Christmas Light

There is something so peaceful about plugging in a Christmas tree. I look forward to the time of year when it is acceptable to put up my tree. I’ll admit I was maybe a little too early this year with it being up and plugged in on November 1st. I was just so ready for that cozy feeling.

The feeling that happens when you come home from work and it’s already dark outside. You could easily let that make you miserable, or at least feel that way when it’s dark before 5 p.m.. But instead you plug in that tree, hunker down under a blanket, and all seems right in the world.

I think I would keep my tree up year round if it were possible, but I also feel like it might not produce the same effect in the middle of summer. Balmy weather and Christmas tree don’t seem to go together, but I digress.

As I sit cozied up on the couch looking at my tree - feeling that peace wash over me, I turned my eyes once again toward Jesus. And I just spent some time staring at the lights and thinking about him.

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.””

John 8:12

After reading this verse and looking at my tree I started thinking about how the two related. Comparing how I viewed the Christmas tree and its effects on me, to Jesus being the Light of life.

As I said above, I really enjoy my Christmas lights. I struggle with having so little sunlight in the winter and it can make a hard day even worse. But when I plug in that tree, its as if I’m some how able to feel hopeful in the midst of all the darkness.

And if a some little twinkling lights can have that effect on me, imagine what my life might look like if I remembered in the darkness that Jesus is the light of the world. How much brighter would my life be if I looked for his light to find peace. If I looked to his light to find hope.

As I continue to look at my Christmas tree with all it’s lights, I’m hoping that now it will remind that there is a far greater light in this world - one that will bring me true peace.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Waiting For ...

I found myself spending time in a waiting room today. Quite a long time in the waiting room actually. While I was sitting there I started to think of all the things we tend to do while waiting and also the things we wait for.

As I looked around the room people were scrolling on their phones, some were reading outdated magazines and even one gentleman was nodding off in the corner. I was sitting there people watching and pondering if I should go out to the car to get a book. Those are just a sampling of things people do while waiting. And then there are the things we wait for.

We wait to hear test results at doctor appointments, the phone to ring with a job offer, a text to come through inviting you out for the night with friends. We wait to see if the dreams we have will come true or if we’ll get that gift we have been wanting. We wait and we wait and we wait.

When the old testament closes there is 400 hundred years of silence. 400 years that people were waiting to hear from God, waiting for him to send his son. I’m sure that there were some people that were doing the equivalent of scrolling through their feed to pass the time, but their were others that were eagerly anticipating, what we know to be the birth of Jesus. Those were the ones that kept their eyes focused on God even though he was silent.

This advent season we prepare our hearts as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The very one that the people were waiting for so long ago.

But now friends, the bible tells us that Jesus is coming again and soon. That when He returns this time it will be in a spectualar fashion compared to the lowly manger birth. When Jesus returns everything changes, the old passes away and the new begins.

I can't say that I’ve been living my life with anticipation of Jesus returning. I can’t say that my eyes have been focused on the heavens, nor my ear turned to hear God’s message.

Sitting in that waiting room today I started to take a hard look at what I’m doing in this waiting time before Christ’s return. I want to be doing more than scrolling - I want to living my life as a faithful servant. I want to be eargerly looking forward to Jesus’ return.

Let’s turn our eyes towards Jesus and choose to be his hands and feet while we’re waiting. Waiting not just for Christmas morning, but for his return. He’ll be here before we know it.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Christmas Perfection

Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a situation and think; “Stop talking! Stop talking! Stop letting those words come out of my mouth!”?

No? Just me?

Well, today I had one of those moments. My brutal honest opinion was not needed in the situation. It was a situation that was suppose to be fun and enjoyable, but I literally had to stop myself, from my prefectionist ways, before I ruined it. Things didn’t need to be a certain way for them to be good or enjoyable. However, I was so focused on the vision in my head that I wasn’t listening to the words pouring out of my mouth or the impact they were having on others.

I mean we were decorating - as a surprise - just for fun! We were doing it to share some of that Christmas love I was talking about yesterday and what was I doing - starting to nitpick at the details. When I realized what I was doing I finally stopped myself, but I felt so bad. This should have been a time of encouragement for us together not a stressor.

