Category Archives: Journey

My constant…

0
Posted by Mel on June 12, 2010 – 8:39 pm
Filed under Freedom, Journey

con·stant

–adjective

1. not changing or varying; uniform; regular; invariable
2. continuing without pause or letup; unceasing
3. regularly recurrent; continual; persistent:
4. faithful; unswerving in love, devotion, etc.
5. steadfast; firm in mind or purpose; resolute.

I love words and definitions and writing and yes, I even love spelling. That’s the hidden English major coming out in me! I was thinking about people and moments in my life today and that word above popped into my head….”constant”. There are some people and some little routines I have that I consider a “constant”, I was reminded of those things today. I realized how much I take those things for granted. I expect them to always be there because they have always been there.  They, whether people or circumstances, are the same every day. I can depend on those constants, I feel secure and like the world makes sense in some way. Those things provide me with comfort and when they are gone it leaves a longing inside of me. A moment today made me realize that those things can be gone in a second, never to be done again….never to be experienced.
I’ve been reading chronologically in my bible and as I’ve read through the Old Testament I find myself getting to know God in a different way. I’ve always believed there was a God, even before I experienced salvation…but I never really took the time to get to know Him. I realized today as I was thinking about all the different “constants” in my life how God fills every one of those definitions above.  Never changing or varying the same God I read about in the Old Testament is the same one I seek today. He’s never paused or given up on me. He is continuous and I love that He is persistent. It’s the last two lines that really get me …He is~faithful; unswerving in love, devotion, He is~steadfast; firm in mind or purpose; resolute. He is that one thing in my life that is “constant”.  He fills that empty ache and longing that I used to get. That hole that I carried around in my heart, that I tried to fill with a lot of my earthly desires it could only be filled by Him.

A little update….

2
Posted by Mel on June 12, 2010 – 8:29 pm
Filed under Emilee, Family, Journey

Michael & I have prayed for a very long time that Emilee would meet Jesus in a way that would forever change her life. Emilee is our child that will never know a time when Jesus wasn’t the entire focus of this family, the love of our lives, the leader of our hearts. A relationship with Jesus had to be her decision, something we couldn’t do for her. So we have prayed for God to fill her life with his love. Next Saturday we will joyfully participate in Emilee’s baptism & celebrate with her as she publicly declares that Jesus will forever live in her heart! Many of you have been amazing and wonderful examples of God’s love in Emilee’s young life-thank you for that.

So many things coming up for the Goldsmith family over the next couple of months! Michael and Seth off on mission trips. Michael to Haiti and Seth to Baja, Mexico with the Newsboys. I know that these moments will forever change their view of the world. May they gain an awareness of the needs of others that will lead them to a life of outward focus.  July will also bring a trip to the Lake to honor John Howser at the Howser Music Fest. What a great way to spend time with others and honor John’s legacy and his impact on our lives. This summer finds me headed back to school and while I’m both excited and a little nervous I am already looking forward to being done! I’m also back to working only as needed-no more full time hours right now.

So much happening, it kind of makes my head spin! I’d appreciate it so much if you could join me in praying for the guys while they are away from home and prayer for Emilee as she starts her own journey with God as the center of her life…that would be so great. Prayer is a powerful thing! If you could pray for me as I start class that will help me get through this next year-I know I’ll need a lot of prayer!

Looking forward to sharing some more “quiet thoughts” over the summer as well. My husband did mention I should write a little more often so that each post doesn’t seem like a novel! I’ll see what I can do. I might have to change the name of the blog to Mel’s Rambling Thoughts! As always, thanks for reading.

Living in freedom,

Mel

Choosing Forgiveness…..

