Scripture: Luke 1:46-55 and 68-75

Key Words: trusting, obeying,

Big Idea: Zechariah had a hard time trusting, while Mary found it easier.  God was faithful even still.

Songs are a great way to say how we feel.  Advent really showcases this.  There are so many wonderful Christmas songs: fast ones, slow ones, funny ones, sad ones (Christmas Shoes anyone?). There are songs about hippopotamuses and songs about snow; songs about jingle bells and songs about reindeer.

 What are some of your favorite Christmas Songs? Sing one or two with your family.

 In Luke 1 we find two different songs.  We find the song of Mary in verses 46-55. This is sometimes called “The Magnificat.”  Mary finds out she will be the mother of God’s Son. In verses 26-35, she is visited by the angel Gabriel who tells her she has been chosen by God to have the baby Jesus.  Even though this seemed impossible, her response is, “Behold, I am the servant, of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”  She trusts without hesitation. A few verses later, we see her praising the Lord for all he has done.  She says her soul magnifies the Lord, and calls his name holy.  She remembers things the Lord has done, and references his promises to Abraham.

Mary trusted in her Lord. I’m sure she never dreamed she would be the mother of God’s own Son, that she would be asked do something as uncomfortable or unexpected as this, yet here we find her rejoicing and magnifying her Lord. Mary trusted and rejoiced.

In verse 68 and following, we find another song.  This time the singer is Zechariah.  Zechariah was a relative of Mary.  In the beginning of Luke 1, we see that he was an older man who had no children, even though he and his wife Elisabeth longed for them. He was a priest, and while performing his duties, the angel Gabriel appears. Gabriel tells him he is going to have a son!  Zechariah’s response is different from Mary’s.  Instead of trust and worship, Zechariah answers with doubt and questions.  Where Mary seemed to find it easy to trust, Zechariah finds it hard.

 Which do you identify with?  Is it easy to trust or hard to trust?

The story doesn’t stop there.  Because of his lack of trust, Zechariah temporarily loses his ability to speak (Luke 1:19). Zechariah’s failure to trust brought consequences. The good news is that Zechariah’s failure to trust did not mean the failure of God’s plan.  God gave Zechariah that son just as he said he would, and this time Zechariah showed his trust in God by naming the child John, as he had been commanded.  At that very moment “his tongue was loosed, and [he] spoke, blessing God.”  This is where we find his song, in verses 68-75. Zechariah’s song, like Mary’s, recounts what God has done and speaks to what He will do through this child of promise. Zechariah did not trust and had to face the consequences before he was able to sing, but God in his grace still gave him a song to sing.

Just as we sing songs at Christmastime, we can sing songs throughout the year.  Songs of who God is and what he has done. Because of Jesus, we all have a song to sing.  Whether trust comes easier to you, as it did for Mary, or whether it’s a more challenging process for you, as it was for Zechariah, who God is, what He has done, what He promises to do will never change.

Like Mary and Zechariah, let’s respond to God’s goodness throughout the year and rejoice for the great things he has done. Let us bless the name of the Lord for he has visited and redeemed his people!

What are some things about which you can sing and give thanks to God?

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25

Key Words: trusting, longing

Big Idea:  Joseph trusted and obeyed God even when things didn’t go the way he expected.

We love Advent traditions at our house.  We always wait until Thanksgiving to blare our Christmas music.  The kids get so excited when it’s finally time to go into the storage room and get out the various green and red boxes filled with all our Christmas stuff.  They can’t wait to unpack the stockings, the ornaments, the books, and their favorite…the nativity.  We have several.  A nice decorative one, a painted wooden one, a magnetic one for the refrigerator, and everyone’s favorite – a “Little People” Nativity we got about 10 years ago.  The kids love to help set them up, and play with them throughout the Christmas season. The nativity is probably a familiar sight in many of our homes.  Whether wooden, magnetic, painted, or plastic – big or small – we see nativities everywhere during December.  Where do you put your nativity?  Who do you see in your nativity?

We have one nativity that shows only Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. Another shows animals and shepherds as well.  Of course, all of these are characters we find in the Bible.  Our tradition is to talk about all of them at various times during Advent.  Today we are going to spend some time with Joseph. What do you know about Joseph? 

