Not Your Traditional Christmas Story

Happy December and Merry Christmas! Here in Chattanooga, it's not the most beautiful day to ring in December, but to me that doesn't matter, it's still "the most wonderful time of the year!" For starters, I was born on Christmas Eve.  Before you all go feeling sorry for me, I love being born at Christmas, which maybe that's why it's my favorite holiday/season.  For the most part I am not cheated out of presents, by having birthday and Christmas presents combined.  Especially when I was younger, the two were very much differentiated from, with birthday presents being wrapped in birthday paper, not Christmas. Funny, now it really doesn't matter at all, I just love the season, so go ahead and wrap in Christmas (maybe not ready to say combine them. Ha!)  You may also be wondering, so why didn't your mom and dad name you Holly or Mary to go along with the Christmas timing theme. No idea...what you don't think Anita Marie Grossmann McGinnis has a nice "Christmasy" ring to it?? One year, around age 9, I was asked to play Mary in our church Christmas choir special. I was so excited I just knew they saw the resemblance between me and Mary, and especially with me being born at Christmas, only later did I realize they were just trying to get me out of the choir so no one could hear me sing! I would have my own "solo" of Silent Night playing Mary, by not saying or singing a word! To this day, much to my husband's and some of the kids dismay, I LOVE Christmas! I love the decorations, the lights, the gift buying and giving, the baking, the parties, the family gatherings, stuffing stockings, Christmas music(I no longer care who I offend by singing,) holiday coffee, shopping, Christmas cards,  and the list could go on.  I guess you could say Christmas goes right along with my Sanguine/extrovert personality!  But more than the love of all things Christmas, I cherish the fact that I was born near the time of my Savior, my Messiah!

This past Sunday our Encounter pastor, Chad Poe, shared with us a story of when he went to a friend's house for Christmas Eve, and like many families they were to read the Christmas story. However, instead of going to Luke for the "traditional" Christmas story of baby Jesus being born in a manger, the family read from John 1:1-18. What an awesome (in every sense of the word) passage of scripture for us to ponder on this Christmas season. It begins with verses 1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." As if that weren't enough, it continues in verses 3-5 "Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." Just marinate on that a while. Then verse 14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." When it says "He made his dwelling among us," that literally means, He "tabernacled" among us! We will come back to this point. Then comes the final crescendo in verses 16-18, "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another (or grace upon grace.) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No on has ever seen God, but the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known." We can just pack it up and go on home now!

God sent His son, who has been with Him from the beginning, to come tabernacle among us! In the Old Testament in Exodus we know that God gave very specific instructions as to how the tabernacle was to be set up. Here God would come and fill the place with His presence and He would dwell/tabernacle among them. But then God went a step further and clothed His son in flesh, to come and dwell/tabernacle among us! And He shall be called Emmanuel, God with us! No more did we have to go to the tabernacle to be in God's presence...but we could now have the filling of God's presence in our own lives through His Son.

Moses so understood the importance of God's presence. In Exodus 33, God is giving Moses directions on where to go and what to do. Moses says, that's real neat and all, but I am not going anywhere (especially with these people, whom you called stiff-necked) without your presence for us all! I don't just want it for me, but it better be for all of us, or I am not taking them! Moses makes another point, in how would they be distinguished, if God's presence was not with them.

Oh...that's good...can we be distinguished from others because of God's presence with us? I think you can look at this two ways, both as an individual and also in the very lives of our churches. Does God's presence, through His Son,  in our lives distinguish us from others?I find it interesting that God carries the theme of tabernacle all the way through to the very end of Revelation. In Revelation 21:3, it says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling(tabernacle)  of God is with men, and he will live with them.'  Verse 22- continues, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." Glory!!! This takes me right back to the passage in John 1:5..."the light shines in the darkness, along with so many other verses referring to Christ as the light of the world! And there are no words to describe God and His Son, the Lamb, being our temple in eternity. No need for a tabernacle...They are it...dwelling among us forever!

