Christmas cont.

Merry Christmas!

For I am confident of this very thing,

that He who began a good work in you

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

And there is something about this tree that parallels our experiences with God this year. Everything was falling into place. We knew what our family was to look like and where we were going to call home. Life was under control.

We were going to be permanent residents of “the Avenue” community. We were going to be the givers of the second grandchild to both sets of parents, and this child was going to share not one gene with any of us. We shared in the joy of a growing family as both Chris’s brother and my sister got married (not to one another, though). We rejoice with Chris’s brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their first child, a son, sharing a birthday with Abigail. We finished mounds of paperwork to begin waiting for a baby to find that I was pregnant, expecting a baby in April. The adoption process is frozen until such time as we feel God moving us in that direction. Finally, we left a big house with a little yard on “the Avenue” for a little house with a big yard (and considerably less updating to do) a few minutes’ drive away.

The corners of our hearts were cleared for the plans we had to fill them. Manageable plans fit easily into that which already existed. We could get our minds around those plans, understand their purposes, and see wisdom and opportunity in those plans.

But God spoke His plans into our lives. And our circumstances changed. And our hearts grew as we struggled and worked and changed; I should say our hearts continue to grow. Though we will be waiting till April to see the result of all of God’s revised plans for our family (for this year), those plans promise to yield beautiful, one-of-a-kind results designed just for us. And they promise to create in us beautiful, one-of-a-kind hearts designed by our Creator and able to give Him great joy.

And isn’t that what we celebrate at Christmas, the Messiah, King of Kings, entering the hearts and lives of man in a most unexpected, unmanageable way. Coming to give us gifts unimagined in ways unfathomable. Creating a people of His own who are able to give His Father great joy. I hope this past year has found you surprised, changed, and perfected by God, and that this Christmas you can rejoice in His gift of servant-savior.