Holiday Reflections

It's December 1st, the first day of the most exciting month of the year for most everyone, and the month I am expected to bring another little soul into this world! But as God so ordains that this awaited occasion transpire, I look upon it with happiness and humility because I know that there is so much more to a happy birthday. I believe that this world is fallen, in part, because God does not want any of us to fall too deeply in love with it. We were created in His image to worship and enjoy Him alone, and this is glorious. But sometimes we're on top of our mountain, filled to the brim with glee and we feel, for that briefest of moments, that we've reached that perfect state of being. Then life happens once again. Trials small, and tragedies profound are the tether that keep us grounded either in a spiritual way becoming to the true Christian, or in a rebellious way. For some, the loss of a loved one is enough to harden their hearts, turn their eyes from their Maker and toss them into the broad path of destruction. For others, such a devastating event causes them to cling ever tighter to the Cross, putting their faith in the flawless, all-seeing plan of God. For them, that "peace that passeth all understanding" comes. With the start of the Christmas month, many are abuzz with anticipation. Children expect to get that coveted toy, singles expect that first kiss under the mistletoe~~~I hope for the safe delivery of my baby boy, due the day after Christmas. We long for the sacred desires of our hearts to be met and exceeded beyond our most ambitious imaginations. We hold out for that grand surprise. The hopeless dread the holidays, expecting to be disappointed, or stressed, or broke. The fact of life is that it is an ever-shifting score board of points scored and points lost. We live in a broken world, so it's never going to be Heaven for any of us, as we can see when we read the heartbreaking details of another celebrity's life, falling apart. We simply can't touch that bliss until we return home to our Heavenly Father. I do so look forward to meeting little Lincoln James, beholding the most precious of faces, the tiniest of fingers and toes, to examining the folds in his bowed, froggie legs and cupping his itty bitty bottom in my palm as he rests on my shoulder, but as I grow this baby inside me, I hurt. I have suffered about three kidney infections and have passed 5 stones thus far. The past three days have been rough and have caused me to reflect. I'm not to fall too madly in love with my pregnancy, I realized. Beyond that, I am not to idolize James, or Wendy, or Lincoln, or my mother or father, or myself or pleasure. Yes, there definitely is love to be realized, pleasures to be experienced, and joys that I can't even fathom, but there will always be the anchor that reigns in that enthusiasm, ever and always keeping that zeal in check. For the best is yet to come, and transient life is to eternal life what clay is to the harvest! This Christmas season, I hope that we all can look forward to the ultimate blessing of reunion with our Savior, and I am certain that with that focus in our hearts, all of our disappointments as well as all of our pleasant surprises will further ready us for the grand finale! WHOOP!