Perfectly Imperfect Christmas

^" Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."

Luke 2:11

 

Ugh!  It's Christmas Eve almost midnight and I still have presents to wrap and a bathroom to clean.  Everyone is sleeping, nothing is stirring...but me. Wah!  Every year I have every intention of having all my gifts wrapped and my house spotless well ahead of time.  And every year I find myself in the same harried place.  I really want to be that well organized and disciplined mom who has it all together...but instead I'm the ADD mom who fly's from one thing to the next.  Always busy but never seeming to get anything done.  I can obsess about the tree, or the table center piece, or something or another.  Meanwhile the rest of the house is in Chaos.

I would like to blame it all on the fact that I currently work in retail and the last three weeks have been filled with more hours then I bargained for as well as late nights.  However I really can't blame it on that since I was in the same predicament when I was a stay at home mom.  It's just me...

In all of it I am learning that I can embrace my creative personality and at the same time learn from those who...well who are sleeping right now because they got everything done already!  It also means I learn to let go...let go of my expectations of how I want Christmas morning and day to be.  It means that I accept a perfectly imperfect Christmas...one where my house is presentable, but not spotless.  It means that I don't worry if someone has to use the upstairs bathroom and it's not as sparkling clean as I want.  It means that I don't worry that I'm putting more presents in gift bags then actually wrapping them. It means that I am thankful for that job that exhausts me so that I can buy presents for my loved ones.  It means that when everyone is here Christmas day I choose to relax and enjoy every minute with my family as those moments when everyone is together is few and so very precious to me.   And most importantly it means that I have to continually choose to turn my mind toward Christ and reflect on the true reason we are celebrating and the greatest most valuable gift we could ever receive... 

One of our perfectly imperfect Christmas mornings

The greatest gift I ever received was the day I finally stopped running from Christ and instead fell into His arms that were always outstretched waiting for me.  Why He would want to have anything to do with this child who wanted nothing to do with Him I cannot fathom, but I am so grateful that He joyfully welcomed me!  Praying today that everyone and anyone who reads this rambling blog might receive that same gift of peace with God and eternal life by believing in the one and only Savior Jesus!

Despite having little extra time I managed to make a wreath this year at my lovely friend Michelle's home! 

For pondering on...

My favorite passage about Christ is found in God's book (The Bible) in Isaiah 53:1-12.  An interesting side note is that this was written long before Christ was born...

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Merry Christmas!!!

When We Weep

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;

there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

There shall be no more pain,

for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

 


Someday, someday God will wipe away every tear...for today though we weep over the tragic deaths of both the adults and children of Sandy Hook Elementary school. We weep because it is unthinkable to us that anyone would do such a thing. We weep because it could have been our child, sibling, parent, or friend that was killed. We weep for the murderers family and what they too must be going through. We weep and tremble in fear at the thought that it could happen again... We weep as we struggle to come to grips with the reality of our new reality that we live in...one where there is less and less a sense of being safe. The world I knew as a child, the world I grew up in is gone... no longer are the days of kids running free until the street lights come on. We now line in a world where it has almost become the norm to hear of mass shootings...oh but this one is so different so very different because of the precious young children... the same age as my youngest...I can hardly see the keys as I type...I am so broken over this...

When I first herd about the shooting I couldn't help but thinking of the verse in Jeremiah 31:15

“...A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

I truly have no idea what those mothers were and are going through...I have never suffered the loss of a child other then a miscarry...that was hard, but miscarrying and losing a child of six or seven years is completely different. Though I never suffered the loss of a child I have suffered the loss of a marraige and that was an incredibly dark and painful time for me! A time where reading God's Word brought little if any comfort...the only thing that really helped was friends holding me and letting me weep. As well as feeling free to cry out in pain to God with all my hurt pain and confusion. There was one more thing that would penetrate the darkness I was in and that was music...God was able minister to me and comfort me through music and He still does...Praying that the families and the Connecticut community will have lots of people who are willing to just hold them and let them cry...

When I or others are deeply hurting it comforts me to know that even Jesus wept (John 11:35). And that in Psalm 58:6 (NLT) it says that God keeps a record of all our tears! "You (God) keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book."

