Thankful for Music – And a Giveaway

“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

A Different Kind of Christmas

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In a world where consumerism thrives, we are bombarded with a message of “more”.  In a world where Pinterest reigns, we are flooded with images of how to create the perfect Christmas.  In a world that says our worth comes from what we do, we believe that Christmas is a time to do EVEN more.

Let’s choose this Christmas to declutter.  Let’s simplify the season.  Let’s choose to have a different kind of Christmas.

Christmas is one simple message.  Christmas is simple and it needs more simple.  Christ was born to die for you.  It’s that simple.

Let’s get back to the basics.

Let’s not allow ourselves to feel anxious this Christmas.  Let’s allow ourselves the freedom to not have a Pinterest perfect Christmas.  We can’t change our culture.  We can’t change the commercialism of the season.  But we can choose how we interact with it.  We can choose how our family keeps what is sacred sacred.

I wrote Seeking Christmas so that my family could step off the busy train on a route to commercial land and step onto a train that inched its way along a track that leads to Holy. Along the way, we will stop, we will experience, we will breathe deep, we will create, and we will hold dear that which is most important.

We will have a season filled with memories and traditions.  And I don’t need to consult any blogs or boards to find out how to make it perfect.  Because imperfect is just perfection in disguise.

Simplicity is beautiful and it needs nothing to adorn it.

Our savior was born in a simple setting, a simple birth, to a simple girl.  Descended from Heaven into a complicated world.  With Him He brought a simple message.

Seeking Christmas is a different kind of devotion.  It’s surprisingly short, surprisingly simple. Intentionally created in  a way to help you step off the path our world takes to Christmas.  It will disappoint the readers who are looking for a book full of ideas and activities.  If you are looking for a book of 100 ideas for Christmas, please don’t buy it.  You will not like it.  At all.

If you are looking for a way to slow Christmas down, a way to intentionally enter the season, a way to create memories and traditions that don’t require online research and multiple trips to the craft store, a way to capture the hearts of your children and direct them to Christ, then Seeking Christmas is for you.

Seeking Christmas was written intentionally simple- because we need a little more simple at Christmas.  The true meaning of Christmas will emerge when you keep your Christmas season simple.  Guaranteed.

 

Let the light shine

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Matthew 5:16 NIV In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

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When the boys were little, one of our first family mission projects was filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  Sparks are ignited in simple beginnings.  No matter how young.

Filling shoeboxes has become a tradition and one that takes place before the season gets kicked off into full swing.  When the kids’ school did a shoebox drive, I thought they wouldn’t be interested in doing our family shoeboxes.  When I made the mistake of expressing that to one of my children, he took it upon himself to begin the shoebox filling.

“Mom, we have to do the shoeboxes.” And he wouldn’t let up.  We did the boxes.  Afterwards, he looked at the 3 boxes and said, “That’s not enough.  We need to do more.”

My response back was shameful.  “Well, you did some at school.  We did 3 here.  And we have the other projects we are working on as well.  It’s just impossible to do much more than what we have planned to do.”

At first he was speechless.  Then he said, “We have to.  I will use my own money.  I want to set a goal.”

In that moment all the years of wondering if packing those boxes made a difference simply disappeared.  They made a huge difference.  He has a heart that cares about caring for the needy.

I was deeply convicted.  Packing these shoeboxes had become a box to check off for me.  A box on our tradition list.  For my children it was a deeply moving experience where they were able to pour into the lives of hurting children.  To give gifts they would love and to imagine the joy on the faces.

I hesitated to post about this because I feared you might feel like I am patting myself on the back and saying, “Look how great my kids are.”  I assure you that is not my intent here.  And if I had time, I would videotape the fighting and bickering and ugly moments to show you that is just not true.

I decided to post this because I believe we need to let our light shine this Christmas.  Brighter than ever before.  It is not bragging.  It’s shining the light of Christ.  Let the world see the good works so God can be glorified.

