Hide and Seek with a Magic Elf

Parents, if your child still believes in Santa, I want to caution you.  Don’t let their little eyes read this post.  I don’t want to ruin their Christmas. . . like I almost ruined Livvie’s.

Last year, Livvie got an Elf on the Shelf.  She knew several other little girls that had an elf, and had made a wish that Santa would send her an elf.  So, I looked high and low for an Elf on the Shelf, and finally found one at the Hallmark store in the local mall.  On December 10, 2009, Mr. Magic came to our house.  He hid in a different place every morning to see if Livvie could spot him, and occasionally made a big mess for her to clean up.  She left him snacks; he left her notes.  When Christmas was over, he went back to the North Pole.

Well, I guess on his trek to the North Pole, he got lost.  That translates to, I put him away and couldn’t remember where I put him.  Livvie was expecting him to come Saturday night, and I searched everywhere for him.  Cleaned out every closet in my house, and came up empty.  How do you lose something in less than 1000 square feet?!

Mr. Magic wrote Livvie a note on Saturday night.  It was a poem.  It explained how he was playing hide and seek and she should look for him.  That was brilliant on my part, if I must say so myself.  It got her in the game of looking for him without knowing that I’d just misplaced him.   We looked all day on Sunday and didn’t find him.  He wrote her another note on Sunday night.

Monday, we came from school.  She did her homework.  Then, we immediately began looking for Mr. Magic again.  Something kept telling me that he had to be in the top of my closet. . . but I’d looked there 3 times already!  I decided to give it one more shot, and hallelujah!  There he was, face to the wall, hiding on top of a shoebox.  Christmas saved!

Last night, I was praying and thanking God for helping me find Mr. Magic, when I suddenly received some divine perspective about Christmas.  Time to refocus.  I got really worked up about that lost elf.  I had my dad looking for him; Jonathan was coming over to look for him.  I had Livvie and Mikie and Livvie’s friend Hannah all playing the hide and seek game, and I was totally worried that Livvie’s Christmas would be ruined.  As I was praying last night, God said, “Megan, I’m glad you found the elf, but I gave you that little scare on purpose.  You need to teach Livvie that Christmas is not about Santa Claus and magic elves.  Christmas is about the birth of my son Jesus Christ who came to save the world.”

Slap!  Right across the face.  Message received.

Starting today, Christmas is plain and simple at my house.  It’s about Jesus, and that’s all.  I’m not to going stress over gifts, over money, over decorations.  I am redirecting my focus. . . and Livvie’s.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” ~ 1 Chronicles 28:9

Caution: Crazy Week Ahead

Today is the first day I’ve had time to sit down and write in a while.  There’s so much going through my head that I don’t know what to write about.

It’s Crosspoint’s last week in the theater.  That’s amazing, exciting, inspiring. . . and stressful.  Soooo much to do in the next week!  In the midst of all of that, satan is on the attack in the lives of people at Crosspoint.  He doesn’t like what we’re doing, he doesn’t like the House of Rock, and he doesn’t want us to be there.  He’s attacking our pocket books; he’s attacking our relationships; he’s attacking our health.  Crosspoint, pray hard against him this week.  No matter what satan uses to try to defeat us, God is stronger and can turn any obstacle into an opportunity for ministry.

In life group, we are studying Mark Batterson’s Chase the Lion, and this week our session was about Reframing Problems, and seeing our circumstances through the “frame” of Scripture.  I’ll post more about that later, because it so relevant.  However, since my mind is going in a million different directions right now, I’m just gonna post a new photo of Livvie that I took last weekend.  I’m having so much fun with the camera these days!

 

Feel free to tell me how beautiful she is!

Atonement

God has been teaching me a lesson in guilt over the past few days.  Guilt can eat away at a person, and can cause you to act in ways of which you’re not necessarily proud.  In the Old Testament, this is how the people of God received atonement from guilt:

Day of Atonement

7 “ ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.8 Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.9 With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;10 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

11 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.” ~ Numbers 29: 7-11

Today, all we have to do is ask forgiveness.  It’s that easy!  Or is it?

The part I struggle with is forgiving myself.  Satan loves that.  I’ve been reading in a Bible study by Mark Batterson called Chase the Lion.  Ironically, this week is about facing fears.  The lesson deals with guilt and how Satan loves to use it against us.  It keeps us all wrapped up in past sin to the point that we don’t realize that God’s grace is enough.  It is stronger than any sin.  Psalm 147:3 says “[God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

This post today is for myself as much as anyone else.  If you’re reading this and struggling with some past sin that you’d like to act as if never happened, do something about it today.  Admit your sin, ask God for forgiveness, then ask Him to take away your guilt and replace it with the redeeming power of His grace.  Be set free.

