It's Christmas Eve, and as I sit here to write, trying to stay warm, I can't help thinking about a few things. First of all, it sounds like such a cliche, but we have so very much for which to be grateful. Sometimes I have to remind myself that there is more to celebrate than to grieve, but then my whole perspective changes. So maybe you're like me and you need to talk yourself into a celebration today. It kind of sounds like this . . .
I didn't hope to be battling so much cold weather so early this winter, but I have a warm house, warm food, and a warm heart. I am blessed so warmly. I didn't expect my daughter to be living with us again, but she is making positive moves for her future, she is helping me around the house, and she is reconnecting with good people in good ways. Tonight we will attend a Christmas Eve Service together . . . her idea . . . and I am blessed. I expected our precious church to be growing numerically by now . . . it is not, but I am surrounded by people who love the Lord supremely, and my praise team led in incredible worship last Sunday night. We also hosted Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church as our guests, and their presence put a smile on my face. We are blessed to have the right to worship God in whatever way we desire. I lost my computer to a terrible virus three weeks ago, but my son has a computer I can borrow, and I have enjoyed the time away from the keyboard. (I miss it now and I'm ready to blog again!) I have had some interesting health issues in 2010 . . . a hysterectomy, allergy problems . . . but today I am healthy, and the allergy shots seem to be working! Hallelujah! My father just turned 83, and he is healthy . . . wow! This is my 31st year of teaching, and I had hoped to be retired by now, but I am so blessed to have the most wonderful students imaginable, and I love my co-workers and my school.
This list could go on and on . . . for every single negative that I could mention, there are positives that outweigh the bad every single time. And here's the big one: I have felt under attack by Satan in a mighty way in the last month. He has hit me repeatedly, trying another varied attack when the last one was not successful. He has attacked my attitude, my health, and my mouth (he won there a few times, but no more!), and now he is trying to get me to doubt God's promises, but here's what I know: this trying time has brought me closer to God. I have sought Him and His strength, and I have developed a hunger to be closer and closer to Him. With every victory, I have celebrated God's strength, and when Satan continues to come after me, it gives me a very quirky joy: if he is so worried about me, God must be up to something incredibly good in my life. I want to be a woman that causes Satan to shake in his boots every time my feet hit the floor, every time my mouth opens to praise God, every time I do what God expects of me. I want to be standing in the middle of God's will, celebrating every moment in which He allows me to serve Him.
So my advice to you on this Christmas Eve? Stay positive, look forward to every day, love others the way God loves you, and do everything you must do or choose to do as unto the Lord. If you need to see it in print, make a list of God's blessings, and put it on your refrigerator and your bathroom mirror. Read it every day, and add to it each evening before going to bed. Thank God for every single gift, and ask Him to continue to bless you in ways that are "exceedingly and abundantly" bigger than you can ask or think! You won't be sorry!
Merry Christmas!
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