 Last week, if you read through the long list of names in Matthew 1, you found Joseph down at the bottom in verse 16.  Joseph was one of Abraham’s descendants.  He had the privilege of seeing God deliver on His promise to Joseph’s great, great, great, great, great, great (etc) grandfather.

Now, Joseph had his life pretty well mapped out.  He had a career as a carpenter and was engaged to be married to a nice girl in town named Mary.  When Mary was found to be with child, Joseph’s world was changed.  Have you ever had your plans not go the way you expected?

Matthew tells us that Joseph intended to end his relationship with Mary, but all that changed when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.  The angel told Joseph that he shouldn’t fear, this was all part of the God’s rescue plan, the very plan that Joseph and generations of his family had been looking for! And do you know what Joseph did?  The Bible says he woke up and “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Do you think this was easy or hard for Joseph?  Is it easy or hard for you to do things that are different than you expected?

Joseph was being told to do something that was uncomfortable and unexpected.  The Lord didn’t tell him every detail of how this unexpected life change would pan out.  He simply said, “Do not fear, I’m working out my plan.” Joseph woke up and did as he was commanded. He trusted the Lord.

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.  If we belong to Jesus by faith, we are called according to his purpose, and the Lord’s plan – as uncomfortable or unexpected as it may be – will work for our good.  It is important to understand that the “good” promised here refers to our good in the kingdom of God, not earthly comfort or ease. Joseph took Mary as his wife and named the baby she had Jesus, as commanded, but the road was not easy.

What are some hard or scary things the Lord has asked or is asking you to do? 

While we may not be asked something as drastic as Joseph was, the Lord will ask us to do some things that are uncomfortable and even unexpected. Sometimes it is to change our plans, to talk to someone about Jesus, or even to let go of something important to us.  Whatever it is, Joseph – that quiet character we see in every nativity scene at Christmas – reminds us how to respond: trust and obey.

[To keep Christmas all the year in 2018, commit Romans 8:28 to memory] 

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3

Key Words: longing, waiting, promise

Big Idea: God made a promise to Abraham many years ago.  Christmas is God’s fulfillment of God’s promises

There’s a song my kids love to sing called “Matthew’s Begats.”  It has a catchy rhythm and they love to sing it – loudly — during the month of December.  This song is full of unusual names like Rehoboam, Zerrubabel, and Jehosophat.  You might wonder why a song like this would be played during the Advent season. Is it a list of reindeer? Is it the naughty and nice list? Nope! These names are on a list, but we aren’t talking about Santa’s list. This list of names can actually be found in Matthew 1.  It is a list of generations of people, starting with Abraham, who we read about in Genesis.

God made a promise to Abraham.  What was that promise?

God promised Abraham that he would be a father, and not just any father.  He would be a father to as many people as there are stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5)! God promised that through Abraham he was going to do something great, something that would bless all the families of the earth.  But Abraham had to wait.  And Abraham’s child, Isaac, had to wait.  And Abraham’s grandchild, Jacob, had to wait. And Abraham’s children’s children’s children had to wait. And so on… all the way until Abraham’s great, great, great, great, great, great, (and then some) grandson, Matthan, had a son named Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, who married a woman named Mary, who was the mother of Jesus!! So the song “Matthew’s Begats” comes from Matthew 1 and is actually a long list of people who were waiting for God’s promise to Abraham to finally be fulfilled.

What does it mean to wait? Do you like to wait? Waiting is actually a big part of Christmas. What are some ways we wait at Christmas?
We wait in lines at the store. We may wait in line to see Santa. We wait for Christmas morning to get here. We don’t just wait, though. We long.  We desire, we really, really want to open that Christmas present.  We know Christmas is coming and we can hardly contain our desire for it to arrive.

As people who love Jesus, we should have that same kind of excitement and longing all year.. God promised Jesus and Jesus came!

What else has God promised?

 He promises to always be with us (Isaiah 41:10)

He promises that nothing can separate us from his love (Romans 8:38-39)

He promises that he will forgive our sins when we confess them (1 John 1:9)

He promises that he works all things together for our good (Romans 8:28)

He promises that he will give us eternal life (John 3:16)

And so much more!