While I would like to think that I didn’t damper our time too much and that I was able to turn it around, I’m not totally sure. You know, once the words are out of your mouth you never can take them back.

“You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”

James 1:19b

That verse popped into my mind as I was driving home and wow, talk about conviction. While there wasn’t any anger involved today, I certainly wasn’t quick to listen or slow to speak. When I’m comfortable with people I don’t filter myself and while that can be a good at times, today it wasn’t. I didn’t take their thoughts and feelings into account nearly enough.

So, as we get deeper into the season and more situations like that start to pop up, consider this your friendly reminder to think before you speak. You don’t always have to have an opinion, or a response to everything being discussed. It’s a good choice to simply listen. Remember everyone has feelings - including those closest to you. Don’t lose sight of how your words have an impact on them. Build people up, don’t tear them down.

And when you are doing the “things” of the season don’t get caught up in making everything perfect. After all those “things” are just bonus - Jesus is the real deal.

Tomorrow I will try again.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Give It Away....

“Give this Christmas away. If there’s love in your heart, don’t let it stay there. Give this Christmas away. And your life will be changed by the gift you receive when you give this Christmas away.”

~ Matthew West & Amy Grant Give This Christmas Away

Music is one of the clearest ways I hear God speaking to me. Often times when I stop and listen to the lyrics in a song they evoke strong emotions. I know that that is what music is intended to do, but sometimes it speaks so much truth that it catches me off guard. It makes me recenter and refocus what I’ve been thinking or doing.

In keeping with the desire for this Christmas to be focused on the who of Christmas and not the things of Christmas, I was reminded of this song. The concept of focusing not on your own needs and desires, but on others.

Christmas isn’t an easy time for everyone. Some find it to be the hardest season of all for a variety of different reasons; money, schedules, family gatherings, missing loved ones… the hope of what you long for but don’t yet have.

I’m pretty blessed in this life of mine. I have a job I love, a place to lay my head, family and friends. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that my heart longs for someone to love at Christmas. I have two options on how to view that longing. I can wallow in self-pity. Or I can give the love that I have been storing up in my heart for that man away.

A little piece for my family, another to my coworkers. A chunk to the kids, some to the stranger behind me in the drive through, and even a little to you. Little pieces, little acts done for others to share that love I’ve been storing in my heart.

Take a moment and go listen to the song. See what God is saying to you.

I think the point the song is trying to make is that by giving that love away, we don’t have any less than we started with. In fact we have more. And by giving the love we had stored away more love is out in the world. More love is out there making a difference for the kingdom and isn’t that what Christmas is suppose to be about.

So dear friends….

“ What if December looked different this year? What if we all just - give this Christmas away.”

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Christmas Is...

It’s that time of year where we all go digging through the attic or storage space to pull down the Christmas boxes. When we open those boxes we aren’t simply getting out decorations - no, we are opening a box that leads to Christmases of the past. Know what I mean?

You pull out that ornament you got when you played baseball or the ceramic christmas tree that used to be in grandma’s window and bam! Those objects take you back. Sometimes they take you to happy memories and sometimes to sad ones, but either way you are transported. Do you have a decoration that means more to you than others? What is it? Why is it so special?

I have one particular decoration that has to be out for it to be Christmas. It’s the picture frame you see above. Until that is hanging on the wall it just isn’t Christmas time.

“Christmas is goodwill and compassion, firelight and candlelight, a family time, a time for worship. It’s the glow on a child’s face. BUT MOST of ALL it is a story of love which began centuries ago and spread to all the world.”

My mother made that the year I was born. There hasn’t been a year of my life that that picture frame hasn’t been present on Christmas morning. I’ve always loved it. It draws me in year after year. The message is so simple, but I often lose sight of it as season gets going. I’m guilty, like many, of getting caught up in the bustle of the season - the shopping, the baking, the decorating. None of those things are bad, yet none hold the true meaning of the season. This year I want it to be different.

As this season starts I want to keep that message in mind. I want to focus on goodwill and compassion. I want to choose to worship in the hard situations. I want to appreciate the glow and excitement I see on the kids faces. I want to remember WHO the season is about, far more that what the season holds.

Will you join me? Will you choose to keep your eyes lifted to the heavens and see what God is going to do this Christmas season? I just have a feeling that it is going to be amazing.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann