Hi, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I know for several of us we are still enjoying the holidays (for a few more days at least).
As my mother says every year; “Well that’s it for another year.” So what have you gained from the Christmas period?
I love advent. Yes I love Christmas but I have to say advent is my favourite. The run up to Christmas gives me space to ponder why I am celebrating this festival and focus on God. Every year I ask Him to teach me something new from the Christmas period because I believe there is so much in this story which we can learn, with God’s help. However, this year I found I couldn’t ask Him to teach me something new. I am not sure why this is but I think it might have something to do with spending the first three weeks of advent in a hot climate in somewhere which I found it difficult to connect with Christmas. In addition to this I find my mind is half in that world still and thus I can hardly believe Christmas was celebrated. So it has been a struggle to accept my physical surroundings let alone ponder the Christmas story and see what God has to teach me this year.
Having said that, I was reading Vicky Beeching’s (Christian music and song writer) blog on boxing. She was looking at the Christmas message in association with the prodigal son and I found that an interesting comparison. I gained so much from another’s insights that I couldn’t help but wonder whether you had learnt anything this year?
I have been taking daily walks for the last week for about an hour at a time. I was out in the beautiful kent countryside yesterday afternoon and was talking to God. I will be honest I love York but I am struggling with the concept of returning in two days time (the horses in the field next to me must have thought I was going mad). I was being honest with God about the whole thing. As we were talking I found myself bringing up the topic of Christmas and my sadness at not having learnt anything new. As I talked to Him about it I realised that something I think is wonderful about the Christmas story is how God provides. He is present in all the little things. He doesn’t leave Joseph to grapple with whether to leave Mary or stay, although I think He did give Joseph the time to grapple for a while, but instead sent and angel to Him also. He involved some unsuspecting shepherds. He told the wise men to go home a different route and sent Mary and Joseph to Egypt. He was present in the little things. Although I am sure we would agree we would have preferred better accommodation than a stable, and let’s face it if God is God he could have arranged it, that it was His perfect plan. Did Mary and Joseph complain? I don’t know, it’s not recorded if they did but I bet they were just relieved to have somewhere to stay and how many of us have been in situations and wanted something better yet at the same time been relieved it wasn’t worse? I know I have (a lot recently). He picked the one person who could relate to Mary’s situation to be a relation; her cousin Elizabeth. God is in the little things. What is more, this is the case for us today too. If we let Him God will be in every little thing. I have experienced that hugely over the last few months. I am grateful that I no longer have to pray for water on a regular basis but did God object to me asking? I don’t think so and did He answer and provide Yes He did because He loves us and enjoys being involved in every aspect of our lives.
So can I encourage you to ask God to speak into the little things in your lives? Also, please share anything you have been learning this Christmas in the comments section bellow.
Thanks. Much love and Blessings and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have some brilliant new year celebrations this weekend. Deborah ><>
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