RESTLESSNESS

     Restlessness.

     As your eyes glance over the word, do you find you've shifted in your seat already?  Does it cause you to feel flutters of caution inside?  None of us like to experience restlessness, and yet it seems unavoidable at times -- what's important is what we do with those feelings.


     Restlessness can come upon us furiously, like a tidal wave out of the ocean or it can creep up on us almost silently, till we look around and wonder how we came to feeling the way we do.

     It may be the job we're in seems to call out for freshness, or harder yet, the job we're not in calls out to pull us from the home and place us back in the workplace.  Reasons abound.

     Sometimes change is demanded of us, but often, we thrust change upon ourselves because of our restlessness.

     While one looks at change as a reason for the turmoil of restlessness, another will look at looming sameness with the same emotions of a caged lion.  We're created differently but most of us can relate to the chords within that are struck and cause us to itch wildly on the inside.

     What are we to do, when, not if, these feelings come?  Only one solution can be true -- we must press in to the only One who knows us completely, Father God who created us.  He alone has the answers for which our souls so restlessly search.

     As we look ahead to a whole new year, let's carefully lay out our restlessness and examine it as a doctor would a sickly child.  Take time.  Pray.  Ask the Lord what He has for us in the new year, not just inform Him of what we plan to do.

     God can use restlessness in our lives to draw us closer to Himself and do wonderful things in us and around us, but if we don't allow these stirrings to be used for that good, then there are many a dangerous path we could stumble down in the days ahead without the direction of our Father who loves us.

     Let us not be as the scriptures describe in Deuteronomy 28, where the people refused to listen to the voice of the Lord and couldn't find a place to rest.  It says no home could be found nor could they settle down...God gave them a restless heart, longing eyes and a homesick soul because they would not let God lead them.

     Find a quiet place and release your restlessness.  Peacefully wait and ask the Lord to bring His direction to your decisions.  To shed His light on a dark and windy path -- He has promised that when we seek Him, He WILL make our paths straight.  Then we can go into a new year with the confidence and rest that only He can bring.

"Now may the Lord of Peace

Himself give you peace at

all times and in every way."

II Thessalonians 3:16

TOSSING & TURNING

     Sheets were wrapped and wrinkled about my legs.

     Pillows had been tucked, fluffed and puffed.

     Positions were shifted a hundred different ways.

     It was no use -- sleep wouldn't come.  My mind was filled with the "must-do's" and the "how will I do's"; the clock mocked me as the minutes ticked on and sleep remained unattainable, and the tossing and turning continued.

     The truth that rested in my head, couldn't seem to find it's way to my heart -- God is sufficient.   

     We're promised rest, true rest, in God's Word.  Not just in the sense of sleep, but pure and perfect rest as when our hearts lay calm despite the tornado that swirls in our world.

     How do we grip hold of that rest?  What do we do when rest eludes us?

     There's only one place to find escape from tossing and turning.  It's in the One who created rest.  Of Him, David, the psalmist of old, said, "My soul finds rest in God alone...my hope comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken....Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." (Psalm 62)

     Do you hear those truths?  Do they resonate in your deepest being?  Do they bring peace to your heart?

     God shows us through David's life three key things in this passage:

1. The only place where rest is found is in God alone
2. The only way we will avoid being shaken is in Him
3. The only way to receive that rest is by CHOICE

    

     We must lay at God's feet what is heavy and burdensome to us this Christmas; but then we have to leave it there!

     We are to pour out our hearts to God, but then we must choose to leave the things we've poured out to Him, in His capable hands -- don't pick them up again . . . "God, I don't know how we are going to deal with ______, but I trust You have the answers and I'm choosing rest.  God I don't know where time will come from to accomplish ______, but I trust You to provide for what really needs to be done and I'm choosing rest."


     Missionary, Amy Carmichael, was quoted saying, "God is willing as light is willing to flood a room that is opened to its brightness; willing as water is willing to flow into an emptied channel."  May He flood over us today!

     My prayer for each of us this Christmas is that we find true rest; not because our circumstances fully resolve themselves, but because we find rest from the Source of all rest -- God alone.

"Come to me, all you who

are weary and burdened,

and I WILL give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

A Song for Today -- "Blessings"

(click this link to hear an awesome song)

CHRISTMAS PERFECT?



