Gift Of Love

            Merry Christmas, friends! I hope that you’ve all had a wonderful day filled with joy and laughter. I, for one, can hardly believe that 2012 is almost over. Time has gone by so quickly.

            I have been thinking a lot about the Christmas story over the past few days. And I’ve been struck again by the magnificence of it. It is such an incredible, crazy, awesome, beautiful story. There is none like it on earth.

            God - the almighty Creator of the universe – became flesh. He adopted human form and put himself in the womb of a virgin. He was born in a dirty stable, and placed in a manger to sleep. Men, for the first of many times, sought to end His life when He was only a baby. His life was filled with pain and suffering, yet He never complained. He bore it all with patience and love. He carried our sins up Calvary’s hill and died on a cross.

            But then He rose again. Death could not bind him. His power extended over death, and He rose from the grave victorious. But that’s not even the most amazing part.

            The most amazing thing is… He did it for us.

            For us. The beings He created and loved. The beings that rejected Him, beat Him, drew His blood, mocked Him, spat in His face. The beings who are selfish, cruel, uncaring, unloving, sinful, vulgar, and absolutely unlovable.

            He – who was above all – lowered Himself to the lowest state possible. He humbled Himself to become human, and so doing saved the world. He suffered a cruel and torturous death… and all for us.

            Is this not mind-boggling? That God would love us so fully as to give up His life for us? We, who are so utterly unworthy. I don’t know about you, but I find that humbling.

            God… thank You so much for what You did that day. In becoming a Man, You set us free. The Christmas story is just the beginning of an epic love story. One that You have written for us. Oh God, I am so undeserving of this… all of this. All the gifts that You have given to me. Why? I will never understand why You love me – a worthless sinner. I can never fathom the depths of Your love.

            But this I do know. I know that You love me, despite all my failings, and that You died for me.

            That means so much. Thank You, Lord. I love you.

                                                                                                     ~Riah


"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us!"
    -John 1:14      
          What a transition!
          What a stoop for that Infinite Being who proclaimed
Himself the Alpha and the Omega--for "The Ancient
of days" to assume the nature and take the form of
a cradled infant, sleeping on a virgin mother's bosom!
          We have no plumb line to sound the depths of that
humiliation. We have no arithmetic by which it can
be submitted to any process of calculation.      
          If we can entertain for a moment, the shocking
supposition of the loftiest created spirit in Heaven
abjuring his angel nature, and becoming an insect
or a worm--then we can, in some feeble degree,
estimate the descent involved in Jesus' humiliation.

          But, for the Illimitable, Everlasting Jehovah,
Himself to become incarnate . . .
  the Creator--to take the nature of the created;
  the Infinite--to be joined with the finite;
  Deity--to be linked with dust;
this baffles all our comprehension!      
          We can only lie in adoring reverence, and
exclaim with the apostle, "O the depth!"      
"Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth!"
                                            -John MacDuff, "Clefts of the Rock" 1874

Blessings

           I am so thankful for oil lamps, flashlights, bottled water, and cell phones. We have had a ridiculous amount of snow this week, and yesterday we lost all power. Water, electricity, internet... everything. Thankfully, some guys from Pacific Power were able to come out this morning and fix it for us.

And that got me thinking. There are so many little things that we take for granted. But often, it's not until those little things are taken away that we realize how much we depend on them. Like not having running water. God has poured so many blessings over us, yet so often we are blind to them.

In my post, Everyday Life, I talk about finding joy in the little things. But really – how do we find joy in the little things? People say that joy is a choice. Yes, it is a choice, but you can’t force yourself to be joyful. So where do we find true, genuine joy?

I read a wonderful book this year called One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. She shares how she suffered from anxiety and depression, and how she came to find true joy. It is an excellent book, and one that I would recommend reading.

So what is the key to this mystery? What is the key to the well of joy?

            Thankfulness.

Allow me to expound on this (you really should just read the book). Suppose someone gives you a present. What would you do? You would thank the giver of the gift, right?

Each and every moment is God-given. It is a gift. Every moment He gives us is a gift, with something beautiful and wonderful inside. But so often we are consumed with ourselves, or our lives, or what’s going on around us, that we are blind to these gifts.

Blind to joy.

