Thankful for creativity

It was a few days ago.

I had a stack of stockings in one hand and a question in my mind.

“Lord, where should I put these?”

At our previous residence there was a large staircase which easily displayed all our stockings.

The house before that had a wood stove and mantle, so the stockings hung over the stove.

This house has neither a staircase nor a mantle.

At first, I thought about not putting them out till next year, but my heart couldn’t find peace with that.

Our family’s tradition is the stockings are filled with fruit and candy, so even the adults enjoy their stockings.

The Lord didn’t answer my question right away.

But, He did answer.

He reminded me of the reason I’ve always liked ladder-back chairs, they can be decorated.

It was perfect.

Not only does it solve my dilemma of where to hang the stockings, it’s a fun and easy Christmas decoration.

I thanked God immediately.

As I have been enjoying these and other Christmas decorations, I’ve been rejoicing in the gift of creativity.

Creation all around us testifies to our Creator and it is only through Him we too have the gift of creativity.

This holiday seems especially fitting for gratitude.

Whether it be a lovely centerpiece, a handmade Christmas card, a house draped in lights or the beautiful music of talented people, God’s creative gifts are easy to see.

It’s especially appropriate that those gifts are used to celebrate His birth as our Savior.

I’m inspired by it all to draw attention to His greatness and hopefully to use His gifts of creativity for others.

To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever; To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever—
Psalms 136:4‭-‬7 NKJV

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your gifts. What blessings You pour out daily! Lord, thank You for those things You have blessed others with, which I benefit from. Lord, please help each one of us to use our gifts for others and not to horde them unto ourselves. Lord, thank You for answering me in such a small thing and using it to remind me to praise You. Lord, please continue to teach me how to be focused on the blessings and the opportunities around me. Please help me to look outside myself or our family, that I might not miss any opening to love another for You. Lord, thank You for the holiday season, please help us to remain focused on the reason we celebrate, it’s all because of You! Thank You, Jesus for coming to earth as a babe, dieing for my sins as the Son of Man and rising again as the Son of God. I praise Your holy name, Jesus! Amen.

Not our own

Psalm 24:1 KJV — A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

How would life look different if each of us lived in this truth?

Because everything belongs to God.

This is His world.

We are His creation.

All we have, all anyone has, belongs to God.

He is the One who created mankind’s intellect.

He is the reason we live and breathe.

Genesis 2:7 KJV — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

But our pride, our sin, our selfishness refuses this truth throughout the generations, beginning with Cain.

Thus God, in His mercy and great love, choose to die to redeem us to Himself.

For both the sinner and the saved are God’s creation, fashioned in the womb by God.

Let us remember, especially those of us who follow Christ, we are not our own.

1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV — For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for purchasing us at such an incredibly high price. Lord, thank You for Your love. Lord, please help me to live this truth each day. Lord, I want to see myself and others as Your creation. I want to understand that nothing “belongs to me”, not even myself. Lord, thank You for Your mercy and truth. Please help me to live in it today.

Hannah

Illustration by Frances Hook taken from My Book of Bible Stories by Wanda Hayes.

“No! I will not eat.”

“But why not? You know I love you, what more can I give you?”

She shook her head.

She knew his eyes were looking at her, full of love and sorrow at her suffering.

But she couldn’t swallow even one mouthful.

Her heart was too full of grief.

1 Samuel 1:2 NKJV — And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

1 Samuel 1:4-5 NKJV — And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb.

There’s little else which can cause this kind of pain.

To be married without children and know that her husband has children by another wife.

For a woman it seems to be a failure of the worst degree.

During Hannah’s time and place to be barren was utter disgrace.

1 Samuel 1:10 NKJV — And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”

She was desperate.

Her heart was fully and completely open before God.

As much as she wanted a son, she promised to give him back to God for his whole life.

She wasn’t greedy.

She realized that if God gave her a son, he would belong to God.

1 Samuel 1:19 NKJV — Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

What joy Hannah must have had when she found her prayer had been answered!

1 Samuel 1:22 NKJV — But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.”

The trust and faith Hannah must have had to do what she did.

She walked a difficult path of surrender, because she had promised God he would belong to God alone.

In this place in history, for this family, it meant Samuel would live with the High Priest, Eli, and would be trained in the daily service of the Tabernacle.

The Bible clearly speaks to parents, that each and every child is a gift from God and the parents are responsible unto the Lord for how they raise their children.

Like Hannah, it is imperative that we realize God created each baby and He has a purpose, He has a calling for each one.

As a mother, it is my duty and my privilege, to care for, to nurture, to bring up each child unto God, for they belong to Him.

