Yes, I was was Christmas shopping two weeks before Christmas and again a week before Christmas along with everyone else in town. I hate shopping to begin with, and especially at Christmas time. To make matters even worse, I was shopping with a VERY limited budget this year. The things I really wanted to get the girls were well out of my price range. So, as I shopped a continued to develop a bad attitude. Keeping a running total in my head, trying to think of things they would want that were cheap, and trying to do it all in a way to make it look like they are getting more than they really are began to take a toll on me. Add all this to the stress of planning the last week of school before Christmas break and I was very much NOT in the Christmas mood.

And then Bethany called and her friends had stolen Baby Jesus again. And God began to prick my soul. Have I allowed all of this commercialism, the stress of teaching, and the struggles of daily living steal my Baby Jesus? Have I allowed myself to lose the wonderment of the miracle of God himself coming down to earth for the sole purpose of dying just because he loves me? Have I allowed years of tradition to water down the glory of the story first told by the shepherds? Would I recognize the Messiah if I had been there 2000 years ago, or would I have been like the Jewish people, knowing the truth but not seeing it when it was staring me in the face?

Lord, forgive me for my unbelieving heart and for allowing the stress and routine of life to "steal my Baby Jesus". As we start this final week before the celebration of God's miraculous incarnation, let us all look again with open eyes to the birth of our Savior and the necessity of his coming. May you all keep Baby Jesus in the spotlight this Christmas season and truly know the joy of his love!

After being in the ministry with Mike for almost 20 years, my first reaction should have been-"Of course, Dear! God has called you to the ministry, has opened the doors for this church-plant, and has always taken care of us in the past." But instead, my thoughts centered around losing the part of our income that his job provides. Now, mind you, it is not a lot of money, but it is about a quarter of our total income. In today's economy, it seems rather foolish to give up a job. My other reservation about him quitting was my fear of having to explain this seeming foolishness to family and friends, many of whom will not understand.

Do you see how all my concerns were about me. My trust for my financial safety was centered on what we could provide, not what God can do. I was more afraid of what others may think than what God thinks. I have been reading through the Bible since January. As I was thinking about what God would want, He kept bringing to mind all the people in Genesis, Exodus, Luke and Acts who were asked by Him to do the seemingly foolish things-leave family and home for an unknown land, sacrifice your only son, tell Pharoah to free your people, journey through a desert, leave your careers to follow me, take the Gospel to the Gentiles. I think you get the point that I was trying to ignore...God's plan often seems foolish if seen through human eyes.

To make a long story a little shorter, I listened to God's prodding and gave Mike my blessing to quit his job. He put in his 2-week notice yesterday. Am I still struggling some with my fears? Truthfully, yes. But I know that God has always provided for us in the past, sometimes in miraculous ways, and I know firsthand the results of refusing to do God's bidding and the heartache that results. And so begins yet another balloon ride of faith in our lives....someday I will have to share the meaning behind that analogy, but for now I think I will just enjoy the ride.

Today, the first day of 2010 is no different than yesterday, the last day of 2009. It is only 24 hours later. I know that many see the new year as a time to reflect on the past, put the problems of the last year behind them, and make plans and goals for the coming year. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. In fact they are all necessary to our spiritual and emotional health. However, it seems to me that we should be doing all of this more frequently than once a year. The last year brought with it both some very difficult and trying times for us and some times of great blessing. Rather than wait for the end of the year to put the difficult times behind us and move on, we should do that as soon as the difficulties improve. We should thank God for the blessings during the blessings (or as soon as we realize that they were blessings for those hidden blessings), not wait until the end of the calendar year. As for plans and goals, we should always be evaluating and revising them as needed. Each new day brings the opportunity for change, if not in our circumstances, in our attitudes about them. We do not have to wait for the calendar year to end to make positive changes in our lives. ( I told you I was a fuddy-duddy about the new year. :) )

All that being said, I am looking forward to this coming year with hopeful anticipation. God is doing some great things with our church plant, Redeemed Point. We have been averaging 30-35 people attending, both in person and online, each Tuesday evening. Despite some technical difficulties, the message has been proclaimed and God's name has been praised! It amazes me how God blesses his work even when we are working on a budget of $0. If nothing else comes from the work, God has used it to reaffirm his call on Mike and renew Mike's sense of purpose. I have watched a slow but sure transformation from a broken man who doubted everything about himself and his life to a man whom God is healing and who sees his purpose again.

As we continue into this year, my prayer for us all is that we take each day to thank God for his blessings, put the rotten things in the garbage bin of our lives, and make sure that we are setting God-sized, God-inspired goals and plans.