     I have this problem.  It's a big problem but God's been working on me long enough that I can now say -- five kids later -- there's hope!  You see, my heart tends to feel warmer and my smile tends to grow bigger when everything is, well, in its place.  You know, perfect !   But the problem is, nothing robs happiness at Christmas (or any other time of the year) faster than a mom, or dad, whose goal is perfection.

     A traditional, sticky gingerbread house is an excellent image of one of two things -- either perfection or child-like pleasure.  We can't have both!  If we are going to make eyes light up and hearts remember joy-filled, childhood moments, something has to give.

     The challenge is, it's not possible to have "perfect" anything with children -- and even if we could attain it, we'd have to achieve it by stealing joy from the ones we are trying to bless.

     When it comes to Christmas, I've learned that I need to put God, family and others first and remind myself that perfection is not important.  In fact, it's not even found in a hint of how Christmas began.

     Travel back with me, to the night the King of Heaven and Earth came to dwell among us...

     - Imagine Mary, giving birth in a stable . . . where is there any perfection in that, dear moms, who've experienced childbirth?

     - Imagine, Joseph, not even being able to provide a humble hotel room . . . where is there any perfection in that, dear dads, who live to provide for their wives?

     - Imagine, brand-new, infant Jesus, wrapped in old rags to try provide some warmth . . . where is there any perfection in that?

     God's plan was never perfection -- His plan was provision! 

     Nothing has changed in the last two thousand years . . . God still desires provision over perfection.

     I came across a beautiful adaptation of I Corinthians 13 this week, written by Sharon Jaynes, that I wanted to share with you ~

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen , carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family - it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ - I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.

But giving the gift of love will endure.

     Let's give our families the most wonderful Christmas ever -- full of love, selflessness and joy found in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ -- the greatest gift ever given.  And let's leave perfection out in the cold, where it belongs.

"Mercy, peace and love be

yours in abundance."

Jude 1:2

IT STARTS WITH US

     Are you feeling it, too?  The hustle, the bustle, the rush that God never intended us to drown under this time of year.

     Interesting that Jesus came to bring PEACE to earth and yet it remains one of the hardest things to hold on to as we prepare to celebrate His birth.  It's as if we can watch it slip through our fingers as we hurry from store to store.

     Isn't it just like the enemy to try to steal from us, especially at this season, the gift of peace that Jesus came to bring?  Do you know that we have to fight to receive it?  It doesn't arrive packaged under our tree each year, without some very intentionally choices on our part.

Is there an easy solution? 

A wand that we can wave to make life fall into simple order for the season?  

A way to bring the peace back into our days before Christmas?

     Well, yes and no, but it is possible!  It's found in putting Jesus first regardless of how long our lists of "things-to-do" grow long. 

     The Bible tells us The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!  That is Jesus Christ, Son of God -- with skin on -- came to earth as a baby.  Ironically, the reason for the rushing rests heavily in that phrase.  Do you hear the hope?

     I know, that still doesn't get your lists ticked off to completion, so how does it really help?

     When our hearts focus on Jesus and we begin our days in His presence, we are fed.  We are nourished, strengthened and equipped for every good work -- even shopping, cleaning and Christmas baking!  BUT we have to get the order right!

     Remember the song, Let There Be Peace on Earth?  Do you remember who the peace was supposed to start with?  Here are a few of the words ~

     Let there be peace on earth,

     And let it begin with _____ (WHO?) me (OUCH!),

     Let there be peace on earth

     The peace that was meant to be...

     Let this be my solemn vow.

     To take each moment

     And live each moment

     With peace eternally.

     Let there be peace on earth,

     And let it begin with me.

   

     It's not too late, my sweet friends, to make that same solemn vow.  In our homes, peace genuinely can and should begin with us, as moms!!!  

     I have a little plaque in my room that is just for me.  It says, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"  It serves as my daily reminder that my attitude greatly affects our entire household and I take that very seriously.

     More than any other season, I want our children to remember the joy and happiness that centered around the celebration of our Saviour's birth, NOT the stress and the grumpiness. 

     I hate to say it, moms, but it does begin with us!  And that means it begins with God and His Word. 

     If we surrender our mornings, despite all the decorations and tinsel that are yelling for us to put them first, we will find Jesus meeting us there and giving us everything we need to make this season truly peace-ful and joy-ful!  His Word is always proven true -- with Him we can do anything, even Christmas.

