Advent 2022 - Ponder IF and BUT

 Two small words. Two small words can change everything. 

"I will attend church this week IF you go with me."

"I will only send Christmas cards this year IF I get any."

"I will pray IF God will answer!"

If, if, if. It is like setting ourselves up, so we don't have to step out and own our decisions. I will attend church because I am blessed when I do.  I will write a note or a card to let people know I am thinking of them and care for them. I will pray. God does answer, and often His answer is better than what I seek. 

A friend once told me that when you insert BUT into a sentence, it is like canceling everything before the but.  Every time I start to use the word but, I pause. I substitute another word and think for a bit before speaking, analyzing what I'm trying to say. It takes effort and thought to express feelings accurately. I only sometimes succeed.

There is so much to ponder with these two small words. 

Challenge: Take notice of how often you use the words IF and BUT. Pause briefly in your conversations. Are you putting a decision you have already made onto someone else? Are you putting conditions on your own actions? Are you using BUT to subtly convey a message that you don't want to state outright? Choose different words in place of these, then ponder how that makes you feel.

There will be many ifs and buts that come up during this Advent season. I hope this makes you think, thinking is good!

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5 NLT

Prayer: Lord, help me today to think carefully about my words. Help me to not put my  "ifs" onto someone else, to look to You for my strength. Help me eliminate "but" by expressing my message clearly. Help me to use my words to encourage, uplift, and bless others. How can I change my words to better spread Your love? Lead me, Jesus, Amen.

Advent 2022 - Ponder REPLETE

Good Monday morning. After a long weekend away, I am refreshed, rested, and restored. Today I want to ponder another word - replete. Replete isn't a word that I recall ever using. When I looked up the definition in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, I found this: REPLETE: Completely filled; full. Later definitions include satiated, full, round, and fat. It is interesting how definitions and word usage have changed over the decades.

As I pondered this word today, I am definitely replete after my four days away. Too much food, more relaxation than I remember in a long time during a holiday season, and primarily just ''full" in general. Full of gratitude to have spent time with my sister. Full of hope as I saw thousands of people in a small town all celebrating Christmas. I didn't see anger, discord, or unrest. Instead, I saw a tiny community offer a magical place for people from all over the nation to come and simply enjoy the wonder of Christmas. More lights were twinkling than you can imagine. There was kindness as we waited in extremely long lines for fun foods like bacon-wrapped hotdogs! I am incredibly full of wonder at the amount of work that went into that festival and will continue each weekend until January 6 as they will do it again and again. People worked long into the night on Saturday to clean, remove barriers and restore the town to order and cleanliness. Sunday morning, you would have never known that just a few short hours before, there were throngs of people lining the streets.

Now I face the task of going back to somewhat normal eating and a daily routine. However, I don't want to lose that feeling of being so full of human kindness. Greeting people with a smile and sharing snippets of our lives with each other as we sat and waited to watch fireworks. Fun conversations while standing in long food lines and laughing as the clerks in the sweet shop came to know us too well! 

I am replete with the goodness of God. It isn't about the extravagant celebration and events of this last weekend; it is that my faith is restored in humanity itself. I saw people just like me, wanting to notice and share kindness with one another. I believe many people flocked to that little town because they wanted to experience the joy and wonder of what is missing in most of our lives. Instead of pointing out how we were different, we all turned our eyes up to watch fantastic fireworks that made us all smile. I thought of God as I watched - wondering what the next flash would be. Astonished at how beautiful and unexpected each 'explosion' was. Listening to music and lyrics of Christmas as the show went on. No one was worried about being politically correct or using the correct pronouns. As the fireworks ended and the decor lights all came back on, my eyes went to the lights across the river, "For God so loved the world" and I was reminded that, indeed, He truly does. 

Small trips like the one I just had are fun and bring restoration. As I sit in my quiet room, I am reminded that all those things I experienced over the weekend are available no matter where I am. I can be kind in any line I stand in. I can experience pleasant conversations with people I encounter in my everyday life. I can be patient as I wait for service in a store, just like I was patiently waiting for a hotdog! God is always present. He wants us to be replete, filled to overflowing, with His goodness. 

