Christmas Eve 2011

*Written on Christmas Eve of 2011*




My heart is so full tonight. Full of an overwhelming gratitude because of God's grace and love. So often, as of late, the Gospel has just really, really gripped me and messed me up (in a beautiful way). Especially now, so close to Christmas, it has been constantly on my mind... the birth of Jesus, which was the beginning of God's promise to us. Without His birth, the Son of God, born to a virgin through the Holy Spirit to become a son of man, we could not be called Children of God. And I don't think that that had ever really sunk in until just recently.We are children of God because of Jesus and only Jesus, who lived the life we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved.

Tonight at the Christmas Eve services, one of the songs we sang was "O' Come All Ye Faithful" and something really stuck out to me from one of the chorus' "O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
We are blessed; privileged not only to adore Him, but to be free to do so and to sing about it.
For several months I've been considering what is to come after graduation (June). Many things have crossed my mind. Three of the top things on my "list" in the past 6-8 months have been:

1: Performing Arts - to become a Highschool theater teacher
2: Joining the 100 People Network - to be a missionary
3: Speech Pathology - to work with children who have speech disabilities.

Speech Patho was the first I was interested in, but I didn't pursue it very intently.

Then came the 100 People, and while I loved the idea, I wasn't sure where I would go, or if I was called to go, or if it just seemed exciting at the time.

Performing arts has been the latest of my pursuits, but I have always loved drama! I started acting when I was seven-years-old. A woman from our church (when we lived in California) had gotten a degree in performing arts, and yearly wrote, organized, cast, directed, and occasionally performed in our plays. I've always known that I loved acting, but when I thought about doing it as a career (musical theater) and teaching others to enjoy it, that was really exciting. So, I mostly began pursuing Performing Arts and have been up to this day, however, I have still been considering 100 People and praying about both.

Thinking about 100 People again, while I'm still not sure where I would go, tonight I felt called to go. I have been blessed and privileged to adore my King, the King of Kings, and so many people don't know Him or what He's done.
I know it isn't a walk in the park to leave your family and everyone else you know and love, to a country that is possibly dangerous, a completely different culture where they speak a different language and have different beliefs... and reaching out to those people isn't easy. But it is a calling from Christ that we should reach out to those who do not know Him and strive to further the Kingdom of Heaven. And although it isn't easy, with Christ it is possible and my hope is to be used by God in ways that I could never imagine, for His glory and to bring others the joy that I have so graciously been given.

Lastly, for the past two weeks, I have really been praying that this Christmas would be different from other years. That it would hold more meaning for me personally. And lately I've kept saying and thinking, "I can't believe Christmas is a couple days away. It doesn't even feel like Christmas." And tonight, it doesn't, because it doesn't feel like what I've only known in the past. I can't not wait to see what lies beneath the delicately wrapped, sparkly paper in a box. But I can't wait to celebrate that I have already been given the greatest gift that I will ever receive. And in hopefulness, eagerly anticipate His second coming with joy and thanksgiving, living through Him and for Him.

Y'all, have a Merry, MERRY Christmas! Celebrate Christ and His coming, in His perfection and with purpose. For YOU. He is the most wonderful and amazing gift.