Follow Faithfully

Luke 2: 10-11 (NLV)

I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people. Today, One Who saves from the punishment of sin has been born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.

I tried this recipe for the first time this morning and it is SO good! I got it from my friend Jacqueline, so I wanted to give her a shout-out and a thank you for sharing this recipe.

Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled oats
3/4c brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk 
2 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/4c maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, syrup and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

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NOTES:

I used the “1-Minute” oats and I found that this made the dish a little bit dry. So, I would recommend the regular old fashioned oats.

I substituted blueberries for cranberries since that’s what we had. I sprinkled frozen blueberries on top of half of the oatmeal (Macey won’t eat them) and it was really good!

Yikes! I have a case of “Blogger’s Block”! Several times I have signed in, gone to draft a new post and I just come up empty. Or, I come up lame which is really worse than empty. I don’t like for days to go by without posts and yet here I am, struggling to come up with anything postworthy. Not good.

So, in an attempt to help snap this block, I am asking for help from anyone who might be reading my little blog. What would YOU like to see here? Are there subjects you’d like to discuss? Are there any CDs I need to check out or books I need to read? What are the hot topics on your mind? Please share. Seriously. Please. I would love to discuss. And, I’d love to break out of this rut. HELP!!

Revelation CDBy Third Day / Provident Music DistributionMusically adventurous and lyrically vulnerable, the band gives voice to the mixed emotions of all believers—reconciling our everyday struggles with the hope of heaven! Includes “Run to You”; “Born Again”; “This Is Who I Am”; “Caught Up in Yourself”; “I Will Always Be True”; “Take It All”; the first single, “Call My Name”; the title track; and more.

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We recently got this CD after wanting it for awhile and, let me just say, it’s incredible. Third Day is one of my favorite bands and they have come through yet again with another amazing album! If you haven’t purchased this one yet, don’t hesitate any further - GET IT. Trust me.

This CD opens with “This Who I Am” which is a song that sets the rock tone for this album. The next song, “Slow Down”, is my favorite right now. I could not think of a better two songs to kick off Revelation because these two are powerhouse rocking songs with an incredibly driven message supporting them. Every song on this album brings true Third Day style and dynamic. Mac Powell’s voice has a raw purity about it that just moves. Mark Lee on guitar and Tai Anderson on bass combined with David Carr on drums drive the amazing songs through the album as Mac brings the vocals as only he can. This album is a Third Day classic. I’m hooked already.

I have decided to work on my “thankful list” since we have just over two weeks before Thanksgiving. My family and I are so blessed and have much to be thankful for and I want to use my blog as a declaration of our thankfulness.

Today, I am thankful for friends…

Mickey and I are blessed to have some incredible friends. Since we don’t live within close proximity to any members of our family, we are even more thankful to have friends close by that we love and who love us in return. We know that we have this extended family in God and it blesses our hearts tremendously.  I am grateful that I have had the same best friend for such a long time and even distance can’t separate the bond God gave us as sisters of the heart.  Mickey and I are both thankful to have reconnected with old friends and also made new friends via the internet.  To see our girls forming friendships and sharing in giggles, play and fun is just beautiful. We just have so much to be thankful for in the way of friendships that I cannot do justice with words. Friends are a true gift of God and for each of our friends and their places in our hearts and lives, we are truly grateful.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV)

Savannah Comes Undone, Savannah Series #2 By Denise Hildreth / Thomas Nelson When Savannah’s “drama queen” mother chains herself to a town landmark and becomes the lead story on the six o’clock news, Savannah takes it like a southern lady—and that “ain’t” sitting down! Fans of Savannah from Savannah will rejoice to see this hilarious heroine back in another laugh-out-loud romantic adventure. 320 pages, softcover from WestBow.

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This is the second book in Denise Hildreth’s “Savannah” series. In the first novel, Savannah from Savannah, we meet Savannah Phillips and her family and get to know Savannah more through her move back home from college and her starting a new job at a newspaper in Savannah, GA. At the end of that novel, we learn that Savannah’s mother, Victoria, has done something huge, something quite drastic and we are left with Savannah rushing to the scene of her mother’s created chaos. Savannah Comes Undone seamlessly picks right up where Savannah from Savannah ended.

In this novel, we follow Savannah through her own journey as she deals with her mother having chained herself to a monument of the Ten Commandments. We first find Savannah’s thought process to be petty and self-serving and as the novel develops so does the depth of her character.  Along the way she meets a unique stranger named Joy whose presence is initially off-putting to Savannah, but eventually becomes a comfort and a source of, well, joy. Eventually Savannah realizes what is important and it’s NOT all about her.