These words from the Word came with a new freshness to me this season. Perhaps, I have even found my "new" favorite Christmas story to be read on Christmas Eve. I pray these scriptures will bring a freshness to you this Christmas season as well. Take time to meditate on these words, maybe it's for this month of December, and see what all God will teach you. There are so many more "gifts" in these verses to us that I haven't even touched on. I challenge you and myself, to let God speak to us through these words over this Christmas season.

P.S. To hear the sermon that sparked this, check out.....ridgedalebaptist.org - it should be posted soon.

When Your Work Feels Hidden

During back to school time I used to sing along, with much glee, to the Staples commercial, "It's the most wonderful time of the year," as they promoted all the back to school supplies shopping. I will say, that was when my children were younger and summers seemed much longer! Ok, I'll just say it, I thought if the first day of school didn't get here I might not be around to send them back! Don't get me wrong, I loved and still love having my summers with my kids. It was just that yearning of getting back on schedule and having grandiose ideas of what all I could accomplish once I had some quiet. Problem was, the quiet wasn't all that great and my wonderful ideas weren't getting accomplished as fast as I would've liked or even at all. That's when the insecurity and guilt would begin to creep in about being a stay-at-home mom. 

Being a stay-at-home mom has afforded me some great opportunities and has also cost me, but only due to my own insecurity when I didn't live in confidence with the calling of staying home and allowed the world and others to tell me otherwise. There is no doubt that God appointed me to stay home with my children. In the beginning this wasn't that hard to accept. I honestly don't know how I would've gotten 6 of us ready to get out the door and then for me to have one sane thought as I entered the workforce. On one particular day, my husband Bill came home from work, and he didn't have to ask how my day was, because I simply handed him our youngest of the four and said, "I have got to go change my diaper!" Never even phased me as to what I just said! Believe me, there were days I begged for the good Lord to let me go to work outside the home... staying home with  4 kids, all under the age of four was quite exhausting!  However, as time marched on and kids got older I would question as whether or not I was to continue staying home. And every time God would answer in such profound and reassuring ways...YES! But then I'd get thrown for a loop as I was asked, "Don't you feel guilty staying home?" This question has somewhat haunted me up until even now, especially this week as I once again got the kids back in school, with two in college and two in high school.  Those same insecure feelings began to come back, what now...summer is over and I wasn't even singing my favorite back to school song. Initially I thought to myself,  I'll get a part time job (I even put in applications) and help my family financially...and God once again said no. He gently reminded me that the job He had called me to wasn't yet complete, and Yes, He did see me waiting on Him to move my ministry forward even more, as well.

Thankfully God gave me the peace I needed once again as He spoke to me in my devotional from "Jesus Calling" as it said, "Wait with me for a while. I have much to to tell you. You are walking along the path I have chosen for you.... Don't worry about what other people think of you. The work I am doing in you is hidden at first. But eventually blossoms will burst forth, and abundant fruit will be born. Stay on the path of Life with Me. Trust me wholeheartedly, letting my Spirit fill you with Joy and peace." What a comfort and affirmation that was. I truly believe that my blossoms are my children. That what I pour into them is of eternal value and I will see that fruit again! Knowing that my investment in the lives of my children is for eternity, makes it easier to wait with Him a little longer until those blossoms have completely burst forth.  I still believe Him for the blossoms in my ministry to burst forth as well.  Even though my work may be hidden for a while, I trust that in His time my labor for my kids and my ministry will bear fruit bursting forth for His glory!

Creative Summer Ideas

Ideas for Creating Summer Memories

(I know there are tons more that you can find on Pinterest and other resources, but these are some of our all-time favorites, tried and true.)

