{"id":712,"date":"2020-12-21T08:59:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T19:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/?p=712"},"modified":"2020-12-21T08:59:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T19:59:32","slug":"what-is-on-your-christmas-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/21\/what-is-on-your-christmas-list\/","title":{"rendered":"What is on your Christmas List?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year has been like no other!\u00a0\u00a02020 will, undoubtedly, go down in the annuals of history as being one of the most bizarre years in our modern world!\u00a0\u00a0Lockdowns, job losses, school graduations, birthdays, and weddings postponed or re-invented, funerals where no one could attend, riots, weather phenomenons, chaotic, (*fraudulent!!!) elections, and the list goes on!\u00a0\u00a0Someone said:<\/p>\n

“This is not the year to get everything we want; this is the year to appreciate everything we have.”!!!<\/p>\n

During this Christmas season, let’s take a new perspective.\u00a0\u00a0Like many of you, our family has also been tested and gone through tribulations this year.\u00a0\u00a0There have been plenty of things I would have wanted for this year and, things I would have wished did not happen.\u00a0\u00a0All the same, God knew just what was going on and He has control.\u00a0\u00a0God never changes.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Our Christmas budget will be limited this year.\u00a0\u00a0What do we\u00a0really\u00a0need, anyway?\u00a0\u00a0The affirmation of feeling loved because of a gift is not a top priority.\u00a0\u00a0There are other ways to show love. (*At this moment, my husband is cleaning the kitchen for me!\u00a0\u00a0Now, THAT shows more love than a box of candy–which he did just give me for my birthday and I\u00a0am\u00a0enjoying every bite! -And so I digress, as usual!). It is God’s gifts that we want to choose to focus on this year.<\/p>\n

Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you reaching for?\u00a0\u00a0The most important and obvious gift is the gift of salvation that God provided by sending His son into this wicked earth to die for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0I thank God for saving me!\u00a0\u00a0I love decorating for Christmas and included in my Christmas decorations, I have a Nativity scene for nearly every room in my house as a reminder and testimony of God’s love to us.<\/p>\n

There are physical things that I am thankful and appreciative for, too, as I reminisce this year.\u00a0\u00a0God provided some work opportunities for my husband.\u00a0\u00a0God provided a place for us to live.\u00a0\u00a0God has fed us.\u00a0\u00a0My husband and I have set a new record for surgeries, procedures, and visits to the emergency room yet God has taken care of us and brought us through without contracting Covid.\u00a0\u00a0God has given us a church family and pastor who love us and pray for us.<\/p>\n

In the spiritual realm, God has given me His word to comfort me.\u00a0\u00a0He has given me hymns to know He is with me and hears me.\u00a0\u00a0He doesn’t put more on me or my family than He knows we can handle.\u00a0\u00a0Through some sorrows in our life this year, He has brought our family closer together.\u00a0\u00a0He has allowed people to be more open about spiritual matters and the opportunity to share His word.<\/p>\n

My heart has been more tuned in to the plight of missionaries around the world.\u00a0\u00a0Most all have been affected by the virus either in their family and most assuredly in their church family.\u00a0\u00a0Many have lost support.\u00a0\u00a0Some have not been able to get back to the field where their hearts are.\u00a0\u00a0Others cannot leave the field.\u00a0\u00a0New missionaries risk traveling on deputation–(IF, they can even get a meeting!).\u00a0\u00a0God has burdened me to pray more thoughtfully for these servants.\"\"<\/p>\n

What is on your Christmas list?\u00a0\u00a0This year is a year to get our minds off of ourselves and to be appreciative of what we do have.\u00a0\u00a0We must choose between sorrow or joy.\u00a0\u00a0It is a year of reckoning of what is really important.<\/p>\n

John 16:32 “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

While we have the Holy Spirit dwelling with us now, our greatest joy is looking forward to that day of the Rapture when we meet Jesus in the clouds.\u00a0\u00a0Until then, fill your Christmas list with memories of things you are appreciative of and use those gifts for His honor and glory!\u00a0\u00a0Be appreciative of the things you have!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year has been like no other!\u00a0\u00a02020 will, undoubtedly, go down in the annuals of history as being one of the most bizarre years in … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[240,237,238,239],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":717,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions\/717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}