Jesus in Pink

Last Christmas someone gave us an old fashioned nativity scene to set up outside.  I was thrilled with the donation.  So, this year we got the Christmas decorations out I was quite excited to put up the nativity set in the front yard.   We pulled the shepherd out of the box and then the three wise men.  Anna asked what their names where and we named each one of the four men. 

Then we pulled out the family.  Mary first and Anna kissed her.  (Awkward; but true)  Then came Joseph.  He did not receive a kiss on the cheek; but she rubbed his head and looked at him closely.  Then the manger was set up and at the bottom of the box sat the plastic baby that represents the Holy Baby.  Anna was jumping with joy as we placed the baby in the wooded manger frame. 

She then sat down beside him and pulled him from the manger and tenderly began rocking him back and forth and telling him how much she loved him.

I finished plugging them all into the outlet and then headed in to put boxes away from the indoor decorating.  It was several hours later when Rob came home from work that I noticed the manger.  I could not see the baby; but rather a pile of coats and blankets.  Anna had wrapped up the baby.  Rob and I walked over, smiled and I picked up the coats and brought them inside and hung them all back up.  (Anna was in bed).

The next day I was walking out to get the mail and I found the same pile of coats on the manger.  This time a hat was securely tied on the baby lying warmly beneath ALL the coats.  This scenario has happened several times.  Anna just can not stand to see the baby in the manger without something to cover him up and make him warm. 

I am done taking in the coats and hats.  We have found one that fits around the baby and a fleece scarf that covers him up nicely.  Anna was insistent that it be HER coat and hats that keep the baby warm. 

So, if you drive by our house.  Enjoy the nativity scene.  You will not be able to see the baby in the manger; but you will see that this year the manger is filled with pink.  Somehow I think that God does not mind that the plastic baby representing Emmanuel is wearing pink this year.  If per chance, you drive by during Anna's play time you will not see her jumping on the trampoline, rather she is will be sitting by the nativity set singing to her baby and telling him how much she loves him.  My prayer is that someday soon she will realize just how much He loves her!

Oh, to love Him that dearly!
Thanks so much for stopping by.  I am so glad you did!
~Martie 

The Family of God

There are so many benefits to being God's child.  I'm adopted into His family.  I am loved as His own.  I am assured of my final destination.  I am forgiven for all the sin I have committed - and will commit.  (That is a HUGE benefit; and one that would be worth it if it was the only one!)  So many benefits and not enough blog space to write about them all. 

However, I have been thinking about one benefit a lot lately.  It is the holidays and my mind tends to focus on relationships and the people in my life - family.  One of the benefits of being a Christian is that we are placed into the family of God the moment we get saved.  That is a HUGE family.  The minute we are saved we belong.  It takes a while to realize just how much of a benefit this is; but when it happens you stand there amazed.

The longer I am saved the more I cherish this family to which I have been adopted.  The longer I am saved the more I realize just how special this is.  Because I belong to the family of God there is a family bond to every person in that family.

Have you ever experienced this?  I have!  It always amazes me when we are on vacation or are visiting a church where we really do not 'know' anyone there; but there is a connection.  We feel like we know them, like we have met before.  Not the face or that particular person; but there is a bond of knowing that they are my brother or sister in Christ.  It amazes me every time this happens just how close I can feel to someone I have never met because of the bond of Christ. 

I also have experienced the same amazement when getting together with friends whom I have not seen for such a long time.  Thanksgiving day was that way for me this year.  We have moved down south and were able to get together with friends we had not seen in almost fifteen years.  Oh, the kids had grown and just looking at each other we could tell that time had passed by; but there was an instant bond again almost as if we had been in the same church for the past fifteen years together.  The bond of Christ allows us to pick up where we left off and still be united in heart and spirit.

I am convinced that we do not value this benefit as much as we should.  We use petty disagreements to separate and cause tension within the family; and just like an earthly family, there can be divisions amongst us because of pride and a critical spirit.  When this happens we miss being able to be uplifted and blessed by the bond that Christ has placed us into.

God has opened up a ministry opportunity to me and next week I am going to fly out west and meet someone I have never seen before.  We are going to talk about God and His plan for our lives.  We are going to share our hearts and dreams for what God can do through circumstances in our lives.  We have only talked on the phone and seen each other's pictures through facebook or blogs; but there is a bond.  That bond is Christ and there is a certainty that God has brought us together for such a time as this.  Oh, the benefit of being in the family of God.  I am looking forward to sharing with you what God has opened up and how the bond of Christ was again evident once again!

Thanks for stopping by, I am so glad you did.

~Martie

Would you be able to help me?

I was sitting in church listening to the preacher. I had supplied the little ones with their notepads and pencils and had instructed them to sit quietly and not talk while the preacher was preaching. They sat quietly and worked on their papers. I sat next to them trying my best to listen to the preacher. That night it was a missionary. He told of the field God to which God had called him. He talked about how time was short; but informed us that he was praying for more time -time to reach the lost. He seemed desperate; like the task in front of him was bigger than he and time was shorter than needed to accomplish the task.

The missionary told us the text from which he would be preaching. We turned and read, and the children colored on quietly. The flow of the preacher’s voice turned to a cadence that represents a preaching/proclaiming tone. If you have sat in church for long at all you know the tone. The children colored and sat quietly and I was taking notes trying to stay focused on the message.


Then, the cadence stopped. The missionary said in an almost conversational tone, “Would you be able to help me?” He did not sound like he was preaching (although he still was). He sounded like he was talking, almost pleading. The question was abrupt in his message. Like he stopped preaching and was opening his heart to us. The plea was genuine. “Would you be able to help me?”

I have heard that before. I have sat through services and heard the same question from more than one missionary; but until that day, I had never seen the same response. It came from my son. My son who is challenged by autism. My son whom I wonder at times how much is getting in and how much he understands. Zak was sitting there quietly coloring (on this particular night it was a calendar and numbers – his most recent obsession). He did not appear to be tuned into the preacher or be taking in what was being said from the pulpit just feet from where he sat. However, he had been listening. He had heard the question the same as I had even though his face never left the paper from which he was coloring.

“Would you be able to help me?”

As quickly as the question was asked Zak responded. “Yes, I will.” He dropped his pencil and threw his paper to his side and started to get up to go help the man who had asked for help. I quickly pushed him back down in his seat and told him to sit down. Then, his mind realized that the preacher was still preaching and was not talking directly to him.

Or, was he?

I directed him to keep coloring and he sat back down and went back to the numbers on his page; entering  again into his own world of numbers; a world where he spends a lot time. However,I found out that night, his world is not so closed up as to be deaf to hear the call for help.

“Would you be able to help me?”

His response convicted me.

How many times had I heard the same question?

How many times had I responded the same way? How many times had I dropped all that was consuming me in my little world and jumped up to help someone desperate enough to ask for help? How many times had the question been shoved aside as if it was intended for someone else?

God convicted me that night, long before the invitation was ever given. Gently He said, “That’s how I want you to respond.”

I am reminded again about the quote that has completely transformed my thinking:

“If not now – when? If not me – who?”