0
Posted by Mel on June 6, 2010 – 7:26 am
Filed under Books, Freedom, Journey

May was a month of storms! I talked about them a lot here, they came up a lot at church as we looked into the life of Naomi and Ruth, & we  experienced a couple of crazy spring storms..one that Michael and I rode out in our vehicle!! Storms will always be around! What I think God has been teaching me lately is…that no matter the storm-He is with me!! I believe that, I always have but I didn’t always recognize it. Like a little child sometimes it was easier to go through the rough stuff with anger and bitterness in my heart. Throwing a temper tantrum because my life wasn’t going as I had planned it!! I’m truly thankful that God continues to love me even in the middle of that big attitude! Michael wanted me to remind you how awesome God has been to me through the storms I’ve experienced. So I wanted to end this time of storms with a look back at the changes!!

I could go into a whole story of how God brought my family through some storms, but that might be better left for a book someday!! Too many words!! I do want you to know that out of the storms of my life God is transforming my entire person…my beliefs, my attitude, my proud spirit! One of the things I’ve found recently is God’s loving teaching on forgiveness. I’m really bad about holding a multitude of sins against sinners, including myself! I realize the anger and bitterness I sometimes hold onto during  a storm comes from a very strong desire to protect a very broken heart. (and obviously not trusting God to heal my broken heart!) We’ve all been broken-hearted in some way or another, either by choices we’ve made or by circumstances completely out of our control. Sometimes, I want to blame God, because that seems easy and then I don’t have to take any responsibility for my own actions. But if I remember correctly the Word tells me God doesn’t have any plans to harm me….but to prosper me! Blame can be a dangerous game to be engaged in, sometimes when we’re busy pointing the finger somewhere else we ignore the thumb that’s pointing back at us!!

I learned a lot about bitterness as we studied in Ruth this past month. Remember Naomi?  Call me Mara…which means bitterness! How many times have I found myself in that very same circumstance! Call me Mara! As you continue in Ruth’s story, and what a great story it is, you realize it’s about redemption and God’s grace in our lives! A lot like some of the chapters of my own story! I don’t want to live my story clouded with bitterness and anger anymore! When I gave up control of those situations I began to see God’s amazing work on my heart!

Above you might have noticed a picture of a book…Choosing Forgiveness. I just finished this book and I can’t tell you how it’s impacted my ideas on forgiveness! I thought I’d share the title with you, as maybe your in need of some talk about forgiveness. There have been some people in my life I’ve had to go to and ask their forgiveness, which is never easy! There have also been people I’ve needed to forgive, which for me is even harder! And sometimes it’s me that I need to let off the hook and forgive! Surprising, huh? Whatever circumstances you find yourself in Ms. DeMoss’s book will certainly challenge you to take a good look at where you are! She shares some great scripture through out the book and I plan on keeping those close to my heart!

I pray this morning that if you find yourself trapped in anger and bitterness that you find love and forgiveness in whatever situation is holding you captive. Because, dear one, that’s where you are- trapped, held captive in unforgiveness…….that is all anger and bitterness will bring you. It doesn’t heal your heart, it just holds you prisoner.

It must always come back to this picture for me-a perfect God in the form of an earthly man, shouldering my sins and hanging on a cross-to die a brutal death-FOR ME, FOR MY SINS….so I could have forgiveness! The truth is I did nothing and continue to do nothing to deserve any of it!  It defies human understanding. But I have learned this-if I never translate that to my own life and extend forgiveness to others then I am just selfish and foolish and I really don’t get it! You can’t talk about grace or love or joy or any of those other words we like to throw around without living a life of forgiveness…extended to one another. It makes Christ’s sacrifice on the cross seem unimportant….when it is the ultimate sacrifice that only a most Holy God could provide. It must be the center of my life…it is a story of forgiveness, grace, love, sacrifice….and ultimately joy in His resurrection.  See…He’s not in that grave anymore and there are a lot of us that say we love him that live like He’s still there. Not me, not anymore and hopefully not you! There is a mighty power in going through life’s storms. I hope you find yourself running to them and not resisting them because I can tell you in the storms of my life I’ve found Him! Not a glossy pictured  “happy” Jesus…but the Jesus that would hang naked on a cross, mighty to save…even a sinner like me!

