At the risk of sounding redundant...

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a precious holiday to cause us to look back on what God has blessed us with and truly be thankful!  I have so much to be thankful for!  Family, friends, job, food, clothing, home, ect...but the most important, biggest thanks I have is for the blood Christ shed for me!  If I had nothing else to be thankful for...this is all I would need, John 3:16.  My sustenance, my shelter, my friend, my family, my provider, my comfort and help...there is no other thing I need!  I hope you can say the same!

Thanksgiving

We are entering my favorite time of year!  This is the time of year we start thinking about families and gatherings, holidays and feasts, decorating and music (specially written for this season), shopping and giving, scarves and pepermint mochas, and everything in between!  I LOVE the Holiday Season...so don't be surprised if this is not the only "seasonal" edition of SWS you read *wink, wink*  I am always filled to overflowing with joy and song and cheer when Christmas comes around!

I went to the Raleigh Christmas Parade this morning, and who did I see?  Santa himself of course!  Announcing to the world, a few days early, that it's time to start Christmas...Well, Christmas "Santa-style." 

It seems our culture likes to spring it on us earlier and earlier each year...  Decorations up in stores in October...  "Christmas in July" type parties and family photos for the greeting cards...  Even those precious Operation Christmas Child boxes are processed before Thanksgiving...  As I sit here writing, my sweet dog, Bailey, is slumbering away (whimpering, sniffing, and twitching), I imagine she is chasing her Christmas goose (or maybe it's chasing her)!..  There's even a popular holiday song that tells us to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long...  And why not? 

This is the time of year we celebrate the greatest gift ever given...The gift of Jesus Christ!  It overwhelms me every time I think of it...How God the father decided, in His sovereignty and perfect wisdom and grace, to come and dwell among us in human form so that he could, 33 years later, die on a cross and rise again, 3 days later, to SAVE us from our sin!  What a gift!  What a treasure!!  What a reason to celebrate!!!

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us...just three short days of working then on with turkey and football on Thursday, and for many, Black Friday (which now begins at midnight on Thanksgiving)...and for those shopping, this is a day we truly need Christmas in our hearts...remembering that each gift purchased is purchased at a cost...  The cost of our everlasting salvation?  Christ's death.  A gift given, at no cost to us.  Christ does not require an exchange...there's nothing he expects in return...He just asks that we open our hearts to His gift, then waits for us to accept it.  PRAISE GOD!!!  Now that is something to be thankful for! 

*What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving week???

In the Clearness of God's Nearness

I was walking to work the other day in the early morning.  A dense fog was covering the area and it got me thinking...fog is like Satan and the world...surrounding us on all sides, attempting to hide our path. God, then, is the light (of course) filling the space closest to us, making the air clear so that we CAN see; assuring us that we stand on solid ground and all we need to do is put one foot in front of the other and trust Him...He will illuminate our path as we go.  It's such a basic and elementary concept, but I find it's very true.  The foggy areas of my life are often filled with the world's ideas and influences, and ultimately, Satan's desire for me to fail.  It's very easy for me to look past the clearness of God's nearness and focus on this thick dense unknown just beyond where I am.  It's natural to wonder what's beyond the fog...what will come next...what turn will life take...will I see it before I get there so I don't trip and fall...will I be the same...will my friends and family be the same?  The answer is...GOD knows!  We don't need to fret about what might be hidden in the fog, because God will illuminate it when we get there AND he will have equipped us along the way to handle whatever it is.  If we stay in the clearness of God's nearness, and allow God to equip us where we are, then when we get to the middle of that fog, it will no longer be fog...whatever is next will be revealed when we get there.

I don't know about you, but that is SO comforting to me.  God's got me right where he wants me and it doesn't matter what comes next or what just happened, all that matters is what I CAN see...right here, right now.

Birthdays

I am SO enjoying the cool weather, bundling up, scarves, boots, leggings and tights, pumpkin spice, and everything nice.  This (besides beach weather) is my favorite time of year!  Best of all, this time of year houses my birthday!  I'm not sure why it excites me so...I'm not really a "center-of-attention" sort of person, I don't really celebrate "big" or party much at all, I'm not overly excited to get older...whatever the reason, I am ALWAYS excited for my birthday!  I think we all are!  It's the one time of year when you (just you) get to be special in the eyes of everyone!  Even people in restaurants sing to you (if you let them)!  And, so far, I've had just the best celebrations, each one special and unique brightened by the people I shared them with!

It makes me wonder, How did Jesus celebrate His birthday?  He was fully man, and therefore had a day of birth...I have not studied Hebrew culture, so I'm not sure if it was natural for them to celebrate birthdays...I'd like to think it was.  And, even if His earthly parents didn't celebrate the day of birth, I'd like to think that maybe Jesus stole away and took some special time with THE Father on His birthday!  What might that conversation have been like?  {it's funny, I started writing this, and didn't even realize that Jesus' birthday IS celebrated every year as Christmas!}  Maybe there was a feast, or presents...a party, dancing, singing, or candles...  Whatever the celebration was...a celebration it was indeed...and THAT's the best part!

I believe that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit have a party for EVERY birthday...saved beleiver or not...I like to think that there is music and dancing and feasting and singing filling the heavens for my birthday!  I like to think that God my Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit have shared their favorite stories from my life so far and are looking forward to sharing the rest of my life with me as I am looking forward to sharing the rest of eternity with HIM!  Because, the fact is, we belong to Jesus...He delights in us...He celebrates who we are because He died for us and there is nothing that can take us from the palm of his hand!  What a blessing!   What a celebration!  So, as my brithday comes to a close, I will celebrate in worshipful praise the One who made me today and saved my soul one sweet day in August granting me everlasting birthdays!