Is the Christmas season keeping you scrambling?

The busyness and the lists!

Always something else to do.

Another gift to wrap, another dinner to attend, another room to clean, another person who needs your help or undivided attention, another appointment to keep.

There are only 24 hours in a day and you are running full speed for many of them!

Time to slow down and “Practice Presence!”

This simply means to stop the forward thinking process and just be in the moment.

Planning to visit someone?  Put your phone away, put the lists down, and have a real conversation.  Look the person in the eye!  Really listen, share, just be.

Eating?  Take time to enjoy your bite.  Taste the flavor, the texture.  Don’t rush through!

Walking around?  Appreciate the sights, sounds, smells all around you!

Need a quick energy boost?  Put everything down for 5 minutes – Now, breathe, sit still, just rest.  You will be ready to go again!

Need to refocus, feeling your joy slipping?  Take time to attend a church service this season.  There are many family services, special music services, candlelight services, throughout the season.

Very peaceful! 

Above all else, take time to be in the moment with God. 

Jesus REALLY is the reason for this Season.

Set aside time at the beginning, or maybe at the end (or both) of your day to sit and just be with God.  Open your Bible, read a few verses, meditate on them, praise God for His provision.  Look Him in the eye! (figuratively)  Really listen, share with Him.  Just be.

Then rest in Him.

Time is a gift, count every moment, make every moment count!

A few passages to help you “rest” in Him:

Psalm 16: 5-11, Psalm 62:5-8; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, Philippians 2:5-11

Christine Goss

As you gather with family and friends, remember to give thanks to the Lord!

Psalm 119:92 “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”

I have always found that when things are going well, it’s much easier to follow after my own heart and pursue my own desires. 

But this always backfires. 

Ultimately, something will happen that brings me to my knees and to a place where I am forced to lean and rely on God.  In a way, this realization makes me thankful that I have a place to turn when things get rough but it makes me sad for my selfishness and humanity. 

When it comes down to it, God is always faithful to me even when I am not faithful to Him.  But I have found that trials that cross my path become much easier to overcome if I’m already walking with God when I start to fall instead of reaching up for Him when I’ve already hit the ground. 

This verse speaks with brutal honesty to my experience and convicts my heart of this pattern.

I have experienced some rough patches in my life and I’m not sure how I would have gotten through them without having God to carry me through.  There are times when the only reason I come through difficult circumstances is because He has been my soft place to land due to my ongoing relationship with Him.

 This verse teaches me that I need to delight in God’s Word and in His presence in my life when things are at their best so that it can take me safely through the worst.    

Rose Santangelo Freels

As a new missionary, language study, being “homesick”, feeling inadequate for all that was expected in medical work, adjusting to climate and food and no electricity or telephones was very discouraging.  I am certain as I look back that encouragement was the tool that God used to get me through those difficult times. I am so thankful for God’s Word and for others who lived out the scripture in being God’s instruments of encouragement to me. 

I read somewhere that “Encouraging others is love with feet on it.”

I believe that encouragement is an essential part of God’s nature. We need it daily from God and His word but also from each other. This can be through the spoken word, the written word, or actions.

For me, my co-worker was always verbally encouraging me especially when it came to medical things!  The notes from home and co-workers in other villages and the mailbag dropped by the MAF plane were highlights for many of those days!  

I am thankful that over the years, God has taught me the joy of encouraging others by doing things for them. One of my favorite times was story time for Jamsie, a little MK boy, after his naptime – and the excitement as I watched him running across the yard yelling “Aunt Ginny, do I get two stories this time??”  

May we continue to learn how to be encouragers as we ourselves are daily uplifted by the Lord.

Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” Romans 15:5