Living in Freedom,

Mel

Guest Blogger: Audra Hibbs

0
Posted by Mel on May 16, 2010 – 9:06 pm
Filed under Community, Journey, Women

Out of life’s storms come….hope! A hope- for better life circumstances, a closer walk with God, a realization of what is truly important! I have this amazing blessing of sharing life with some beautiful, Godly women who have these amazing stories and they live life willing to share their stormy moments in the hopes that it might bring hope to someone’s journey.  My friend Audra is one of those women. She has this amazing story that has had a huge impact on my life and I thought it would be great if she would be willing to share a little of her story here.  When I approached her about writing her story to share on the blog…she was absolutely agreeable.  Audra’s story is a story of hope and relationship with God and a “more excellent way”.  Audra and I had the unique experience of getting to know each other during my years as flag corps sponsor with the FHS band. Audra was in my first flag corps at Fredericktown, which that’s been 11years ago now! We were both much younger! I had just turned 30 and Audra was probably all of 14! She has had a huge impact on my journey with God. It was through her example as a young girl who loved Jesus with all her heart that encouraged me as I started my journey with God. After our paths had gone in different direction for several years God has put Audra and I back in relationship over the last two years….He always knows what we need!! During a very dark time in my journey God sent Audra and her story to give me hope and I don’t even think Audra realizes how important her words were to me at that time. Audra is a lot of things and I could write pages about her amazing character but what I want you to know about her is that she loves Jesus with this fierce and intense passion that is truly contagious to all around her. She is wise beyond her young years and she writes the most amazing, God-inspired words that are honest and raw. I hope when you get done reading her words here you’ll jump over to her blog-incomplete ramblings… and read some of her posts, they will impact your life!

Without any further “ramblings” on my part, Audra’s story………..

Dark Days

I’ve always loved rainy days.  Few things recharge my soul like an afternoon spent curled up under a fuzzy blanket, reading a book and listening to the gentle way rain hits the glass on my window.  And the distinctively green smell of the world after the rain passes.

Much like my affection for rainy days, the Lord has instilled in me over time a love for life-storms.  It seems counter-intuitive, really, and it hasn’t always been that way.  There was a specific period of my life that I refer to as my dark days.  At the time, it felt like every worst-case scenario that could arise arose…all at once.  My long-term relationship ended when the man with whom I’d been planning a life told me that he was homosexual; that moment alone created an epic war in the battleground of my heart in which Jesus and Satan battled it out for control over my perception of my femininity over the course of several years.  My brother and his wife, who had been like a second set of parents to me, separated and filed for divorce.  In the span of one year, three of my close friends passed away.  My childhood friends and I began to grow apart, simply because of the wear and tear of time and distance.  Change lurked around every corner, so much that it disoriented me on every possible level.  It felt as though a part of me was dying; every part of my life that I thought I could count on began to tear away at the seams.  And as that happened, my heart went through the same process of tearing and mending, ripping and healing.

But looking back on my life, my dark days, my great storm…they changed everything.  It took away from me the mediocre and gave me the extraordinary.  It took from me a life that was comfortable and sensible and predictable and gave me a life that is daily unexpected and unpredictable and vulnerable and infinitely more rewarding than anything I could have dreamed up on my own.  I have a career and a ministry and a circle of friendships and a husband that I would never trade for anything; each of them things and people that would have been forsaken had my former life stayed intact.

One of my favorite scriptures is I Corinthians 12:31: “But eagerly desire the greater gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way.”  This verse has become the most accurate description of the way I view the storms we encounter as believers or, more broadly, as humans.

I believe it’s easy for us to desire the greater gifts and get stuck there.  To dream up the life we desire, and to desire it so much that our brains can’t even comprehend anything more wonderful.  And yet, there’s always a more wonderful adventure to come; we always have a Creator whose nature is more extravagant than we can imagine.  And sometimes, when we become so stuck in those “greater things” we’re desiring, I think the Lord finds that the only way to get us to let go is to tear down those things long enough to show us His “still more excellent way.”

I believe there will always be another storm to come as long as we’re ardently chasing Christ; because as long as we’re chasing Christ, there will always be another level to His more excellent ways, at least until Heaven comes to Earth in completion.

