Day 37

"Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world."
-Suan Lieberman

I came from a very structured family that was full of traditions.  Very nearly everything my family does at Christmastime is a tradition, from the music played when picking out the Christmas tree to who puts up what ornament.  Some might consider this restrictive or unimaginative, but I loved my family's traditions.  They were something to look forward to; they were something that anchored and grounded us a family.  Now that I am married, my husband and I have the opportunity to create our own traditions. I look forward to this. 

I believe that traditions are very important, especially for children. Like the quote says, traditions not only define us but also provide reliability and safety in an unreliable and unsafe world.  Next week we don't know if gas prices are going to sky-rocket or bottom out.  Someone we know might get sick; someone we know might get better.  Terrorist could attack us, a gunman could show up at our church, or God could take someone home.  This life is fraught with uncertainty.  But even though I don't know what next week or even tomorrow will bring, I know that when my family goes to pick out a Christmas tree, they are going to listen to "I Still Believe." I know that Dad is going to hang the stockings with two on one side of the fireplace and three on the other.  Mom will decorate the mantle; my sister the dining room. And it's probably going to look like it has for many, many years. But that's okay, because that means my parent's house is still the safe, reliable home that I know and love.

 

Day 36

The sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Neighbors were out in their yards. The mailman drove by.  The voice of Brad Paisley wafted through the warm air and across the lawn from the speakers positioned strategically in the garage.  The stage was set: time to put up the Christmas lights!

Nope, this setting was not an idylic summer afternoon three months ago; this was yesterday.  In years past, the extent that the outside was decorated for Christmas depended partially on how long one could stay out before one's fingers had lost all feeling. Not this year.  My brother and I enjoyed stringing and wrapping and bedecking in sixty degree weather. Ah, it was lovely.

About four or five years ago, my brother and I took over hanging the outside lights at my parent's house.  I don't remember exactly how that came about, but I think it had something to do with a greater artistic vision for the Christmas decorations than my Dad was willing to attempt.  So we decided to do it ourselves.  Every year there is the traditional figuring out of the ideal alignment of plugs and outlets, and the stringing of lights down the hallway and back up again to make sure all of the lights work. We always listen to Brad Paisley's Christmas album, probably because that is what we listened to the first year and it seemed like a good tradition to keep. My brother does the roof while I tackle the trees.  It's a good system.  Afterwards I drank a cup of peppermint hot chocolate, not because I needed it in sixty degree weather, but because it felt like the right thing to do.  I love Christmas.

Day 35

This last weekend was a joy. 

Thanksgiving was very nice with my extended family.

Working twelve hours on Black Friday was a little less nice.

But then came the wonderful part.

After I got off of work on Friday night, my husband and I headed up to the mountains to spend the weekend with my family at my parent's cabin. We talked. We played games. We ate delicious food.  We hiked. We shot guns.  We read books.  But most importantly, we were together.

The quote at the beginning of my blog says, "But life's joys are only joys if they can be shared." I'm not saying it's impossible to have joy if you cannot share it, but joy is so much richer when you do have someone to share it with you.  My joy this weekend did not come from the fact that I read, ate, played games, shot guns, and hiked.  My joy came from doing those things with people that I love.  Every day I am realizing a little more how important my friends and family are to me, and how much I would miss them if I ever left.  


On my journey of discovering deeper joy, I am finding that the people who surround me play a huge role in that journey.  They do not dictate whether I have it or not, but they do have the power to enhance or detract from it. And on a personal note, I have the power to do that to the people I come in contact with as well. I pray that I will always enhance someone's joy and never detract from it.


May your week be filled with joy.

Announcement

Due to Thanksgiving, travel, and family activities, please look forward to the next post on Monday, November 28

Day 34

I am just going to say it: I just made the most beautiful apple pie I have ever made, and possibly ever seen. Although pictures don't do it justice, here it is:

And an artsy shot for my fellow artists:

Ta-Da!

This is a big moment in my life. I always dream of making beautiful pies, and I always attempt them whenever the need for pie comes up, but something always seems to go wrong. Pie crust and me are not friends.  My mom can make pie crusts like a ninja: the perfect consistency, not too wet and not too dry, rolling them out beautifully without sticking to the counter or rolling pin, and then scooping them up and draping them in the pie pan like it’s the easiest thing in the world.  It’s not.  If you have ever made home-made pie crusts you know that there is a bit of trick to them.  Now, I’ve watched my mom make pie crusts for years, and I have made pie crusts under her tutelage, but as soon as I start adding water my crust usually starts fighting back. It gets worse once I start rolling it out, and by the time it’s in the pan it usually has the appearance of a patchwork quilt.  My crusts rip, and tear, and stick, and crumble, and I never seem to have enough dough no matter how much flour and shortening I start out with. 

