My Soul Doth Magnify

REPOST from December 2007 (Xanga)

Mary. Sweet Mary. Mysterious Mary. Mary, the mother of Christ, the Messiah. Potentially the most misunderstood woman in history. Many movies, books, stories depict Mary, Jesus’ birthmother in a variety of ways, but truly none of us really know her. Luke 2:19 says (and yes, I busted out the ‘ol King James for this one… love the wording), “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

What can we possibly know about Mary? How could we even relate? She kept them in her heart. We don’t know all she felt. We couldn’t possibly comprehend the depths of her fear and anxiety of the responsibility of carrying and then raising the awaited Messiah (let alone the trepidation of possible persecution for what would be perceived as a sin). We can’t fathom her immense joy of the miracle within her, knowing she had “known” no man, and yet there was a baby growing inside her; a physical, living MIRACLE from the Living God!

I think about us women. We are so quick to hop on the phone (computer, cell phone txt), to share our worries, our joys, our sorrows, stresses, praises... That in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Bible tells us to “bear one another’s burdens,” to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” I have a couple of girlies that bear my burdens in prayer, rejoice with me, weep with me (and even beat me over the head with a broom when I need it… you know who you are). I am so blessed to have, even if just a few, friends like that, yet my 1^st call shouldn’t be to my friends, or even to my best friend, my hubby… My #1 speed-dial should be my Lord, my Jesus! (Ok, He may have to be #2, because #1 is already pre-programmed by Verizon as my voicemail… and there are times, that I would love to get a clear ANSWER from God on my voicemail… yet He hasn’t chosen to communicate to me via that mode of communication as of yet). He is the only one who will truly understand!

Yes, when you are pregnant, and you share pregnancy stories with the girlies, there’s some relating, but still, YOU are soooooo different than anyone else, that no one truly completely gets you. Or, as parents, and we share different parenting struggles; can we relate? Yes, but never completely. Every circumstance and family dynamic is completely unique. What about when something sooooo awesome happens, to the point that you jump up and down for JOY in your living room, but when you share it, it’s like people don’t get it. They may get a little, but it’s YOUR experience. I can’t say I blame Mary for “treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.” Sometimes when we share with another person, and the reaction, while enthusiastic, isn’t quite what yours is (because it’s YOUR experience,) it brings the excitement down just a notch. Mary was wise to treasure them up with her Lord. Maybe, sometimes things are just for you and Him. He understands every burden, He bore them. He is elated with every blessing, He provided it! Run first to the Father. Treasure some things in your heart that are just between you and Him. Praise Him in your SOUL. “My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior!”

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Today's final decorating sharing, part of Lisa's Blog, is about how we keep Christ in Christmas. One of our family's FAVORITE thing to unpack for Christmas is the LARGE nativity scene that was a wedding gift from a cousin. My Mom had the stable custom-made to fit the pieces!! It truly is amazing. We wrap some lights around it so it shines like the stars that night in Bethlehem many years ago.

Only problem is, when you take a close look at Baby Jesus, He is completely without one arm and the other arm is dislocated at the elbow :D. Oh well! I guess that's what happens when He's been packed and unpacked for 16 years!!


The other activity we enjoy each year is telling the Christmas Story a little each day through this Advent Calendar. Each day we add a piece to the board and there is a little snippet to read. It's a lot of fun, and helps keep us focused throughout all the craziness of the holidays.


What do you do to keep Christ in Christmas?

Remebering Loved Ones @ Christmas

There's so much wonderfulness about Christmas, the treats, the parties, the gifts, the Gift! However, truth be told, the holidays are some of the hurtingest times of the year. You can't but help notice the White Elephant of who's NOT there, the feeling of 'it's just not the same', ... the loved one(s) that have passed away.

I read on FaceBook a few days ago about a friend who had just finished "decorating the tree by candlelight" in honor of a loved one. A few years ago, my aunt passed away. Her silliness and her love is something we all miss. The year she passed, my cousin (her daughter) got everyone this angel ornament. I love this ornament and I can see it from where I sit on my 'green chair.' It reminds me of my sweet Aunt, where she's at, and the hope what we share that one day we'll see each other again.