Challenge: As you go about your day, notice kindness. Practice being kind.

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice! Philippians 4:4 NLT

Prayer: Father God, help me today to be kind. Fill me so that I am replete with only You. Only You can pour out of me when I am filled to overflowing. Make me have no room for anger, bitterness, or hatred. When filled with You, there is no room for these things. Help me see kindness today. Help me look beyond the hurt and worry plaguing us all and look to You for what we need.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Advent 2022 - Ponder REFLECTION

Reflection: 1) An image seen in a mirror or shiny surface.  2) Serious thought or consideration. 3) The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.

Sitting down to write a devotional thought while in a hotel room presents challenges. I am not surrounded by my everyday things.  I didn't bring my huge dictionary, I didn't tote along various books and references that I usually use. I do, however, have coffee!

I'm away for a short few days to celebrate at a Christmas festival with my sister. This trip had been planned for two years ago and was postponed when she contracted Covid. We finally made it!  

I've been pondering many things since we arrived. This tiny town in Louisiana simply explodes with people on the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The river that runs through the town is lined with spectacular light displays. The town's main street is brick paved and oh-so quaint.  I actually feel like I'm in a Hallmark movie.

We walked along the river last night, enjoying the numerous light displays. Tonight and tomorrow, the entire area will be packed with people, so strolling last night was perfect, no crowds to fight. It was a cool, clear night with no breeze. As I took in the many sights, I noticed the reflections on the water. The shimmering was beautiful, but the images were distorted. My eyes would jump from the lights to the water. As I looked over my pictures, I thought about those reflections. Though they were beautiful, they needed to give a clearer picture of the lights they were reflecting. If I hadn't read the words in the sign, I never would know what they said by looking at the reflection.

Look back at the third definition of reflection. "throwing back, without absorbing." I started questioning, "Do I throw off a reflection of Jesus? Do I just put off a distorted view without absorbing it?" The lights in the sign on the river had a clear message - God so loved the world. In the river reflection, it was just squiggly lines of light.

Everything we do can be a reflection of who we are. How we speak, act, and look. I make judgments all of the time about people by how they look. I'm sure people do the same for me. Seeing those lights reflected in the water the message was lost.  So does my message of God get lost in distortion?

Ponder this: reflect vs. shine.  Reflect means to bend back from a surface. Shine means to emit light. Another meaning of shine is  to emit brightness from a source of light. I want to shine with Jesus' light! I don't want to just reflect it and possibly have his image distorted. If the only image people see is a distorted reflection, why would they be attracted to it?

Challenge: Ponder today whether you are reflecting (deflecting lights and throwing them off in a distorted manner) or are you shining with light from Jesus? No matter our circumstances, we can shine. I will be around thousands of people this weekend, all here to celebrate the Christmas season. I will ponder how to shine through words, actions, and thoughts. It will do no good to wear a "Jesus is the reason for the season" button on my lapel if I'm not also shining with his love.

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. John 12:46 NLT

Prayer: Lord, help me shine today with Your light that is within me. I want to reflect your light in a more balanced manner. Help me be a true vision of who You are so that others may be drawn to the light, not confused by a mere reflection. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.

Advent 2022 - Ponder SILENCE

I like silence, though it is hard to find sometimes.  As I sit here in the early morning, I can hear the fan on my small electric heater, I can hear the coffee brewing, and I can slightly hear the wind in the tall pine trees outside of my den window. There is a faint clicking of the keys as I type. All small things, but the small noises become loud when focusing on silence.

About 15 or so years ago, when I was on a church staff, a coworker and friend came up with the idea of a silent retreat. A small group of congregants joined us, and we drove to a nearby member's ranch to spend the day in silence. It was a beautiful day, and we chatted on the drive. When we arrived, my pastor friend gave us guidelines; we were to scatter throughout the acreage and have a day of silence using journal prompts. We took some water with us and then ventured out to find our individual spots. At first, I was very excited. I love being outdoors and quiet. Before long, I was wondering, "How in the world will this day pass, hours in silence?"