Hannah’s story is about understanding that God is Sovereign, and He can be trusted completely.

Her son Samuel grew into a man of God who lead the nation of Israel for many years and was the man who anointed both King Saul and King David.

His relationship with God was a personal daily part of his life.

Hannah understood God granted her a son and he belonged to God.

Each person is God’s creation.

Psalm 127:3 KJV — Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Therefore, each parent should be continually seeking His guidance, His Word, and His discernment as to how to raise the child in their care.

We should also understand, we are God’s and our lives are to be lived in service to Him.

Hannah never forgot her son.

1 Samuel 2:19 NKJV — Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

Hannah continued to show her son all love and to live for the Lord.

Her story inspires us to value the individual, for all belong to Him.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Hannah and the previous son You gave her. Thank You for this example of a mother choosing to give her son back into Your hands. It reminds me of Mary and how she too had to give You up. What a wonderful sacrifice for all of mankind! Lord, thank You for choosing to die for our sins. Please help me to choose to die daily to my self and to serve You. Lord, I want to follow Hannah’s example and always remember each of our children belong to You alone. To honor You in the way I teach and love them. Lord, that they would follow that example in the way they love and teach their children. Please let us be people who follow after You in all our ways. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

“God’s creation is beautiful!”

Earlier this week, I couldn’t keep from heading outside to weed the flower bed.

Of course I’m not really supposed to be taxing myself with yard work so I told Jase he was coming along.

I expressed my joy at how well the tulips he planted were doing.

Busily pulling weeds, I began explaining the difference between them and the plants coming up.

As my energy began to wane, I stopped talking.

My eyes were on the weeds, all around me.

My mind was warning me not to overdo it.

The task started to feel over bearing.

Silence settled around us as I kept working and wondering how much more I should do.

Then his voice broke the air.

“God’s creation really is beautiful!”

“Isn’t it, Mom!”

I was startled.

I looked up.

His face was aglow with wonder and appreciation.

His eyes were looking above me, focused on the two blooming trees in the neighbor’s yard.

They’re bountifully blossomed in pink.

Showing the glory and creativity of our Master in their tiny bright flowers.

He wasn’t hindered by the weeds.

He was able to lift his eyes to the beauty above us.

What a wonderful reminder!

Our son, one of God’s creations, rejoicing in another of God’s creations.

Jesus said it best:

Matthew 21:16b NKJV …And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”

Our son was an example to me.

It’s important to look for God’s beauty and not get bogged down by the weeds.

Tying knots

Mom has said many times, “It’s really just tying knots.”

As a child, I couldn’t see her point at all.

She was referring to crocheting.

Every stitch in an Afghan or blanket is a series of special knots made in a specific order.

My idea of a knot was what my shoe laces were always doing.

Later in life I saw some pictures and examples of knots used aboard sailing ships.

When I met my husband, he showed me his skill with knot tying as part of his knowledge of woodcraft.

After we were married, I showed him my crocheting.

He thought it was really cool that if you pull on the string before you tie off your work, the whole thing will unravel.

It all returns to the single string of yarn.

It was last night when God taught me something about knot tying.

He used my crocheting to do it.

I was in bed with a migraine.

I’d run out of medicine and although I refilled it, I’d reached the point where I had to stay resting or I’d start being sick.

So, I was laying flat on my back crocheting, when His gentle voice spoke with my heart.

It’s about tying knots.

“What is, Lord?”

Life. You either allow me to direct and guide you, teaching you the best stitches at the time, or you tie your own knots without any idea of what I’m creating.

I looked at my work.

One wrong stitch will throw the entire project off and normally requires tearing out everything, back to that wrong stitch.

Then it has to be pulled out and replaced with the correct one.

Only after all that can the project continue.

Wow.

My life is a beautiful creation in progress to the Lord.

He is so patient with me and I can look at the many, many times He’s had to unravel a mess of knots I’ve made.

Only to gently start again.

I truly want to work with the Lord, instead of making a mess of things.

Unraveling my knots is often time consuming and uncomfortable.

Yet, the Lord is so patient.

His hands are steadily teaching my heart.

As a new day unfolds, I’m praying for His perspective and to be busy tying knots through His direction and guidance.

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for another day. Thank You for watching over us last night and for walking with us in today. Lord, we have no way of knowing how today will unfold, but we do know You will be in it. Lord Jesus, please help us to rest in Your love and to completely trust You in all things. Lord, please keep our hearts free from fear and our minds purged from worry. Please build a hedge of protection around us, that we might quickly recognize the enemy’s lies and deal with them through Your Word. Lord, fill our hearts and minds with You. Thank You, Jesus for another day. Amen.