1. Summer vacation trip. This is a big one. If it’s something you can do, go for it. Most of our family summer trips involve going to the beach with family. We are fortunate to have family who live in Charleston, so since I was a young girl we have made the trek to Charleston for many years creating countless memories. Since this was a “tradition” for me growing up, it was one I wanted to continue with my own family. It wasn’t “the beach” that made it special, but the family.  Now when I take my family (and mind you, it’s not consistently every year), we still do some of the same traditions I did as kid on vacation there, from crabbing, to eating at the same restaurant, to touring the city. We have also begun some of our own traditions. By far, going to the beach is one of our favorite summer memories.

2. Barbarian Night: This is an all time favorite that the kids still talk about. Before I explain this one, remember the “O” Optimize the yes, because Barbarian night entails pretty much what it sounds like. You will eat like barbarians…no plate, no utensils, just serve the supper up on the on table. You may want to invest in a cheap disposable plastic table cloth. Dig in and enjoy as you and the kids get to eat hog wild! I promise it did not ruin them of their manners.

3. Slip N Slide (or Redneck Water Park): This one we still do. Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and purchase the contractor’s plastic sheeting. Let it out as long as you have room, preferably down a hill. Then lather it up with soap and get your hose spraying water on the sheeting and start sliding! This plastic sheeting will last a long time, but if you do get a rip or tear duct tape on the back works great!

4. Summer Scavenger Hunt: This can be done anywhere, but we did ours around downtown Chattanooga, the North Shore area, and Coolidge Park. You will begin at your house and have a certain amount of envelopes numbered. The kids will open the first envelope with a catchy or rhyming clue. They will guess where that clue is and you will drive them there and do the activity that was mentioned in the clue. For example, It’s a place where many a fish you see, find some running water down steps, go splash and say “Wee!” (For those not from Chattanooga, that would be our Aquarium.)

Once they’ve completed clue #1 give them clue #2, and so on it continues with as many clues as you see fit. Your final clue could involve the other parent or another adult being at the ending point with a picnic. This one is really endless on how many different things you could do around Chattanooga and even in your own neighborhood.

5. Tour Chattanooga! Don’t forget what all is around us to enjoy. We do live in the Scenic City and there are lots of things to do with little to minimal cost. You can drive up Signal Mountain to Point Park or ride the Incline up and walk to Point Park. Take a hike at Raccoon Mountain (they have easy to difficult trails.) Visit again for the first time, Rock City, Ruby Falls, The Aquarium, try a Duck tour, or check out the art district. Also, check out some places in Georgia, for example the town of Chickamauga and the battlefields.

6. Make a picnic table. This was a fun project we did with our kids. They got to help build the table then enjoy eating many a meal outside on “their” table they made. To this day, our kids love to eat outside. (Check Lowe’s and Home Depot, they used to have kits. Ours could be used as both a picnic table and or benches!)

7. Take a walk or bike ride on the Greenway. You can make the route as short or as long as you would like. When we had yearly passes to the Aquarium we would park the van along the Greenway and ride our bikes on the Greenway into downtown to the Aquarium. We would go in just to see our favorite exhibits and get cooled off then ride back to the car. We would also ride to Coolidge Park and play in the fountain and then ride back. I won’t lie, some trips were more challenging than others with 6 of us being on bikes! Still worth the memory.

8. Pick Blackberries. Sometimes we combined this with our bike rides when we lived in Nashville and there were blackberry bushes along the Greenway trail. We would tie a plastic grocery bag to their handlebars and they would fill them up with blackberries, then we would ride back and go make a blackberry cobbler. (Just did this one this morning!)

9. Go to the Farmer’s Market: Find a Farmer’s Market near you, and before you go let the kids pick a recipe to make with vegetables and or fruit. Allow the kids to pick out the produce, then go back home and make the recipe.

10. Themed Dinners: Get the kids involved to help plan a themed dinner night, from Italian to Chinese. Cook that type of food, decorate the kitchen in that theme, and even allow them to dress the part. Don’t worry about making this perfect, it’s more about the kids taking a part and being creative in their own way. It’s so much fun to see what they come up with on their own.

