And now we are living the 4th day, of Twelve Days of Christmas. Four!
We know the joys of Christmas 2023 and the less than enjoyable.
Now, we remember our Blessings and feel sad, some of the many Blessings are missing. With nobility, this would be the people we Love and miss. Times families laughed and had such Joy and such Merry, Merry Christmases. The Lord would be warmed as we have our hearts warmed and our eyes misty.
And some is the comment, purely designated to cause scalding harm. A heart that is bored or less than in merriment needs to see human misery. Greed. The emptiness of heart, lives and the abyss of need. Perhaps the comment would echo when the mark is hit. When we are young, we wonder if they are correct and if our hurt sorrow is our weakness, dooming us to perpetual depression. And would like the agility to shrug. One of the luxuries of many years, to realize the doom of the doomed. And have Jesus help us Rise above the muck. And this comes from seeing the decades. The people who leave a wake of hate and hurt. And probably the truth is the perpetual need for an atmosphere of insults, cold and power - are angry. The phrase from the Victorians and earlier is, mad. Today, we see them in zombie movies. In one Church for 20 years, the sermon was heard, you can tell you are praying for this person because, suddenly, it is so very much worse. There is a prayer, for the prayer, in this situation. To begin praying for the Lord to be our Strong Tower. To ask the Lord to let us pray in the Presence of God and ask His protection as we pray for those leaving a daily wake and angry and in power to enjoy this wake.
And then, there is the perfect plan, turned into the worst day, and we were told to fly straight and get out of loserville. To those with self-esteem, this is a solid surprise. Almost like having someone, with a frying pan, jump out of the stairwell and hit us hard. The surprise hurt. One to mull over and decide. Doesn't matter that the person complaining has had life knock out their front teeth hopes, does it?
We belong to the Lord.
And He calls us to Joy and we have His Strength to be reasonable. And He told us to be salt. To speak the truth. In Jesus Christ, we find the flame of God inside us - Joy. No Disciple met life with peace. We instead find the fire of Comfort and Joy. Glad Tidings!
And then there are the Christmases of my Grandmother Bit. Her friend, rival and dear neighbor she loved and envied, wept and laughed with: Virginia used to say, "Bit had the most beautiful of families, home, Mother, Father, both Grandmothers, siblings, vacations, 2 live ins, joy every day and now has to live with the memory of the decades ended." The hope God is indeed Might, Power, Glory and will carry us on. Even when sometimes the Lord spoke to her and assured her.
The people who had hoped to be perfect and create Heaven on earth. As if we humans could make whirled peas. The unmet expectations of almost every year. End the whirled cycle. Run.
The work we have done and everyone ate the meal, opened the gifts and, now, we look around.
The people who have abyss needs and by GOD, this was another, wouldn't you know, year Santa Baby didn't hurry down the chimney AGAIN. Heads will Roll. Names will be taken. Others smile with that pasty happiness on social media AGAIN.
Do you need the salt and pepper or a pick me up today? I'd raise my had for the pick me up. It wasn't my favorite day today. The type of day you have to be brave and decide you are gloomy and major gloomy support arguments will be suppressed and put on vacation with severe determination. (hep me, Lord God.) Biblically. Lord, I have faith, help me to have more faith. This is like an Easter Egg Hunt, any minute now the Peace will arrive. And finally, a whisp of Peace. Hold firmly and put all anxiety and unrest on vacation. With prayer, we can get the Peace to enter and the anxiety to leave with a prayer.
Now, this is a major point of cheerfulness....
Really!
So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
I've always loathed this song because, until this moment, I thought we sang the patron saint of complaining and draggy thoughts.
And what have you done?
Another year older.
So now, I am relieved this miserable song has Good News!
I'm sure next year will be better, without 14 hours of rotavirus or upheaval.
There are so many good points to having Christmas linger.
Really good, reasonable points. Instead of rocketing toward the tree and the happy decorations and quickly stuffing them in a box, we can take time to muss out why the Best Christmases need some 'new' planning to create a better event. Next year, I will start in the first week of November and put out the freezer of don't eat it, toss it and begin to do the small things and a few of the larger things. With time to have joy instead of roaring down the highway of self-control to overcome the Christmas chores in a self acceptable time frame. And remove the Christmas boxes. More time to have more joy.
And ask people what they did this year that was fun to have more ideas.
And instead of just putting anxiety on vacation, take some time to express it out loud and not beat it to death in a brave attempt for overcoming.
When we were in our 2nd decade, we needed boxes to store the increasing ornaments, and certainly not the kind that cost actual money. We raided liquor stores to get empty boxes and then painted them a solid red or green to find them in our little attic. The Lord told us about vineyards 22 times in the New Testament. Those boxes held up for decades. And we loved them. We lived in a newlywed or nearly dead neighborhood, which I enjoyed the neighbors, tremendously, and the older ones absolutely loved seeing me turning our winter grass red and green to have red and green boxes.
Memories are good events. They really are. Edward told me just in the last decade ish to get the boxes in the recycle bins because they dropped more ornaments than they held and were becoming red and green dust. I really did love him telling me and so, love being told to get new plastic ones is a gift, in these years as well.
Christmas Lingers and we remember. The year Edward and I had our first child, tremendously early. We found out our son would live on Christmas Morning. Visits scrubbing up the required 15 minutes to enter the Neonatal ICU. And to see a bona fide Christmas Miracle. 1988 Presbyterian Hospital and the Emergency Room was just about completely, empty. We, never, will let our hearts forget seeing a Miracle of The Lord. Thank You, Jesus Christ.
Seeing those vast sets of parking lots at Presbyterian Hospital on Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, in 1988, for Christmas and Christmas Eve, helps me to remember when praying for the ill - even the desperately ill - the miracles and possibilities of Jesus Christ. All the Hospital Staff in the hallways looked incredibly pleased.
We can always remember, when we are down, to approach the Lord's Throne. And on the days we just feel like this is a far cry from sorrow inside, then we can be the one on the floor reaching up, up to the Lord Jesus Christ to touch the fringe of the robe made with Love for Wonderful Jesus.
When they had crossed over,
they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore.
54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him and ran about the whole region and began to bring
the sick people on their beds
to wherever they heard He was.
56 And wherever He came,
in villages,
cities,
or countryside,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and implored Him
that they might touch even the fringe of His Garment.
And as many as touched it
were made
well.
Abba, Father,
May the God of hope fill us all, everyone,
with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
we may abound in hope.
Dwell in me,
Dwell in us,
Dwell in those we Love,
Help us to seek You first.
And we will finish well, in Jesus Christ.
Help us find and bring
to become
more Heaven
to this earth.
The Lord,
The Almighty,
Our Father,
Bless,
Save,
Secure
and Uphold
those who had no
Christmas in
Israel.
And Ukraine.
Those here with us.
We know:
Our God is working. His Son,
Jesus is working.
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