Some songs are just beautiful.  “I mean throw back your head, close your eyes and let it wash over you” beautiful.  This song draws me for the beauty of the guitar and the gentleness of Aaron Shust’s voice.  But as always with me, I live and breathe the lyrics.  Maybe they’re just what you need to hear too.

I tried to run
I tried to fight You
But I’m done
I’m giving up
I’ve learned to trust You, Your love

No I’m singing…

Can You take over?
Take over
Can You take over me?
I’ve been here over and over again
Here on my knees
I’m only closer and closer
To where I wanna be
When You take over, take over
Can You take over me?

I tried before
To let go
And I just hold on more
Amazing Lord
I need the strength to let go
And be Yours

So now I’m singing…

That’s favorite line in the song is “So now I’m singing…”  How about you?  Are you singing now?

I found a neat video that has Aaron Shust playing acoustic Guitar and teaching how he plays the song.  Then he sings this sweet song.  Here is is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzH1ivve1iw

OH YEAH!  Aaron Shust is also coming to St Louis if you’re in the area.  Here’s the link to more info…http://joyfmonline.org/extras/sofa-series.asp

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I would love to write a song.  Since I cannot read music, I sing like a wounded animal and I limit my musical instrument skills to the kazoo, I’m pretty confident that’s not going to happen.  But wouldn’t it be cool with nothing but a blank sheet of paper and a musical instrument to create something amazing out of nothing.  Out of all of the zillion of combinations of notes, chords and rhythms you actually create something that inspires, elates, motivates or soothes another person’s soul. Of course in doing that you would have to share something of yourself.  A songwriter can’t create without something of themself slipping out.  Each choice they make reveals to all that listen something about the songwriter. As a music fan, I don’t really understand how they do it; I just sit back and enjoy the wonder of their work.

In many ways God is like a songwriter.  He started with nothing and created a limitless number of wonders in the world around us. I know I said songwriters started with nothing but at least they had notes and chords.  When God created the earth not only did he decide that the sky would be blue, He had to create blue.  Just thinking of that makes my head hurt.  He created a world full of beauty and majesty.  But why?  Why did He bother?  Why not make the world black and white?  Surely it would have simplified things for Him.  Kind of like a musician composing hundreds of songs but only using 2 notes.  How hard can that be?  But remember what I said about how a songwriter can’t write a song without sharing themselves.  Our God is not a black and white God.

Our God reveals Himself through the Technicolor spectacular that we call creation.  When He made the tips of the waves foamy and the scent of fresh bread irresistible, He told us a little about Himself. And when He made fallen leaves crackle under our feet and kittens feel warm in your lap, He gave us a glimpse of who He is.  Can you imagine what He was telling you when He made sunsets and water falls and baby toes?  Man, I love baby toes.  It’s like each magical splendor in His creation God is saying “Look at this and see ME!”

Because you see the real gift of creation is not the peace and joy we feel when we let ourselves soak up the beauty around us.  The real gift of creation is God reaching out to you to share who He is.  Perhaps Psalms 36 says it best: Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.

Just look around.  The sunset shows He’s glorious, the waterfall shows He’s thrilling and the baby toes show He loves cute stuff just like the next guy.  See! God’s showing off who He is every day and in every way.

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My college age son has been telling me for 6 months that I needed to read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  When that boy’s right, he is really right.  Hunger Games is an exhilarating ride of a book that visually grabs you into another time and space and doesn’t let you go!  Set in the future, the government has devised a way to remind everyone that they are in control and take their most prized possessions anytime they want. How?  By lottery, 24 teenagers are chosen to go to the Hunger Games and battle one another to the death.  The last survivor wins wealth, fame and a year of rewards for the district they represent.

Now if you’re not a sci fi person and you’re already vetoing this book, don’t.  The suspense is nonstop and the characters become deep three dimensional figures you are sad to let go of on the last page.  And of course there’s a unique and puzzling romance.  Buy the book for your teenagers, boys and girls alike but don’t wait like I did.  Read the book for yourself.  It’s a delight.

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At Christmastime I like reading a book that relaxes me, restores my hope and washes me with the sweetness of the coming of the Lord.  That is what Remembering Christmas is all about.  Rick Denton is a young guy that built a life away from all the reminders of family and Christ.  Not so unlike many of us in our 20’s.  Through a crisis at home, Rick is forced to give up his vacation time to watch his parent’s Christian Bookstore during the holidays.  Through a long array of characters and of course a little romance, Rick is reintroduced to his parents and his Lord.  If you need a good Christmas book to snuggle up with, give Remembering Christmas a try.

http://www.danwalshbooks.com/index.html

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“Christmas is the surprise of light coming back, Easter is the surprise of spring returning.  Our faith is the ability to be open to surprises.”

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Everybody has their favorite Christmas reruns.  Maybe yours are those animated shows like Rudolph or Charlie Brown.  I like the old movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas.  It’s weird that I can watch these same shows year after year not only knowing what’s going to happen next but many times recite whole portions of the show line for line.  Each Christmas as I watch the same reruns I have seen for years there’s a comfort that comes from knowing what’s coming next.

