Christmas Is Over

Ecclesiastes 3:1-6 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to search and a time to quit searching; a time to keep, and a time to throw away..." ESV

Today, I took down the Christmas tree and put all of the seasonal decorations in the attic. What a chore. I dread this day every year. I love putting up all of the festive garnishments and then looking at its beauty throughout the Christmas season. But the day of taking it all down is just depressing, and what a chore it is! Usually, I delay it because I just hate it so much. My kids' birthdays are in the middle of February, and one year on their birthday, there was a birthday cake/ice cream photo taken with the unlit Christmas tree in the background. But no matter how quickly I remove all of the decor, I'm always shocked at how bare the house looks when it's done, and things have returned to their normal places.

A wise person recognizes that everything has its own season, both in our physical life and in our spiritual life. We should be able to determine the appropriate time to engage in or stop an activity. But unfortunately,we as humans would just like to live our lives in the fun times. No one wants to go through trials and storms, but such is life. Someone once told me that if I were going to thank God and enjoy the good times, then I needed to accept the hard ones in order to appreciate the good ones. Such wisdom.

The remaining two days that we have left of this year are short. Much has happened in our lives, in our country, and in our world this year. I saw a meme on social media yesterday that said "2015: The Year Everyone Got Offended." Tis true. Our world is different now. Heartache has happened, people have been taken from us, we've relocated to another part of the country, and my ministry role has changed. But through it all, God has been good.

Things may look a little different in your home, in your heart, or in your family after living through 2015. The question is, how will you end it? Make the most of these last 2 days. It's the season for organizing, for cleaning out, for taking inventory of those Christmas lights that quit the third week of December. But's it's also the season for realizing that 2016 is coming, and it's a blank slate. What will happen this coming year? None of us know the answer to the question, but we can embrace the new season upon us and clean our hearts and homes for its arrival.

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Thanksgiving

There are a lot of people on Facebook right now giving thanks every day during the day of November for something or someone in their life. It's refreshing really, to read thankful comments as opposed to complaints, grumbles, bickering, and just down-right nastiness.

I have noticed however, that this being the 13th day of the month, a lot of people have dropped off the "thankful wagon." Are we really a people in the United States that is so consumed with having more that we've run out of things for which to be thankful? Have we gotten so used to the luxuries of life that we don't even notice them anymore and we're no longer thankful?

These last few months have been hard, and I'm having more hard days it seems than good ones. I could start a list here of the things that are wrong, and honestly, I have made lists before in all the ways I'm failing. No joke. My list-making tendencies took over that day. But I won't give in to the tricks of the enemy. He wants me to focus on the negative and overlook the sometimes small blessings of everyday life.

Back to the Facebook thankfulness thing...I honestly am running out of big things to be thankful for. But does it really matter if they're grand, big, and impressive? God meets our needs in the smallest of ways sometimes, and really, does He even owe us anything at all?

So here it is. Next week, we will celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. On that day, my husband, my kids, and I will remember the American holiday, but I am committed more than ever that they will understand what it really means to be thankful. To drive home the concept, I'm going to give a prize to the kid who says, "Thank you," the most during the day. They just don't know it yet.

We will make paper bag Indian vests, Indian headdresses, paper turkeys, paper pilgrim hats, and do as much decorating as my crayon drawer can afford. I will roast a turkey, make southern cornbread dressing, and we'll be miserable all afternoon after eating, but that night, Heath will go to work. Instead of complaining about him having to work on a holiday, we'll be thankful he has a job. The next day, we'll go stand in line at Cabela's to get his gift, and instead of complaining about the crowds, we'll be thankful for the good sale, and we'll be thankful we have the money to purchase a gift of non-necessity.

We have a tendency, even in the Christian tradition, to only request prayer for sickness, negative things, and fear that our nation is turning bad. But what if we asked people to help us thank God for the blessings we've received this year. I think the attitude of gratitude might show just a little more.