AMAZING Christmas

This year I had the most incredible Christmas that I have ever experienced in my 35 years. It started with a spectacular Christmas Eve service. My kids and I have recently been visiting a wonderful non-denominational church in Raleigh. It has been life changing for not only me, but for the kids as well. It has been exciting as God has moved in our home as well as our lives and it has come at such a crucial time. It is truly a God thing.

ANYWAY... Friday evening we headed into Raleigh with moaning and groaning from the twelve year old. He was none too happy that he had to go to church on Friday night. The whole trip in, he pouted and huffed. It was so incredibly pleasant. As we walked into the building, he was told by an older woman (this I found out once we were in the car headed home) to smile because it was Christmas. We entered the worship center and made our way over to our normal seats. There was something different about the feel of the room. I have attended MANY Christmas Eve services in my lifetime so I was ready for the traditional Christmas carols and the lit candles with a chorus of Silent Night. Suddenly the room went dark and music filled the air. On the screen in front of us were sketch drawings of the Christmas story 1as the band was playing O Come O Come Emmanuel. My eyes welled up with tears as I watched the story unfold in such a simple yet beautiful way. After the beautiful violins and voices subsided, a man stepped forward; welcoming the crowd gathered and the party began.

For me, I have always felt that Christmas should be a party. It is the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. We do not get all solemn and quiet when we celebrate our own birthdays so why in the world do we go that route for the King of Kings? Well this year, that is what I got, a service of praise. It was AMAZING!! People were singing at the top of their lungs and REJOICING at the most amazing gift this world has EVER received. I have NEVER experienced anything like it! It was an incredibly special service filled with praise for the King of All Kings! I have never experienced the presence of God like the way I did that night. I have never felt it so strong. The cool part was that my kids felt it too and they were excited. For me, that is what it should be. I know that is not for everyone but for me, it was just where God wanted me to be that night.

Christmas morning came at a decent hour, and only a few gifts were opened. We had a small breakfast and got ready. We were making a special trip down town to feed and pass out warm clothing to the 1needy. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to take care of people. I love to spend my holidays having people who are alone into my home to eat and make them feel loved1. I love to serve other people and have ALWAYS wanted the opportunity to spend my Christmas taking care of someone other than myself and this year it happened. We headed down town to Share our Shoes where breakfast was served and shoes along with warm clothes were handed out. It was such an amazing blessing. I watched as my twelve and nine year old sat down with small kids and helped them to find shoes that fit. I watched as they took in how many spend their Christmas alone, with no presents1 and without food. It was such an eye opening experience for them both and I think they were just as blessed as I was from the experience. I was ecstatic when they both said that they wanted to do that again soon. More than anything, I want to serve and minister to others with my children. I have never enjoyed Christmas as much as I did this year. We eventually got around to opening presents once the other three of my children were home, but it was not as big of a deal, as it had been in the past. This Christmas was spent sharing the gift of God's love with those who needed to be loved and it filled a huge empty place in my heart.

This year has been a pretty rough year, but God has been so faithful and provided for us in ways that I would have never expected and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share and bless someone else the way in which I have been blessed.

Some pics from Share our Shoes event

The Bunny Ears

Since moving into our new home, we have only had basic cable. No high def, no DVR and no "on demand". In the past I would have said that the idea of no digital cable was inconceivable but it hasn't been all that bad. I do LOVE my HD TV but have been quite satisfied with not having to pay that monthly cable bill.

We have always enjoyed watching certain weekly shows together and definitely enjoyed said shows in 1080p. A fellow blogger friend introduced one particular show to us which was the joys of Smallville which my boys took to a bit more than I did have but I have to admit that I do watching "the Blur" save the day and especially so in HD.

Now back in the day, this fellow blogger friend would make his way over to our house and watch this beloved show in HD with us but now that we are in our new home, we are seeing less and less of him. Truth be told, I am almost certain it has something to do with the lack of HD in our home and in all honesty, it is hard to go from HD quality to that standard old fuzzy picture BUT we have come to learn that something is better than nothing and had settled for the fuzzy.

SO... one Friday night, my boys and I headed on over to that friends house so that we could enjoy watching "the Blur" save the day in splendid HD. During one of the commercials, I mentioned how the only thing I presently able to view on the 19" high def TV in my room,were DVDs on the blu ray. Now don't get me wrong, there was happiness found in watching my favorite sitcom over and over each night before bed and there was even a bit of gratification found when playing a movie every once in a while but I was really missing those days where I could flip through channels before bed. This is where my friend mentioned rabbit ears. I must have looked confused because he then went on to explain that I could pick up a pair at the local drug store. I must admit that for a moment, I was lost. What did I want a pair of rabbit ears for and how would they help my current high def dilemma? Again, the look of confusion on my face must have led him to the realization that a further explanation was needed. He began explaining that a pair of ears would give me access to some high def tv in my room. WHAT???????? Two months in our new home with no HD TV!! Why was I just now learning about this particular miracle?