And then maybe, just maybe, you will have the privilege of seeing how that light inspired another to action and how your good works done for the glory of God have multiplied.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Over the summer my boys hosted a lemonade stand for Blood Water Mission.  One of my friends sent me a message that because of her boys learning about that, he decided to ask his friends at his birthday party to contribute to Blood Water Mission instead of giving him gifts. She sent a thank you to let my boys know they had inspired her boy to take action.

When we let our light shine, it’s not bragging.  It’s giving glory to God.  And it’s inspiring and encouraging others to take action.

When I shared with my boys how the $80 they raised by selling lemonade had turned into close to $300 because someone saw what they did and were inspired, you could have heard a pin drop in our car.  In a rare moment, silence.  The weight of it lingered.  300 Africans would have clean water for 1 year because a group of little boys took action.

It’s not bragging.  It’s not look what I did.  It’s not I’m working to gain favor in God’s eyes.  It’s I love Him passionately and I do it because of that love, and I want the world to see that love and see Him.

Let your light shine this Christmas season.  You can start now.  The giving spirit doesn’t have to kick off on a specific date.  It can start right now.  The spirit of Christmas is alive all year long.

Matthew 5:14-16 Msg  “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

When my Keurig isn’t fast enough, I’ve got problems

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I open the handle on the Keurig, pop the pod in, hit the brew button.  While the coffee is brewing in a record 20 seconds, I impatiently tap my finger on the handle of the mug.  No sense in wasting any time, I add the sugar and cream while the coffee is brewing into the mug.

Efficiency at its finest.

My child walks into the room, begins a story.  The story meanders along a leisurely path. Details fill each crevice of the tale, details I probably could do without.  My eyes dart to the sink then the counter-noticing all the things I could do while I listen.  I rinse and stack, pipe in my um-hmms to let him know I’m still strolling with him on this record-long tale.

His eyes stay fixed on my face while he tells the tale.  For him time means nothing.  I should take note.  Instead, I interject my uninvited thoughts, completing his sentences and thoughts, hurrying the pace along.  The story ends, he moves along.

I answer a phone call and know immediately the one on the other end needs to be hurried along as well.  She likes to talk, and the stories drag on.  3 times I catch myself when my tone is impatient in my replies.  I needed time to get to other conversations before we hung up.  We ran out of time.  I hung up frustrated.

Are you with me?  Do you see my problem?  When a Keurig can’t brew coffee fast enough for me, I’ve got major problems.  The moments that make up our days, our existence, they are not instant coffee.  They need time to brew.  We need time to feel the steam on our face while our hands are warmed.  We need to slow down enough to savor each sip the moments have to offer us.  The richness needs to settle in.  I need to settle in.

I need to settle in. I could blame it on technology and modern advances that have caused my impatience. I’m less concerned with what’s causing it than what it is causing in my life.

I can’t change the age we live in.  I can’t change the pace of life and the level of distractions we are bombarded with.  But I can change how I let them affect my thoughts and actions.

The bigger concern is how impatience over time will impact my relationships.

It’s one thing to realize I’m impatient and live in an instant gratification world that moves at an insane pace.  It’s another thing to realize that giving in to the impatience is harming my relationships.

Rushing through my moments because of impatience is damaging the ones I love the most. The impatience doesn’t stop.  It is only one vein that leads to many others.  One such is irritability.  My impatience causes me to feel irritable.  No one likes to be around an irritable person!

My irritation causes me to be snappy and begins a cycle of frustrations caused from unmet expectations- namely because things aren’t moving at the pace I prefer.  It’s ugly.

It’s interesting how things creep into our lives.  They are so sudden and slight we don’t tend to notice until they are fully present in all their heinous glory.

Ephesians 4:2  “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”

Seems a timely verse for me to memorize as we head into the Christmas season.  I could use an extra dose of gentleness and patience so that I can bear with anyone in love.