So eagerly desire those greater gifts.  And when the Lord uses the storms of this life to tear them down, live not only in contentment but in hope, knowing that He’s about to reveal to you another of His endless progression of excellent ways.

Psalm 29

1
Posted by Mel on May 15, 2010 – 10:52 am
Filed under Freedom, Journey, Uncategorized

As I read through the Bible I find myself hearing more and more from God. Funny how that works!! Recently I posted about storms in my life and what that means to me…how it has impacted my life.

I watched a video recently where Mandisa talks about hearing from God and how she believes that God still speaks to us. I have that belief and faith that God is still speaking. I often wonder, “Do we still listen?” After my last post I went to church and of course, we talked about storms. We’ve started a new series at church on the book of Ruth that is having a huge impact. God is speaking!! So this topic of storms has come up a lot since I wrote my last post. While reading this morning in Psalms-you guessed it-storms again in Chapter 29. David talks about the might of God and His storms. The chapter starts with shouting Bravo, God Bravo!!! Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!” They are awesomely praising God for this crazy, huge, awesome storm that just sounds insane and scary. Not usually my first reaction to a storm and asking for an encore seems a little crazy.

The very next verse David talks about “being in awe before the glory, in awe about God’s visible power!” Catch that word “visible”? That’s what I find myself looking for most-a visibly present God in my every day circumstances. Although, it is God’s “visible” power that I so often overlook because of my own fear and indecision. I also get too wrapped up in dreaming life, that I forget to “live” my life. Or I get too worried about failing to try anything. He’s teaching me to stop waiting for the best circumstances and just jump. I’m learning on this journey that failing is no longer a bad word, it’s a step to learning. If I don’t ever fail….then I’m probably not ever going to learn!

As I read about David, I’m really starting to get to know him better and realize why he is a man after God’s own heart! And in the midst of all this crazy storm in vs. 9 David says, “We fall to our knees-we call out, “Glory”! What other response could you have…when you are seeing God’s visible power. I don’t think people do that enough anymore, fall to their knees. I have seen that one time in the last 8 years of church attendance….one time that someone fell on their knees in front of God. That’s a whole other blog post to write!!

My favorite part of the chapter comes at the end. (And no it’s not that the storm is over!!) It’s when I read-God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace. What an amazing promise….through the storms we become stronger and in the midst of it all we find peace. I’m learning to take the storms for what they are and to not fear them as much but to learn from them. I’ve decided to take the storms because He is with me through every one and I’d rather be with Him than go back to living the way I used to when I was lost!!

I know this chapter shouted out to me this morning and I know a lot of people are facing storms right now in their lives-so I hope that you found peace in the words of Psalm 29.

The Storm.

1
Posted by Mel on May 1, 2010 – 9:25 pm
Filed under Freedom, Journey

“There’s a storm coming in the distance.

Some will run to it and some will resist it.

Our eyes will turn to the sky.

With desert hearts looking to the heavens, desperate for your holy fountain, our eyes will turn to the sky.

Rain down on earth, Father. Rain down on earth, Spirit. Rain down on earth, Jesus. Rain down on earth.”

~Carlos Whittaker

Storms….Do you run “to” them or do you “resist” them? Me? I fall on the side of resisting them.  I don’t like storms one bit and as far back as I have memories  I’ve always feared them.

Last night Michael & I got caught right in the middle of a huge storm coming home from Farmington. The lightning started out looking like the picture above but when the rain and wind came it was flashing so fast it became a blinding white light. That light wasn’t illuminating it was disorienting. For a while I wasn’t even sure we were driving on the road anymore. But we just kept going, forward, moving very slowly and just as slowly the storm started to let up. That’s the best thing about a storm-that it has an ending. It doesn’t last forever, although sometimes it seems that way, there is always going to be an end.