Television and DVD technology may provided the comfort of familiarity into our Christmas celebration but you know the first Christmas wasn’t like that at all.  Take the shepherds.  Now there’s a lesson of how life can go from ordinary to extraordinary in a flash.  Mary and Joseph, even the Wisemen knew the Messiah was coming but not the shepherds.  They were just busy minding their own business, doing their job and bringing home the paycheck much like you and me. Luke 2:8 says “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”  To me that’s like saying “And Bob was sitting at his desk checking email” or “And Susan was standing in the kitchen cooking dinner”  Like watching a Christmas show rerun, the shepherds were in a place in their life where they thought they could predict what was going to happen next.  They were just doing ordinary things when something extraordinary happened.

Luke 2:9 tells us “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”  Can you imagine?  You’re sitting in your ordinary life when all the sudden an angel shows up and the glory of the Lords shines around you so much you are scared out of your mind.  I’d say that would totally blow up your ordinary life and catapult you into the EXTRA-ordinary.  But the whole angel, glory of the Lord thing was just the beginning of the shepherds trek into the bizarre.  Then the angel tells them “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”  Think of that.  A Savior has been born to you too.  That’s what Christmas is all about.  As you are living your ordinary life checking emails and cooking dinner, a Savior has been born to you. Think of how extraordinary that is.

With a Savior, your life no longer needs to be filled with pressure that you have to make everything all right.  Jesus came to let you know you are all right with Him and everything else is details.  Really.  Facing the list of things to do, problems to solve and people to care for looks totally different when you first rest in the assurance that you and Jesus are doing alright.

Don’t let this Christmas be a rerun of predictable routines and expectations. Like the shepherds, rejoice that you not only have Jesus as your Savior but that He’s come so you may live knowing He thinks you’re alright.  Then you’ll see that Christmas means living in the unpredictable with Christ and loving it!  Merry Christmas!

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There is something magical about a White Christmas.  Maybe it’s those special snow filled Christmas Morning activities like trying out brand new sleds, or building snowmen that make a White Christmas so coveted.  Many places are pretty much guarantee a white Christmas but not my hometown—St Louis.  We’re kind of in that place where sometimes we might get buckets of snow in December and arrive with beautiful layers of snow on the 25th or we’re just as likely to spend the whole month of December with nothing more than a few flurries.  It sure would be nice to be able to make this Christmas be white.  But I guess thinking I can make it snow whenever I want is kind of ridiculous.

To be honest, Christmas has the tendency to make me think I should try to do a lot of ridiculous things.  I should make sure that every present I give is special and heartwarming.  I should make sure that throughout the holidays I cook every person in the family their favorite dish.  I should make sure I stay rested and the kids stay healthy.  I should make my husband stop working long enough to enjoy the holidays.  See what I mean?  Kind of ridiculous.

Let’s face it, I have as much chance of pulling any of this off as waving my arms and giving St Louis a white Christmas.  So what’s my problem?  Why do the holidays make me want to suddenly be in control of the uncontrollable?  It’s simple really.  I want everyone I love to be joy filled this Christmas. Have you ever gotten so carried away trying to make Christmas “perfect” that you totally missed the Christmas joy for yourself as well as for those around you?

But what if Christmas joy is not something that can be planned, orchestrated or delegated?  What if the joy of Christmas did not rely on what you do but on what Christ can do?  In Luke 2:10 when the angels say “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”–the good news was not that the present you want to get for your husband is 50% off.  The good news is not that the turkey was cooked to perfection or that your mother-in-law thought your Christmas tree was spectacular.  That may all be good news but the REALLY GOOD NEWS is that “in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

At some point every December, I need a good head thump to remind me to quit trying to make Christmas special for everyone else.  Instead of trying to accomplish the ridiculous, join me to stop and drink in the good news that a Savior has been born; and He is Christ the Lord!  There is no amount of snow or presents or food that can bring the joy of Christmas into the lives of those you love.  They can get their joy from Christ just like you.  So let the joy of Christmas live in you…then for you this Christmas, who knows?  Maybe the Lord will decide to do something really ridiculous.

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This may the purest, sweetest song I have heard in a while.  Marine Master Sgt. Robert Allen wrote and performs this wonderful song for his wife.   There is something about seeing a marine, in uniform, sitting in the middle of Afghanistan singing about not only the wife and family he misses but of all the things you and I so easily take for granted.  Watch the video, thank the Lord for the small blessings of Christmas and thank a man or woman in uniform.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k76haWHvXSc

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Can Christmas time really bring unexpected blessings to anyone?  In Christmas at Harrington’s Melody Carlson takes Lena Markham, an unlikely receipient of Christmas Blessings and leads the reader into believing in the goodness of Christmas time.  Lena has been released from prison just in time to work as Mrs. Santa at the local department store.  Through a series of unexpected events what was likely to be a disaster of a Christmas turns into one that touches not only her life but the lives of those around her.  It’s a fun, quick Christmas read… Enjoy!

http://melodycarlson.com/Christmas_novellas.shtml

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Is Christmas getting crazy?  Need a little time to exhale?  Sit back and listen to this precious song–Winter Snow with Audrey Assad and Chris Tomlin.  I love the quiet rhythm and the deep rich tones of their voices.  It makes me feel the peacefulness that surely was intended when the angels sang about peace on earth.  Think about the truths of these words as you prepare your heart for the Christ Child.

Could’ve come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could’ve come like a forest fire
With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we’ve scarred

But You came like a winter snow
(Yes, You did)
You were quiet
You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Video is perfectly set to grab you and pull you into the peace and quiet the song intends.  Take a minute from the craziness to enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpHiAmL8-b0

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