 

 

Subtle Interruptions

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When I first saw him walking along the road, it didn’t seem completely unusual.  We were at a major interstate exit.  He had a large backpack, dirty ripped up clothes, and a dog on a leash.  I thought to myself, “I wish it were easier to stop and give him one of our blessing bags.”  I drove on.

The next day I was driving home from picking up Andrew from school.  It was lunchtime.  He was tired and cranky.  I saw the man with dirty, ripped up clothes, oversized backpack and dog on a leash.  This time he was further into suburbia.  I thought to myself, “That’s the same man I saw yesterday.  I wish I could stop and give him a blessing bag.  But that wouldn’t be wise with Andrew in the car.  Plus he’s tired and cranky.”  The man wasn’t walking this time.  He was resting under a shade tree in front of my veternarian’s office.  I drove on.

The next day I dropped off 5 kids at school and raced home to meet a newspaper interviewer at my home.  I needed to brush my teeth, apply some lipstick, and make myself somewhat presentable.  I should probaby have some coffee and muffins ready, clean the toilet seat.  And while I have 30 minutes in the car I will go ahead and rehearse my talk I’m giving in 2 weeks on seeing the messages God has for us in the everyday, ordinary moments of life.

Then I saw him.  The man with dirty, ripped up clothes, oversized backpack, and dog on a leash.  This time we weren’t at a major interstate exit.  We weren’t just a little further into suburbia.  We had entered the bubble.  The bubble where I live, where sidewalks are lined with trees and children roam carefree.  Where homeless men aren’t walking.

My brain stopped working.  I can’t explain what happened but I pulled my car right over on the side of the road in the middle of traffic making its way through a construction area.  The man was walking far off the side of the road, in the middle of someone’s yard.

I grabbed a blessing bag out of the side of the door, grabbed my wallet and took all the cash I had, threw it in the bag and tossed my wallet far into the backseat out of sight.  I rolled down my window and beckoned the man to my car.  (Mom and Linda- I’m sorry- I know you who love me are screaming at your computers at my ignorance….like any good mom and mom in law would be doing).

He approached with a smile on his face, showing 1 top tooth among a row of missing others. His face was dark and dirty.  But he had a smile on his face and said, “I’m sorry.”  Why did he apologize to me?  Because he interuppted my morning or could have been the cause of my mini-van getting rear-ended?

Leaning towards the window, I passed the bag to him, looked him in the eyes, and said, “God bless you.”  He smiled back, with what appeared to be joy in his eyes.  “God bless you too, ma’am.”

The car behind me was baffled I’m sure.  He never tried to maneuver around me as if he knew I needed that grace in that moment.  As I guided my car off the grass onto the road, I broke down.  Trembling I realized God wanted to meet with me.  And God wanted to meet with that man.  And in ways that only He can, He is in constant pursuit of our affection while He connects us one to another.

I was in my car practicing a talk on seeing God in the everyday.  Preaching a message of seeing God’s messages for us when we slow down and have eyes to see Him.  God needed to teach me my own lesson right back at my heart in that exact very moment.  I had missed Him the last 2 times He tried to intersect my day because it wasn’t convenient for me.  Thank God He doesn’t give up on me.

God is in our everyday moments.  When it looks like we are just skipping along our normal routine, God is there.  Waiting on us.

Day 31: Jesus the Ultimate Picture of Discomfort

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I started this series thinking my discomfort was in writing for 31 days on a topic that could eventually cause me great discomfort.  Just naming it was uncomfortable.  I went exploring with God.

You see it’s easy for me to say I want to get uncomfortable for His sake, but when I’m actually facing the choice to move or camp, I find I tend to camp when He’s saying pack up and move. I found that I like to move with Him when He lets me take my creature comforts along for the ride.  “God, I want to join you, but first I need to pack my travel pillow, my extra change of clothes in case it’s colder than I expect, my extra layer of bedding to keep me nice and cozy, and a few things to keep me occupied along the ride.”

