My Thoughts on Christmas...

It is no secret, I love Christmas! Honestly, I look forward to the "Holiday Season" all year long. I guess I love this time of year for multiple reasons: cooler temperatures, wonderful smelling things, Christmas music, time with family, great food, and gift giving (I LOVE GIVING GIFTS). However, my favorite thing about this time of year is that the Lord always uses it to remind me of His unbelievable goodness. As I begin to listen to Christmas music and to sing the words, I am overwhelmed with joy by what this time of year celebrates. I have been listening to Chris Tomlin's album, Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship, and I can't stop singing the song, "Born That We May Have Life"

A throne in a manger, the cross in a cradle
The hidden revealing this glorious plan
A child who would suffer
A child who would conquer
The sins of every woman, the sins of every man

Rejoice! O, world
Your Savior has come
Through the love of a virgin's womb
Son of God, Son of Man
Born that we may have life

The past year for Team Reed has been marked by lots of transition and change, and quite honestly the past few months have been hard for both Garrett and I.  I think that amidst Garrett's long hours of work, taking care of a new baby, and my being more "alone" than I have ever been, the Lord has been slowly humbling us individually and as a family.  While it has not been the most pleasant experience ever, we are both so thankful. The Lord has graciously reminded us that our lives are not about our work or even our relationships with other people but rather about Him and His amazing gift to us in Jesus!  

In high school, Garrett and I both decided who we believed Jesus really was. In C.S. Lewis' book  Mere Christianity, Lewis he challenges his readers with this, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." As Lewis points our, either Jesus was a liar, a total nut, or he really was and is the Son of God!  It is at this time of year when we are celebrating the birth of Jesus that I am reminded of why I believe what I believe. As a family, we truly believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God, and I am filled with joy and am in awe of His birth and His love for us!  

  I'll never forget the moment Emerson was born and the range of emotions I felt the first time I held her.  There was definite joy and definite anxiety....how on earth was I supposed to take care of this wonderful little person. I always look at my little lady and wonder what the Lords plan for her life is, what gifts has he given her, how will she love others??? It amazing to think about what Mary felt when she looked at her precious child, knowing he was the Son of God.  Did she already know Gods plan for his life.  His birth and death were prophesied throughout the old testament....did she know how he would love others and had she read Isaiah 53:5  "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we would be healed."  I really can't even begin to wrap my mind around all of it.

I am thankful for Christmas and that is reminds me joyfully of my Saviors birth and leaves me in awe of His awful death...all because of His love for me and for all of His people. Lately, I have been consumed with so many heartbreaking stories of husbands losing their wives, children with cancer, etc. However, it has been amazing to watch as many of these people have drawn on the hope that Jesus' birth and death have given us.  One of these people is a guy that I worked at a Young Life Camp with in high school.  He recently lost his wife a few weeks after the birth of their first child.  They have a blog, bandssullivan.blogspot.com, if you have never read it...I recommend reading it from the very beginning to the present. What an unbelievable story and family that has joy only because of JESUS!!!

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

Thank you Lord for sending your precious son!