Isaiah 40:11
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Merry Christmas to you all!
I opened up my bible to this verse today and just found myself smiling a grin from ear to ear. I so feel like a little lamb being cuddled and cared for by a shepherd, especially at Christmas.
This year in particular, we had such an opportunity for things to go awry. We traveled the week before Christmas to New York to experience the city. I always feel this anxiety about getting through airports with my enormous bag of insulin, needles, and juice boxes. I worry I just may find a security guard who feels like giving me a hard time. But not this time. We had the most pleasant airport experience!
I must also admit that I am a bit of an anxious flyer. Even though I have flown all over the US and most of Europe, I still feel a bit nervous when I am forced to give up control and just sit back and let someone else get me to my destination. This time, the flights were incredibly smooth and the weather was beautiful with visibility of many miles.
Then of course there is the whole feeding issue with my daughter who has celiac disease and therefore, cannot have gluten. Combining celiac with type 1 diabetes is pretty tricky because she has to eat on a regular schedule. So this was our first trip where I was not able to pack up the car with all of my gluten free foods and go! I was totally reliant on cabs and the city where, let’s face it, not everyone speaks the best English. I mean, they understand you may want a hot dog but they don’t know why you don’t want the bun. So they use the same utensils that just picked up that bun to serve you the hot dog, of course transferring gluten to that hot dog!
But still, before we left, God assured me not to worry about eating (Matthew 6:25, 33 “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body…..Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”). God promises us He will provide. And he did.
Fast forward to Christmas where we filled the house with gingerbread houses and cookies and lots of people and celebrations that involved food and late nights and you can easily get an equation that equals HIGH blood sugars and or LOW blood sugars. Once again, my shepherd gathered up my baby and me in His arms and kept those sugars stable.
I am just so grateful. I am just in awe of how marvelous He is. He indeed "gently leads those that have young."
I have always been the type of person who reads the Old Testament with this notion of how thankful I am that I did not live in that time period when we had to sacrifice and prove things to God. I have been unable to sufficiently articulate how grateful I am that I live ‘post Jesus’. I am just unable to adequately express how thankful I am that He made the sacrifice FOR me and all I have to do is love him and honor him and trust him. It is so easy for me- for us all. I just feel so lucky and so blessed.
Yesterday while we opened up our gifts with excitement, again, I felt so lucky and so blessed. Here we were with my entire family eating and drinking and opening gifts. Both of my parents were here along with my sister and her husband and two children.
It dawned on me that this excitement I was feeling just pales in comparison to the excitement and the gratitude I feel as a result of THE GIFT God gave me. I mean, that is a gift that truly matters.
Don't you think we get too wrapped up (ha ha) in the whole gift thing? I mean, we race around town to get our kids the perfect gifts. And then we either end up feeling like we did not get them enough stuff or we got them too much stuff.
We cannot think of what to buy so we just end up buying anything to check it off our list of things to do.
Maybe we feel obligated to get people gifts who we don’t even really know or care about.
Or maybe we feel offended because someone doesn’t get us the “right” gift.
Perhaps we cannot afford to even be buying gifts in the first place but we don’t have the time or the energy to think of something that doesn’t cost anything. And maybe the pressure that comes with the expectation from others of that perfect gift just paralyzes our creativity.
Somehow I think we have gotten this whole gift thing wrong. I mean, isn’t a gift supposed to be a token of love to someone? Isn’t it supposed to merely show someone you care about them?
Instead we ask people what they want. We have our children send letters to Santa detailing their wish list. And then we just write the check and get it. Or worse, we give someone a gift card and tell them to just go pick something out they like!
That is not a gift. That is just picking up the tab.
Look I am not trying to beat up on anyone out there today. I am guilty of some of these things as well. But I would just like to challenge myself- and perhaps someone else- to remember the purpose of a gift.
The purpose of a gift is to show that we care about each other. It is the perfect time for us to show someone that "hey, we are paying attention to you and we know you!" Just like God gave us the gift of Jesus- to show us He cares about us.
It does not have to be expensive. It does not have to be elaborate. Maybe the best gift we can give anyone is just time and attention. Maybe our kids just want us to get on the floor and play monopoly with them and they don’t even really truly care about that new ipad.
Maybe our aging parents don’t really care about the new gadgets we bought them and instead, just want us to visit more.
Maybe we feel obligated to get people gifts who we don’t even really know or care about.
Or maybe we feel offended because someone doesn’t get us the “right” gift.
Perhaps we cannot afford to even be buying gifts in the first place but we don’t have the time or the energy to think of something that doesn’t cost anything. And maybe the pressure that comes with the expectation from others of that perfect gift just paralyzes our creativity.
Somehow I think we have gotten this whole gift thing wrong. I mean, isn’t a gift supposed to be a token of love to someone? Isn’t it supposed to merely show someone you care about them?
Instead we ask people what they want. We have our children send letters to Santa detailing their wish list. And then we just write the check and get it. Or worse, we give someone a gift card and tell them to just go pick something out they like!
That is not a gift. That is just picking up the tab.
Look I am not trying to beat up on anyone out there today. I am guilty of some of these things as well. But I would just like to challenge myself- and perhaps someone else- to remember the purpose of a gift.
The purpose of a gift is to show that we care about each other. It is the perfect time for us to show someone that "hey, we are paying attention to you and we know you!" Just like God gave us the gift of Jesus- to show us He cares about us.
It does not have to be expensive. It does not have to be elaborate. Maybe the best gift we can give anyone is just time and attention. Maybe our kids just want us to get on the floor and play monopoly with them and they don’t even really truly care about that new ipad.
Maybe our aging parents don’t really care about the new gadgets we bought them and instead, just want us to visit more.
Perhaps our husbands just want a little more respect. Well, let's face it, we all know what our husbands want.
Jesus didn’t come wrapped up in fancy clothes. God didn’t send him to a king or queen. He didn’t arrive in a fancy inn. And he didn’t grow up to be a highly paid professional.
He arrived naked, hungry, perhaps cold, to unwed parents and was put in a food trough.
Luke 2: 5-7 “Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Mary and Joseph were not THE JONES’ if you know what I mean. And Jesus grew up to be a carpenter. All were just ordinary people that God used for His extraordinary purpose.
Jesus didn’t come wrapped up in fancy clothes. God didn’t send him to a king or queen. He didn’t arrive in a fancy inn. And he didn’t grow up to be a highly paid professional.
He arrived naked, hungry, perhaps cold, to unwed parents and was put in a food trough.
Luke 2: 5-7 “Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Mary and Joseph were not THE JONES’ if you know what I mean. And Jesus grew up to be a carpenter. All were just ordinary people that God used for His extraordinary purpose.
God didn’t ask us what we wanted before He sent this gift. He didn’t send us a gift receipt so we could make an exchange either.
God knows us and He knows what we need. He sent this gift simply to show His love for us. And he loves you for you. Not for what you have done. Not for what you left undone.
He loves you for you. And for that reason, he gave you a gift.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
What a gift. Enjoy the song:
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