11. Take Your Pick Jar (or the I am Bored Jar): Decorate a jar and place in it simple things to do around the house or things to go do. You can write them on strips of colorful paper or use craft sticks. This is especially good when the inevitable “I’m bored” begins to be said. For example; go get ice cream, go play in the sprinkler, build a fort, have a water balloon fight, go to a movie. The ideas are endless! Have a stash of things from the Dollar Tree you can pull out and use that would be new to them. Such as water guns for water gun fight, or art supplies for craft projects. You can also have Mom’s pick or kids pick, whoever’s name is on the stick they get to decide what to go do.

12. Dinner Table “Dish” from the Day: This is a great way to get conversation going at the table, while giving everyone a chance to talk!  Everyone gets to tell about their day. Typically, my husband, Bill, would say this “corny,” yet cute, catchy saying…”whoever I point to has to tell me their favorite thing they did today.” When the kids were younger, they couldn’t wait to be chosen. And yes, we still do this one today…with lots of laughs as Bill uses his corny saying (I want to say rhyme…but obviously nothing rhymes!)

13. Display the Immeasurably More: Write down the “immeasurably more” God is doing on one sheet of paper with the Ephesians 3:20 verse “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,” at top, and on the other sheet of paper for prayer requests, write Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Place in a visible spot, mine is on the refrigerator. Let all the family members write down the immeasurably more they see God providing. One the other sheet, to help all Make the Most of the Moment and not worry about what’s next or tomorrow, write their prayer requests. It’s a great way to see how God can take the requests and give the immeasurably more.

It is my prayer that you allow God to help you make the MOST of your summer memories.

How to Make the M.O.S.T. of Your Summer Memories

Making the M.O.S.T. of Summer Memories

            

Recently I was asked to share with Middle Valley Baptist on how to “Create Summer Memories.” Having four kids in 4 ½ years and being a stay-at-home mom/minister’s wife, I have had to get pretty creative in making summer memories. Some of it was out of pure necessity so we wouldn’t go crazy or harm each other! By far, some of the best memories were the ones that required little to no money! As I was talking and reminiscing with my much older kids, now 16, 17, 19, and 20 on some of their favorite memories, my oldest daughter looked at me, with a somewhat horrified face and said “Mom, you’re not going to tell them about our trips to Sam’s?” to which I replied, “Absolutely!” These trips involved taking our much younger children and pushing them around on the flatbed carts, eating the samples, and then ordering a pizza from the deli. Exciting, right? Well, actually it was for our kids at that time, and to this day, even Mary Allyson says it was one of her favorite memories!

I am going to date myself when I say this, but it seems summers aren’t as lazy and laid back as they used to be. Carving out the memories may take more intentionality these days, but one word of warning, don’t get on FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest and compare your summer to someone else’s! What you’ll see there are picture perfect profiles, with picture perfect “vacays” and no “staycays!”  You will not see your friends’ post that their toddler who’s being potty-trained cleared the hotel’s pool. Nor will you hear how excruciating the car ride was with the un-relenting questions and arguing.

So how do you create summer memories? As I was praying over what to write and share, it occurred to me that my audience already has the resources at their fingertips. They can google, get on Pinterest, and find blogs on this very topic. However, as I prayed, God gave me one word to focus on that would benefit all of us making great summer memories for our kids. That one word is MOST, and to give a twist on the topic, it would be, “How To Make the M.O.S.T. Of the Moments God Gives You.” To make this easier to remember we’re going to use the word MOST in an acrostic.