I also have this lighted village that she made a few years before she died and getting it out each year brings back those special memories.


How do you honor/remember loved ones past during the holiday season?

Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado (W/ Max Lucado)

Imagine you’re at summer camp as a teenager (or tween). You don’t want to leave because you’ve had a great time, learned some awesome things and had an amazing camp counselor. Your counselor, although just a few years older than yourself, has listened to what you’re going through, shared how she got through it and gave the best advice that wouldn’t be heard from any other venue. She she’s super cool. Meet Jenna Lucado and “Redefining Beautiful.”

Jenna, with some help from Daddy Max Lucado, shares her heart on everything from not fitting in, figuring out who you are, boyfriends, disappointments and seeing yourself as God sees you… beautiful. She focuses on relationships; your relationship with God and your relationship with your Dad, and how that influences the other relationships in your life. I’m now reading this book with my 11 year old girlie, who may just be a little bit under the target age range for this book, but she ‘gets’ most everything Jenna is talking about.

I do recommend “Redefining Beautiful” for those young ladies – maybe in the 13-17 age range. Your young lady will feel like she’s at summer camp with a truly amazing camp counselor and walk away understanding what true beauty is and where it comes from.

Here’s a snippet of Jenna Lucado on YouTube talking about “Redefining Beautiful.”

You can find “Redefining Beautiful” at Amazon.Com, Christianbook.com, or directly from the Thomas Nelson website.

DISCLAIIMER: I did receive this book for free in exchange for providing my thoughts, positive or negative, (review) on this blog.

Deck The Halls

OK - time for some Christmas fun... Joining in the Thursday "how we celebrate Christmas' fun at Lisa's Blog, here's a bit of how we decorate at the Grubbie Household :).

This is the third year we have ventured out for a real tree. We go to Kaleidoscope Farms, sip some hot cider, eat some warmed peanuts, take a horseride and pick out the perfect tree. It's a lot of fun!

They even let Joey help chop (saw) down the tree!

Best part about getting our tree there, is they drill the hole in the trunk and we can come home and plop it right in the fancy, dancy tree stand! We can get to decorating without all the hassle.

Our ornament supply was scarce when we returned home from the Dominican four years ago, as we had only kept those ornaments that were special. However, in just four years, we seem to have built up our ornament inventory quite nicely :). The kids get all excited remembering whose ornaments are whose and how we set up this decoration or that. All the while, we have wonderful Christmas music playing (loudly) in the background. I *heart* Christmas music!

Stocking aren't hung by the chimney... but don't they look nice on the railing??

<--- Joey's year to put the star up!!




The Finished Product - TA-DA!

What are some of your holiday decorating traditions??

Being Intentional

The last post was not exactly a warm-fuzzy, ear-tickler, kind-of post. Sorry. Kind of. (On a side note, I find it interesting that intense posts like that don't generate comments. Which is cool. I'm not posting to see how many comments a post can generate, I post what God's burning on my heart... but I twittered/FB'd a link to the post yesterday and got 1 comment and 1 FaceBook *like*. A few hours later I twittered/FB'd that my kiddos wanted spaghetti noodles with maple syrup for dinner and got 14 comments. I'm pretty sure that speaks for itself. I know I'm not the only one who has not personally led someone to Christ (outside of church walls/activities) in 2009...) Don't worry, I have warm-fuzzy coming (Christmas stuff) and even some book reviews and give-aways just in time for Christmas... but for now... I just can't help but think that someone could be standing right now in the fiery flames of hell because I didn't tell them about Christ. And it's bugging me. And it should.

I have been praying about how to be more intentional in sharing Christ. Here's what I have come up with so far. Now, it can be tricky for a 'stay-at-home-mom' in a one-car family to be out 'there'. And when I am out, it's often for church stuff. But, I'm not going to use that as an excuse... Because I am out there sometimes. And I need to be more intentional about being 'out there' when I am.

