So we have survived the holy days--15 overnight guests , 4 celebration dinners, 3 Christmas programs, 32 loads of laundry, 894 coffee orders, 87 Christmas cards, and numerous games of SkipBo! Tomorrow the last of the overnight guests leave, the kids return to school, the Christmas decorations get packed up and life returns to normal. . . . . .Oh, I do hope not.

What have I learned over the last few weeks with all of this activity? What will be different in the weeks to come? Did we honor the Lord with our activities, and our celebrations, and our worship? While we spent time enjoying the company of our loved ones, did we spend enough time in His presence? Was He pleased with how we spent our days, and nights? . . . . . I pray so.

Each year I try to do something different to focus my attention on the amazing miracle of grace that we celebrate at Christmas. This year my mind kept returning the the fact that there was no room in the inn. Our home was filled with people, but we had room for everyone, that night so long ago no one could find room for God's Son. Isn't it interesting that God often chooses to visit us when it is most inconvienent? When our schedules are packed, when people need us most, when our "to do" list is too long to even read--that is usually when God shows up in an interesting and often unconventional way. For me, this year, He showed up Christmas Eve.

With all of the additional coffee work this year, Thank you Jesus, I simply ran out of time to fully prepare for the 'big day'. After spending endless hours putting together "Santa toys", straightening up for the inth time, and finishing a couple of loads of laundry, I decided that the only way to finish all the cooking necessary for Christmas dinner was to cook for the remainder of the night--so I did. Amidst the baking of pumpkin pies, baking sour cream pound cake, and preparing the turkey for roasting, I began to think about God's preparation of the 'big day'.

I remembered one of my former Sunday School teachers, when asked to tell when he was saved, said, "In the mind of God I was saved before the foundations of the earth were laid, but I came to the saving knowledge in 1961." I have often thought about the truth of that statement--God was preparing for Christmas before He created us. He loves us so much, He wanted to provide a way for us to be with Him forever, before we even existed. As I was making preparations to simply feed my guests, I was thinking of the fact that God spent all of eternity preparing for me. I am the reason we have Christmas--of course you are too, but this is my blog.

Christmas Day was great, as were the following days as we celebrated family with family. As we move on and begin thinking about the New Year, I want to remember all the preparations that were made so we could not just celebrate Christmas, but so that we could begin a new year, a new life, an eternal relationship with Him. I pray that I will take the time to prepare my heart daily to receive all that He wants to continue to give. I do not know what the 2008 journey will be, but I am so thankful that He has already prepared for me all I will need.

With great Expectations,
C