I still have the journal that I kept that day. The silence became a day without talking; it was anything but silent! Cows were moving nearby, bird songs were loud and pleasant, and even walking through the pasture, the crunch of rocks or swishing through grass, all was noticed in the quiet. I would settle in one spot for an hour, then move to a new location. I found as the day went on that I wasn't so restless. I would stay in one spot longer, sometimes lie down and gaze at the sky, and sometimes just walk a bit. I wrote pages and pages in that journal, and it is interesting to see how my thoughts flowed as the day went on. Some pages hold only short sentence fragments or word doodles. Others have deep thoughts and prayers to God.

After several hours we gathered back at the ranch house, shared communion, and headed back to the church.  Our conversation on the drive back was different, more pensive. Some didn't talk at all. We shared a bit of the experience, discovering it was different for each of us.

It is even harder now to find silence. Just turning on our phone is 'noise.' Our minds are bombarded with news, ads, jokes, and memes. The constant scrolling. I even have family members that get a little testy "Why didn't you answer your phone!?"  You are reading this on some sort of device, and I am typing on a computer - noise so early in the morning.

Today's challenge may be difficult for some of you. Or perhaps you have too much silence. You are isolated, and spending hours on your phone or computer are welcome in your quiet days. It's how you connect. It can be hard to find the balance between silence with God and simply being silent. I often hear suggestions in church sermons to listen for God's voice, to discern how He is leading. It is hard to do that when I fill my days with noise. The television goes on to listen while I knit, and I put my headphones in to listen to music while I walk.  It is usually praise music, but it's still noise. I even put a Bible story podcast on to try to sleep, to quiet my mind. For one who loves quiet so much, why do I struggle to find the calm silence that I deeply desire? When I am intentional about being silent, pushing through the challenging first moments, I usually find myself listening for that voice from God that my soul is seeking.

These weeks leading up to Christmas are filled with noise. Music that we only hear for a few weeks of the year, church services, parties, special events, and gatherings with friends and family. During the very time of year when I want to draw closest to God, I can be the most distracted. Writing these thoughts down each day is a way for me to be quiet. I have to be intentional about listening. I stated on the first day that I write them to direct my thoughts to Jesus. My calendar is less full than when I was working, yet I still see the little squares filling up with things to do and places to go.

I look forward to this season all year. My top priority is keeping Jesus at the forefront, even amidst the noise.

Challenge: Choose a time to be silent. Make it a priority to set yourself apart during this busy season to listen. Maybe you can only fit in a few minutes to walk outside and be still. Be intentional about turning things off and listening. Direct your thoughts to gratitude and notice God's creation around you. Ponder the silence. Use a journal to write thoughts that come to mind, even if you aren't much of a writer. As you let your thoughts flow to the paper, you may be surprised at what you find!

"Be still and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world". Psalm 46:10 NLT

*Psalm 46 is a good one to meditate on, a favorite of mine.

Prayer: Father God, teach me to be silent. Quiet the noise in my life so I can hear Your voice. Give me the desire to sit quietly with only You. Speak through the pages of your Word, and help me apply those truths as I draw closer to You. Blot out the noise and fill the silence with Your presence. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

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Advent 2022 - Ponder PUZZLE

My sister and I love doing puzzles. We have 'puzzle rules' or etiquette when we work puzzles together. We sat down with a friend once to work on a puzzle, and she reached across the table to grab a piece, and you could almost hear the gasps as my sister, and I looked across the table at one another - that's not proper puzzle etiquette! I chuckle when I remember that event. We also visited a family member we hadn't seen in many years. She and her husband had a puzzle set up in their den, and we were fascinated by how they arranged their puzzle pieces. They had a system too. Little things like assembling the edge first, sorting by color, placing all the pieces on the table, or leaving them in the box to search like a treasure hunt. Everyone has their favorite method of working a puzzle.