• *At The Gym: Gotta be honest here, when I go to the gym, it's earbuds in, Jesus music playin, cardio pumpin, decompressin time for me. Me time. I don't make eye-contact. I don't want to talk to anyone. I want to be in my own little world. Do we need time (me time) to decompress? Yes. But, as I stated before, I'm a SAHM in a 1-Car family (almost said one-horse open sleigh... but that's for Thursday ;) - I can decompress at home, when I have to be home. I want my gym time to be more intentional. In the next few days/weeks, I'm going to turn the earbuds down (so I don't ear-butt someone outta heaven), make eye contact (smile even), be friendly, start conversation and we'll see how the Lord will lead. I will twitter/post results - and I do want to be held accountable. (DID I JUST SAY THAT?)
• *At Home: Now, duh! Of course we are intentional about Christ under our own roof. And, yes - I understand and embrace the fact that my primary ministries are pouring into my pastor hubby and kiddos. And another yes- all five of us have individually accepted Christ and been baptized... But, I have neighbors. I have neighbors that I don't even know their names. We've lived here four years. I want to be more intentional with my neighbors. I don't need a car to share Christ with my neighbors. God, open doors. Starting with mine.
• *Via The Kiddos: My kiddos are involved in sports and activities. And at those sporting events, those kiddos have parents. Here's the hesitation... no one wants to be the parent everyone avoids because you know they're going to shove Jesus down your throat every time they see you... At the other end of the spectrum, I don't want to miss an opportunity because I was worried about what the other parent may think of me. May I remind you, he was 41. I went 24 years without hearing the truth about salvation in Christ, by faith alone. I want to be intentional with the opportunities I have.
• *Lifestyle Evangelism: Do I want someone to look at me and think there's just something different about her? Yes. Is that enough if I never share what the difference is? No. Listen, any milli-watt of light that escapes through me is God alone, and I don't want there to be any question as to the source of the light - or simply be thought of as a 'good person.' Lots of 'good people' have gone to hell... and are on their way right now. (See... not warm-fuzzy, but true). Anyhoo, I ain't all that good... but Jesus is good and He lives in me! (That's warm-n-fuzzy!) I want to be intentional in my lifestyle.
• *Via My Blog: I pray that my blog will be a reflection of God's truth, and the hope that we have in Him, that it will spotlight Jesus. It's my hope and heartbeat if someone stops by here that it's no mistake, and that God will breathe into them exactly what they need to hear at that moment. I want to be intentional with my blog. God has given us these voices, albeit written, sometimes video, to point to Him.

How 'bout you? I'd love to hear how you do it and have my eyes opened to even more possibilities to share in my own life!

How are you intentional about sharing Christ?

What Are We Doing?

NO!

DAD!

NO! NOT MY DAD!

NOOOOOOO!

"DAD, I HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!"

DADDY!

A week ago, I sat in an ER room waiting to be seen and those were the cries I heard in the hallway. With tears in my eyes, all I could do was pray.

Gut-wrenching. Sorrowful. Shock.

He was 41. He didn't make it.

I have no idea of the spiritual condition of 'Dad.' I do know this though, we Christians sit around playing games while people are dying every day without Christ.

Satan wants us playing games.

How many people have I lead to the Lord in 2009? Outside of the church walls, not a one.

How many games have I played? I'm so sorry, Lord. I've allowed myself to get sucked into the games. Too many.

What now? I can't change yesterday, but I'm standing here saying, "Lord, Here am I. Send Me. Redeem the time."

What will this look like? I have no idea. I'm not going to make emotional promises I can't keep. I will pray for opportunity. God will lead. I will follow.

Taking the words from Casting Crowns, this is my heart's cry:

"Until the whole world hears, Lord, we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we’re crying out
And as the day draws near, we’ll sing until the whole world hears!"

Lord, help us.

What Are You Reading?

No, not a book review post, although I do have three (THREE?!?) coming up here in the next week or so... But, I thought I'd take a moment to see what people in blogland are reading...