The other verses that comfort me are ones where it says God binds up the brokenhearted:

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. Psalm 147:3

In my Bible I have highlighted all the verses that either purtain to suffering and/or God's comfort in blue! That way when I am in hurting I can quickly find them.

Here is another one of my favorite ones:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
2 Corinthians 3&4

Some final thoughts: We all want to find a way to make sure this never happens again or at the very least to protect our children from ever being a victim themselves! If we could we would lock our children in our homes and never let them out...it's so tempting to think that way isn't it. But the reality is that only gives you a false sense of safety...and besides it would not be a healthy way to live.

As to the why someone could do such a thing I cannot answer, I could only guess. It could be that He has some form of mental illness, at the very least a complete lack of empathy. Or perhaps we just got a glimpse of pure evil...I praise God that He withholds evil to the degree that He does!

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:38-39

I guess for the Christian what it boils down to is this: Do I really trust God with my life and the life of my loved ones? Am I surrendered to His perfect will and plan? Do I hold my loved ones up to God with open hands saying Lord they are Yours and so am I, do whatever you want with us? Or am I holding on to them to tightly? Do I truly believe that we are completely safe from all harm as long as God so wills and that nothing absolutely nothing can happen to me without first being filtered through His fingers of love? Do I really trust that You God are good even when life is gut wrenching painful?


Praying Dear sisters....

Day 31 - Press On

31 Days

toward

Abundant Life

If this is your first day here you may want to read here first

Day 31 - This is not the end, We've only just begun

 

Day 31~ we are at the end of our 31 Days journey toward the abundant life that is ours in Christ. In a way I am sad to see it end. I've sincerely relished the daily sacred time I've spent sharing my heart as well as my love for my Savior with you. It truly was a sacrificial giving of my time since somethings just had to be put aside so that I could write. There were days that were so jammed packed from morning until night that I did not have any time until late at night. Many nights I was tempted to just crawl in my warm bed, but instead I poured out my heart to you. Some posts more then others. Sometimes I'd think "I'm going to write something quick because I don't have much time and it's late." Those were usually the days I posted the longest posts, ha ha ha. It has been a joy, a challenge, and it has definitely stretched me! So glad that even though I had the little blip early on when I went up North and missed two days I picked up where I left off pressed on and persevered to the end! This 31 Days journey may have come to an end, but it doesn't really have to end! My prayer is that you gals keep pressing forward in your walk with Christ! Press On Dear ones!  Would be to God I will too!  As for the blog!  I will continue, but at a more realistic and family friendly pace. Perhaps once a week.
 

Thank-you ladies for staying with me on this journey and for checking in to read my blog once and awhile. For those of you who commented either on my blog, facebook, or email I want you to know that I am so incredibly thankful for your comments and encouragement! You girls are incredible! You are loved and precious to me and especially to our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ!

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities."

Isaiah 53:10-11

Dear ones, I remember the day I found the above Scripture and was overwhlemed that Jesus took pleasure in dying for a wretch like me!  My paryer is that you know the same is true for you!  God is not dissapointed in you! You are the labor of His soul and as such He is satisfied! Know that He is not thinking "What was I thinking when I created her!" No! Not at all! He is thinking "look at my daughter, isn't she beautiful!" "It was my joy to suffer and die for her!" What an amazing unfathomable love!

If you have not already won't you today accept the gift of eternal life that's found in faith in Christ's redeeming love? He longs to give it you! You don't have to do anything to earn it! It is His gift to you! You just have to accept it!

Won't you finish this 31 Days series with me and worship the Lord for He is good! Scroll down to next post and click on Matt Redman's video of his song 10,000 Reason (Bless The Lord)! To God be The glory! "Bless The Lord Oh, my soul. Ooooh my soul. Worship His holy name!"

