need to return to "normal." We spent time indulging in sleep, fun, and food, but after day upon day of that indulgance, I have to be reminded to look up and refocus. It is not sleep, fun, and food that give my life meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. It is Christ alone. How quickly I get preoccupied with all the pleasures and distractions right in front of me, and I fail to notice the future God has for me. I don't look just past the tree and up the hill to focus on the mansion He has for me in glory. That glorious future with Him should be my focus and aim, rather than the empty pleasures of this life.
Don't get me wrong. God blesses us with times of refreshment. But it's not for us to stay in that time. It's to refresh us for the work He has for us. So, rather than bemoan the fact that "real life" must begin again, I need to choose to rejoice that, just beyond the trees and up the hill, I have my real home waiting for me. That needs to be my focus and my heart's desire.
In this New Year, let's take our eyes off of us and this world and focus on the work He has for us to do, which will be totally worth it when we get to spend eternity with Him.
18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:18-21
Oh, well. I felt a little silly making you all sit through all that tedious stuff anyway (though there were some funny pics of Sam, which I may try to put back on here anyway) when you were either there yourself or you had enough Christmas memories of your own that you certainly don't need any of mine.
So, here's a brief, commemorative Christmas summary: food, presents, two-year-old temper tantrum, spankings, food, SNOW!!!!, food, Sam's first Christmas, a few more presents, and food. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I'm starting a new book on brokenness with my girls' group, and it's pretty fun letting God take his scalpel and dig away at your pride. Doesn't it sound like a barrel of laughs? Obviously, He is starting by not letting my blog be so much about me. Really, what do I have to offer without Him anyway? So, I'll continue with what He gave me to blog about the other day, and it wasn't pictures of rhinestone weiner dogs (I'll explain later) or my kids playing in the snow.
The fam was headed to church Sunday for our first worship service of the new year. We pulled to the end of our street, where we always have to stop and wait to turn on the main road outside of our neighborhood. Chris uttered the simple words, "I've never noticed that house before. It's big." I looked up from whatever I was doing which had drawn my eyes and attention downward and saw a large house up on the hill in front of us. There were lots of trees in front of the house, so in the summer, you'd be unable to see it from the road. Still, I was amazed that we have lived in this house no less than 5 1/2 years, and we had just now noticed this house that sits right outside of our neighborhood.
Immediately, God said, "How many times do you fail to look up, past the trees, and see the eternity I'm preparing for you?" And the answer to that would be: pretty much all the time. I always look forward to times like Christmas, spring break, and summer, when we get to take a break from the craziness of everyday life, but it's not long before I see the need to return to "normal." We spent time indulging in sleep, fun, and food, but after day upon day of that indulgance, I have to be reminded to look up and refocus. It is not sleep, fun, and food that give my life meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. It is Christ alone. How quickly I get preoccupied with all the pleasures and distractions right in front of me, and I fail to notice the future God has for me. I don't look just past the tree and up the hill to focus on the mansion He has for me in glory. That glorious future with Him should be my focus and aim, rather than the empty pleasures of this life.
Don't get me wrong. God blesses us with times of refreshment. But it's not for us to stay in that time. It's to refresh us for the work He has for us. So, rather than bemoan the fact that "real life" must begin again, I need to choose to rejoice that, just beyond the trees and up the hill, I have my real home waiting for me. That needs to be my focus and my heart's desire.
In this New Year, let's take our eyes off of us and this world and focus on the work He has for us to do, which will be totally worth it when we get to spend eternity with Him.
18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:18-21
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