We finished our episode of Smallville and headed to the car, where the decision was made that we WOULD be stopping at Target to check out these so-called "rabbit ears". We headed for the electronics section and found the antennas on an end cap. I began looking them over, trying to figure out whether the ten dollar would suffice or if the purchase of the twenty-five dollar pair was necessary. After consulting with the boys, the decision was made to purchase one of both in order to see which would deliver the most superb picture quality. We made our purchase and headed home with our two sets of "bunny ears", one for mom's 19" TV and one for the boys nice 42". I have to admit, I was a little skeptical as to how well these things would work. How in the world could these metal stick thingamajigs deliver the quality picture that Time Warner once brought into my home?

There was excitement in the air. Could it be possible?? Could we actually experience high def TV yet again without the costly price of a cable bill? Once again, I was skeptical but felt certain it was worth a try. We walked in the front door and headed straight to the bedroom. The set-up was easy. The twenty-five dollar number had to be plugged into an outlet as well as into the back of the TV but this process was a breeze and it wasn't long before the searching of channels began taking place. I sat on the edge of my bed with great anticipation as I watched the channel count progress. The bar slowly climbed and when it ended, I had about thirty-five channels. I was in awe.

I took a deep breath and picked up the remote. It was time to test the abilities of those tubular telescoping thingamajigs. I punched in 5.1, which is our local HD CBS channel. And what to my wondering eyes should appear??? HIGH DEF TV!!! It was a miracle!! I was ecstatic at my newfound discovery!

We quickly headed into the boys rooms and set up their "bunny ears". Again, the process was simple and there was even more success as their TV picked up about forty channels. I was impressed to say the least. It was not until two days later thought that the real thrill took place. It was Sunday night and it was time to watch another of our favorite shows, The Amazing Race. We gathered around the big 42" screen in the boy's room. Excitement filled the air as the music began but our eyes grew large as we took in the AMAZING picture that was before us. It was as if we were right there with those contestants taking in the picturesque scene of a foreign land. We were beyond impressed and quite pleased.

This spectacular 42" HD TV has been a part of our lives for about five years. In our former home, we paid for the upgraded digital cable, bought all the expensive cables needed but the picture never seemed to amaze me. I had never seen a picture as clear and vibrant as the picture that we were receiving through our ten-dollar "bunny ears". It was spectacular! Now each time we take a seat in front of our TV to watch our favorite shows, I am reminded all over again how gullible we can be when it comes to the selling techniques of a good salesperson.

We may not have all the digital cable channels, DVR or even "on demand", but by golly we have the MOST amazing picture I have ever experienced on HD TV and we did all for one lump sum of $38.76! What more can a girl ask for?

A thought...

One of my greatest frustrations at Christmas is those people too lazy to write out Christmas and choose to replace Christ with an X. It seems these days that we attend holiday programs at school and people attend holiday parties at work or with friends. Rarely do you hear of Christmas programs or Christmas parties to fill our Christmas calendars. I did not really think much about it until I had kids but every year it bugs me more and more because every year we move further and further away from Him. What is happening to this country?? Now the origin for Xmas is not bad if you are writing it in the way in which it was meant. I am of the belief though that there are way too many out there that one, write it that way to be disrespectful and two: totally to denounce the day that celebrates the birth of Christ. About a week ago I was reading a devotional written by Bill Bright and I had one of those "AH- HA" moments. He talked about God's discipline on this country. People moan and complain about our president and the state of our economy because it is easier to blame someone else for the mess we are in then to take responsibility for where we have taken our country. I believe our president is in office for a reason. I believe God placed him there and I believe that our lack of obedience and our eyes being fixed on worldly things instead of Kingdom things cause the suffering that is taking place. Maybe God is leading us once again to a place of complete brokenness in which we fall on our knees and confess our separation from Him in an attempt to live lives that are worldly and more fitting to our own happiness instead of His glory. I'm just saying. The more we embrace tolerance, the farther we separate ourselves from our Protector. I do not know if something as simple as saying Merry Christmas and teaching our kids the true meaning will change where this country is headed but maybe it would be a start. I hate to think of where this will all lead and how my kids will be celebrating Christmas with their kids someday. The following is the devotional: God's Solutions To Our Problems Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life (Romans 6:22, NLT). Dear Friends, Previous messages in this series have summarized the overwhelming evidence of the biblical roots of America and how God has been the source of our nation's blessings, which are absolutely unprecedented in all of history. Then I explained some of the things that went wrong in the past 50 years, causing this nation to turn from God, making us vulnerable to His chastening, and even in danger of losing our country. The question is obvious: How can our nation turn back to God? The answer is not in the world, not in the government, nor in the media. It is simply in God's people -- the church -- who must repent, seek God's face, and meet God's conditions recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (NLT). If God's people do what God requires, He will take care of everything else, "forgive their sin and heal their land." It is a promise. In a nutshell, we need a great spiritual revival in America. What is revival? It is not just scheduled annual meetings with a sign out in front of the church. Charles Finney, revered as the father of modern revival, called revival a "renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one's will to God in deep humility." For revival, the first requirement is for God's people to "humble themselves." In my opinion, there is no other Christian discipline but fasting with prayer that fully meets the conditions of this marvelous promise from God. By faith we humble ourselves, fast and pray for God's intervention and answers, and by faith we receive. Faith with fasting and prayer move the hand of God. Another requirement of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is to "turn from their wicked ways." To turn means to repent. God's people must turn from, or repent of, living, thinking, speaking and acting like the world. Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns, Bill Bright