 

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

Day 30 - Be Thankful

31 Days

toward

Abundant Life

If this is your first day here you may want to read here first

Day 30 - Be Thankful

Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; 
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

How appropriate that the day I choose to write about thankfulness happens to be the first day of November!   One might be tempted to think that I actually planned that.  But truth be told I did not.  After all I am the "fly by the seat of your pants" kinda girl.   Some of you have probably already figured that out.  Especially if you have been with me since the beginning you know that the original list I typed out of the topics I would be covering for 31 days had been deleted.  In it's place I've been adding the titles of what I actually have written on.  I truly am pathetic, I can't even follow my own plan, ha ha ha.  Ladies it's good to laugh at ourselves isn't it!  Sorry I digress...now where was I...Oh yes, Thankfulness!

The above verse says "in everything give thanks."  I don't know about you, but that is not easy for me.  I mean it's easy to give thanks when things are going well, but when they are not I'm more likely to grumble and complain then give thanks.  Yes,  I know that we are not to be grumbling and complaining.  Nonetheless that is exactly what I do!  I'm getting better then I used to be on this one, but I certainly have not mastered it yet (phil. 3:13-15).  

One thing that has helped me is knowing that it's not like I'm to be  all like "thank-you Lord for this awful thing that you have allowed into my life."   Rather it's more like "thank-you Father that even though this is painful I know somehow You will work it for my good (Romans 8:28), and that You give me everything I need so I can get through this!"  "Thank-you that Your carrying me through it!"

In my house I have two signs in my kitchen one big and one small one that say "in everything give thanks." I have them there to be a constant reminder to me of what my attitude should be.  I need the reminder, because I'm more of a the cup is half empty more then a cup is half full kind of person.  If you like the idea of having a reminder you don't have to have a sign. Instead you could just write it out on a sticky note and put that where you can see it. 

Another helpful thing I learned in a Bible Study I taught (Lord, Change My Attitude by Jame MacDonald) is to write 10 things down that your thankful for at the end of the day and review in the morning.  Or was it the other way around...well anyways I'm not sure it matters which way you do it so long as you do it.  If you do, do it you will find that your outlook on life will be so much better then it has been.  Why don't you give it a try then check back in with me at a later and  let me know how it went? 

Praying Dear sister's that we will learn to count our blessing far more then our disappointments!  Then we truly will walk more and more in the abundant life that is ours in Christ!

Count Your Blessings
Johnson Oatman Jr. 1897

1. When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
   When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
   Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
   And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
   • Refrain:
     Count your blessings, name them one by one,
     Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
     Count your blessings, name them one by one,
     *Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
     [*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]
2. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
   Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
   Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
   And you will keep singing as the days go by.
3. When you look at others with their lands and gold,
   Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
   Count your many blessings—*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]
   Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
4. So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
   Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
   Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
   Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

*Alternate text.

  

 

Day 29 - Deep Abiding Joy

31 Days

toward

Abundant Life

If this is your first day here you may want to read here first

Day 29 - Deep Abiding Joy

"You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message 
in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."
1 Thessalonians 1:6 

Today's post is going to brief and to the point.  Well at least that's my hope!  

I've herd some Christians say that God wants me to be happy.  I've looked that up in Scripture and I just don't see it anywhere.  At least not the way we define happy.  Happy is a feeling based on circumstances: if things are going my way and I get what I want I'm happy.  The opposite is true too: I'm not happy when things are not going my way and I don't get what I want.  Joy on the other hand is not based on my circumstances but rather for the Christian it is based on our relationship with Christ.  We have a deep abiding joy despite circumstances because we are a child of God's.  Read that verse above again.  It says the Thessalonians "welcomed the word in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."   

Even in the midst of suffering (whether it's persecution for our faith or a trial) we can experience a deep abiding joy.  I'm not talking about the put on a fake smile and pretend everything is o.k. when it's not kind of thing.  I'm talking about a deep abiding joy that is there always even in the midst of great sorrow and pain.  It's the kind of joy that keeps you from sinking into utter despair even though everyone around you would completely understand if you did.  It makes it so one minute you may be crying and the next praising and thanking God for His salvation.  It's the kind of joy that comes from a surrendered heart!  It's the kind of joy that comes from knowing this is not your home and you are merely passing through.  It's the kind of joy that comes from looking forward to being home someday where there are no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain.  And it's the kind of joy that comes from passionately serving and loving Christ with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, while you remain here!

