Tuesday 23 December 2014

I am Known

I went to Mark Center a week or so ago, the organization had set up rooms in their lodge to be open to the public, small stages set up to encourage intimacy with what is known about God. I had heard about the beauty of this place and I was interested about what I would find there…I viewed the rooms, they were set up in a way of softness, quiet, intimate.  Intimate with God, He was there in spirit, mingling with the saints that gathered one or two at a time in the candle lit rooms.  I enjoyed all the moments, taking in the emotion, the plethora of senses arranged there; scents, sounds, sight, touch…all corresponding with words, words on pages placed in measured spaces as if stepping stones to your soul.  The words themselves were meaningful alone or strung together, meant to be pondered and held, like pearls on a string; enticing thoughts of reflection and relationship…mostly with God but also in our circumstances.  With each footfall through the rooms, up staircases, around corners, through doors, it was thought provoking and it was all heart felt.
 
There were six rooms, the last one, fully lit, calling out to God…thank-you.  Words of thankfulness posted to the large windows, handwritten on small squares of paper, fifty, a hundred, more…thanking God for insight, peace, family, love, confirmation…words written with heart and soul, words touched with grace.

If you didn’t go, I wish you could have been there.

As if that wasn’t enough there was more, an opportunity to be spoken over, to be prayed for; prophets with words from God, to you and to me.  This was what I was waiting for, a friend of mine went last year, he had been blessed and humbled, encouraged and confirmed…I wanted that, I needed that.

Prophets; people gifted with words from God, not foretelling the future but simply repeating words that God has given them about people, His friends in their midst.  I was anxious about the words God knew about me, what they would be…words of rebuke, words of loss, of change, of getting better…perhaps words of generalities, words that could be said for any one of you, simple, plain, black and white? Or, would they be words of meaning, words that I understood, words that only I would know…words of confirmation.

Words that He knows me…that’s what I wanted to hear, that is what I needed to hear.  I was not disappointed, the words told to me were so personal, I cried...truly, truly, I was humbled and blessed, encouraged and confirmed…I am known.

Such an amazing gift to receive this Christmas.


I love that.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Christmas Time...Joy to You

It's Christmas time...an amazing time of family, friends, laughter, love and joy...I love that! 

Who wouldn't?
  
The sharing of fabulous food ; turkey dinners, all the trimmings, cozy brunches, cinnamon spices, jam-jams, shortbread cookies, mandarin oranges, popcorn, cranberries, eggnog and apple cider, chocolate, more chocolate, marshmallows resting in mugs of hot cocoa…steaming. 

Buying Presents; wrapping paper, red and green, silver and gold, ribbons and bows, tags, hand written ’love Santa’, hidden, sneaking, peeking, given freely and received gladly, BIG packages sent in the mail, small sheer bags tied with white ribbon, plates of iced cookies, stockings filled, loaded with love, ripping, unwrapping…gifts.

Christmas carols; Singing loudly “Hark the herald angels sing glory to the new born king”, humming softly, “Silent night Holy night all is calm all is bright”, children swaying, arms rocking “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord Jesus lay down his sweet head, the stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay” and in the choir “Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant”, Solos, “Mary did you know”, and all together, harmony and melody…hallelujah, hallelujah!

Going to gatherings; travelling far or staying close by, home for Christmas, “if only in my dreams” attending church, concerts, sweet shepherd costumes, yellow fluffy tutu’s and dance recitals, praying, laughing, talking and the playing of games, boys skating, decking the halls and staircases, all cozy inside, warm slippers, bear bum red one piece pajamas and roasting chestnuts by the fire… well, who does that anymore?

Christmas movies; Santa Clause and Charlie Browns Christmas, Frosty, Rudolph, the crazy green Elf, the miracle that happened on 34th street, all of those cheesy TV specials, Cindy-lou Who and the grinch who stole Christmas, bells ringing, angel wings...it's a wonderful life!

These are a few of my favorite things, especially at Christmas, tied up with joy.

All of this just brings a smile, a lightening of the heart and soul…heart and soul joy. Joy brings gladness to the hardest of souls… if their heart can be made soft enough to feel it…grace clinches it.  Love is a place where joy and grace meet…in circles of friends, in the safety of families, inside hearts and souls…joy to you.

Love actually is all around, share some of yours! This season look closely, take in the faces around you, smile, say hello, share some joy, show some grace; the greatest gifts we can give and the greatest gifts we have been given.

“From His grace we have received one blessing after another”
John1:16

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…I love that.