God kept his promise to Abraham, even though people had to wait. God has promised his people many things and, as God’s people, we can be excited as we wait for His promises to be fulfilled. Just like the excitement we feel as we wait and long for Christmas morning.

Check out the video of the song mentioned in this devotion: Matthew’s Begats by Andrew Peterson

With those words in Charles Dickens’s famous story, we see the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge. At first, he is a hard-hearted, greedy old miser described as a “tight-fisted, squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.  Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” Doesn’t sound like someone we want to spend a lot of time with, does it?

Last Advent, our family read through Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  I knew the story but it was honestly the first time I actually read it.  The language was beautiful and the story convicting.  As the story goes on, the terrible Scrooge is visited by three ghosts from Christ past, present, and future.  With their help, he begins to see his life through different eyes.  It is difficult and painful for Scrooge to face the brokenness he’s caused and the road to perdition upon which he is traveling.  During the last visit, from the Spirit of Christmas-Yet-To-Come, Scrooge is broken.  He vows that he will “honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.  I will live in the past, the present, and the future… I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

At the end of the journey, we find Scrooge completely changed.  In the last chapter, Scrooge says “I’m as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy!”  He proceeds to go and make right all his errors.  He joyfully goes about the town laughing and wishing a Merry Christmas to all in the town, to his extended family, to his faithful employee, Bob Cratchit. He becomes “as good a friend, master, and man as the city ever knew.”  Scrooge’s experience with the three Spirits of Christmas has left him changed – and desiring to carry Christmas around with him everywhere he goes for the rest of his life.

The Scriptures teach that we are a lot like Scrooge.  We are tightfisted, covetous sinners. But when we grasp the truth of the Christmas story – the incredible news that God came into our world as one of us in order to rescue us from what our sins deserve – we too are transformed. Scripture says when we trust in Jesus and his work on our behalf – his life, death, and resurrection – we become new creations. And as new creations in Christ, the hope, joy, peace, and love that everyone aspires to at Christmas becomes ours… always! The Christ child who came in the stable in Bethlehem is the risen Christ who reigns and whose Spirit dwells within us. We who know the Christ of Christmas have every reason, every ability, and every opportunity to carry Christmas with us everywhere we go – to honor Christmas in our hearts and keep it all the year!

My husband and I collaborated on an Advent devotional for our church, with the prayer it would remind, inspire, and challenge us all to remember who we were apart from Christ, to rejoice in the truth of Christmas, and relay the good news to all that Christ has come to redeem, restore, and rescue! We hope this helps you celebrate and consecrate this Advent – and to carry it with you into all of 2018.

I will post each devotion in a separate post (there are three per week for the 4 weeks of Advent). Each contains a Scripture reading, key words to watch for, a big idea, and practical suggestions for keeping Christmas all the year in 2018. We also designed an additional, included resource to help this happen – a calendar. Both of these are available in hard copy at Back Creek Church (1821 Back Creek Church Road Charlotte, NC 28213) or can be sent to you if you request in the common section (through traditional mail or in PDF form). The themes in this devotional will correspond each week to the theme of our Advent preaching series at Back Creek called Keeping Christmas. May God bless you this Advent.

I was washing dishes when she delivered her message.  Her little feet pattered down the hardwood steps and over the cold, slate kitchen floor.  Her damp hair curled around that freckled face I love so much.  Her soft eyes danced with joy and excitement and pride “I wrote you, Mommy!”  Her little, round hands clasped the blue and white journal we had purchased at TJ Maxx that morning.

I smiled and kissed her, then sent her off to bed and finished my task.  When I was done, I dried my hands and picked the small book up and opened to the first page.

C-A-T.

Most people would think it spells cat.  And you would be right, of course, it does spell cat. But this “Cat”, was the first entry in a mother-daughter journal.  I started a journal like this one with my eldest daughter a couple years back.  My middle daughter, had watched us and in the last few months asked if we could do one together as well.  I agreed, but in an effort to sneak in some learning I told her that she had to try to write her own words. She agreed, and I found myself looking at first of what I hope is the first of millions of entries in our journal.  And I don’t quite know how to put in words the grin that stretched across my face and reached deep into my soul.

You see, while she correctly spelled – and illustrated – “Cat,” she communicated so much more.

 She communicated that she loves me.  She communicated a desire to communicate with me.  She communicated that she wants a relationship with me.

