Sorry, I forgot to mention in my last post......Merry Christmas!

As Dearly Loved Children

I make an attempt at spending some "deliberate" time with God each morning. My problem though is that no matter how good my time praying or just resting in Him is, it feels fruitless to me if I haven't read some large number of pages of the Bible or the current devotional book I've gotten or been given. It's amazingly refreshing to me when God stops me in my tracks with a verse or two. I love that feeling of "stop and rest in these words for awhile".

I've been chewing on Ephesians 5:1-2 for like three days now. I know you might read that and keep on trucking. But for me, it is so challenging. The verse in the NIV says this:

Be imitators of God therfore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Many of you know that my wife and I have a two-year old name Addy. She is truly amazing and Cris and I have been blessed to have her and be able to watch her grow and learn. From how she's talking to HOW MUCH she's talking, from picking out what she wants for supper to dressing herself before she comes out of her bedroom in the morning(that's probably my favorite, I think she's got gypsy blood in her), She is growing. I say all that to say that I think God is using her to reveal that verse to me.

If anybody is a dearly loved child, it's Addy. And to watch her imitate me and Cris or take on certain personality traits is sometimes hilarious and sometimes scary. I'll get home from work and give Cris a kiss when I walk in the door(that sounds so Ward Cleaver'ish). I'll have to admit, sometimes it's a lingering kiss. Well, almost always, there's Addy at our feet staring up at what we're doing. Next thing you know, she wants a kiss which I will gladly give, but there have been times when she will shove her face onto me and stay there and then turn her head back and forth. I either crack up laughing or think "Oh crap, is that what I look like when I kiss!"

She's watching me! She's learning from ME, and in turn she's pointing me directly to what and who I need to be watching and learning from. To look at my Heavenly Father and learn and imitate Him is where it's at. To live a life of love just as Christ did as man and God.
It's a natural reaction to being, knowing and accepting that we areHis dearly loved children.

I've been real sentimental about not posting over my testimony. Every time I think I should write something, I keep picturing my testimony post dissappearing into my archive section.

It's gotta be done though. This world won't turn without, many times, completely useless random blog posts from me.(I joke, I kid.....about the world turning thing)

My sunday school teacher(hehe) brought up a really good point the other day about how people are boycotting retailers who substitute Christmas for holiday or some politically correct term.
First of all, the word "holiday" is no slouch in the significance world. Holy Day is my number two warm and fuzzy way to think about Christmas. Please don't think that I'm settling. I love Jesus Christ. My life is amazing because He is in me and I am in him. I just hate for people to overlook the meaning that also, although not as powerful, comes when using the word holiday. Anyway, His point, which I believe he would humbly point out that it was something he heard himself, was "when did we give the responsibility of conveying Christmas to the Walmarts and Targets of the world?" That led to the discussion of it being our responsibility to live out the gospel in our lives. Several people pointed to loving others and to really caring and forming relationships with those around us. Others spoke of that love being constant, not just amped up during the Christmas season. I agree with both and realize that I am deficient in love really in any season. It's challenging to me to think about. I find it hard to keep up with great friends who haven't called in sometime or moved away much less people in my workplace or, heaven forbid, strangers on the street who I come in contact with everyday.

I find that a lot of times I put my wrath and feelings of anger into Christ's persona and really believe that the anger I have for issues and/or people sometimes is His anger. But seldom do I take his love and put it on and love as he loved. May God be glorified in all I say and do, that's my prayer.