Expectations of the Season

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“I can’t watch Frosty.  I’m a big kid now.”

I looked at my 5 year old and replied, “Well, I’m a big kid and I still love to watch Frosty.”  I felt this tiny twinge in my heart when he uttered these words.  A twinge that reminded me times are changing.  They are growing and each Christmas will have a different look to it.  

(A few days earlier)  “Hey guys y’all want to watch Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas?”  Flashbacks of years of watching this movie to the point of reciting lines ran through my mind.

“No thanks, Mom.”  I closed the movie case and tried to hide my face – afraid it would reveal the tiny twinge in my heart.  The one that reminded me times are changing.  They are growing and each Christmas will have a different look to it.  The oldest piped in, “Mom, it’s just that we’ve seen it so much.  That doesn’t hurt your feelings does it?”

“Of course not!”  I didn’t lie.  It didn’t hurt my feelings.  He didn’t hurt my feelings.  It’s just this darn little twinge.

I listened as my dad and step-mom discussed how it is pointless to decorate a tree when your children won’t be visiting at Christmas. Christmas looks different for them now.  I felt this twinge in my heart.  A twinge that reminded me times are changing.  They are growing and each Christmas will have a different look to it.

And the Comforter of my soul whispered to that twinge, “Each Christmas may look different, but each Christmas holds the same truths. Celebrate the truths each Christmas and you will discover the true gifts of Christmas every year.”

Yes, expect to encounter the true gifts of Christmas despite how each season presents itself. Expect to encounter Him each season and celebrate the true gift.

Christmas is hope.  Christmas is peace.  Christmas is joy. Christmas is love.

And that little twinge loosened it’s grip.

Seeking Christmas is a 7 day family devotion that guides families into intentional times of worship and activities that focus on discovering the true meaning and gifts of Christmas.  It holds the same truths for each family using it, but will look different in each home.  Your family can create your own unique memories and experiences while Seeking Christmas together through guided devotions and activities.

 

 

The Christmas Magic of Faith

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“Maybe Christmas“, he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

Dr. Seuss

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When I was 4, I discovered a picture that led to me to ask my parents the question that all parents hope they won’t have to answer for many years.  Is Santa real? Having decided early on to tell me the truth when asked, they answered me honestly.  I felt robbed.  I remember for years after that discovery wishing they had just lied to me.  Wishing they hadn’t stolen that magic away from me.

They hadn’t stolen the magic, of course.  Christmas magic can’t be stolen.  It resides in the heart.  And it has nothing to do with Santa.

As a 5, 6, and 7 year old, I longed to have the belief that all the other kids around me had.  I saw this excitement and joy in their eyes as they held out for something they couldn’t see. They had a longing for something unseen.  I didn’t have that….and I wanted it.  I wanted to have faith like that.

Determined to prove my parents wrong, I attempted for years to prove that Santa was real.  I said I believed, and I played along with the other kids, desperate for a taste of faith.  They told me to stop pretending and assured me the gifts would arrive without belief.  They thought that it was about the gifts.

As a child I likely believed this too.  As I grew, and my faith in Christ matured, I realized what He was doing.

There was a longing in my heart planted by God.  A longing for more than what the eyes can see.  A longing for more than the magic of Christmas that Santa offers.  A longing for Christ.

Christmas is so much more than we wrap it up to be.  It’s so much more than the presents, parties, treat exchanges, and decorations. All of that is fun and exciting and adds to the experience of it all. But.  When we unwrap the experiences of Christmas in order to discover the true gifts of Christmas, we will find ourselves in a state of holy awe.

Christmas is hope.  Christmas is peace.  Christmas is joy.  Christmas is love.  No matter what each Christmas season looks like, these 4 remain when our faith is placed in the Unseen.

Seeking Christmas is a 7 day family devotion that guides families into intentional times of worship and activities that focus on discovering the true meaning and gifts of Christmas.  It holds the same truths for each family using it, but will look different in each home.  Your family can create your own unique memories and experiences while Seeking Christmas together through guided devotions and activities.

 

The Blessing of You

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Rain porch

After a full fall schedule, I sit here with few words.  Seeking Christmas released the last week of August, and I haven’t stopped until this week.  My last official event took place Thursday and Friday, so now I breathe.

The Lord has challenged me, encouraged me, and sustained me.  And He has blessed me wildly.  And not the way the world may recognize. (Remember this post?)  Seeking Christmas hasn’t broken records, topped charts, or won awards in its first season….yet I feel wildly blessed.  One of the ways the Lord has blessed me is through you.

Your words slipped into my inbox, your notes coming quietly through Facebook messages have filled my heart with encouragement and allowed me a glimpse at the work the Lord is doing in each of you.

