Nancy's Notebook

Christmas Peace

This year more than ever we yearn for peace.  We've endured horrific tragedy and natural disasters.  We cannot make sense of the the senseless violence in our land, or uncertainty and devastating losses in our lives.  More than ever we need the promise of Christmas--The Prince of Peace--to sooth our fears and heal our hearts, to redeem and reconcile.  Like the shepherds we welcome the good news of Emmanuel!

Imagine being a shepherd that night on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
When suddenly the sky became a blaze of glory as the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in the field the most magnificent news of all time:  "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11 (NKJV)

God chose His arrival on earth to be 'the little town of Bethlehem' in today's volatile Palestine....

What was it the angel said?  "good tidings of great joy which will be to ALL people".  God had sent the Redeemer to the whole world---to Israel and Palestine and Syria, to Iran, Somalia, Pakistan, to North Korea and the US;  East and West, Gentile, Jew, Muslim and Hindu...."to all people".   If God's mercy, love, and redemption would not even be contained to heaven, but burst into earth, it certainly will not be bound by man's maps or borders, and cannot be relegated to the world's religions, rituals, ideologies or traditions.  Redemption supersedes all that.  Limitless Freedom.  Unfathomable Mercy.

Then suddenly that lone angel was joined by a cast of thousands:  "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"  vs. 13,14

Here was God's punctuation point!  The baby is it!  My strategy, the world's peace plan that's been penned from millennia, is here.  So you guys go to the peace summit, that humiliating, stinking, feces-reeking barn in Bethlehem.
You'll find my peace plan there.

Peace on earth.  We long for it, pray for it, even fight for it.
But we cannot be at peace with each other until we are at peace with God.
Ultimately the only true Peace....is a person.  His name is Jesus.
When we receive Him we have life.  Only in Him can we find our own personal peace, live together in peace and reconciliation, and love one another as neighbors--across the street, across the checkpoint, across the globe.

This Christmas may you receive true Peace on earth, His peace--and may you express peace and goodwill toward all men.

Just a few years ago I learned something about my mom I never knew before.  At five years of age my mother was cooking dinner most nights for her entire family.  

Her mother (my grandmother, "Bombo," the first grandchild's attempt to say "grandma!") was often bed-ridden with a debilitating heart condition.  Mother's older sister, Elizabeth, was a severe diabetic who died as a teenager. Most days "Bombo" was either ill in bed or nursing her fragile diabetic daughter. 

So my five year old mother looked after her two baby brothers, Buddy and Tom.  And when dinnertime came, mom dragged the step stool over to the gasoline stove, hopped up on it, lit the flame, and cooked grits and eggs for the whole brood.  It was Depression era, and most nights my Granddaddy got home from the two jobs he worked just in time to tuck all the kids into bed.  Mom shook her head as she remembered how the flame from that gas stove shot straight up to the ceiling, "It's a wonder I didn't burn the house down!" she laughed.

Mom told me that story as a funny reminiscence.  But it was a huge eye-opener for me.  I realized that as a five year old--and all throughout her childhood--my mom had to carry far more responsibility than any little child should have to. 

What about your mother?  She very likely experienced her own burdens, or emotional wounds and injuries growing up.  Maybe she didn't feel loved or nurtured, maybe no physical touch or empathy was expressed to her growing up, and she couldn't give to you what she didn't have. 

Maybe when you were a child she was ill or depressed, or had other problems you didn't realize at the time.  Perhaps her marriage was a mess, or your other siblings' problems consumed her, or maybe she had challenges or responsibilities with her own parents and family members.
  
As the old saying goes, if we haven't walked in someone else's shoes, we have no idea what they've gone through or what they're dealing with.  If you think about some of the stressful times in your own adult life, and then imagine having a child at that time with all that was going on, you can have a little better understanding and empathy for what your own mother was going through when you were a child.  You can release her from your unmet expectations of her; you can forgive her for what she couldn't give you.

To try to understand your mother's past and current life circumstances, even her frailties and weaknesses, and accept them, is to begin to love her as she is. Understand where she came from, what she's been through, what the demands were on her life . . . and you'll find it easier to relate to her, accept her, and more fully appreciate her.

So this Mother's Day, if you're able, ask your mom about her own life.  It can be pretty enlightening.  You'll start to see her, not just who she is in relation to you, but actually get to know her, to discover and appreciate more and more who she really is.

And by doing that you honor your Mother! Happy Mother's Day!

I think we're all in the same boat.  My guess is we're all facing financial setbacks and struggles.  Encouragement and Hope--we all sorely need it, don't we?  I sure need to hear and speak uplifting, positive truths in the midst of these potentially fearful times.  How about you?
We who are followers of Jesus have many words of affirmation and hope from The Book that we can trust and cling to.  Jeremiah 29:11--"For I know the plans I have for you . . . to give you a future and a hope." Psalm 40:2--"He drew me from the pit . . . and set my feet upon a rock."  And Isaiah 43:19--"See, I am doing a new thing . . . making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

One of my favorite assurances has always been God's promise in Hebrews 13:5b--"I will never leave you nor forsake you."  I quote it to myself and to others on a regular basis.  But just today, I read it again--in context--and realized that the verse has to do with finances--being content with God's provision instead of feeling stressed and anxious.  "Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you,' so we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

I especially love 'The Message" translation, listen to this: "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things.  Be relaxed with what you have.  Since God assured us, 'I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,' we can boldly quote,
        'God is there ready to help,
        I'm fearless no matter what.
        Who or what can get to me?'"
        (Hebrews 13:5-6 'The Message')

What a promise and powerful encouragement!  What tremendous hope!  Now those are affirmations I will joyfully speak out!  Those sentences are worth writing on sticky notes all over my house and repeating aloud every single day, aren't they?!

So this month, and in the difficult days and months ahead, let's makes those words our daily meditation and affirmation.  Wanna join me?  All together now:
Your turn:  What do you think?  I'd love to hear what promises bring you the most affirmation and encouragement.  Post here:

Many have speculated that the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection lies somewhere within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, inside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.  But I believe it was at the Garden Tomb, just outside the walls.
Adapted from The Wonder of His Love Chapter 2 © by Nancy Stafford (Multnomah/Random House)