"I (Jesus) am the vine;

you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you,

you will bear much fruit."

John 15:5

IMAGINE

     We hang their pictures on our walls.  We tuck them into bed each night.  We care for them when their sick and laugh with them when they're well.  God has designed us to care about our children with all the passion He's placed within us.  And yet, do we ever stop and IMAGINE?  Imagine what it feels like to be them?

     I'd wriggled under one of my daughter's cozy pink blankets a little while ago, waiting for her to get ready for bed, and a question jumped into my mind and slapped me in the face . . . What does it feel like to be my daughter? 

     Then, other questions followed -- What does it feel like to be my son?  How did it feel to live in our house today?   Did they feel truly cared for as I rushed around with busyness?  Heat rose in my cheeks as I sadly reflected on a few ways I'd hurried through the day instead of savouring those closest to me.

     That moment deeply affected my outlook.  I began to watch for other opportunities with my other children . . . how does it feel to be YOU right now?  I didn't ask it out loud, but began to imagine what I would feel like if I were in their shoes at various moments in the day.

     You already know what comes next, don't you?  It's not always pretty.  God seems to surface the question to my heart over and over, as if to say, "Would you want to be treated this way?  Would you feel treasured if someone you loved brush past that fast?  Would you want to be spoken to with that tone?"


     I'm not advocating perfect parenting, because that isn't achievable by anyone except our Heavenly Father, but I am promoting PAUSE -- IMAGINE -- RESPOND.


     Just stopping for a few breaths in the day, to examine how our children must feel in the moment, to be part of our homes where God has chosen them to be.  Remember . . . they didn't choose us; they were placed in our arms by God's provident design!

     As we rush about this month (and every other one ahead), let's pause to imagine how it feels for them today. 

     Respond with all the love, or grace, or energy God would want us to.  None of us want to experience the irony of losing out on the quality of daily, precious moments with our children because we are so busy preparing for future days to be special!  Ask God to bring the balance -- and the tenderness to our hearts -- for these sweet, and sometimes not so sweet, ones we love most of all.

"Imagine a person who lives

well, treating others fairly,

keeping good relationships...

This person who lives upright

and well shall live a full and true life."

Ezekiel 18:5&9

MAKE YOUR VOICE LOUDER

     "He said I'm not good at running!"

     "She told me I can't play with them!"

     "They laughed at me when I was singing!"

     It doesn't matter where we live or where we go, life is not always easy when you're a kid (or an adult, either).  Day in and day out, other kids are planted smack-dab in the middle of the path that our kids have to walk down.  Criticism drips off the tongues of their peers -- in many shapes and forms, life can be just plan hard for them.

     How do we offset all the negative that our children absorb in a day?

     First, we need to be sure the message they get from home speaks value, worth and merit. 

     Second, we need to feed them with more than flighty compliments . . . they need to be nourished with God's truths. 

     Third, we need to be sure we are heard above the din of discouragement they face.

     How do we get our voices louder????  How can we be heard over the roar in their heads????

     When I think of being louder, I think of ensuring our God-given, motherly voices of encouragement are heard above the shouts of cruel voices that echo at our children every day.

     Whether they are testing out their singing voice and an older sibling laughs at them or they are on a playground and a scruffy bully tells them they're puny -- we have a job to do!  Our voices need to be in our children's heads to help them ward off these lies that threaten to plant themselves within our children's hearts.

     The enemy will do whatever it takes to tear down our children and he will use whoever is available with the words they'll happily spit out of their cruel mouths.

     I'm so thankful, that as a mom, I have the privilege of being louder than all these other voices.

     The role we play, as moms, is of utmost importance.  We have to see that our LOUD VOICE in the ears of our children is one of  the most beautiful tasks we get to carry out.  Sharing words of hope when they feel low.  Sharing truths from God's Word of their value when they feel rubbish-like.  Sharing arms to hold and ears to listen, when their hearts are needing to be mended. 

     Don't ever let the enemy tell you that your voice isn't important in the life of your child!  Even on the days that our chidlren may "pretend" they don't care what we say, they do!  No one else is going to encourage them like we will!  Get your voice heard and see it as the divine assignment that it is!

"Don't be intimidated by all this

bully talk.  You are worth more

than a million canaries."
Matthew 10:31