My next three review books are:The Family God Uses by Tom & Kim Blackaby, A Passion for Purpose by Kimberly Sowell, Edna Ellison, Joy Brown, Tricia Scribner & Marie Alston, AND Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado (with Max Lucado). I'll save my thoughts on these books for their respective blog posts :). Stay tuned.

On the FICTION front, recently finished Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury. As you know, I'm a fan :D! I open the 1st pages of one of Karen's books and am instantly transported as an eye-witness into the storyline. Reading "life-changing-fiction" by KK is relaxing to me, a way to breeze through a book, and yet while not a non-fiction, instructional book - always leaves me with something to think about. It's not called "life-changing-fiction" for nothing! Cannot wait for Take Three and Take Four coming out in 2010 to close out those series. If you've never read a KK book, she has stand-alones as well as series. If you're in for the long haul, start with the Redemption series. You won't be disappointed.

Also recently finished and am re-reading with the hubs, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book has revolutionized, is revolutionizing my life. It will change how you look at God, and cause you to examine how your life looks and how your life should look as a believer and follower of Christ. It's a major 'put your money where your mouth is' kind of book. MUST READ. I do not say that lightly.

Finally, I'm reading Mom, I Hate my Life by Sharon A. Hersh. Having an (um, two) emotional tween(s), a friend highly recommended it to me. I've just started it (as you can see I've had my nose in some other books lately), but I pray God will use this as a parenting tool in my life and that of my precious girlies!!

So, that's what I'm reading. What have you been reading lately?

Blindsided

Saw the movie “Blindside” Friday night. STRONGLY recommend it! After the movie, I twittered the fact that I loved it… and wanted to see what other people were saying about it so I did a #blindside search on Twitter.

Then I read this: @billybush (I have no idea who @billybush is, but) said “Sandra was amazing. Tim was pitch perfect. Quinto Aaron rookie of the year. #blindside will restore ur faith and keep cynicism at bay.”

Keep cynicism at bay. Bam! And like that, my eyes were opened to something that has been creeping up on my own blindside… cynicism. Where did that come from?

Well, cynicism can sneak up when:

• You’ve been lied to… makes it hard to trust
• You’ve had your heart broken… makes it hard to love again
• You pour your life into someone and they turn their back on you… makes ya’ not want to do it again
• You’ve been abused… enough said
• You’ve been promised something again and again and it’s not come through… makes it hard to believe anything
• You see people spend, spend, spend, but don’t have “enough money” to even tithe to the church or give to a need… well, that just makes ya’ mad
• You lose a friend… makes ya’ cautious to make new ones
• You get criticized… makes ya’ want to go under the radar and not rock any boats
• You see people who claim to be ‘in need’ but have all the latest gizmos/gadgets… makes ya’ not want to help
• You’re waiting on God for something… makes ya’ feel like it’s never gonna happen
• You donate money to something/someone and it doesn’t go toward what you intended… makes ya’ not want to give

So, we can leave it at that, – CYNICISM – or we can look at it for what it really is (SIN-A-CISM) and ask God to help us with it. Cynicism has its roots in judging, doubt, discouragement and even anger… If you find yourself blindsided with your own cynicism, like I have, here’s a plan to combat it and be victorious over it.

Confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and clean ya’ all up from your cynical mess (1John 1:9). Next, take a peek into what God’s Word has to say about all that you could be cynical about…

He calls us to give; cheerfully, and abundantly to those in need. If we seek the Lord and give as He leads, then what the person/people do with what has been given is between Him and them. Don’t stop giving!

He calls us to love and forgive. Again, we’re not responsible for others actions/reactions to us, but we are called to love… and to forgive. We’re called to love and not to judge.

He calls us to step out by faith in action. If that brings criticism, When that brings criticism, love ‘em anyways.

Finally, praise Him. Praise always takes the focus off of us, and onto Him. It’s by far the best cure for a cynical heart than anything I could ever think of!

Don’t ya’ love it that the Holy Spirit’s covering our blindside? I’ll take Him over the left tackle any day of the week!