I write to inspire and encourage….you.  I pray for you.  I connect with you when I write.  And the Lord has blessed me by bringing each of you into my life.  Writing has brought me an unexpected gift.  You are a gift and a treasure to me.

Through readers of this blog and readers of Seeking Christmas, I have come to love people I have never even met in person.  I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the lives of once strangers brought into my life through words shared, hearts revealed, and passions grown.

I sit here now watching the rain puddle on the porch- realizing I have months worth of life to catch up on.  But it can wait 2 more weeks. We are quietly seeking Christmas in our home. Each Christmas holds the same truths, yet each Christmas looks different.  Even when we are living out traditions year after year, each season may look different.

My prayer today is that we pause.  That we pause and reflect on the true meaning of it all-that we seek the true holiness of it all.  He is coming.  His birth was humble and simple, the message profound and turned the world inside out.  May he do that in our lives this season with the simple gifts of Christmas:  hope, love, peace, and joy.

Seeking Christmas is a 7 day family devotion that guides families into intentional times of worship and activities that focus on discovering the true meaning and gifts of Christmas.  It holds the same truths for each family using it, but will look different in each home.  Your family can create your own unique memories and experiences while Seeking Christmas together through guided devotions and activities.

 

 

Room in the inn of our heart

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The innkeeper hears the knock at the door.  The long awaited guest has arrived.  He comes every year.  Quietly he knocks and waits to be invited in.

The innkeeper rushes to the door, opening wide while the wind rushes in.  He hugs the guest, takes his coat and welcomes him inside.

“Please make yourself at home.  We are busy preparing for you.  And we are so excited you have come.”

The guest takes in the sights and sounds.  Enticing scents invite him in further.  He listens to the excited chatter of the guests around him.  Guests here to honor him.  They are all busy hustling about.  Decorations are underway, preparations are being made.

The air is festive and bright.  Joy abounds around him.

The guests know he is there.  This is all for him.  And he waits.  They move all around him, but few stop to chat.  The celebrations swirl around him, for him.  A few pass by with sweet words tossed here and there.  “So glad you are here.  What a joyous occasion.  We will be with you soon.  There is still a bit to do before we can celebrate with you.”

He sits by the fire in the parlor. He waits for the guests to join him.  His eyes are transfixed on the dancing flames while the background noise rises and falls.

He would love to sit and chat for hours with these guests.  He has come for them.  They will come, he tells himself.  He realizes they are excited and caught up in their own excitement over him- they have busied themselves.

He wonders if they will be too tired to visit with him after all their setting up is complete.  He hopes not.  And he waits.  He has so much he wishes to share.  He hopes they will have time with him.  He continues watching the fire.

He watches the clock above the dancing flames.  The hands move slowly as he watches each second tick by.  The clock tells a time that signals the night has come to an end.  He moves away from the warmth of the fire where he sat all evening hoping to share stories with the guests and engage in their excitement.  It’s ok, he tells himself.  This is all because they love me and are excited to celebrate my arrival with me tomorrow.  Off to bed he goes.

The other guests and the innkeeper retire to their rooms exhausted.  Tomorrow we will celebrate they all say.

A new day dawns.  The guest rises eager to spend time with the other guests he’s come to see.  Preparations should be complete, now they will be ready to celebrate.

The fire in the parlor is growing in intensity.  He takes residence in the same spot he secured the night before, watching the flames- waiting.

The guests begin to file down the stairs.  The chatter begins again.  The festivities are underway.  He overhears their conversations.  They are speaking of him.  Yet few stop to speak to Him.  They talk of him and around him- and he waits.

His heart feels heavy as he longs for these people.  To share in their stories, to share in their festivities and laughter.

The evening draws to a close and the guest makes his way upstairs.  There was room for him at the inn that night but no space in their hearts to sit with him.

As he lay in bed reflecting he knew they loved him and had come for him.  He only wished they realized he didn’t need all the effort that went into the celebration.  He only wanted them.

He understands.  He’s patient and humble.

He waits.  Because He loves them.

Seeking Christmas is a guide for families to the One who came for each of us.  It’s a simple devotion, filled with simple activities and traditions that celebrates a simple, yet profound message.  It offers your family a unique Christmas experience centered around what truly matters in life and in this season.  If you have purchased a copy, thank you.  I’ve been praying for years for you and would love to hear from you after your family seeks Christmas together this year.  Merry Christmas!

 

When You Go Looking for a Good Fight

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reneestomach

Proverbs 15:1

A harsh word stirs up anger, but a gentle answer turns away wrath.

I was over it.  Exhausted.  7 days of constant activity and commitments, traveling twice within just days, a house in disarray.  And a mama in need of rest.

I surveyed the disaster surrounding me.  In an effort to make their own lunches, the boys had created an explosion of food and crumbs all over the counters.  Dinner dishes graced the counters and table.  Clean dishes filled the dishwasher in need of unloading.  The family room had piles of ornament boxes from the recent tree decorating.  Bathrooms and bedrooms were overun with piles of dirty clothes and evidence of water wars.  To top it all off, we have been without a dryer for 2 weeks.  I looked around at all the newly “dried” crunchy clothes to put away only to piece by piece hang the newly washed loads.

I hastily kissed the boys and escaped to my bed in utter defeat.  I am not a slave.  Why should everyone else have all the fun and I should go behind cleaning messes so they can do it all over again.  It’s not fair!  I huffed and puffed all the way to the bed, where I burrowed with a good book.

Steve opened the door.  His face looked concerned.  “You know it’s 7:30 right?”

“Yes.”  I said it without making eye contact and a tone that said I want you to ask but I don’t want you to know I want you to ask.

“Are you ok?”

It started spewing before I had a chance to reign it back in.  All the frustrated wife and mommy moments came pouring out.

“This just isn’t like you.  You don’t curl up in a ball when things get tough.  You fight through it.”

I made a few snide remarks, and to my surprise he didn’t fight back.  What I expected was a response like this, “I cooked dinner tonight.  I played Foosball with the boys.  I helped decorate the tree.  I bathed Andrew.  What more could I possibly do?  Don’t I deserve a break too?”

Instead, I got silence.  But not a bitter, angry silence.  I got one full of mercy and grace.  I got a response I didn’t deserve.  And he softly closed the door and left me to rest.

Proverbs 15:1 came to life.  Steve answered me with gentleness when I didn’t deserve it and it turned away wrath.  It softened me.

And the burning coals were heaped on my head when I came down an hour later to find a spotless house.

He gave me what I did not deserve.

Christ came to give us what we don’t deserve.

The season is upon us where we wait.  We eagerly anticipate and long for His coming.  May our hearts be stilled in awe as we reflect on His coming.

[box] Are you looking for a simple devotion to help your family focus on Christ this Christmas? Seeking Christmas offers a way to slow down and reflect on Him while creating family traditions. It’s giving the gift of memories to your family.[/box]

We celebrate 5

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Hmmm.

5.

You have been excited for this day for the last 6 months.  5 to a mommy says, “Bye-bye cutesy little years, hello big boy years.  Ready or not, here I am.”

So I say back to five, “Bring it on.”

You are something else.  Truly you are.

You are tender yet tough.  Your eyes tell a story of adventure.

The highlights of my days are the special moments we share.  The walks to the bridge to talk.  I love when you say, “So what do you want to talk about?  Worker mans?  Or what?”  I love to give you snuggle tickles at night and watch you squirm in delight.  I love the way you ask for “yogret” or a “little i-cream”

I love that your body can still fit in my lap and I can hold you close.  I love that you will still lay on me and snuggle.  And I love that your sweet little hand still fits fully inside mine.

The Lord has great plans for you and I can’t wait to watch them unfold.

I will love you forever.

Happy 5th birthday, Andrew.  I love your heart.  I love your will.  I love watching the Lord work in your life.  You are a true blessing and I thank God for your precious life.

Thankful for Music – And a Giveaway

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“I remember that my dad couldn’t park the car fast enough when we were arriving at my grandma’s house on Christmas Eve. Before ever opening the front door, I knew what sights and sounds would greet me. Elvis would be singing Christmas songs in the background. Kids would laugh and chase each other around the house. Adults would be sharing stories with one another.

 

As the excitement waned and the evening began to draw to an end, “Silent Night” would begin to play softly. Turning to look at my aunt, I already knew what I would see. Tears would stream down her face as she quietly reflected on the lyrics of this beautiful song….”

Seeking Christmas, Renee Robinson

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CD cover Christmas by Michael O’Brien

Music evokes emotion.  Music sets the mood.  Music intertwines the moments and takes them deeper.  Music tells a story.  Music creates a story.  Music celebrates.  Music mourns.  Music creates the backdrop to the story of our lives.  And music is a trigger that brings the stories back to life.

Michael O’Brien has a Christmas cd out that will add another layer of beauty to your holiday season this year.  If there is one cd you add to your Christmas collection, this is the one.  This week I’m giving away a free AUTOGRAPHED cd that Michael has graciously provided.

Giveaway Details:

I will draw a name at random on Friday, November 29th and announce the winner.  Entries must be placed by Friday, November 29th at 11:59 am.

 

How to enter:

  1. Like my page on Facebook
  2. Like this post on FB and share the link on FB
  3. Follow and retweet on Twitter
  4. Tweet your favorite Christmas song use #seekingchristmas
  5. Comment here on the blog your favorite holiday song and/or memory that involves music