Logan and I were reading in our history book today (that was before he got me to continue to read another story to him, that sneak!) that God sent the Israelites into the desert for them to learn about just how great He is. Some may beg to differ. I have to agree. I am still learning how much I can depend on Him, and Him alone. When I have exhausted all the angles, He steps in and lets me know that He was just waiting for me to step out of the way so His work stands. I always love that one.
But I digress... Although not completely! After all, there is a reason why my family and I are making the 6 hour trek up to Quebec this year to spend CHRISTmas with Tom's family up there. I get so stuck thinking about my petty things (and they are not petty to me by all means, they are monumental at the moment they happen) when all I have to do is to step aside. There is a saying in our house, God's got it! I truly believe that. After all, I have a house! I have furniture! I have a Christmas tree!
Whenever I write (and those of you waiting for cards, sorry, but I don't write) I learn things about myself. Lately I have been really thinking about that contentment. I think at Christmas we can get so focused on the things (yes I certainly can!!) that we forget about being content. Does being content have to do with me being happy? I used to think so. But lately as I write another story (that's 22 for those who are counting) I find that contentment has nothing to do with the circumstance I'm in. I guess to some degree it does, but that real contentment, the one that I feel deep in my heart, that comes only from one source. And that source humbled Himself and was born of man, and we celebrate that He came every year.
When things don't go my way (shocker! I know) I still have the ability to be content. I can choose to throw a hissy fit (yeah that never happens) or I can just know that this isn't what is going to happen in my life. Sometimes it's real easy to throw a hissy fit (wouldn't know about that, you understand all this is hypothetical). But as I'm about to blow my top, do I take a moment to think about how my blowing my top affects others? Myself?
Of course not!
So, I wish you contentment. Real contentment this year. It's worth the persuit. Happiness is just circumstantial. Joy and contentment are a much deeper, more lasting thing. And I celebrate the chance to have joy and contentment because Christ was born in a manger. No, He wasn't born on Christmas day! But that doesn't matter to me. He was born, in a food troth for animals. And He gives me a chance to live beyond the happiness, to be content. That does it for me!
Have a wonderful Christmas. And to my friends and family in Germany I wish them all a Frohe Weihnachten. I miss you all!
Way to go! :) I was just preparing to write Christmas Cards and you took care of it. It's nice seeing God work through other people. So I will add my two sense... Closer to 5 hours to Quebec... House, furniture, tree, and hard wood floor (It could not have been completed without your help) ...and now my kid's eyes may roll -- Manger translates to food troth (not animal food troth), we celebrate His birth on this day in December (hey, the Wise Men -- much more than three -- The Hebrews have historical data that shows a few mid-sized towns nearly collapsing do to visitors in the year that a census was taken -- Three visitors and their camels are not enough to put a burden upon a town), we can calculate pretty closely to when He was born and know the Hebrew month (we can use John the Baptists birth as a reference point also) He was born not during winter but most likely the Feast of the Tabernacle in Bethlehem (the town of Bread), during this festival they remember their travels toward the promise land they lived in tents, so I was told by a Messianic Pastor that people lived in tents to remember the journey. There was no room at the inn, not because the rooms were all full... because there was no room (they were in tents for that week). Manger translates to food trough. In this case while living in tents there are food 'trays'. I was told that he was put into a bread 'cradle'. So He was born in the town of bread, in a bread trough, during the feast of unleavened bread, and He is the Bread of Life. How cool is that. Make up your own minds though.
ReplyDeletehttp://heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/2014/07/28/birth-of-christ-feast-of-tabernacles/
I love you Tom. And none of the house would be complete without you, honey.
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