I’ve thought a lot today about how overwhelming some of the storms in my life have been. I also realize if I hadn’t experienced those storms I would never be any different. I would be  making the same mistakes, I’d never learn anything new, and I certainly would never have allowed God total access to every part of my life. I know that the storms are going to keep rolling and they won’t be comfortable but I believe in how they can shape me. I have come to the painful awareness that life is not about what I can accumulate in the way of possessions, it’s not about my status or how important I think I am, and it’s certainly not about arriving at death safely. It is however about giving away everything I have to follow Him, it’s about relationships and community and it’s about living life to it’s absolute fullest. Storms included!!! The moment those ideas became real in my life…I realized I’d never be completely “comfortable” in this life anymore. I don’t think we’re meant to be comfortable here. Wouldn’t it make heaven seem insignificant and unimportant? Don’t you think?

I love the lyrics above, they are beautiful and honest and very raw, the moment I heard them I felt their impact. No longer do I want to resist…..I realize it’s in those stormy moments that God fills me with what my heart has been looking for all along~Freedom, joy, love without measure…and peace in the midst of the worst storm. I desire the rain, it changes me..forever. No longer do I feel trapped by the same old things.

I hope in the midst of whatever storm you are experiencing that you meet God there, it will forever change you and may it encourage you to live dangerously and boldly, in complete joy and freedom with love and peace always invading your heart.

That is my prayer for you…..

In quietness….

2
Posted by Mel on April 15, 2010 – 8:08 pm
Filed under Journey, Life

……”In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15


How many times do I find myself fighting and struggling, and sliding right back down that slippery slope? Which slope you might ask? The one where I am forever unsure and always doubting. I have found as I’ve journeyed through life that the farther away I am able to keep God the easier my life is. At least that has always been my perception, which has worked well for making me the kind of Christian that talks about God but never really lived life with Him. I was a great slippery slope kind of gal!! Several years ago I started down a path where I knew that I would never be content to live my life in this parallel way. Always keeping myself in proximity to God but not committing to the hard stuff. I wanted to know he was there but participation was on my terms not his. That makes for a dangerous Christian and not one I wanted to continue to be. If you pray dangerous prayers to God, like giving up everything to follow him..that’s when things really get crazy. Gone are all the comforts of belonging to the right “crowd”, gone is the ability to ignore his voice speaking into your life, and gone are all preconceived notions of people and situations and shiny, earthly things.

I liked being invisible. I liked being a friend to very few and an acquaintance of even fewer. I liked living my life without any emotional inconvenience. I really just liked things going in an even direction with very few bumps. The last few years, how can I even describe these moments? It’s like riding across an African Savannah at 150 miles an hour on the back of a mini-bike hoping you don’t get thrown off in the middle of lion territory. If that makes any sense!!.. and for those of you that have experienced it…it makes perfect sense. It’s a weird kind of transformation, but that’s what the experience has been a transformation.

I’ve always heard people say that God’s gonna love us wherever we are, but he’s not going to leave us there! I’m still not sure how I feel about that idea, I think sometimes he leaves us right in the middle of our wallow in the mud. At least that’s where I found myself for a time. Probably the best thing that could have happened. It teaches you a lot about yourself, about God, about his grace. Suddenly nothing seemed like such a chore anymore-being a friend, being joyful, being obedient, forgiving and letting go, learning to be humble, finding patience, walking in quietness. Learning to listen instead of just talking constantly to fill up the air!!

I don’t want to be the end of that verse in Isaiah. When God is speaking to me promising me amazing things and telling me how to get salvation and strength…I don’t want to be the one that doesn’t get it, that would have none of it. I’m still a work in progress, I’ve learned recently that I will always be that. I’ve learned through circumstances that life here will always be difficult and more than likely a lot of things will happen that I won’t ever understand on this side of heaven. But someday this life will fall away and I’m working on learning what I need to know along the way, to get ready for what comes next.

Here’s to continuing the journey!!