But not today.  Today I used  a pie crust recipe that I have only used once before, and like the first time, it held together and worked like a champ.  The filling didn’t bubble out, the lattices didn’t tear, and the crust turned a lovely golden brown without getting too dark.  I’m pretty excited about the filling too. It’s too bad that I don’t actually like apple pie, but I am sure someone else in my family will enjoy it.  The artist in me is satisfied with making something beautiful; eating it couldn’t increase my joy.

I'm sure you have heard the expression, "It doesn't matter what it looks like; it will still taste good."  The logic side of me agrees with that statement, but my creative side cringes at it.  I believe that if you can make something look more appealing, then you should. I also think that if something looks good, then people will think that it tastes better than if it was plain. I guess all I am trying to say is that I believe God gave us a great gift when He gave us beauty, and I don't like wasting it. That is why my beautiful pie brings me joy.

On this day before Thanksgiving, I am thankful for beauty.

Day 33

In middle of Kohls, behind the jewelry department and in between the women's and the men's sections, there lies no-man's land. This is the section that contains way too many styles and colors of purses, belts, scarves, hats, slippers, gloves, and other random items that can't find a home anywhere else. It's the section that people get to before realizing that they have no idea where the sock department is. Or the shoe department. It's the section that is almost always in need of tidying up because it is the forgotten land between departments. This is where I work.  This is the Accessories Department. I call it no-man's land because people who work at Kohls seem to avoid it like the plague. Every truck day, however, I get sent to work out the freight for the accessories department.  It's not a difficult or very skilled job; probably the most difficult thing is fighting off the monotony. Open a box, unwrap the merchandise from the plastic it is ensconced in, removed any additional pieces of paper or plastic whose purpose in life is to be annoying, and put the stuff away.  More times than not, in order to get the new merchandise out the old merchandise needs to be reorganized to make room.  This is why it always takes longer than it seems like it should. Despite the slowness, and the endless individually-wrapped merchandise, and the fact that I have to clean as I go and there never seems to be room for the things I need room for, I am fond of the accessories department. I have been there long enough to get over the monotony and frustrating part, and have the knowledge that although I feel slow, I can probably do it faster than almost anyone else in the store. Plus, I am really good at telling people where the sock department is. And the shoe department.

 My job is not very exciting or challenging and I would be lying if I told you that I loved it.  However, I don't hate it either, and for retail, Kohls is an excellent place to work.  My store has good management an I like the people I work with.  And, on top of all that,  it was a miracle that I got a job there in the first place. It was only by the grace of God that I was selected out of thousands of people for one of the original 130 positions when the new store opened. It wasn't anything I did; God allowed His favor to rest upon me, and I am incredibly grateful to Him for His provision in my life.

Why write about this now? Because I needed to remember.  It's hard to find joy at 5:42 in the morning when I'm driving to work in the dark and the cold. It's hard to find joy when I get back from work and my feet hurt and my knees hurt and I'm exhausted after only working four or six hours. I imagine it's going to be hard to find joy after I work for twelve hours on Black Friday. But it shouldn't be hard, because every time I go to work, and every time I come back, I have experienced  a miracle.  God gave me a job in the middle of a depressed economy.  He has always provided for my needs, even when I was without work, and He always will.  He also gave me a job that is decent, if not terribly motivating. My job could be so much worse than it is, and I am blessed to have the job that I do.

So on this day two days before Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my job.

Day 32

As you might have noticed, last week I only managed to write one post, and it was a simple one at that. This was not intentional. I had every intention of writing every day like I normally do, but life had other plans. Somewhere along the way time morphed into super speed, and it was all I could do to keep the house resonably clean and get dinner on the table while running around like a crazy person doing this, that, and the other thing. I know it is only going to get harder as the Christmas season approaches and with it a deluge of festive activities. I love Christmastime, and I love everything that goes along with it, but there is a tendency to get burned out by the running around and the endless activities, especially since I want to do it all. I felt burned out at the end of the this week, and it was only crazy for about four days! So as I am pondering joy and thinking about busy schedules, here are some ways I thought of to keep the joy in Christmas.

Focus on Christ, not the mas(s) of things to do: People have developed catchy sayings to help us remember this: "Remember the Reason for the Season!" "Keep Christ in Christmas!" These are all well and good, but I need a little more than a snazzy catch-phrase to keep me focused. When I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I need to take a step back, re-focus, and remind myself the purpose behind the project.  The reason behind everything should point to Christ in some way or another.  Whether that is having a beautiful home that guest feel welcomed and valued in, or a thoughtful gift that makes someone feel loved, the things I do I do ultimately for Christ.