So I responded to her, and placed it back on her bed and kissed her sleeping head. And as I did, I was struck that this exchange in many ways illustrated truths about my prayer life, and brought out some lessons I need to take to heart:

1.  She didn’t wait until she had all the right words to communicate with me. She is just learning to read, just learning the basics of spelling, but that didn’t stop her from communicating. She wasn’t ashamed of this, she embraced it.  She was proud of being able to communicate with me even at a rudimentary level.
Do I let my lack of eloquence stop me from communing with my Father?  I will be honest in saying there are times that I compare my prayers, my words to those of others, and I find myself lacking.  My prayers feel so elementary next to others’ articulate, theologically rich words.  At times, I have let this shame me into silence.  Haven’t we all been there? Afraid to pray in Sunday School for fear of what people might think.  Haven’t we all someone that we have compared ourselves to – not for the sake of finding inspiration, but to make us feel in adequate?

2. She found joy in communicating with me.  It wasn’t the word “cat” that brought her joy – she didn’t get a pet cat because she wrote it, and she didn’t get anything of substance in return.   But the simple act of communicating with her mother brought her deep joy that sparkled in her eyes.
Does the simple act of coming before my heavenly Father’s throne in prayer bring me joy? Or do I see it as a task to be done? A means to an end?  I have the privilege of communing daily with the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords; I am allowed to call him Abba, Daddy!! Do I revel in that?  Am I awed by it? Do I take advantage of that blessed opportunity?

3. This journal doesn’t make me love her more. I couldn’t possibly love her more than I always have.  This journal doesn’t change how I provide for her. It doesn’t change how I care for her, it doesn’t change how I cherish and protect her.  God’s affections for me do not change based on whether I pray or don’t pray.  His faithfulness doesn’t change.  He is there.  I believe he rejoices, even smiles, when I speak to him, when I listen for him – but he remains the same either way.  I’m the one who is changed by communication with him, changed for the better. I see this in her as well.  After several weeks of this writing, the words are still simple, but she is learning and growing.  I see it in her reading and her writing during the day.  I see it in the pages of that journal. Does my communication with God show in the pages of my life?

I hope this journal, this communication, will continue on for years to come. I pray even more that her (and my) communication with our heavenly Father will be filled with an even deeper confidence, joy, and growth.

I could blame my inconsistent blogging on the fact that I have three children with so much energy and so many words that sometimes I find they have drained me of my energy at the end of the day. I wonder if they siphon it out of me to get theirs! Though, I’m sure my husband would surely say I still have plenty of words – ha!
I could blame the fact that I homeschool. Yeah… I’m that mom though no matter what my sister-in-law likes to say I don’t wear long jean jumpers or make my own granola. Ok so SOMETIMES I make my own granola, but I at least prefer my denim to be a nice pair of skinny jeans.
I could also blame the fact that I don’t have a nice laptop so I can curl up by a nice crackling fire with a cup of coffee and write while music softly plays in the background, or on the deck of a beach cottage listening to the waves crash on the sand while I type. I mean isn’t that how all writers write?? Even if not, I’d sure like to try…..
There are many reasons I could conjure up to blame my lack of writing and posting recently. But the bottom line is, the problem is me.
I struggle with my priorities.
I fight fear. Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection.
I am undisciplined and inconsistent.
I guess the thing about blogging is I can’t do it honestly and hide my flaws. The very nature of a blog invites someone into your thoughts, reflections, and in some ways, life. It can be easier for me to just hide in the background.

So why do I do it?

The truth is that whether I blog or not isn’t going to affect much. The world will still turn. Thousands of other bloggers will blog. This blog is the tiniest of drops in an ocean of reflections, writings, and musings and various other publications from people braver, wiser, smarter etc. In fact, there are many days I question what I was even thinking when I started this. I try to ignore it, and some days I’m good at pushing it away, but I can’t deny the tugging on my heart to sit and reflect and write about these adventures of grace in mommyhood and ministry. As I reflect on this, I guess blogging is kind of metaphor for life. Ultimately, it’s not about whether or not I blog, it’s about me being disciplined enough to steward my time well (thanks, Mrs. Mount) and, honestly, to be obedient, to be bold. And that applies to many areas of life.