A bit of trivia - the word puzzle, used as a noun to describe a game like we commonly use it now, is a relatively new definition. When I looked up the word puzzle in my 1828 dictionary, it wasn't even mentioned. The puzzle definitions are as follows: 1) To be bewildered, to be awkward. 2) perplexity, embarrassment. 3) To make intricate; to entangle. As Mary journeyed through her pregnancy she had to be puzzled. Bewildered, embarrassed, perplexed, how could she not be these things? Telling people she was pregnant, and by some miraculous method? Definitely puzzling.

When I work on a jigsaw puzzle, I always want to have certain things in place. I like to know that all of the pieces are present. I want an excellent picture to follow to visualize what the finished puzzle will look like. I want clear areas to work on, especially when putting together a puzzle with another person. When I ponder Christmas, it is much like a puzzle. I want a clear calendar schedule of all the traditional things I want to do. I want everything to be in place and to go as planned. There are certain areas that everyone in the family works on to make our Christmas season follow tradition, at least in my mind! I want everyone to follow the same plan I have, to feel like I feel. 

I just read over that and paused; wow. Mary had none of that! She had no clear picture of what was to come. There is no way she could imagine life after she gave birth, given how her pregnancy started. She had to wonder how all the pieces of life would fit together. Bewildered and perplexed don't seem like good descriptions of what she must have felt. Yet she was obedient and trusted God.

I want to approach Advent this year as an unknown puzzle. Instead of a familiar picture, where all the pieces fit perfectly together, and I arrive on Christmas Day when the last piece is put in place, I want to approach these next weeks as a mystery. To be open to exploring new ways God may reveal Himself to me. I want to be like Mary, trusting and willing to be obedient. Sometimes I get so caught up in the familiar, the expected, that I leave no room for surprises. Working on a puzzle without a picture can be frustrating or seemingly impossible. None of us have a clear picture of what life will be, yet we can approach each day with wonder and awe. Taking one piece at a time and seeing how it all fits together, one day, we will see the beautiful picture God has planned for us. 

Challenge:

1. Do one thing today that is a challenge.
2. Step out of your ordinary routine and ponder what God has for you.
3. Ask "why," then accept the message you receive from God and see where that piece, that hard thing, fits in your life.

It may be to call someone that has come to your mind. Or dust off writing paper and pen a letter to a friend or relative. Or it could be to talk to the neighbor you have lived next to for years but never talked to. Perhaps God is asking you to do something you think is impossible!

When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, they were both pregnant, she was greeted with these words: "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said". Luke 1:45 NLT

Prayer: Lord I want to believe you have great things for me. Open my heart and eyes with wonder to listen for Your guidance. Help me set aside my plans and expectations and move forward in obedience to follow You. Help me not be so focused on the final picture, but embrace the piece of life that You have for me today. 

Advent 2022 - Ponder GIVING TUESDAY

 Bombarded by 'days': Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. The first three mentioned have to do with shopping. Then today is all about giving. It is interesting to research why all of these names came to be. Giving Tuesday was established in 2012 and is touted as a 'global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.' It is one of those things that, at first glance, seems like a good thing. A day for everyone to focus on giving. I'm going to step out and share something about myself; I don't like big non-profit organizations that spearhead massive movements like this. I can be very cynical about them. While millions have been donated to worthy causes on this one day each year, I wonder why it is so easy. 

It kind of gets me thinking about checking boxes and appearances. "Oh, it's that time of year again!  I give to a worthy cause, I gather the family together to attend church together for the second time this year, I took my donation to the food bank for Thanksgiving.......". See, I get very critical. I spent some time this morning looking inward. Do I need to donate to some worthy organization today simply because my calendar says it is time to do so? Many of us are feeling the pinch right now in our bank accounts. It caused me to ponder how I give, why I give, and my motivation.