Unbreakable

4
Posted by Mel on January 24, 2010 – 10:43 pm
Filed under Journey, Music, Opinions

Where are the people that accused me?
The ones who beat me down and bruised me
They hide just out of sight, can’t face me in the light
They’ll return but I’ll be stronger

Those are the opening words to Fireflight’s song Unbreakable. I had the pleasure of seeing Fireflight in concert Friday evening with Winter Jam 2010. Love this song and it’s message. Ever had those people in your life? We all have. What I’ve finally realized about people who accuse me or cause me pain and hurt me….the only thing I’m called to do….is love them. Weird. Yep, it’s just weird. We don’t get to punch them or scream at them or even justify ourselves or our reputation by talking badly about them. We are just called to love them. For me it’s been the ultimate test of whether I take this Christian life seriously. Is it possible to return stronger after a painful experience or to  just fall back into my old ways? ….of not trusting, of guarding my heart, of withdrawing. I stand before you and I say….wait, I scream- Yes!!! It is absolutely possible and I am living proof that God can redeem any experience. I am proof that you can learn and you can have joy through all things and you can dream again.


God I want to dream again, take me where I’ve never been
I wanna go there, this time I’m not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it’s unmistakable
No one can touch me, nothing can stop me

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried out to God that I want to dream again! I’m so ready for whatever is coming next! God’s filled my heart with His Word and pointed me in the direction He has for me. He’s shown me that He doesn’t leave me and He’s refining me and He’s preparing me. Painful times will come and what will I choose to do? Will I want to take back control, will I fear? Faith is moving without knowing…I love that line. That’s exactly what I plan on doing. I’m just going to keep moving. I’m moving through life now without all the baggage and the fear. When you hear the words God can change anyone from the inside out…I hope I come to your mind. I hope I’m able to show with my actions and not my words that I am indeed forever changed.

Sometimes it’s hard to just keep going
But faith is moving without knowing
Can I trust what I can’t see to reach my destiny?
I want to take control but I know better

I’ve used fear as an excuse…a crutch. But it is no longer my goal to arrive safely at the end of my life. It is my goal to live life boldly, without reservations, risking it all. Sometimes my biggest fear is just simply of failing. As I’ve gotten to know me better and definitely as I’ve leaned into God and His plans I’ve realized how silly that seems. If I never fail- how will I ever know if I’m headed in the right direction, how will I ever learn what He needs me to know? The time for worrying about what other people think , or fitting comfortably into what is acceptable to the masses-it’s over. It’s so over! I’m living for the acceptance and judgment of One. That really is all that matters.

Forget the fear it’s just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust

It’s getting late and I need to go spend some time with someone who shares my dreams. My question for you….where are your dreams, not dust I hope, and what could you accomplish if fear was erased from your life? Could you step out of the group and dare to be different, dare to be free, dare to live your dreams….dare to do that one thing…..live that one secret dream that swirls round and round in your thoughts? Crazy talk , right? Are you sure? Maybe it makes more sense than what you would let yourself believe……

The Post that Never Was?

2
Posted by Mel on January 16, 2010 – 5:19 pm
Filed under Freedom, Grace, Jesus, Journey, Opinions

Sounds like a great opening line for a Hitchcock mystery! This post was actually going to be titled Joy vs. Happiness when I started thinking about it at 4am this morning. Slept well last night, but couldn’t sleep in this morning…so I got up and headed downstairs where it was quiet. Was going to write my blog post that had been running around in my head since 4am and do some reading in my bible. I’ve been reading a chronological version of the bible and have really liked it so far. I was reading Job but have now flipped back to the middle of Genesis….well this morning I found myself reading in Galatians. Not where I expected to be reading when I opened my YouVersion. The verse I started reading,  I have read it dozens of times without much effect but this morning I read it in every version that YouVersion offered. I was overwhelmed by it.  I liked it very much in The Message…..that is what you see below.

22 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, 23 not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Galatians 5:22,23a

After reading this and the rest of Galatians and James and 1 & 2 Peter I realized I still have a lot of learning left on this journey. It was a moment of self realization that things I struggle with could be overcome. It was promised right there…but where was I in all of this?  First off-I certainly understand the overcoming part couldn’t happen under my power. That seemed pretty simple. The realization came though, that I’m still trying to force “my way” in life. I get glimpses of that life promised in the Galatians passage, but then I find myself in the way again. I constantly say to my kids….how many times do you want me to tell/ask you the same thing? I bet God probably feels that way with me on a lot of days. My biggest roadblock would still be my blazing-hot temper. This is where I ended up next in my bible….