Enjoy the little moments:  This the same thing as finding little joys in life.  Slow down enough to enjoy that song on the radio or the beautiful Christmas lights twinkling in the darkness.  It is easy for even the things you love to become a chore when they are just one of the dozens of things that need done.  Don't let that happen; enjoy the things you enjoy and don't let time rob you of that joy.

Onthe reverse side, if something about the season particularly annoys you, have a distraction technique ready.  For me, hearing the song "Santa Baby" has the power to put me in an immediate bad mood. Since I know this about myself, whenever I hear "Santa Baby" I use it as a reminder to pray for someone, and then I am no longer thinking about how annoying that song is.

On crazy days, take a song break: One day I was busy from the moment I got up in the morning. Around four o'clock in the afternoon I felt myself lagging, but I knew I didn't have time to take even a fifteen minute nap. I did have time for a song, however. I put on a worship song, laid on my bed, and calmed my spirit and body for three and a half minutes. It wasn't much, but it helped. If you want to keep with the spirit of the season, "The Night Before Christmas" by Brandon Heath is the most gospel-centered Christmas song I have ever heard, and it keeps the focus on Christ. I'm sure I will have a post just on this song, so you can stay tuned for that.

Those are just some of the ways I hope to keep the joy in the busy Christmas season.  If you have a technique that you use, I would love to hear about it!  The more focused we are on Christ this season, the more joyful we will be.

Day 31

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."

I John 1:1-4

Amen.

Day 30

Sunday is family day for my husband and I. We go over to one of our parents' houses and watch football, play games, take naps, maybe do some laundry or whatever else comes up. I like Sundays. We are blessed to have both sets of parents living in the same town as us, and although that would not be the ideal situation for some people, it is for us. We both love spending time with our families and in-laws, and being able to see them regularly is a joy.

I know that having in-laws that you really enjoy being with is not very common. Having both spouses feel that way about both sets of in-laws is even rarer. Because of this, I am extremely humbled that God would grant it to my husband and I. There was a time in our relationship when it seemed like having a good relationship with one of our families would be impossible. You never realize how much you value something until it is taken away, and God did take it away for a time. But by His grace He restored the relationship. I don't take that relationship for granted anymore; I treasure it instead.

I realize this post is short and sweet, but that's all I can think of to say. If you have a good relationship with your family, praise God! If you don't, work on creating one. I know firsthand that relationships can be restored, and you are never too far away for God to work. There is hope, and may that bring you joy.

Day 29

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope throught the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith-- the salvation of your souls. " I Peter 1:3-9

I know a lot of people who are being grieved by various trials right now. This past week has been especially difficult. Sometimes when you are caught up in a trial it is so hard to get perspective, and that is why I love this passage from I Peter. Yes, we are going to have trials in this life, but they are only for a little while. The more important thing is that we have hope in Jesus Christ, and these trials are used to test our faith in Him. The hope we have in Christ far outweighs the suffering in this life, for the end our faith is the salvation of our souls. I also love the phrase, "if need be." As much as we don't like them, we need trials in our life. Without them, we become out-of-shape Christians. Trials keep us close to God and spiritually fit. I don't know about you, but I grow the most as a Christian when life is the hardest. I have to in order to survive.

My prayers are with my struggling friends, that God will use these trials to draw them closer to Him. May their hope in Christ bring them joy.

Day 28

There's a mom cooking in the kitchen. Her little four-year-old daughter comes in and asks, "Mommy, can I help you?" The woman knows that if her daughter "helps", it is going to take twice as long and be twice as messy. But she doesn't hesitate, and with a big smile on her face she answers, "Of course you can, sweetie." What prompted the daughter to ask in the first place? She loves her mother and wanted to show that love. What prompted the mother to respond the way she did? The same reason.

That is how I see our relationship with God and how we serve Him. We are the loving children; God is the loving parent. We want to show our love by serving God, and God in His mercy and grace lets us. Let's be honest: God can get things done much faster and cleaner than we can. He fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish while the disciples were standing around scratching their heads. We can't do that. Sometimes we try to serve God and things go horribly wrong, and we don't understand why. But the greatest privilege that I can think of is that God chose us, fallen, sinful humans beings and said, "You are going to represent Me on earth. You are going to be My hands and feet. Whatever you do in My name is going to reflect Me, and people will draw conclusions about Me by your actions." God knows that we are going to mess up, but He loves us and therefore lets us show our love for Him through our imperfect service.