So here I am, returning to the scene of the crime. Knowing this is probably not the last time I will have a lapse in this public realm of blogging, just as I will continue to have lapses in my life… I pray that God will continue to speak to my heart, to pull me out of my hiding places, to show me His amazing Grace. I pray that He will continue to teach me. I pray he will equip me with wisdom to understand and courage to share as He would have me. And if you are ‘regular’ reader, I ask you to pray the same.

Sometimes I think God had a sense of humor when He gave me curly hair.

Curly hair doesn’t blend in. Its unruly and unpredictable and quite honestly messy at times.

That’s where I think God must have chuckled. He created this girl with a desire to blend in, to control my environment, to plan -with hair that doesn’t. In a world where thick straight or at least tame–able hair is desired, I am different.

I straighten my hair. I try to control it. But it doesn’t change the fact that at its root my hair is curly. Its different.

Maybe my heavenly Father has a sense of humor or maybe He was just trying to prepare me for the life he has laid out for me.

This girl who wants to blend in, to control, to plan, to not go against the current is called to over and over again.

Allow me to illustrate:

At this point, I have been called to homeschool. I don’t think I have to elaborate on the various looks and reactions I get from people.  Honestly, sometimes I share them and wonder what in the world I am doing.  Homeschooling is like big curly hair in the world of straight.

I don’t work outside the home right now- we couldn’t keep up with Joneses even if we wanted to at this stage of life.   I don’t know when God will call me back to work, but for now we live differently. Don’t get me wrong, we live a good life, but we live on a budget and must be very thoughtful and intentional.  Our freedom isn’t found in financial freedom, but it is founded in freedom found in Christ.

I have moved through childhood and now my adult life. I always think the stories of families who grow up next door to each other or went to the same church their whole life are so special.  That’s not the life we are leading.   My base of friends and ‘family’ is wide and varied, spread out over different states, and while ultimately it’s a fabulous blessing,  sometimes, especially the beginnings, its hard and can make one feel out of place, different.

I have 3 amazing children, none of which came when I planned and all of which are loud, energetic amazing beings who could not care less about blending in. 3 heads of (figurativiely) big ole’ curly hair in a world of straight. ( and I love them all the more for it)

Do you see a pattern?

I am married to the love of my life, my best friend, a man whose life calling is to serve and proclaim the gospel message in a world that rebels against it. And its that gospel message that changes my perspective, that shapes my decisions.

For that gospel message, is unruly and unpredictable and messy.

And its absolutely beautiful.

The King came as a baby in a dirty stable, the Creator sleeping among his Creation.

And this baby grew into a man. I like to think He had messy curly hair, but maybe not. Either way He lived a life that was different, set apart, and unpredictable.

He died a messy, terrible death because He wanted us to not blend in with a world that was dying.

He conquered death so we could be sanctified. Set Apart.

Different.

(1 Corinithians 6:11)

We are not called to blend in with this world.

We are called to be lights in the darkness. (Matthew 5:14)

We are not called to control our destiny.

We are called to be controlled by the love of Christ.

                                                                                                               (2 Corinthians 5:14)

We are not called to plan out our story.

                                         We are called to trust and rest in His plans. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

We are called to be different.

Set Apart.

Unpredictable.

And sometimes it’s going to get messy.

All of us, as followers of the gospel, are called to be, to live differently.   We are called to stand out like curls in a sea of straight. Your curly hair moments, may not look like mine, in fact they probably don’t. We aren’t all called to homeschool or move or marry a man called to pastoral ministry, and that’s ok. For while there is ONE gospel, there are many ways in which the Lord calls us individually to stand up and out. But the fact is, that if we are His, we are set apart, and whether its how we manage our finances or serve others, how we meet new people or how we treat our enemies, how we respect authority, or any number of everyday occurrences we are called to live as such.

We are to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ( 2 Cor 2:14-17)

I’ve been wearing my hairy curly more often these days for a variety of reasons-none of which are spiritual. I hope though, that on the curly hair days, I will be reminded of these spiritual truths when I look in the mirror. On those days that I will still l look in the mirror and wish to be different, I hope I will also remember to be thankful that God has given me a reminder that I am different.

So I try to embrace the curls.

God may have a sense of humor.

I know He has a purpose.