I discovered I was traveling my style, not God’s style.  The desire was there.  I realized I needed more than desire.  Something was holding me back from moving to that uncomfortable place.  Time and time again fear showed up.  The what-if’s, the lack of answers, the lack of control.  Fear.

God has so much to say on fear.  Mainly it goes something like this “Fear Not!”

The ultimate summary of this series you will find hanging on the cross.  Jesus did nothing comfortable.  Nothing.  Everything he did was so far outside the comfort zone it’s not even funny.  He went to uncomfortable people.  He came from Heaven – the ultimate comfortable place- to be here on earth.  And for what?  To die!  What’s more uncomfortable than dying? Maybe dying on a cross.  And why?  Because He loves me.  He loves me so passionately He would lose His life so I can have life.

If my God can hang on a cross, willingly, for me then who am I to stay comfortable?  Who am I to decide comfort is where I need to be?

This 31 day journey has opened my eyes and I pray you have seen God in fresh new ways as you’ve explored where He is calling you.  Each of our journeys looks different, but there is one common theme.  He loves us.  And He wants to use us to bring glory to Him.  He is God- and there is none other.

[box] This is Day 31 in a series, 31 Days to Get Uncomfortable With God. Please click here for a listing of all posts in this series. If you would like posts delivered to your inbox, please click here.[/box]

Day 30: Do you dare to dream?

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I had a dream to write a book.  But it was a secret dream.  I didn’t share it because how many people actually write a book?  Why would I think I could actually do it when so many people much more talented have the same dream?

I dreamed of being a writer.  I kept that a secret.  I majored in accounting, a far reach from a writing career.  I read lots of talented writers.  I can’t write like them.  I couldn’t be a writer.

When Jacob was a baby, and I was working long hours during tax season, I wrote down my dream on a piece of paper that stayed on my nightstand for years.  If I could have my “dream” it would be to stay at home with my kids, have time to actually exercise, have time to actually take bible studies, and one day be the church secretary.  I didn’t even dare to write my other dream!  That would be far too embarrassing if anyone ever found that torn sheet of paper. Maybe in parenthesis I should have jotted (oh yeah and write a book one day).

I didn’t have the courage to write those words.

Over a 10 year period God has been piecing these dreams together.  Sometimes these dreams have come through intense pain, tears, and heartache.

Do you dream?  Do you dare to dream?  Do you avoid dreaming because you fear it won’t happen so you would rather not face it?  Is it too uncomfortable to allow yourself to dream?

Steve and I were discussing what it looks like to live a dream.  What does that mean?  I asked him, “Aren’t you living your dream?”

His reply,  “You have to know what your dream looks like before you can live it.”

He got me thinking.  How often are we identifying what are dreams are?  What do we fear in chasing our dreams?

If you dared to dream, what would your dream look like?  You don’t have to share it with anyone.  Do like I did, hide it in your nightstand under a stack of books where no one can find it.

The first step to living your dream is naming it.  Are you willing to feel uncomfortable enough to recognize God has placed dreams on your heart?  Dreams that He might want you to explore? Dreams that could glorify Him?

It’s not selfish to dream.

Just because you dream it doesn’t mean you think you are the best at it.  But don’t let your insecurities stop you from going confidently towards your dream.  God doesn’t need you to be the “best” at something in order to move you towards living out a dream that brings Him glory.

When my secret dream to write was revealed, I was astonished at the number of friends I have that are secret writers too!  So many people sent me messages that they too write and have words tucked away in the caves of their hard drives.

I’m not alone in hiding dreams in the secret places of my heart.  The question becomes is God ready for you to be courageous and boldly follow your dreams.

About 2 years ago, my friend sent me this ornament as a birthday gift.  I’ve looked at it daily.

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First you have to know what your dream is before you can go chasing it.

Has God placed a dream on your heart that He wants you to explore?

[box] This is Day 30 in a series, 31 Days to Get Uncomfortable With God. Please click here for a listing of all posts in this series. If you would like posts delivered to your inbox, please click here.[/box]