God gave me the opportunity to be His hands and feet yesterday. It was a privilege. It was a joy.

Day 27

As promised, here is a picture of the completed (or nearly completed) Christmas stockings. All I have left to do is figure out how I want to add our names to the cuffs and add hanger loops.

Awww, aren't they nice? : )

Overall, I really enjoy sewing. However, I would not consider myself a very talented sew-er. Yes, the finished products look nice, but I don't know if I've made something that didn't require me to rip out stitches and re-sew. The plus side is that I am really talented at ripping out stitches. These stockings were no exception. Yesterday afternoon I had to re-sew the cuff on my stocking three times. Most people would probably learn from their mistake the first time, but not me! It was a good lesson in patience and perseverance. Even that couldn't diminish much of my joy at the finished product. The harder you have to work at something, the more you appreciate it. I saw a picture of some stockings I liked, but from then on I designed everything myself, and made plenty of mistakes in the process. It's kind of like an analogy of life: You have your goal in mind, you make plans to reach that goal. Sometimes the going is rough and sometimes it is easy. Sometimes your plans work and sometimes you have to back-track and try something else. Sometimes by the time you reach your goal it doesn't look like what you had in mind, but that's okay because you made it. (Maybe I'm stretching this analogy too far, but I felt like this post needed more substance than just me ripping out stitches. Take it or leave it.)

I thought this post was going to be about why I enjoy creating things, but posts sometimes take on a mind of their own. Kind of like getting to the goal in the life analogy : ) Just kidding; enough analogies for today. I guess I will save that for another day.

P.S. If it would bring you joy to tell me how nice my stockings are, it would bring me joy as well :)

Day 26

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 5

Fellowship

I have been at my church for thirteen or fourteen years so I know a lot of the people that attend there. On Sunday mornings, there is absolutely no way that I could talk with all of them, so I have to just pick a few. That in itself is a joy though. I am surrounded by my family in Christ, and there is A LOT of us! Half of the people I know well could be gone, and I still wouldn’t get to see everyone. Also, even if everyone I know was absent one Sunday, I could have genuine fellowship with someone that I have never met before because of our connection in Christ.

So what is Christian fellowship? It’s not just talking, although talking is involved. Fellowship is when two or more believers encourage one another in their faith and in their Christian walk. I guess the simplest way to put it is that fellowship is intentional; it doesn’t usually happen by accident. Fellowship is important because Christians are not called to live out their faith by themselves. We need other people to encourage us when we are struggling, remind us of the truth, strengthen our faith, and walk by our side through all of life’s ups and downs. This is accomplished through fellowship.

In spite of being vital for healthy Christians, fellowship does not occur as often as it should. As I mentioned before, fellowship is intentional, which means it requires some effort. We are busy people, and good fellowship requires time. It requires investing in people’s lives and allowing them to invest in yours. But that is not the only barrier to fellowship. My brother shared this quote with me a couple of weeks ago, and I have been pondering it ever since:

“He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their…service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break through to fellowship does not occur, because though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among them. So we remain alone with our sin, living lies and hypocrisy. The fact is we are sinners. But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you … He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. God has come to save the sinner (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together).”

True fellowship has the potential to bring us with great joy, but so often we never give it the chance. We think we are strong and can live life by ourselves, only to find that it doesn’t work out as well as we had hoped. Not surprisingly, God’s way is the best.

May you find joy in fellowship.

Day 25

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 4

Ministry

One of the lesser thought-of joys that takes place at a church service is ministry. This does not just apply to the pastor and the worship team, but to the dozens of people who serve as greeters, ushers, nursery workers, Sunday School teachers, A/V personel, janitors, and in the numerous other jobs where people serve. It is a joy to serve others, and it is also a joy to be served.

Every Christian is part of the Body of Christ. We all have a responsibility to be a part of a local church and to use the gifts that God has blessed us with to serve other believers. This is what God has equipped us to do, but it is not mearly a duty. Serving others can and should bring us great joy. We all have a unique part to play, and no one else can fulfill our part better than we can. When we serve in the way that God intended, not only do we bless others, we also bring glory to Him. I know first-hand the blessings and joy that comes from serving. Yes, sometimes it's inconvenient and sometimes there's no glory in the task, but that's not the point. The point is that when you obey God and serve Him, He will bless you for your obedience. No one else on earth might know what you have done, but God knows, and that's what matters. And that should bring you joy.