Giving is a personal thing, and there is nothing wrong with giving during the holiday season. Angel trees, Salvation Army bell ringers, and local organizations that support needy families and children are all good things. I challenge you to think about all of these things and wonder: do families only need a meal between Thanksgiving and Christmas? The gift given on Giving Tuesday may go to an organization that helps throughout the year, yet I think that is the easy way. Give a monetary gift once a year, then check off that box. I guess the reason this gets me thinking is that I can't write the big check. I can't support these causes as much as I would like simply because I have needs to be met. So I find myself thinking that I need to help more. 

Giving for me is God-directed. I'm not talking about tithing and giving to my church; I'm talking about what I give to others because I genuinely believe God wants me to, as an act of honor to Him. I'm blessed to be part of a church body that gives all through the year. From numerous care services to meat provided regularly, there is a spirit of help every day, not just on one designated day of the year. Every Sunday, as I drive onto the church grounds, I see the steers in the pasture and realize they are there to ultimately provide food for those in need. That is their purpose. Giving is part of my honor and praise to God. My purpose is to give of myself as an act of worship to God. 

Yesterday we pondered why; today, I challenge you to expand on that and ask yourself why you give. If you choose to give during this Advent season, what is your reason? 

God gave us Jesus, the ultimate gift. The greatest gift I can give is to share Jesus with others. As with any gift, how it is received isn't up to me; only the giving is my responsibility. How will you share Jesus today?

Challenge: How do you feel when you give? What is your motivation for giving? Do you expect something in return when you give? Ponder today how giving impacts your life.

For further reading, dig into 2 Corinthians chapters 8 & 9. Paul writes extensively about generous giving.  Ponder this: They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.2 Corinthians 8:5 NLT

Prayer: Lord, help me to have a giving heart. To listen for Your voice and seek to only serve You. Direct my giving in ways that will lead others to You. When I give, multiply that gift so that others will see You and desire to serve You. Lead me in generosity, whether it be money, services, time, or prayer. Let all that I do be to Your glory.  In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Advent 2022 - Ponder WHY?

 Perhaps you have heard the story of the young woman who always cut the ends off each time she prepared a ham. When asked by her new husband why she did that, her answer was, "That was the way mom did it." This sparked the couple to start asking why. When the woman's mother was asked, she said, "That is how your grandmother did it." Grandma had died years earlier, but the woman asked her grandfather why grandma cut the ends off of the ham.  His answer "So it would fit in the pan."

Often we do things because we learn them by example or simply because our parents said so. As adults, we then don't often stop to ask "why"; we just go along. As we move through this Advent season, part of pondering is asking why. Why do we celebrate Advent? This question prompted me to do a little digging. I grew up and later worked in a protestant church that always celebrated the Advent season. I looked forward each year to the ceremonies and traditions, usually focused on waiting, expectation, and preparation. I never really questioned why we did those things. I simply used the time to focus my prayers on the coming of Christmas, trying my best to put Jesus at the front of the season.

This year I dug a little deeper. I found one fascinating article that pointed out that Advent celebrations in history often had a twin focus, that of the second coming of Christ and the focus on his birth. If you would like to read this author's point of view about Advent, here is the link:

The History of Advent 

There are many instances throughout the day when we can ask "why." When difficulties arise, we may shake our fists at God and say, "Why are you allowing this?" Do a quick search in your Bible app or concordance and discover numerous instances of people asking why.  Answers don't always come; keep asking. Dig deep to learn the why. 

Why do I believe in Jesus? Why do I keep praying for loved ones when they don't seem closer to turning back to God? Why does my faithful, God-loving friend suffer from an ongoing debilitating illness? Why did my friend withdraw from me for no apparent reason? Why do I love baseball? (Sorry, had to throw a lighthearted one in there!) The questions continue, just like a curious toddler discovering the world. 

Today explore some of your "whys." 

Challenge: Take notice today of something you always do and ponder why you do it.

One verse that keeps me focused:

Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much. Psalm 119:140 NLT

Prayer: Father God, help me today as I ask why. Reveal things to me, and change me in ways that may not be aligned with You. Help me to see why I make the decisions that I do, and help me accept Your will even when I don't know the answer why. Help me trust. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.