 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Today, I was reading in Numbers 22-24.  There’s a really important lesson to be learned by the story of Balak and Balaam.  Read it for all the details.  Here’s the short version:

It is set after the Israelite exodus from Egypt.  The Israelites are still roaming and they have camped on the edge of Moab.  Balak is the king of Moab, and he’s not happy about the situation at all.  He summons Balaam, a prophet, or someone believed to have a deep personal connection with God, to put a curse on the Israelites.  But that’s not in God’s plan.  Balak offers Balaam a reward for cursing the Israelites, but God tells Balaam that he is not to curse them.  Balak asks four times, and four different times Balaam gives him a word from God, but it’s not the word that Balak hoped to hear.  Balaam never puts a curse on the Israelites, and in the end, Balak is very angry with Balaam and refuses to reward him.

Now, there is a story within a story in chapter 22 about Balaam, his donkey, and an angel of the Lord.  There’s another lesson there about obstacles.  I’ll save that for later.

While reading this scripture, all I could think about were the many times that I’ve asked God for something that didn’t happen, and ended up feeling like he’d abandoned me.  But, God never abandons us.  Sometimes, we just ask for something that’s outside His will (or plan) for our lives.  I’ve learned as I’ve grown in spiritual maturity that I can let God know what I want, and that’s ok, but I always try to remember and ask that it only happen if it’s within His perfect will for my life.  And if what I want, isn’t what I get, then there’s a perfectly good reason for that.  It could be that God’s will is something even better than I could have imagined.  It could be that doing without that certain desire is for the reason of teaching me a lesson that will benefit me later in life.  It also could be that my current situation is preparing me for something in the future that I don’t see coming. . .but God does.

Today, we don’t have to talk to God through another person.  We can all talk to Him through prayer, and he’ll speak directly into our hearts.  Don’t ever feel like He doesn’t hear you.  He knows every word before you speak it.  He just has a plan for your life that you don’t realize yet.  Find comfort in that, and you’ll never again feel abandoned.

Wonderfully Made

Today during my morning reading, I read in Psalm139.  The entire chapter is amazing, but here are a few excerpts:

1 O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

When you first read verses 1-4 did you make you say “uh oh”?  God knows our every thought before we think it, and our every word before we speak it.  Sometimes I wish He would stop me from speaking since He already knows I’m gonna say something stupid.

However, the further I read into this chapter of Psalm, the more comforted I felt by God’s knowledge of and love for me.  Verse 13 says “For you created my inmost being” and 14 goes on to say “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”.  Today, those two verses alone are motivating to me to act more intentionally on something I’ve been half-heartedly working on for a while.  If God created every fiber of my being, and I am wonderfully made, why do I try so hard to mess it up?  I do not take care of my body like I should, and those two verses are quite convicting.  Some days it’s hard to believe that I am wonderfully made when I look in the mirror or on days that I am in pain, but I think this goes far beyond the physical as well.  Yeah, obviously this makes me want to take care better care of my body, but I am wonderfully made on the inside too.  Do you know anyone who suffers from low self-esteem or insecurity?  Share this verse with them today, and let them know that God  “knit them together in [their] mother’s wound.”  That person is perfectly as God designed them, fearfully and wonderfully made.  It might just give them a new outlook that begins some repairs on their heart that only God can make.

10.10.10

Psalm 138:1 says, “I will praise you O Lord with all my heart;” and that’s exactly what we did at the House of Rock last night!  The House of Rock is the new base of operations for Crosspoint Church, and last night we had our first service in the building.  It was totally raw; used the portable sound system, didn’t turn all the lights on, the floors aren’t done yet.  It was the most memorable, most compelling, most spiritual experience of my life.  I got to play with the band on stage, and I am so thankful to Kevin for giving me that opportunity.  Watching the people of Crosspoint worship so sincerely and so vulnerably brought me to tears as I stood there trying to play the keyboard.

The worship was amazing, the message awesome as usual, but nothing compared to the names.  For the past 6 weeks, we’ve asked people to write down the names of 10 friends/family/loved ones that do not yet know Jesus as their personal Savior.  The covering is not on the stage yet, and last night they were given the opportunity to write those names on the stage.  Some wept as they wrote their names.  Others came back time and time again as they thought of people that didn’t know Christ.  I had time to stop and think of two people I see everyday who do not know the Lord.  I wrote their names.  I also wrote this name:

This is my nephew.  He is 4 years old, and one day he will know Jesus as his personal Savior.

Livvie wrote her names too:

Her best friend, and her two cousins.  She has the sweetest heart of any child I know.

I want to let you know, if you came across this blog today, and you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, He yearns for a relationship with you.  Please email me at msjewelrylady@gmail.com, and I will talk with you about Jesus’s love for you, and help you understand what it means to receive salvation.  If you live in the Decatur, AL area and don’t have a home church, come visit us at Crosspoint.  It doesn’t matter what you wear or what you’ve done, Jesus loves you, and we will love you too.

