God gave to me: (A Song and a Free Printable)

As I was brainstorming posts for Christmas, my teenager spontaneously came up with the first couple of verses to this song.  Impressed with her creativity, I told her if she'd finish it, I'd post it.  When it was done, I stunned by the breadth of God's gifts!  I hope you enjoy the song and I'd love for you to share it with your kids as a short hand to remind them that the baby in the manger was the seed that so many amazing gifts spring from.  At the bottom of this post you'll find links to a fun Bible search (like a scavenger hunt through scripture) based on the song and suggestions on how use it.

I Am Not Afraid.

I’m not afraid.  

I am not afraid of thunderstorms, heights, dogs, or mice.  They are little things that have been known to startle me (barking dogs and thunderstorms) or make me mad (Rodents of all kinds infuriate me! Tiny little home invaders!).  To say that I am afraid of them would be an exaggeration.  

I am not afraid of ISIS or any terrorist domestic or foreign.  They can beware of me. They have guns; I have prayer. They steal life - precious to me because it represents the days I have here to serve my King and his people.  Yet if they steal it, they have only moved the place I am praying from earth to under the heavenly altar (Revelation 6:9-11). 

Self image - His image

"Mom, can a person really hate themselves?"

I looked up in great surprise.  "What?  Why?"  (See how articulate I was in this crucial teaching moment?!)

"Oh this guy in a book," (Whew!) My older daughter proceeded to tell me the plot of a novel she had been reading where the main character had been abused, believed that everyone he cared about died (therefore people shouldn't love him), and had come over time to truly hate himself.

Dirty Pigs, Puke Licking Dogs, and Falling Away

When I was a kid and somebody stopped going to church on Wednesdays, then Sunday night, then finally Sunday morning, the grown-ups said they were "falling away."  I remember wondering about it.  Was it an accident, like tripping on the sidewalk? It seemed such a long process that in my child's mind, I imagined them falling endlessly down a rabbit's hole like Alice in Wonderland.  It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that this was nothing more than a euphemism - a polite way to express an unspeakable thing.

The Alarm Bells in my Heart

95% of our posts here at Maidservants are over topics most Christians can agree on.  This is one of the exceptions.  We welcome all comments, whether you agree or not, but please be kind either way.

I grew up in a congregation that believed that once you were saved, you could NEVER lose that salvation, no matter what you did.  If someone who had been a "Christian" began to live a life of unrepentant sin, well that person must not have been saved in the first place.  A true Christian would not be able to ignore God so fully as to live that way for long.  Despite the arguments I had with people who tried to tell me differently, this was a very comfortable belief to have. 

Back to Basics

After a month digging deep into God's heart and relearning the meaning of the word "grace," I am reminded that the most basic words in our vocabulary  are the hardest to define.  

I know that as an English teacher.  I am constantly reminding my students to take a second look and make sure that familiar words aren't appearing in unfamiliar ways.  For example, "The fresh troops delivered the besieged city."  If you're a native English speaker you may have no idea how puzzling that sentence is.  "Deliver," a word used every day to mean "to bring something" appears here as a verb that means "to save."  

The Pawn Shop

Imagine strolling into a pawn shop. The bell rings as the door opens.  You're struck with the masculine smell of oil and gun grease. Overhead you see things too big to sit on shelves strung from the ceiling: canoe paddles, a bicycle... On the shelves lurk abandoned books, knick-knacks, and depression era glass.  Glancing at the glass counter you see the reflection of wedding rings, the picture of desperation and betrayal.  

Then to your surprise you see a sticker. Peering about you notice lots of big yellow stickers with one word, "Redeemed."  Someone wanted this one back, someone paid back all the money that it was sold for and then some.  Someone thought it was valuable, desirable and precious.  It's no longer for sale.  It may be sitting here, but it's not destined for the pawn shop.  It's redeemed.

Jesus was not a Bible Basher

Middle school was a tough time for me.  In seventh grade, I had some friends who liked to pick on other kids, and I joined them.  Church camp the following summer was a pivotal time for me, as I realized that if I wanted to say I follow Jesus, I couldn't behave that way anymore.  Unfortunately, I let the pendulum swing too far, and my eighth grade year I was something of a self-righteous snot. 

Following Jesus in Baptism

I read every comment on this blog.  Melissa does too. To be fair, however, they don't usually change the way I think about some major theological issue. One day though it did.  Shannon Morris, Melissa's mom, made a comment here that inspired this entire series and changed the way I think about obedience. The phrase she used was, "Follow Jesus in baptism."

Following Jesus

"What changed when you became a Christian?"  The question was not out of the blue.  The young man who asked the question had been learning about God for several months and was trying to imagine what life as a Christian might look like.  

Not So Silent Night

Silent Night

Holy Night
All is calm

All is bright

The cattle are lowing the poor baby wakes,

The little Lord Jesus no crying he makes...

What do you imagine the manger scene was like?  I like singing both Silent Night and Away in a Manger, but I am suspicious about the picture they draw.  Few of the times when I was present at the birth of a new baby has the picture been "calm."  Okay, maybe after baby has been given a bath, had his hair washed, is wrapped in clean clothes and swaddled in a receiving blanket and asleep, there's "calm."  For about 5 minutes until his tiny newborn tummy is empty and he's mewling for milk!  As for Mary and Joseph, first time parents with no helpful nurses, no newborn bath-tub, no Johnson's and Johnson's Shampoo, "calm" isn't the word I think of.  And don't get me started on the "no-crying-he-makes" scenario.