Moms Together Newsletter- November
November 11, 2008
Are You Prepared?
I love preparing for the holidays. My “holiday” season begins around the middle of September as I prepare for fall. I pull out couches and vacuum under them (A scary thing to do!). I take down summer things and begin to “tuck” my house in by putting summer decorations away, washing blankets, and placing candles that smell like pumpkins in different rooms. I enjoy bringing my fall boxes out and having my kids place pumpkins, scarecrows, tiny hay bales and pilgrims around the house. Our fall decorations take us through Thanksgiving. Once Thanksgiving is over, though, watch out- we really get into the holiday preparation business.
Holiday preparation means that fall decorations go back in their boxes and Christmas boxes come out…and out…and out…and I realize all over again that I LOVE Christmas. I spend about a week preparing the house for Christmas- getting it just right before we get the tree. The night we get the tree is the most exciting night of the preparation. The kids help pick out the tree, I appeal for a “bigger” one, we load the tree up, bring the tree home and the fun begins. Lights are plugged in just to see if they work. My husband and I argue over white lights or colored lights, the kids “ohh” and “ahh” over ornaments and finally…many hours later, the tree is up and decorated and…beautiful.
Preparing is hard work. It involves time, energy and sacrifice. Sometimes it is painful. Rarely is it stress-free. I am reminded of Mark 14:2-3 which says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Do you realize that Jesus said this close to 2000 years ago?? Can you imagine preparing something for almost 2000 years? Probably not. Can you imagine preparing for something for 20 years? I can’t. I complain when it takes over two weeks to prepare for Christmas. I am so “wowed” with the thought that Jesus loves us so much that he is still preparing for us!
If Jesus is still preparing a place for us then perhaps we should begin preparing to go to that place. How many times have we said amidst the hustle and bustle, “I can’t meet with you today, Lord. I have to drop the kids at school, go to the gym, get some groceries, make it to the mall to look for shoes, pick up the kids……” What if Jesus said that about preparing a place for us? What if He said, “Well, I can’t prepare for you today. I’m too busy doing more important things”? Ouch! But guess what- He doesn’t say that- instead He said, “I go” to prepare. Therefore, shouldn’t we actively prepare for Him?
As I said earlier, preparation takes time and energy. Preparing to be with Jesus means giving Him our time to get to know Him.. How sad would it be to enter the most gorgeous estate on earth and not know the owners? Wouldn’t you want to know why they added a certain room, or why they decorated the way they did? Do you think it would add more to the experience if you knew how they accomplished owning such a stunning home? If we didn’t know details, I’m sure the visit would be wonderful, but it would be shallow without the hows and whys. The same is true in our relationship with Jesus. He’s been preparing for us for years and years. How sad would it be if we hadn’t put the time in here on earth to get to know Him? Wouldn’t it be better to start our citizenship in Heaven knowing Jesus and deepening our relationship rather than beginning to know him there and then deepening the relationship?
I also said that preparation requires sacrifice. My in-laws just moved into their newly built home. The process from when they sold their old home to when their new home was complete took 10 months. During that time they had to sacrifice many things; time with friends and family, sleep, and even peace because they were constantly making decisions. It is hard work to build a house and requires much sacrifice. However, the end goal of our preparation makes the sacrifice worth it. The same is true when preparing to meet Jesus. There will be times that we will need to decide between sleep and devotion time. There will be times when we will be asked to step out in faith and we have doubts. Keep in mind, though, that our end goal- Heaven- makes the sacrifice worth it.
Finally, I said that preparation is sometimes painful. If you have ever had braces, you will remember the pain of preparing for the braces. Remember spacers? When I had to get braces, my doctor put in spacers and the pain was unbelievable for about a week. But, the end result of the spacers was that my teeth moved out so that they could move back together correctly. Because I went through pain, I now love my smile. The same is true for preparing to meet Jesus. He is going to give us the opportunity to work out bad habits, character flaws and hurts that we have been nursing. In doing this, He is allowing us to know Him deeper, become the person He’s created us to be, and shed past behaviors that would have been a hindrance in enjoying all He’s prepared for us, here and in Heaven.
As we enter the holiday season let’s focus on preparing for Jesus, rather than preparing for us. Most of the preparation we make benefits us, makes us feel “Christmasy”, but really doesn’t add to a deeper relationship with Jesus. Therefore, as we prepare, let’s get caught up in worshipping the One who came, rather than the adornments of the season. Take this opportunity to get to know the one who came as a baby. I believe that if we set our minds on things above during the craziness the Holiday Season has become, we will glide through the season with joy and peace rather than grumpiness and headaches.
Take Home:
- List one way you can make your holiday preparation time more Jesus-focused.
- How can you allow peace to reign during your holiday preparation time?
- List some ways you can begin preparing for Jesus’ return, or our home-going to Him. For instance, you can list pray daily, read for 10 minutes daily, listen to Christian radio…. After you have made your list, pray over it and ask Jesus to help you implement at least one way into your life daily.
Written by Kathy Hansen
www.revealedministry.wordpress.com
11-10-08
