SEASONS - PONDERING THE GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE FOR CHRISTMAS 2013

So have you find the wonder of Christmas this year?   Have you found your "glorious impossible"?  God always does that you know.  He has a way of putting His glory into your impossible and making miracles.

  They seem to happen most often at Christmas time, so every year I look for the glorious impossibles!  

I've never been disappointed.  He always shows me something.  One year it was a yard full of red birds.  One year it was a family I gained overnight.  Last year it was the secret of how to make Christmas out of nothing at all.  God is always making something out of nothing and if you believe in the power of His love, you can too.  It is wonderful.

So look for the glorious impossible until you find it.



The glorious impossibles will teach you things you will never forget.  Christmas is such a teachable time.  There is always something new that God is teaching us at Christmas time.  

 What is God showing you this year?  The lessons seem to come when you least expect them, and they always show up in the most unusual places.

  This year has been the learning of a more  quiet kind of joy for me.  It is as if I’m soaking up some kind of wonder that I may never find again.   I sense that Christmas as we have always known it in our country is fleeing away and that it may not be so much a focus in our world as it has been in the past.  This makes me sad; and I hope to be a small part of the world that keeps this from happening.  Yet even this fact has not been able to rob me of my joy in this present year; it has only given me a deeper appreciation for the precious things that I’ve often taken for granted.  

I’ve always been glad to be living in a country where you could express your religious beliefs openly without persecution.  I sense that may not last much longer in America; so this year I’m proclaiming Christmas as loud and long as I can make a joyful noise!  I do not take the gift of freedom and free speech for granted.  I am grateful to still have these blessings as I ponder the glorious impossibles of this year.  There are many other things I am grateful for.

Last year I found myself in quite opposite circumstances than the situation I’m living in this year.  I can remember as Christmas approached in 2012 that I was feeling very

apprehensive.  Financially we had been through a very hard year.  It was the second Christmas in a row that my husband had been without a job.  God taught me a lot during that time about how happiness and joy can’t be bought and about how our greatest treasures are absolutely free for the taking.  The Great Creator showed me how to be so creative myself that no one ever suspected how much money I didn’t have in my pockets.  I make the cutest little gifts just from things I found around the house and they were a great hit!  This year all my children are showing me the photos of how they have used them and I’m always smiling.  They think the smiles are because I’m pleased they are still finding joy from gifts from last year, but the smile is actually from the peace and joy of knowing a God who looks after me and cares for me no matter where I find myself in life.  That is the wonder I’m pondering the most this year.  That is the gift God keeps showing me over and over. 

   Though I didn’t make my gifts this year from the things around the house – I did catch myself being more selective in the meaning of my gifts and less concerned about the dollar amount spent.  Less money wasted meant more money that could be useful in helping others.  That message rang out from my heart this year like never before.  

Perhaps because of this God seemed to be putting just the right thing for just the right price for just the right person before my eyes as I shopped. It was the first year I didn’t even have to worry about having the right present ideas.  It all just happened like magic. It actually felt like I had angels monitoring my shopping.  God gave me that joy this year – like a beautiful gift among many other gifts. 

My eyes had been opened enough to see this and recognize it and reflect on how awesome it really was.   I wasn't buying gifts just because you give gifts.  I was actually thinking of the person I was buying the gift for and knowing that this gift was meant for them.   I was so thankful and felt so blessed to be able to purchase these things freely without worry this time.  

I caught myself remembering so many answered prayers as I went through my shopping.  My husband had found a great new job.  My hours had been restored to full time.  The debts we had accumulated in the struggle had been paid now.  I was not pressured to make any new debts and had learned to enjoy Christmas from where I was with what  I had to offer.  It was wonderful and freeing.  

Last year we had considered selling the home that we loved and felt fortunate to have it to

give up if needed.  This year I find myself decorating the place that I have called home for many years with the old familiar ornaments handed down through the family  and loving every minute of it.  It is as if everything has suddenly become new and magical to me – I’ve learned this year how wonderful it can be to count your blessings in every circumstance, and my joy is now overflowing.



I find my priorities have completely changed.  In the midst of all this abundance that I am feeling – I have a strong growing concern and compassion for all those who are still finding themselves going through troubled times.   I sense that this will continue for many for much longer than we can imagine. Not everyone can sing a song of joy today and I know their pain.  There are those who have lost people that they love this year.  I know that pain too. There are those who have been pulled into circumstances beyond their control that have wrecked their lives.  I've been there.  There are those looking for work and those who need money to feed their children.   I understand.  There are those who have given all they have to receive nothing back but more worry and pain.  God has graciously walked me down these same roads.  I did not understand it then, but I know now that He was teaching me to believe in the glorious impossibles of life.  

 I have learned enough to know my own circumstances could change again at any given second.  So what is bringing me such joy this year in the midst of troubled times?

  I have learned like Paul to be content in all circumstances.

 

All through this season as I decorated the tree, prepared the food and bought the presents I kept remembering a verse from the Apostle Paul which I learned years ago:

Philippians 4:11-13

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

This to me is the glorious impossible. 

Every year I look for God’s glory in the impossible and I call it the “glorious impossible” when I see it.  

This year – this is it:  I have learned to be content through all things because I have learned that  Christ is always with me.  It is the greatest gift of all. 

May you find it too – to know Christ and to know His love throughout all eternity.

Merry Christmas!