“M” stands for Maximize the Moment. Simply put, practice being present in the moment. Make the most of the moment by enjoying it and living in it, rather than anticipating the next thing and focusing on what’s next, maximize the moment that’s before you. When we rush through the moment, we miss the fullness of that moment. Don’t miss the now, for the next. One concept I try to put in place is to be present in the moment. The idea is to not rush the moment because the idea is to create a memory and that’s hard to do if you’re rushing through it to get to the next thing. Maximize the moment by not missing the moment. This one will step on some of our toes, but have you noticed you miss moments because you’re too worried about capturing them and posting them on FaceBook, twitter, or instagram? One of the best things we can do to maximize the moments in our summer memories is to put the phone down.  Here’s a side note, many of you like me think you can multi-task. Research shows that just by looking at your phone or leaving a task it takes at least 10 minutes to re-engage and get back to the train of thought where you left off! So, sit back and take it all in, Maximize the Moment, so it will create a memory!

The next thing you will want to do in creating a memory is to “O” Optimize the Yes! Essentially, say yes to as many things as you can and leave the no’s for the big ones. Having more yes’s gives kids a greater respect for the no when it needs to be implemented. For example, you’re tired, you’ve just cleaned up the house again for the 40^th time, fixed three meals and umpteen snacks and the kids ask if they can build a fort in the den! Typically what our kids are asking for isn’t something we can’t provide or something that is morally wrong, it usually comes down to our own time and selfishness! UGH! Now, please don’t hear me say to give your kids whatever they want, when they want it. There are boundaries we already need to have in place, so the “yes” is an affirmative, not something that gives entitlement or to just appease. Some of our best memories have come from the “yes” moments, not necessarily those that were planned. For example, riding on the flatbeds in Sam’s Club. This concept continues into the teen years as well. I still try to give more yes’s than no’s, so when there is a need for a no they respect it. So when the youngest asks to go practice driving, and there’s nothing standing in my way except my own desires, I try to make it a yes!

As we move to next letter, keep in mind that the “M” Maximize the Moment and the “O” Optimize the Yes go along with the next letter “S” Stop and Share in the Moment. Don’t hang out on the sidelines, be an active part in the moment, allowing the memory to go deeper. Instead of just being the conduit to creating the opportunities and memories, stop and share in the moments, participate in the moment. As it ties back to the letter “M,” as you stop and share in the moment being an active part, it helps you savor and maximize that moment even more. It also ties back to the “O” as we stop and share in the moment by saying “yes” to being a part. Kids love when we join them in the fun, even the big kids!

Just the other night we were having a great conversation at dinner when the phone rings with our youngest reminding us to come pick her up from swim practice (yes, time had slipped away…we forgot.) Instead of us all dispersing, with someone going to pick her up and the others cleaning up, my husband said let’s continue this conversation in the car and all go get Annabelle! The dishes could wait, but this was a moment we all wanted to share in, so we all piled in the car continued the conversation and picked Annabelle up. She did wonder if it was some type of intervention! LOL!

Last, the letter “T” stands for Trust God For The Immeasurably More. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” You may be thinking how does this apply to Creating Summer Memories, well we’re looking at how to make the MOST of them and the one that can do that is God, much more than a travel agent or pinterest. I have watched God do the immeasurably more with the smallest of family memories to the greatest. He’s taken what might have seemed as an insignificant moment and made it magnificent, and I have seen Him take a really great moment and make it over the top majestic. The key to this one is allowing Him to work and us relinquishing the control.  One year we finally got to take the kids to Disney World. Already, God had been at work in putting this whole trip together. However, my husband, Bill, just wasn’t sure of it all. He just kept saying, I know we’re going to get to the park and they’re going to stick it to us! I kept trying to reassure him that everything was taken care of. That first day before we went to the park, Bill had been up praying and having his quiet time before we all got ready. As we drove to the park, the kids were all excited as there was a sky writer plane over the park writing something. Finally, we could see that it said “Trust Jesus!” Not only did the sky writing plane write it once, but twice to “Trust Jesus.” I looked at Bill and he looked a little shaken and I asked what’s wrong. He said, you’re not going to believe this but, this morning as I prayed I told God I was still anxious about this whole trip and that I needed to trust Him, but He was going to have to write it in the sky! Well, its obvious God did. We will never forget that moment, nor that trip, because God truly gave us the immeasurably more, and it was because of  Mickey’s Magic, but my God’s almighty power who wants to do the immeasurably more!

