Home For The Holidays

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving with family for the first time in thirteen years. I’m grateful to be home for the holidays and look forward to Christmas. Although we traveled from New Mexico to Tennessee to spend Christmas together most years while we lived away, it’s great to live near our family again.

While in New Mexico, traditions changed. We often traveled for Thanksgiving and toured the Southwest. Over the years, we visited Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Park in southern New Mexico; the old western town of Tombstone, Arizona; San Diego, California; and San Antonio, Texas. We made family memories on these trips with our youngest daughter.

Traditions changed in Tennessee while we were gone too. We weren’t sure we could arrange for everyone to gather for dinner this year, but I thank the Lord it worked out. Our oldest daughter often gets together with her in-laws, but they planned to celebrate on Saturday. Our daughter-in-law usually shares the day with her family, but they were out of town. Everything worked well for us except for missing our oldest grandson. He’s in the marching band at Mississippi State and had a game. We enjoyed time with him later that weekend.

Instead of our typical turkey, hubby cooked two delicious chickens in the smoker. We also prepared several traditional sides and pumpkin pie for dessert. I’d made a Waldorf salad but forgot to take it out of the fridge. I ate all of it over the next few days.

Christmas plans for Christmas Eve include our three families attending church together late that afternoon and then meeting in our home for an Italian dinner. And, of course, open gifts around the tree.

Another holiday treat happens this weekend. With living 1200 miles away, we couldn’t invite our youngest grandchildren over to spend the night with Papa and Nana. Our granddaughter, age eleven, and our grandson, age eight, will spend the night with us for the first time. We plan to take them to a drive-through Christmas light display and play games while they are with us.

I’m thankful for many things. Family is near the top of my list, and I’m grateful to be home for the holidays to spend quality time with them. Wishing you and your family a healthy and merry Christmas!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1, NIV

Photo by Jed Owen - Unsplash

Pre-approved

Have you ever been pre-approved for a loan? With our recent move from New Mexico to Tennessee, we needed a pre-approval letter from our bank to make an offer on a home to buy. The seller wanted to confirm we could get a loan for our offered amount. We provided our bank with financial information and employment history. Afterward, we received an approval letter and purchased our home.

There’s another type of approval I tend to seek. Acceptance from others. Am I alone in this? I hope people will like me and want to get to know me better. I’d like to believe that once they’ve met me, they will approve of me. But I read something this week that reminded me of something I need to focus on more often.

I’m doing a Bible study called, Galatians Accepted & Free, by Jada Edwards. After I watch a video on Study Gateway, I work through the study guide. In Session Three’s Opening Group Activity, Jada asked, “In what ways does knowing you’re pre-approved through Christ bring hope and healing?”

Why do I bother to seek approval from others if I’m already pre-approved through Christ? He’s the one who matters. And if He’s chosen me as His child, why do I exhaust and stress myself trying to gain acceptance from others?  

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ
to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
Ephesians 1:4, NLT 

If we’ve accepted Christ into our lives and believe in our hearts that he died and rose again, he has accepted us because of our faith in him. We don’t need to seek anyone else’s approval. We don’t need more social media likes or to receive pats on our backs for doing something awesome. If God recognizes us as his child, what can beat that? He already thinks we’re awesome!

I need to keep this in mind when I’m tempted to gain someone’s acceptance or when I meet someone for the first time and hope to make a good impression. God already approves of me.

My hope rests on what Christ provided for me on the cross. He gave his life for me and for you so we can live eternally with him. We are now pre-approved before we meet someone new. We no longer need to win their approval too. Their acceptance of us doesn’t matter. Christ proved his love for us when he died. He matters.

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?
Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10, NIV 

Photo by Giulia Bertelli - Unsplash

In Awe

My husband and I took a vacation in September. I wrote what follows from my hotel room while I enjoyed the view as I gazed outside. Below, I’ve included photos from our trip to the Oregon Coast and Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. I’m in awe of the Lord’s creation. He’s blessed us with an amazing world to enjoy.

From our hotel window and to the left, a river flows through Seaside, Oregon. Seagulls fly overhead and squawk their cries, and a lovely heron awaits its next catch from a dock along the Necanicum River. Beyond are hills covered with shades of green.

To my right, other hotels line the street and evergreens emerge from the fog on a hill behind them. The sun tries to sneak a peek at the people below after hiding behind dark clouds that poured down rain the day before and overnight.

Although I can’t see it from my window, past the hotels and a block away, the Pacific Ocean calms its rumblings from the overnight storms. Beach sand settles after blowing across the shore like a soft snow that formed tiny craters along the beach.

Peace fills my heart as I sip my café mocha. The setting reminds me of a dream I had in the wee hours of the morning on September 16—the day we traveled here. I saw beautiful hills and beyond them the sea, and I heard joyful singing. My thoughts turned to heaven. But I doubt the angels will sing The Sound of Music—the song in my dream.

What have you seen in recent months that caused you to be in awe of Creator God?

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
Psalm 65:8, NIV

A Time of Refreshing

Temperatures are falling, and soon leaves will follow, but here in Middle Tennessee we’re expecting highs in the upper eighties. Often after being out in the sun, heat, and humidity, a glass of sweet tea beckons us, along with a refreshing cool shower. And what else do we need in the shower? Soap! Although we won’t find the soap mentioned below there, it offers a time of refreshing, too.

The church we attend distributes a S.O.A.P. Guide each month. Each day suggests a specific chapter from the Bible they invite us to read. Reading from our guide each day is a great way to get God’s Word into our hearts and minds. We read, jot down verses, summarize what we think God is saying, apply what we read to our lives, and pray.

Perhaps you or your church uses the S.O.A.P. method of Bible journaling, too. You can use this method with any Bible reading plan.

S for Scripture—write out a verse or two that spoke to you.

O for Observation—jot down what you think God is saying through the Scripture.

A for Application—note how these verses apply to your life right now.

P for Prayer—ask God to help you apply what you’ve learned.

The journal I use is a weekly planner. I write with a different color ink for each letter response, but I run out of space before I get to my prayer. Instead, often my application is a request or declaration to the Lord.

This is part of my entry for Psalm 42.

Scripture
5. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 

Observation
When we feel down, we are to put our hope in God and trust He will see us through.

 Application
I will trust the Lord!

Prayer—as stated above, I don’t write these out. I can’t stop with one or two verses and take too much space by writing three or four. But if I were to write my prayer, it would be something simple like this: Lord, I put my hope in you and praise your holy name. Help me trust You in every situation that comes my way.

I end with a word of thanksgiving that I place at the top of my entry each day. It may be gratitude for something that happened or thanksgiving for a promise I read from God’s Word that day. With Psalm 42, I wrote—I’m thankful for the rain we’ve gotten and for what is predicted to come.

In checking online, I found a nifty S.O.A.P journal I plan to order that includes a gratitude section at the bottom of each page. There’s enough space to allow me to expand my thoughts and write my prayers, too.

Grab your Bible, journal, and pens and find a time of refreshing with S.O.A.P.

Photo by Roman Synkevych - Unsplash

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