Thank You!!

I am overwhelmed with gratefulness you have joined me in this amazing adventure through Proverbs. Has your soul been enriched? The Word the Lord gave me before starting this study was “beyond”. Do you feel the Lord tugging at your heart, leading you beyond the words of His Word? This is the Message. It is personal encouragement which nourishes our spiritual life. We can’t live a fulfilled life without it! In the flesh we get discouraged and downcast. The Lord says, “Look up, my child. I have good things for you today.”

Love,

Lisa

When the Unimaginable Strikes… At Christmas

The other night my husband and I went to a memorial for a beautiful lady who lost her battle to breast cancer. She was my age. She leaves behind two young girls, ages 4 and 7. Her 39th birthday would have been on Christmas Day. Her mom has breast cancer too, but will continue to live without her.

“Surreal, like an out-of-body experience,” one family friend tried to express. When we spoke to the widower he suddenly stopped and said, “I don’t know anything. . .” and with a distant expression he slowly said, “I just don’t know…”

The grief in the room was indescribable. This was all wrong, beyond our human capacity to process. Truly inconceivable.

I listened and watched as the loving pastors tended to the soul of their flock. These were life-long friends, she was like their own daughter. They gently spoke as one who grieved with them, bearing their burden.

In those moments I realized there are things our humanity cannot handle. Loosing a child, or the untimely death of a spouse or mother, is one of those things. In the natural, we are left to grieve by our own means. We push the pain away, try to replace the gaping hole, or stay in those dark feelings. History has proven many go crazy, or divorce, or addiction soon follows. As the pastor gently encouraged us to grieve well, he pointed the way to grieve in Christ. He reminded us that good grief is to grieve with hope. Good grief is when we allow ourselves to feel the pain, hurt, anger, regret, etc., but hope pulls us through to the other side. Hope brings us to a place of whole healing. Hope leads us to a better place.

We were reminded the loss of a loved one can never be replaced, the hole in our heart remains. My mother-in-law, who lost her daughter, said the second year was even harder than the first. The second year everyone around her moved on, her own life had moved on. Yet the hole remained and she still mourned.

Many of us are grieving this holiday season. The holidays have a way of pushing our sorrow to the surface. And that’s ok, because in Christ we have a supernatural way of dealing. He allows us to grieve well, comforting and healing us, and leaving us better for it. May your grief be good grief. 

Christmas Confession

I stink at Christmas. I know it sounds so strange, but the struggle is real! I don’t mean to say I struggle with the Christmas spirit, the Lord has filled me with plenty of generosity, love, and goodwill to share. However, all that our culture says Christmas should be seems to be my weakness; I simply don’t measure up! For some reason, this year I have had to focus a little harder on what the Lord is saying to me about Christmas, so I thought I’d share my thoughts with you!

Like I mentioned, I believe the Lord is remaking my heart into a generous one, but generosity doesn’t always look the same in everyone. I look around at the people who are really good at giving gifts, the ones who would give the shirt off their back, and I think, “Lord, why didn’t you make me like that?” The truth is, receiving gifts is not my love language, so to focus a whole season on something that doesn’t matter to me is a true discipline. Often, I simply feel like a failure.

When I lift my eyes to Jesus for help, He tells me, “Look for those who compliment you.” My husband is a very thoughtful gift giver and does so well. Over the years, he has learned to support me in my deficiency and I’m so grateful for his help. My daughter is old enough to come along side me, and not only is she good at giving gifts, but she loves to shop! Perfect! It has become quality time for me, something that IS my love language!

Then there is the tradition part of Christmas. I see how comforting tradition is and I would like to provide that for my children. But mostly I find it annoying. Anything that becomes a duty is a turn-off for me. When you add the moods of 5 different people, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page! I never want to be that disgruntled mom who trudges through with her own plans, dragging her loved ones behind. Therefore, I don’t like to push for the sake of “tradition.”

Let’s talk about talent. Here are the talents I don’t possess: decorating, crafting, baking. That’s a real bummer this time of year. One year the Lord said, “Give what you’ve been given.” I can play the piano! So I taught myself a few Christmas carols and made a tradition of inviting neighbors and loved ones over for tea and caroling. This year I decided to take a break after 10 years. (See paragraph about tradition, lol)

There’s one more thing the Lord is whispering to my heart this year. He says, “Use your words.” I may not be very good at giving gifts, but words of encouragement and appreciation flow freely from my lips. I may not have it all together with a family picture, but Christmas cards have become an opportunity for me to love on people through the written word.

It’s not easy when you look around and see all the things you aren’t doing well, but when we quiet ourselves in the Lord and focus on His thoughts, every season becomes a time of great joy and satisfaction. In the end, it's good I realize I don't measure up because it kills the spirit behind self-righteousness. It reminds me to find my strength in Jesus. Merry Christmas!! And love to all!