Dear Beloved in Christ,  Today my prayer for you is found in Romans:

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13

 Amen

Day 28 - Pursuing Holiness - part 3

31 Days

toward

Abundant Life

If this is your first day here you may want to read here first

Day 28 - Pursuing Holiness - part 3

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and 
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, 
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before 
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down 
at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2 

Sanctification is the process of growing in holiness that begins at the time of salvation and is not complete until the day we meet Jesus in heaven.   It takes time, it is not instantaneous.  It is a work of God's (vs 2 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith), but we must cooperate ("....let us lay aside every weight, and the sin...let us run with endurance the race...looking unto Jesus...").  We won't ever be perfectly holy until we get to heaven.  On the otherhand Justification is your legal standing before God in Chirst at the time of your Salvation.  It is how God sees you in Christ now.   

 

One morning as I was praying and preparing for a Bible Study class I was teaching on sanctification the Lord (I believe) gave me a rhyme to help the ladies understand the process better.   This is how it went: 

"We all start from different places, we run different races, and progress at different paces."

 When we first believed in Christ...

We all start from different places...

Some of us had a better start at life then others.  Some of us had great upbringings and some of us had lowsy or abusive upbringings.  Some of us had excellent educations and others not so much.  Some of us were raised in middle class neighborhoods or better.  While others were raised in poverty or near poverty.  Some of us made good choices all along.  Others of us made one foolish choice after another.  Some of us have never uttered a swearword or atleast rarely.  While for others, every other word was a swearword.  Some of us looked atleast outwardly pretty good (looks can be decieveing) and others of us were very rough around the edges etc...   

Though we all start from different places we all begin the same way!  On our knees before a holy God feeling unworthy to even look up or ask for Jesus to have mercy on us!  Yet, we cried out Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!  We may have started from different places but we begin the same way...

We run different races...

 

Be assured if you are a child of His, He does have a plan and a purpose for your life!  But it does not look the same for everyone.  It's the race that is set before you, that you run (vs 1c"...and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...").  I am to run the race that is set before me.  My race does not look like your race and your race does not look like mine.  God's purpose, will, and plan for me is not the same as it is for you (though we all are to fulfill the great commission Matthew 28:18-20).  

We progress at different paces...

As said above sanctification is a process and it takes time.  It's also important to know and understand that not everyone progresses at the same rate.    For example some people are compeletely delivered from alcoholism at the time of their salvation and they never take another drink.  Others will have an ongoing battle with drink.  

We progress at different paces, but we should be progressing!  We are all a work in progress!  We should all be saying: "I'm not where I was, but I'm not where I need to be."  We can know we are on the right track if we are beginning to see our sin as God does and hate it.  If we long to be free of it then I think we are progressing.  On the otherhand if it does not bother us we should be worried about why it does not bother us.

Ladies, we need to stop comparing our Christian walk with anothers. The only one we should be comparing our self with is Christ.  Instead we need to be patient with one another, we need to come along side one another, we need to bear with one another, cheer one another on, spur one another on, etc...Why?  Because...

It's a process and it takes time!  The time and process is different for each of us because we we each have different places that we came from.   It takes time because God doesn't just show us all our sin at once (atleast for most of us) or we'd be overwhelmed in grief and despair.  However He does not leave us where we are at either.  His Spirit will be working in our conscience to purify us.  If we tune Him out and we are a true child of His, He will discipline us as a loving Father would.  

A note of caution:  while we are to not tolerate sin we are also to be careful how we judge each other (Romans 2:1; Romans 14:10,13)! You don't know what they had to overcome, how far someone may have already grown, or where their heart is at. 

Praying dear ones, that we will keep our eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith, and that we will lay aside every sin and weight and run "our" race with endurance!  To God be the glory!

