It's More Then Just A Season

If you know me at all you know that I LOVE Christmas!!! Some would say I even have OCD (Obsessive Christmas Disorder).

I love anything to do with the Christmas season; snow, warm mittens, Christmas movies, Christmas lights, eggnog latte', picking a Christmas tree.... The list could go on for pages.

I love Christmas so much that in July my sister's and I have a day where we decorate and watch Christmas movies, for a full day!

But what is it about Christmas that I love SOOO much. Why do I have OCD?

It's not the gifts, it's not the snow, it's not the music, although I did start listening to Christmas music at the beginning of this month. ;) It's the warm fuzzies I get whenever I think about Christmas. It's the feeling of happiness. I think Dr. Seuss explained this best:

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

I get the warm fuzzies because when I hear songs like "peace on earth good will to men" I think of a baby. When I see Christmas lights on houses late at night, I think of the light of the world. When I look to the top of our tree and see the picture of Jesus we place there, I can't help but be overwhelmed with joy. 

I know what that something more is that the Grinch saw, I think of Jesus.  I think of my family sitting around the tree every Christmas reading the story of the birth of Jesus. I think of the baby who was born and put in a manger, who grew up and died on a cross for my sins, for your sins. I think of a man who was willing to die so I could spend eternity in heaven. It's more than the decorations, the presents or the songs for me.

So when I start listening to Christmas music in October, it's not because I want to skip to Christmas day. It's because I can't wait to reflect on what Jesus did for me. I want to remember and feel the warm fuzzies everyday! Because Christmas is more than a season, it is a feeling. 

Stop And Listen

As I mentioned in my last post, I started school about a month ago and am loving every minute of it. In one of my classes this week we had an assignment to improve our listening.We had to take three minutes a day to sit in absolute quiet in an attempt to allow our hearing to reset. This was harder to do than I thought! On the first day the 3 minutes felt like 30! I kept looking at my timer every ten seconds. It was a little better for day two, and day 3, and by day 4 I was starting to really enjoy this time of quiet.

On day 5 of enjoying this quiet time I had a thought... how often do I get silent and quiet before God, to set my heart? How often do I take time to just be silent and listen to God's voice? The answer was not as often as I had liked. On the surface I thought I had been doing a great job of spending time with Jesus, until I realized that my time with God was one sided. It consisted of me talking to God or reading my Bible. I never really took the time to just listen to God's voice.

Psalm 62:5 says "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him." If my soul finds rest in Him, and I am not taking the time to listen to Him, then how am I really resting? How can I truly walk away from my time with Jesus filled with Hope, peace and, love without hearing from Good?

The truth is I can't... and neither can you. 

Without the silent time to hear from God all we have is a monologue, a self focused time talking to God.  Now hear what I am saying. I am not saying prayer and Bible reading are selfish things. I am saying without Gods voice we will never be refreshed.

So here is my challenge to you, and myself, to take 3 minutes a day to just listen for God's voice. It may feel like the first 3 minutes of waiting is really 30, but trust me as we pursue this, day after day, we will want to extend our time listening for God's voice even longer