This novel is rich in character development. I also appreciate the way Hildreth sets the scene and takes us right into the heart of Savannah, Georgia. As a fan of Southern literature, I’m also appreciative of the fact that Southern dialect is appropriately interjected, but without overkill or gross exaggeration. This novel continued right from the first book with no interuption which I found to be refreshing and engaging.

I’m a fan of Denise Hildreth and I am so glad to have finally started on this wonderful series. I might be a few years late to the Savannah party, but I’m here now and I’m eager to move right along to the next and final installment in this wonderful series, Savannah by the Sea.

Today is a Federal holiday here in the US. It’s Veterans Day. A day to honor and thank those who have served our country and those who have fallen in protecting our liberties. In our combined family we have many veterans serving from WWII through the War on Terror. We are honored and grateful for EVERY Veteran and especially those closest to our own hearts. THANK YOU! God bless you all!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

It’s that time of year again. It’s just barely past Halloween, still more than two weeks before Thanksgiving and yet Christmas is already everywhere we look. Decorations have been up in some stores for weeks now, more catalogs are coming in the mail daily and we’re even beginning to hear some Christmas songs on the radio. I could actually get on a soapbox and rant all day on how I feel that Christmas has become too commercialized and how ridiculous I find it that decorations and such are already up, but that is not the point of today’s blog entry. I can hear the collective sigh of relief already. Today’s topic is about how torn I am on this Santa thing. It’s really weighing on my mind today and I wanted to get out some thoughts and hopefully get some feedback too.  So, stick with me here, please and feel free to leave comments. I’m very interested in what others think and have to say.

As I mentioned above,  I am really REALLY torn on this Santa Claus issue.  On one hand, I think it’s fun to get into the whole Santa system. I mean, it’s a little bit of “magic” (please note that I use that word innocently) that kids get to think about, or believe in, for a month and a half out of every year. (We all know they forget about all that “He’s watching, be good” stuff as soon as they see the gifts around the tree. That is shot for another eleven months.) In our house we leave out cookies and Mountain Dew each Christmas Eve because Santa needs a caffeine jolt by the time he finally gets to Georgia. We also leave carrots and water for the reindeer.  The anticipation and excitement of it all is fun. It really is a great time. But, it feels weird to me this year for some reason. Even though I know it’s all in fun, I feel like I’m lying to my kids about a person that doesn’t exist. I feel that I’m misleading them and potentially setting them up to get their hearts broken when they find out the truth. And, what if this causes them to question if Jesus is real too?! This is the dilemma on my heart today. Of all days, why today? I  have no idea, but it’s there.  This burden is on my heart and I can’t seem to make much of it on my own right now.

I should clarify that we most certainly teach our girls first and foremost that Christmas is about celebrating Jesus’ birth. They know that much. We keep Christ in Christmas because, well, that’s what it’s all about. The whole Santa thing is far secondary to Jesus, of course.  Macey even likes to help me bake a birthday cake for Jesus and we love to sing the Christmas songs that celebrate His birth. That element is present in our home and in our celebrations. That’s where we try to keep our main focus. But, kids are kids and since the whole Santa bit gets told in school and even in church they can’t help but to hear it and be excited by it. It’s been impossible to fully shield our children from knowing about Santa in our society. They know about the big guy in the red and white suit and, trust me, they are genuinely intrigued by it all. What worries me is setting them up to learn that he’s not really real and what that might do to their trust in us and in the Christian values we are helping to establish in them. We have a friend who told us the story of his daughter finding out about Santa and it devastated her because she then wanted to know if they made up the story of Jesus too. That really hit my heart. The last thing I ever want for these girls is to think that any element of our Christian faith is just made up or even untrue. So, the question plaguing me today is wondering if it’s truly possible to intermingle a little bit of Santa lore while keeping the the focus on Jesus? I tend to think so. I want to think so, but my mind is going a hundred miles per hour on that one today.

I would love to hear from other Christians about how you and your family celebrate Christmas. What do you all do? Especially if your child or children are like ours and can’t help but know about Santa from their various surroundings. How do you handle it?

I’m wondering if it’s time to talk to Macey and explain that Santa isn’t real, but it’s fun to think about there being such a kind and generous person in the world. I wonder if she’d get that? I don’t want to ruin any fun for her. She definitely knows what the true meaning of Christmas is - she’s got Jesus in her heart and she knows it’s about Him. Mariana is still a bit young, but she is learning too.