19 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear.20 God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger.21 So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.22 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!23 Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror,24 walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.26 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air.  James 1:19-26

In my mind I can see God working on my salvation-garden. Clearing away all the weeds that are choking out all the beauty that He has planned for it. I see the most vibrant red roses climbing over a beautiful white trellis..and nestled under it all a little wooden bench…dark, green foliage and bright colors all around… beautiful white puffy clouds in the bluest sky ever and the amazing smell of  a warm summer’s day when it’s just rained and you can smell the earth alive. It’s where He & I are going to spend hours talking and planning and laughing and loving. It’s where I am going to learn the things He needs me to know…..so that I’m not glimpsing what God has promised but living right in the middle of it all!!!

I realized He started clearing this garden  a long time ago when I asked Him into my heart…it just took me a little while, as I’ve traveled down this path, to realize it and find it. As I close this post this evening…I was just wondering if you have ever thought about your salvation-garden that God is crafting for you?  Maybe you’ve never imagined it…….or like me never even knew it existed.

My prayers never cease for you….I pray that you continue to find contentment and peace and joy on your journey through this life.

A Letter to Santa…and Compassion

3
Posted by Mel on November 17, 2009 – 7:19 pm
Filed under Emilee, Jesus, Journey

This evening while helping my 6 year old write her letter to Santa for a school assignment I had the opportunity for a teaching moment about what Christmas really means. I did not realize what her perception of Christmas was, although I thought I knew, until we had a little disagreement over a gift idea. She has wanted a Nintendo DS for awhile now. It happens to be a very expensive item. The deal has always been she would save up money she received so she could buy it, herself.

With Christmas coming she keeps hinting that “Santa” should bring it to her. Daddy and I explained that Santa didn’t bring those kind of gifts since he has a lot of little children to get gifts for. This evening she was adamant that request would go in her letter to Santa we were writing. After realizing she wasn’t going to win on the Santa idea..she changed tactics and said she would ask us to get it for her, as our Christmas gift to her. I told her that would not happen and explained why, but that didn’t set well. She reminded me that Christmas was about her getting the gifts she wanted!!! (All this in a teary, woe is me, my life is horrible kind of dramatic episode.) I was not entirely surprised since she is only 6 years old and right now her world…revolves around her.

At this point, letter writing was paused as we talked about the real reason for celebrating Christmas. That being the birth of Jesus Christ and not the receiving of any & all presents she thinks she should have. I am very aware that Christmas has become a very materialistic, consumer driven holiday. That’s pretty evident since the stores have had Christmas “stuff” out since before Halloween. Which is ridiculous!!! I also realize this push of consumerism has a huge impact on my children. We’ve always tried to keep Christmas giving very low key at our house. No matter our income we have not ever spent a huge amount of money. Michael & I have not exchanged gifts but a handful of times over our last 22 Christmas’ together.

We’ve been talking about becoming a part of an organization like World Vision or Compassion by sponsoring a child for awhile now, this was the perfect opportunity to explain to Em the need of other children in this world. As we looked at picture after picture of little girls her very age, I saw a transformation taking place. It was no longer about what Em could “get”, it became about what she could “give” to someone else. I think that’s one of the best lessons Michael & I can pass along to our children.

Besides outgrowing their clothes and needing them replaced…there is nothing our children absolutely have to have at this moment. Here’s what I do want them to have: I want my children to have a servant heart, I want them to give more than they get, I want them to understand the need of other people in this world! I want them to stand up and do something about the need of other people in this world! I have a feeling this Christmas may be an altogether different experience for the Goldsmith family! What better time of the year to start living our lives in a missional way and continuing that always – and hopefully….. someday passing that along to our children’s children.