Finding Christmas: Not Forgotten

The holiday season, extending from late November until just after the new year, is a happy time that usually includes spending extra time with loved ones on more than one occasion. I cherish the opportunities to see family and friends more often than usual during these weeks. 

This is a sweet season, but not for everyone. 

Some among us are separated from loved ones, either by death or circumstances, and will spend at least part of the time grieving the separation that keeps them apart. It's easy for people to feel alone and forgotten. For those people, being remembered by someone can make a major difference.

It's one of the reasons taking children to nursing homes to sing carols, visiting shut ins, and spending time with those who grieve are all so important. It makes an impact that can last far longer than we know. It reminds them that they are not forgotten, but it is also a reminder to us that, when our time comes, we will not be forgotten, either.

Feeling forgotten is not the same as being forgotten.

Isaiah wrote about this very issue. Zion thought God had forgotten her. The nation felt abandoned and rejected. God, through Isaiah, reminded His people that He  could never forget them. Why not? 

The Hands of God are a constant reminder of those He loves.

God has inscribed us on the palms of His hands and we are constantly before Him. Those nail-scarred hands ever proclaim the price He paid for our redemption and ever serve as a reminder of the ones He bought with His blood. 

God cannot forget us because we are always before Him, literally and figuratively in the palms of His sacrificing, loving hands.

No matter how we feel this season, our reality, our truth is that we are not forgotten. We are not alone. God remembers us every time He sees His hands.

Inscribed on His palms.

If we are to be the hands of Christ this season, those who are inscribed on the hands of God must also be ever on our thoughts as well. 

This season, make a conscious effort to spend time with those who are alone, send notes to those who have lost loved ones, visit those who are shut-ins (whether at home or in a nursing facility). Remind them that they are not alone. 

We are not forgotten. We are not alone.

We are inscribed on the hand of God, constantly in His thoughts, always in His love. He is with us. 

It's our job to demonstrate that presence, that love to a dark and perishing world. One of the best ways to "find Christmas" this holiday season is to act like Christ. 

Be the hands of Jesus and take His light to those who need it most.

~~~~~~~~
In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Finding Christmas: Truth, Tradition, and Choice,  Finding Christmas: The Joy of Relationship, Finding Christmas: The Word of God, Finding Christmas: The Importance of Surrender,  Finding Christmas: Separating Truth and Fiction, Finding Christmas: Ongoing Surrender, and Finding Christmas: Hidden Paths.

The most read post of the last week: Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect

~~~~~~~~~~

 #Advent #keepChristinChristmas #MerryChristmas #JesusChrist #disciple #HisHands #notalone

The Blessing of Protection

One recent morning, I awakened at 1:30 am with a sense of urgency to pray for my son. I prayed and climbed back in bed. It was no better. I prayed in bed. At 2 am, I got up again. As it turned out, I was up for the day. The sense of danger for my son was so strong that I ended up praying off and on all day. 

By lunchtime, I was overwhelmed. Something was wrong. 

I texted him. He was fine. Nothing was wrong. 

I kept praying. I texted my prayer partner to pray. I prayed some more.

Finally, at 3:05 pm, nearly ten hours after my first sense of danger, I received a text from Ryan. A crazy thing had happened. He was driving (in his tiny Nissan roadster) when an 18-wheeler passed him, had a blow out, and blew the tire onto his car. The tire missed his windshield (which would likely have killed him) and hit his front bumper instead. 

"Did it scare you, Ryan," I asked. 

"No, Ma'am. It happened too fast to scare me, but it sure surprised me."

There's damage to the bumper that will need to be repaired, but Ryan managed to navigate to the side of the road without crashing. He made his way to a service station and the man there, who was so nice, gave him several long zip-ties. Ryan, a modern-day MacGyver if there ever was one, zip-tied his car back together until he could report his accident and arrange for repair.

According to roadtreking.com, highway debris causes more than 25,000 accidents and at least 100 deaths each year in North America. When I called the insurance company to report his accident, the woman who answered asked how much of the car was damaged in the crash. 

"He didn't crash," I told her. "He said he just pulled off on the side of the road."

Most of the time, she said, when a flying tire-remnant hits a car, it causes a wreck. She was very surprised this one did not.

I'm not surprised at all.

The Lord has made known His salvation... Psalm 98:2 nasb

Our God, who is eternally present and sees the past and the future, knew about the accident to come at 1:30 that morning. He invited me into His divine preparations and I accepted the invitation. I can't begin to tell you how often I've been thankful for that. 

Lest you misunderstand, let me make it clear that Ryan wasn't spared because of his worried mama. Ryan was spared because a loving God intervened on his behalf. 

"He cares for you..." 1 Peter 5:7 nasb

On that particular day, at that particular time, God allowed me to glimpse His provision, His tender loving care. There are many days, in fact most days, when I do not glimpse His provision and tender loving care in such graphic detail. 

My failure to recognize God's care does not negate its presence nor His provision.

As disciples, we serve a loving, knowing God who cares for us with more tenderness, more love than we can imagine. Look around you today. Try to count the blessings you see, then count the unseen blessings that, though less tangible, are no less real. 

There's a song I learned as a child. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done."

Indeed. Count your many blessings today and thank Him for all He has done.

__________________

In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: The Problem With Phone Calls, How to Recognize Good News, Removing the Callus, Refillable Nespresso capsules,  The New Normal, and The Blessing Disguised as Coincidence.

#highwaydebris #spared #handofGod #blessed #disciple #JesusChrist #grateful

The most read post of the past week: Removing the Callus.