A Few Random Thoughts for Living Well Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

TWO SOON-TO-CELEBRATE-HOLY-DAYS:

THANKSGIVING  

Tomorrow!!!! 

It's always a favorite holiday, because more than any other time I intentionally focus on the GOOD of all GOD has BLESSED me with in spite of me...in spite of a tragic pandemic, a volatile election, a spring of racially-charged rioting, and a kazillion little incidences in 2020 that all added up to DIFFERENT and, sometimes, HARD.

Oh, but, this THANKSGIVING, let us "taste and see that the Lord is good" in the midst of all we've experienced! Sometimes it's more difficult to do in the HARD, but when the GOOD is found, the celebration is even greater!

Where there is Thanksgiving, we set the stage for entering into the gates of our Lord's Presence...and where the Lord is there is GREAT JOY!!!

CHRISTMAS 

Advent begins this coming Sunday!!!

It's a beautiful season set aside to PREPARE for our Lord's coming...

Not only do I like to focus on the first coming, but, to reflect and ponder there is to be a second coming.

How can I prepare my heart for His arrival?

How can I make room for Him in the Inn of MY HEART?

In the middle of what can be a highly stressful season, I don't want to "drop Jesus" (Here's the link to my Advent Devotional if you want to copy it and download it to your computer or phone or tablet: I Dropped Baby Jesus).

I want to properly elevate and honor His coming, as well as, His imminent return! 

As we prepare our hearts for Jesus over the Christmas season, essentially, we are saying, "Today, I choose to be John-the-Baptist in 'a pony tail, yoga pants, and a t-shirt (or whatever fits you)... I am an integral part of preparing the way of the Lord in my world..."

As we prepare our hearts for His arrival, He moves in and brings great peace!

A snippet of what I've learned from Habakkuk thus far is this: 

Lament the loss of expectations...the way we "thought" things would look, should look, could look...

Take your sorrow and complaints to the Lord...

Make room and space for Him to answer...

When the Lord speaks, He always brings HOPE to every complaint! 

THEN...

Don't live your life in the "overwhelmed..."

Live your life in the "overjoyed..."

Too many Jesus-followers stay wallowing in the complaints...

Weighed down and burdened by the things that are overwhelming...

AND YET...

THERE IS 

(and always will be)....

A

BUT, JESUS!

The world needs to see His Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in us...

Especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Let's not live Advent overwhelmed...

Let's live Advent overjoyed! 

And, as we do, we will be John-the-Baptist to someone who needs the way prepared for Jesus in their own lives. 

This is the simple message the Lord put on my heart this week...

Perhaps, you need it, as well...