It’s Been a While

It’s been a while since I’ve posted to this blog.  Almost a year.  About that time, a Premier “sister” (term used loosely) posted an ugly comment to my blog, where she expressed some extremely insincere concern for my use of the web in my Premier business.  I find it difficult to write a blog about my life and leave out such a huge piece of the puzzle.  So, I stopped blogging for a while, but have missed it terribly.  That being said, I think I’ll focus my blog now on my daily scripture readings.  That doesn’t mean I won’t talk about my Premier business, but I will be more careful about what I publish.

As I was reading today in my Old Testament reading plan, I was appalled by the violence in Numbers 19 and 20 and in 2 Kings 10.  The Old Testament folks had some strong stomachs!  I hear people say all the time, “What has this world come to when. . . fill in the blank“.  The world hasn’t “come to” anything!  There’s nothing that goes on in today’s world that’s worse than some of the stories in the Old Testament.  Yes, times have changed.  But, that just means the world is different. It doesn’t mean that we deal with things that God didn’t see coming.

That’s why it’s not surprising that my Premier colleague would publicly try to embarrass me on my blog.  I don’t know her.  She lives in a different state, and belongs to a different line of the Premier family.  But, I thought we were all on the same team.  Premier Designs is a wonderful company that would never encourage that type of behavior, and I am still as confident in the company and it’s mission as I have ever been.  So on that note, here’s what’s going on in my Premier business in October (hehe):

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!!

Host a Pretty in Pink Party!
Book a home show in October for special hostess and customer specials.
All customers who wear pink will receive a special gift out of my grab bag.
All pink jewelry will be 25% off (applies to home shows only.)
You will receive The Cure pin as your gift for hosting a show in October
AND
****10% of the profit from your show will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation in your honor!****

Call or email me if you’re interested in hosting a Pretty in Pink party and we’ll get it on the calendar!

My Premier business is a personal relationship business.  We will meet in person, I will do your home show in person, I will personally provide service for you and your guests, and I will work hard to get you the MOST free jewelry that we possibly can!  It’s a partnership between you and me, and if we both put our minds to it, we’ll have  your accessory wardrobe in tip top shape for the fall and winter!

Care of Pastors

I begin each day with scripture reading from the Bible, but ashamedly, once I get going with the rest of my day, I barely remember what I’ve read.  I think writing about something I learned or something that stood out to me, will help me retain what I read and apply it to my life.

A while back I started a reading plan on Youversion.com that will guide me through the Old Testament in one year.  Right now, I am reading in Numbers, Psalms, and 2 Kings.  Today’s reading is from Numbers, chapter 18.

“The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.” ~Numbers 18:1
What a huge responsibility!  Here in Numbers, Aaron has assumed the role of leader of the followers of God, formerly held by his brother Moses.  Today, our church pastors assume the same role.  They are the leaders of God’s people.  They carry a heavy burden that only those in ministry can understand.

“8Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share.9 You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

11 “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
12 “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest.

13 All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
14 “Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours.15 The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.” ~Numbers 18:8-14

What a different attitude we have now!  Aaron lived before Jesus was born.  Therefore, Aaron and the followers of God lived under Old Testament law, all 613 of them.  Their offerings were required under the law, and as God says here, they were given in order to care for the preist.  Nowadays, people gasp if a pastor eats out at a nice restaurant, drives a nice car, or takes an extravagant vacation.  Why do we think that pastors and ministry staff have to be poor?

I’m not taking a side here, just posing the question.  I think maybe the way we think about care for pastors in current times may be a little twisted.  As I said before, pastors carry an extremely heavy burden.  They will answer for each and every one of us before the Lord.  So maybe. . . just maybe. . . our attitude for their care needs a little adjustment?

My Babies

Here is a photo I took of Livvie and my nephew, Grant over the Thanksgiving holiday.  They are so sweet.

Thankful for them.

I hate that Livvie’s hair is all the place!  She had some crazy hair, but it’s kinda cute.

Whew!

It’s been a while. . . I have barely had time to catch my breath lately!  I hope all of my friends and readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I spent some valuable time with my family in Montgomery, and ate waaaay too much.  I love the Thanksgiving meal.  I look forward to it all year long.  My grandmother is the most awesome cook.

This year I have so much for which to be thankful including, Livvie, Jonathan, my parents, sisters, nephews, grandmother, other family, my wonderful church, my home, my car, my jobs, my health.  It’s important among the stresses of daily life, to take time out to think about the blessings in our lives.  One of our Crosspoint life groups actually spent the day handing out meals to families in our community.  I am amazed by their selflessness.  That’s the love of Jesus in action.

On another note, I have been trying to learn some photography skills as of late.  With Jonathan as my boyfriend, and Amber as my friend and employer, I figure it will serve me well to learn their trade so that I can participate in that part of the business.  I don’t know much yet; I am just getting my feet wet.   I really love photography though.  It’s so much fun, and really lets me explore my creative side!  Here’s a picture of Livvie that I shot when we were in Montgomery:

Beautiful Livvie

I’ve got some great Premier specials coming down the pipes to help you with your Christmas shopping needs.  Stay tuned for those!