So, let me hear from you. How were things in your home growing up? How are they now? How is Santa handled in your house? Let me hear it. I’m eager to discuss. This is not a one time blog post. This is something that I want to explore and find my way to peace about this season.

God has really been working on me lately about reading my Bible. I’ll admit that I have slacked off on it and I have no excuse for that. He’s working on me.  It’s subtle, but I know that God is guiding me to and through His word.

Last night I read my current novel (Savannah Comes Undone) before bed. I got a few chapters read and put the book down before reaching over to my nightstand to turn off my lamp. As I reached across the nightstand, I noticed my Bible there.  I felt a nudge to pick it up and read it, but continued to reach for the lamp because, well, I was tired. The nudge won over and I picked up the Bible and began to read where I had placed the ribbon marker the last time I read it. I have a goal of reading through the New Testament, but I have admittedly not been reading as regularly as I should. So, last night my reading took me to Matthew 6:25-34 which reads as follows:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

That is a passage about worry.  It was a passage that my heart has desperately needed lately.  Our family has had some financial struggles over the last year and a half or so. I think it goes without saying that financial struggles are some of the hardest to face because, well, money is so essential to getting by in this life. I have been praying for a solution and have asked God for guidance, wisdom and His continued provision. All of which He has freely given, in His amazing ways. Last night’s reading was such a comfort to me because I needed that blessed assurance. I needed to once again realize that my trust needs to be fully in God’s plan. I needed to find that release. He gave it. He guided me right into His word and took me to the passage that my heart so desperately sought even without me knowing it. It’s not a coincidence that my reading last night took me to that particular section of Matthew. That was God and with God there are no coincidences.  I just feel so blessed that He, the God of all creation, gave that to me at that time last night. At a time when I could have worried myself to bits and pieces, God brought me to His word and reassured me yet again. He didn’t have to do that, but He did.  Amazing.

I think it’s so important to remember that God doesn’t always come to us in ways that move mountains. Sometimes He nudges. Sometimes He whispers. We might think we NEED Him to yell, to get in our face, to guide our feet, but His way is THE way and we have to trust in that. We have to be willing to move according to Him and not ourselves. I find that hard sometimes, I won’t even begin to say that I don’t. How many times have I reached over that Bible and turned off the light to go to sleep without reading? Too many. But, not last night. And, He blessed me for it. Praise be to God!!

I don’t know exactly WHY this thought popped into my head last night, but as I was getting ready for bed I started thinking about what it would be like if my life were a movie that I could watch. At first I thought about how cool that would be.  Who wouldn’t want ot relive the great memories, right? I also know there are LOTS of good things that have happened that I have simply forgotten over the years. That would all be pretty fun to  see again. But, then it occurred to me that there are just parts of my life that I’d rather not revisit. I’d rather leave that footage on the cutting room floor to be swept away never to be thought of or seen again. Aren’t we all like that? Don’t we all have regrets along the way? I’ll confess that I certainly do. It’s human nature because we’re born sinners. Try as we might, no one gets through this life without some sources of shame. So, more than wanting to see my whole life as a movie, I think I’d rather see the highlight reel. I’d rather see the beautiful moments and relive some forgotten good times. Wouldn’t that be pretty amazing?

I hope it doesn’t sound corny to say this, but in writing this I realized that Jesus came to provide believers with a cutting room floor for the sinful times in our lives. Okay, I know. It’s a bit corny, but stick with me. It’s true, right? Because Christ came, taught, was crucified, died and rose again we have the awesome gift of losing the sins of our past, present and future. If we accept and believe. Now, that’s incredible. Because of Jesus, we have the highlight reel and the rest is forgotten in Eternity. That’s not to say it’s forgotten during our lifetimes. I don’t mean that we should dwell on mistakes of our past or that we should live under a depressing cloak of guilt. That’s not the way of Christ. He has promised us forgiveness that comes by faith and trust. So, our mistakes are washed away, but I truly believe that the lessons we can take away from them need to remain. If we don’t acknowlege and repent, then we don’t move forward. If we don’t realize our wrongdoings and work to make sure we better ourselves, we don’t really let go of the mistakes themselves. I have gotten bogged down in the sadness of my own mistakes. I keep thinking that sometimes things are just not forgiveable. But, that is not faith talk. That is not faith in action. To believe fully in Christ is to know that ALL is forgiven by His sacrifice. We cannot and should not remain in the mire of our sin, but we can take valuable life lessons from our mistakes and move forward. We can live our highlight reel every day! All we have to do is accept, confess, repent and believe. How awesome is THAT?!

1 John 8-9:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.