It is my prayer that all of you will make the M.O.S.T. of your summer memories as you allow God to help you create them and watch Him do the immeasurably more.

Who's On Your Valentine's List?

It's Valentine's week, if you haven't already noticed.  My word, I don't remember such large sections of stores committed to this holiday. No more just heart-shaped boxes full of surprise chocolate candy! As I strolled through Target there was every kind of candy in such appealing packages it was hard not to get sucked in.! And so I did, because they had M&M's in my favorite colors, pink and green, with sweet words written on them!  Yes, I did buy some:) I even bought the "cute and healthy" popcorn because it was all dressed up in pink and purple with a cute bowl for it to be served in! Then I had to remind myself that God gave me a "spirit of self-control" and left the Valentine's aisles (well only after putting the red velvet Oreo's in my cart as well!)

This Valentine's Day, my oldest daughter gets to experience it for the first time with a "real" Valentine, a real boyfriend.  So I may embarrass her here a little...or a lot...but I love that she's almost 19 years old and just now experiencing this holiday with a boyfriend. She has always longed to have that special valentine on this special day, because then everything would be as it was meant to be...or at least as the advertisers told her it should be! Certainly, I understand that there are lots out there who have yet to experience this, to which those have been on my heart. But in retrospect, even those who do have "a valentine"on this special day, its seems we've made much to do over this one day. It's the "have's" and the "have not's!"

So I want to look at Valentine's day....this day of love a little differently. Whether you are a "have" or a "have not," if you are a Christ follower, a believer in Him, we are all "haves" because we have already been given the greatest gift of love!  "For God so loved (you) the world....that He gave...His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." Go with me here, God already delivered The Real Valentine, the greatest gift of love...His Son! He made it so that we all could "have" this love, not one person to be left out. To paraphrase I John 4:7-12, Love comes from God...God is love.  He showed love to us by giving His Son to us that we might live through Him. It wasn't that we loved God first, then He sent His Son, but it was God who loved us first and sent His Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. Lest I remind you, Christ didn't come all packaged up in a pretty heart-shaped box, nor did he die a pretty death. He was born in a manger and died a brutal death by crucifixion on the cross...for me, for you. There is no greater love than Christ laying down his life for us.

So here's my question...my take away. Instead of being so focused on being a "have" (even if it's your first real Valentine's day), or a "have not"(just holding your breath till the day passes), let's be thankful for what we "have" already been given.  That is the ultimate Valentine God sent to us through His Son. God loved me and you so much that He gave.  What is it this Valentine's day we can give back to God? Is He even on your Valentine's list. Remember the days of making a Valentine box out of a shoe box and then having the names of your classmates, carefully marking each one off after you finished their valentine. Have you taken the time in the hustle and bustle of life and sat at his feet long enough to know what He would like to receive from you? Because having been a "have" and a "have not," either way I knew what I wanted from someone, or what I wanted to give someone.

For Anita so loved God that she gave Him...

Her Heart, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and, mind....

Her Quiet Time, have I grown in my relationship with Christ...Or am I still where I was last year.

Her Firsts of time and money

Her Attitude

Her Worship

Her Ministry

Her Family

Whether you're a "have" or a "have not" this Valentine's day, you have already received the ultimate Valentine's gift. He's priceless, He's a gift no one else has ever given you, nor ever will, He's not one you would exchange, He's a perfect fit, He will never wear out, He's forever, and He's practical for everyday use.

Just as I know my daughter has thrilled in getting together a special and meaningful gift for her sweet boyfriend, we should feel the same way in planning and thrilling to give something so special to God.

We love because he first loved us!

And P.S.

Maybe you're a "have not"  in the sense that ...you're not a Christ follower...well guess what...that same gift of love is available for you. Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."