Monday, December 20, 2010

red light means go??

The photo uploader is still missing.....and I have some GREAT pictures to post!!!!
Grrrrrrrr.
I am painted almost all over & you have not been invited in or near my house for good reason -because it is a disaster.
Priority #1 is to finish painting.
So I have literally been stepping over laundry & praying that breakfast would magically appear at my house...and you know what?
It did.
Big shout out to Kimberly. You really have no idea the gift that rests in that pumpkin bread. The kids were giong to have leftover lasagna tomorrow for breakfast.
So. Many thanks. From all of us.

I want to be finished with painting so that I can enjoy completely these next few days before Christmas. We still have lots to cram in! I'm tempted to move Christmas to the 26th just because I NEED AN EXTRA DAY!!!!
There's baking that needs to be done & a playroom that should be in good order for the big day & boxes that should have been shipped last week but alas....they haven't. And friends I desperately want to just sit & sip a cup of coffee with.....
Argh.

But as I paint I do have the joy of reading the Words of Scripture over & over again. And when I do this I am often amazed at what speaks to my heart.
Mary, for instance, has been on my heart a lot.
I was pregnant during a December & I clearly remember gasping at the thought of riding a donkey. I found that my honda accord sat waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too low for someone as pregnant as I was & taking cues from all around me I assumed I needed an SUV for this 7 or 8 pound person that would be riding with me soon.
Turns out that all I really needed were diapers, a pack n play was sufficient, like 4 onesies, wipes, bottles, a blanket & some sleep.
I didn't really need the SUV.
But I digress.....

I think about the law of the day when Mary was born.
An unwed woman carrying a child??
I am betting that from the outside it looked very "unwise" for Jospeh to stay with her.
I wonder what her parents said.
I wonder what his parents said.
I wonder about the Son of God being born in a way that may have caused conflict....even scandal.
I wonder about this idea that God blesses with comfort & wealth & health, & then I see the Savior of the world born in a barn.

I heard a preacher speak the other day while I was painting.
Matt Chandler (thanks Jill :) ). He said something along the lines of how sometimes we can begin to think of our Bibles as God. We cling so tightly to the principles that we lose sight of the relationship.

Jesus' birth paints a sweet picture of that.
According to the law & sound principle - none of this made much sense.

I was driving down the road the other day & I pulled up to an intersection where my car & I frequently travel. And the light was red.
But there was a crossing guard waving me forward.

The crossing guard trumps the red light.
You should always always stop at red lights. It's the law. It keeps us & others safe.
Unless a policeman steps in with information that you don't have access to & tells you to drive right through it.

I am not a person who likes being indebted to people.
I have a hard time receiving help because of it.
I wonder 'are there strings attached?' & 'what will be expected of me if I say yes?'
So, I probably say 'no' more often than 'yes'.
Salvation was a tough one for me to grasp because of the feeling that I was indebted thing.
I lived my life under the idea that I must perform better, serve better,
do it all a little. bit. better.
Trying to get it right all the time is exhausting.
Trying to be understood all the time brings me to the point of crazy.
Understanding that God didn't give me a set of rules to be locked in a prison with. He offered the opportunity for me to know Him.
And to rest in the truth that He already knew me.......and He liked me.

He's the God who said to the men who desperately wanted to please God by observing His laws ....that healing a man on the sabbath was a good thing.
That being with Him was the "why" of it all anyway.
That's what He always wanted.
To be with us.

Emmanuel - God with us.

Merry Christmas.

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