Day 27- Pursuing Holiness - part 2

31 Days

toward

Abundant Life

If this is your first day here you may want to read here first

Day 27 - Pursuing Holiness - part2

 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke? 
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 
 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 
 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Isaiah 58:6-9 

 ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:34-40

In both the Old and New Testament we see that the poor and oppressed were very important to God and that He upheld their cause.  God is the same today as He was yesterday!  We also, clearly see that He desires us to do the same and the fact that we do or don't is evidence of our love or lack of love for Him.  Don't believe me?  Then read the rest of Matthew 25:41-46.  Verse 45-46 say “...Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Those are not my words they are Jesus' words!  So clearly there is a connection between our behavior and true faith in Christ.  Once again I am not saying doing good deeds earns our way into heaven.  What I am saying is that it is evidence of our faith!  If we love Him we will care about the things He cares about and the way we know what He cares about is to read His Word!  

I've been on this journey with you ladies towards walking more and more in the abundant life that is ours in Christ for 27 days now.  It's been a true joy, blessing, and challenge for me!  I'm thinking this holiness thing is going to be the greatest challenge for me so far. When we ask God to make us look more and more like Him, He is sure to answer!  And Answer He did for me this Sunday in our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship - a fancy way of saying adult Sunday school class).  

In our ABF we have been studying the book of Amos and in chapter 4 we learned that because of Israel's sin God was going to pass judgement and punish them.  What was their sin? They "oppress the poor" and "crush the needy" while they themselves are unconcerned.  As a class we were then challenged to consider that both coffee and chocolate manufactures purchase their products from countries that either pay their workers very poorly or use slaves many of whom are children (there are many more products that this is true of, our teacher just chose to pick on those two).  Then when we purchase those products we actually have slaves that work for us!  Ouch!  What's that!  I have slaves that work for me!  Yikes!  I never thought of that!

You should have herd the conversation I was having with God in my head as I was listening to the teacher.  "Lord, you had to let him speak on my two most favorite consumption items?!"  "Yes, I know I said I wanted to pursue holiness, but my two favorite items?"  "Couldn't You have picked on someone else Lord?"  "Yes, I know I did say I want to be holy and yes, I asked others to be brave with me, but...Yes, Lord I know I have to make some changes...I can't hide from what I know to be true."  "O.k. Lord then show me what I need to do so that I'm not contributing to the slavery of others."  "Or at the very least I'm contributing less."

As I came out of my fog of thought I heard our teacher challenging us to start with giving up one thing or we would be overwhelmed.  I thought "I can do that Lord."  I'll start with coffee.  I know I can find and buy Fair Trade coffee fairly easily and so I will start there!  However I knew that God was asking more from me and I needed to stop trying to argue my way out of it.  I was going to need to make some changes in my chocolate consumption and that one was going to be really hard.  Ladies, there is a cost to following Jesus!  Feeling my pain?!  I mean I really love me some Reese's!  You know what I mean?  I mean I'm really not liking the whole give up my favorite chocolate thing at all!  It will be a sacrifice!  Especially since finding good chocolate that's not produced in a country where they use slaves will be hard.  But now that I know there is no going back to the ignorance I once lived in.  Ladies, let me just say I'm not sure what going forward is going to look like for me.    Maybe it means less of my favorite chocolate and when I can find fair trade chocolate (if it exists) I buy that instead even if I don't like it as well?  I mean I'm just not sure I can go cold turkey...Lord have mercy on me...I've not completely wrestled this one through with God yet?  

What about you?  Is there something that you are consuming that you could consume less of or pay a little more for in order to insure that you are not supporting companies and countries that feel it's o.k. to force others to work for them? 

We also were challenged to participate in the IJM (International Justice Mission) Advent  Conspiracy.  If you want to participate by giving to them I will have more information on a later date on how you can do that.  Funny thing for me is that's not as sacrificial as is giving up chocolate...I'm pathetic!

Some final Words from God on the poor and needy:

‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, 
overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ezekial 16:47

The Lord enters into judgment
    against the elders and leaders of his people:
“It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
    the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean by crushing my people
    and grinding the faces of the poor?”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
 Isaiah 3:14-15

Take heart Dear Sister's!  He does see the oppression of the poor and needy!  He sees those who have been abused and neglected!  He does care!  It does make Him angry!  And you can be assured that He will in His perfect timing defend their cause!   

 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
Psalm 113:7

 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
    and upholds the cause of the needy.
Psalm 140:12

Won't you cry out with me!

Oh God -

“How long will you defend the unjust
    and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:1-4

Amen!