The other side of ministry is being on the receiving end. Everyone knows the saying, "It's better to give than to receive," but I don't think that's true in this situation. Yes, it is a blessing to minister to others, but it is also a blessing when someone ministers to you. Think about the worship team that can sing so much better than you, or play instruments that they are talented with. Think about your pastor who can preach with wisdom and insight, about nursery workers who care for children so their parents can listen to the service without interruption, and for the janitors who keep the building clean. This is a blessing to us, is it not? And, it should bring us joy when we are blessed by other people fulfilling their role in the body of Christ.

Serve and be served. Minister and be ministered to. This is the way the body of Christ was intended to work, and we all have our part to play.

Day 24

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 3

Worship

"Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped"
Jack Hayford

Out of all the joys of a church service, I enjoy the worship time the most. I love coming to the doorway of heaven and proclaiming the praises of my God, Savior, King, and Lord. There is something about singing poetic lyrics with beautiful harmonies that conveys so well what I want to tell Christ. God blessed us when He gave us music, and I love using it to praise Him. I also have the greatest respect for worship song writers, because they take the truth found in the Bible and put the words together to form such beautiful expressions of adoration. I also love the variety of worship songs. Some are prayers that we pray to God: "We cry out for your love to refine us, cry out, for your love to define us, cry out for your mercy to keep us blameless 'til you return." (Reign in Us) Some are words that God has spoken to us: "I thought of you before the world began to breathe, I knew your name before you came to be. I saw the very day you'd turn away from me, and how desperately you'd need to be redeemed." (Reign in Us) Some are proclamations of God's character: "Almighty, most holy God, faithful through the ages; Almighty, most holy Lord, glorious almighty God." (Almighty) And some are the gospel in glorious simplicity: "Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, one day He's coming, oh, glorious day." (Glorious Day)

I'm afraid that I don't always find joy in worship with the right motives, though. Worship is about proclaiming the attributes of God: His holiness, love, mercy, grace, worthiness, greatness, and the list could go on. Worship is about God, but like everything else, I can make it about me. For one thing, I have favorite worship songs. I feel like I can worship better with songs that I like, but really it shouldn't matter if I like the song or not, because it's not about me. As long as the song glorifies God, I should be able to worship the same as with songs I love. I also like worshiping because when I am completely focused on God, I can escape this world and its troubles for a little while. Although it's good to completely focus on God, I should not use it as a form of escapism. Yes, I should long for heaven and to be with Jesus forever and ever, but I still need to live well during my time on earth.

As with every part of my walk with God, I want to worship well but I am still so human, and need His constant grace for when I fail.

May you find joy in worship.

Notice

I will be out of town for the next three days, so please expect the continuation of the series to resume on Saturday.

Day 23

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 2

Truth

We are constantly surrounded by lies. This might sound melodramatic, but it’s true. We are so used to it that we automatically adjust the input we receive without even realizing it. Think about it. The news we see on television or hear on the radio or read in the paper comes from a source that has a particular point of view. Sometimes they will skew or omit facts purposefully, and sometimes without realizing it. We see advertisements that promise us happiness or love or fulfillment if we buy their product. We hear politicians promise us utopia if we vote for them. We eat “health” products that fill our bodies with chemicals. For every good deal that we find we have to scour the fine print for the catch. Business agreements need to be conducted with pages of conditions and with lawyers present. Photographs are altered and passed off as legitimate. Even the weatherman confidently tells us what to expect from nature, only to be proved wrong repeatedly. We know these things. We have accepted them as part of the society in which we live. We know that we must take the things we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell with a grain of salt.

But one of the joys of Sunday morning is that we can go to church and hear the truth. God’s Word in the Bible is completely true. It is not twisted, exaggerated, altered, or conditional. When the pastor or worship leader reads Scripture, we can have absolute confidence that we are hearing completely unadulterated truth. There is a caveat even hear, though. Although we have confidence that the Bible is true, that does not mean that it is always clear. There are many things in the Bible that are difficult to understand and figure out. Assuming that your pastor is a holy- and God-fearing man, he will take the Scriptures and endeavor to search them to learn the truth and teach it to his congregation. However, your pastor is a human just like you and me, and he is probably not 100% correct on his understanding of everything in the Bible. This does not mean he is trying to deceive you, just that he is doing his best with the resources God has given him. We all have a responsibility to search the Word of God for ourselves and learn the truth that it contains. But the joyful news is that it IS truth. The gospel is true. The character of God is true. Our responsibility on how to live as Christians is true. The life of Christ is true.

Hearing the truth in every situation might not be easy, but when we hear the truth found in the Bible it should fill us with joy. May the Lord grant that it may be so.