Have you ever suddenly, out-of-the-blue, been struck by the enormity of what Jesus did for you? Have you ever just been overwhelmed with this feeling of thankfulness for all that He did and continues to do? And doesn’t it make you feel… joyful? I’ve had those moments, and they are beautiful.

We are incredibly undeserving, filthy, sinful, ugly beings. And yet God continues to pour out blessing upon blessing. Shouldn’t we thank Him for these gifts? Obviously, it’s impossible to thank Him for every gift – they are innumerable. But what if we thanked Him for each one that came to mind? Whenever you feel awed or wowed by something – whether an incredible sunset, the intricate complexity of the human body, or running water – stop and thank God for it. Feeling a subconscious gratitude isn’t enough. We need to actually voice our thanksgiving and praise to Him.

This morning, when I started writing this blog post, I looked out the window and saw a little chickadee hopping through the snow. As I watched it, I thought, Thank You for this moment, God. It’s such a simple, ordinary little thing; a bird hopping through the snow. But I was the only one who saw it, who got to enjoy it. God gave this moment to me, and that made it special.

There is a gift in every moment. My challenge to you is to look for it. And more than that, to thank God for it. He made it for you.

“Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” (Gen. 21:19)

            In this wilderness, I keep circling back to this: I’m blind to joy’s well every time I really don’t want it. The well is always there. And I choose not to see it. Don’t I really want joy? Don’t I really want the fullest life? For all my yearning for joy, longing for joy, begging for joy –is the bald truth that I prefer the empty dark? Prefer drama? Why do I lunge for control instead of joy? Is it somehow more perversely satisfying to flex control’s muscle? Ah – power – like Satan. Do I think Jesus-grace too impotent to give me the full life? Isn’t that the only reason I don’t always swill the joy? If the startling truth is that I don’t’ really want joy, there’s a far worse truth. If I am rejecting the joy that is hidden somewhere deep in this moment – am I not ultimately rejecting God? Whenever I am blind to joy’s well, isn’t it because I don’t believe in God’s care? That God cares enough about me to always offer me joy’s water, wherever I am, regardless of circumstance. But if I don’t believe God cares, if I don’t want or seek the joy He definitely offers somewhere in this moment – I don’t want God.

~Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

 

~~~

I apologize that this post is a little disorganized. I guess I shouldn’t be writing at eleven thirty at night. ;P Plus, this is a rather extensive topic, and I don't feel like I can do it complete justice in a blog post.

Early Morning

          This is a poem I wrote a couple of days ago in honor of those who died in the shooting on Friday. I' m not very good a poetry, but I wanted to write something in remembrance of all those who died on that day.

Early Morning                                                                                                     12-15-12

Dedicated to Emilie Parker, who was killed in the school shooting in Newton, Connecticut, on December 14^th, 2012.

Early morning

Sunrise smile

I twirl her around

She’s such a big girl now

Already six years old

But my girl Emilie, she’ll always be

Daddy’s little girl to me

Early morning

Off to school

She turns and she smiles

Oh how I love that girl

My little angel, walking away

Never could I’ve guessed

That this would be her last day

Early morning

Spent in class

Dreaming through the clear glass

When suddenly there was a shot

And a child fell, blood running hot

Screams and cries filled the air

As a man took lives without a care

Bullets flew, met their target

As he shot them, his feelings forgotten

Blood spilt, life fled

Till all lay on the floor, shot dead

Then with a cry,

The gunman aimed

His vile weapon at his heart

Took his own life in his hands

And with it, bade his soul depart

Early morning

The air is filled

With the cries of the mourning

Of loved ones still

Life is now fraught

With the pain and anguish

That evil has wrought

Life has been lost

Families broken

Hearts wracked with grief

As we remember those taken

But in the midst of the pain,

We hear a small voice

Reminding us not to fear

Evil has not won this time

We’ll again be with those we hold dear

They are gone on, to a better place

Surrounded by God’s unending grace

Early morning

Sun breaking through

As I thank God for His mercies anew

My heart is still wracked with grief

But I have now come to this belief

I will see my Emilie again

Twirl her around in the wind

Hold her close to my heart

And never, ever, shall we part.

First Snow

          I went to see the Nutcracker Ballet this afternoon. It was amazing. Ballet is so beautiful. My brother and sister were in the performance (as the butler and maid) and did a wonderful job.
          We had our first snow of the year yesterday morning. It was so beautiful. It snowed again this morning, and I took some pictures to share with you.
          Never forget to thank God for the life that He has blessed us with. Each day is a priceless and undeserved gift, given to us so that we can give glory to Him. Let us not forget why we were created.
          Have a blessed weekend!
         

 

 

Why Can't They See?

            Man is depraved. Just in case you didn’t notice.

            I am so sad right now. My stomach is tight, and my heart aches. How could someone do this?

            This morning, a young man (early twenties) went to an elementary school and shot a room full of kindergartners. As of one o’clock, twenty seven were dead – around twenty of that number were six-year-olds. He also shot his mother, who was the teacher of the class. Then he shot himself.

            (note: I am writing this post based off the information I know. As this is such a fresh story, I’m sure that it will change as we discover more information. So please forgive me if some of my information isn’t accurate).

            I just… can’t even fathom. Why is there so little value attached to humanity? How can people just go out and kill others? There was the Batman shooting in Colorado a few months back. There was a shooting at the Clackamas Mall in Portland just a few days ago. Not to mention the thousands of abortions performed daily around the world. And now this.

            It’s freakish.

Why is there no respect for life? Why can’t they see that this is wrong? I know that we, as Christians, see the value in life. We are created in the image of Almighty God and loved by Him. But the world is living in darkness; they can’t see. They cannot see anything right or good or true; they are blind to it. It is our duty as bearers of Light to show them the truth.

Every single person on this planet is an eternal being, with an eternal destiny. There is no such thing as death, for anyone. Either we go to Heaven, or we go to Hell. I’m thinking about this man, who ended his life (and so many others) this morning. Where is he now? I know the answer to that question, and it’s chilling.

I’m scared. I’m scared of the world that I have to grow up in. I’m scared, because I know that it’s only going to get worse. This is a world of sinners, ruled by sinners, and all are stumbling around in a void darkness, searching for some purpose to all of this.

We know the answer. We have found the light. So why aren’t we sharing this with them?

In his sermon, Is This Really Church?, Francis Chan talks about how we are called to make disciples of men. He attributes the following quote to another pastor whose name I can’t remember at the moment. But he says,

“Christ calls [the church] to be fishers of men. But instead, we’ve become more of an aquarium.”

We need to leave our comfort zone and reach out to the world. This is such a lost, sinful, depraved world, in desperate need of redemption. Life has lost its meaning, and now the world is losing its life.

~~~

Sorry that this is such a disorganized post, but I can’t think clearly right now. Please keep all of the people involved in this shooting in your prayers. I can’t imagine the pain that they’re going through. Their loss is so different from mine… Josh’s death (circumstantially) was an accident. But these children… these precious little children, were deliberately killed. Pray for them – please. It may not feel like much, but it makes such a difference.

Beautiful Day

            Happy triple twelve!! It is December 12^th, 2012 – 12/12/12. It will be a good many years until we have another triple-number year like this.

            It is a beautiful day. A sky masked with white cloud, husky green trees standing tall. The nip in the air is bracing, chilling as I breathe in.

            I feel… good. Better than I have been. Beauty is around me; it’s all I see. I am surrounded by people who I love, and who love me. I live in a land of abundant blessing. Yes, there is pain, but God is here, with me, even in the darkness. He will never let go, and it is His faithful love that has carried me this far.

            God is so good. He is revealing himself to me, little by little, bringing me to appreciate His beauty and majesty. He is wooing me, slowly but surely, drawing me into a romance with Himself. Oh, the bliss! I know not yet what it feels like to love One so great, but I pray the day will be soon when I am overwhelmed.

            This is my desire. To love God with all that I am. To feel the embrace of His love. To obey His commands with delight, and draw others to Him. We are all lost in a world of darkness, but only those who see the Light know it.

            I want to be filled with the Light. I still have so far to go… The road is seemingly endless ahead of me. The path is narrow, and filled with hardship, but I believe with all my heart that the destination will be worth it. God is calling to me. Oh Father, give me the strength to follow.

            I look to the sky. The white clouds part, revealing a stunning blue. I smile softly.

            God died for me, loves me. Forgives me. Despite all the evils I have committed, despite all the mistakes I make. Despite how utterly unlovable I am. He still loves me.

            It is a beautiful day.