When Little Girls Look for Jesus--But a Wall is There!

At the Franktown church Friday night after the choir service, a little girl's curiosity got the better of her and she stole up front to look at the manger scene.

There she was, looking and looking and looking.

And Jesus, in the Christmas season, do we look--and look--for You like that?

But there was a wall between her and the manger, just like the walls that so often come between us and the Lord Jesus.

Walls of doubt, confusion, despair, hopelessness, guilt, pain, trouble, discouragement, sin.

The wall was too tall for the little girl--

until someone came who thought she might like to see Jesus,
and helped her up over the wall.

Jesus, do you see me here, standing nearby this Christmas season, just wanting to catch another fresh glimpse of Your face?
Is there a wall there between us? Something too tall for me to scale?

Jesus, my prayer this Christmas is to see and sense You once again, afresh and anew.

Just because I don't feel ecstatically spiritual, does that mean I am not yours?

Just because I don't feel you, does that mean You aren't there?

Just because I don't have all the answers, does that mean I can't climb over the walls and just come to You, O Child of the Manger and the Cross?

Just because I am an adult, does that mean I can't come to You as a child

just like my littlest daughter comes to you like she did this morning, cuddling under her fuzzy blanket by the Christmas tree reading her Bible for her morning devotions?

Jesus, I'm  not nearly as interested in our blue-and-silver Christmas tree as I am in You!
You Who humbly made Your bed in a manger, come gently to my heart
and to others too, I pray, this Christmas!
And give us eyes that see others who are waiting beside a wall that is too  high for them.
Help us to have the love that will see their need for a boost!
Give us the wisdom and grace to help lift them up over their wall so that they can see you up close with the eyes of their heart!

Bible Missionary Institute Choir--Beginning the Christmas Season With Song!

The first day of December began our Christmas season beautifully with the Bible Missionary Institute Choir singing at a large church in Franktown.

Several churches in the district got together and the church was nearly packed.

It was hard to find a seat, but we found one!

The president of the Bible College spoke at the beginning, explaining that the choir had been up since before midnight the day before to travel to meet their flights.

The singing was beautifully arranged, and worshipful.

I really appreciated the modest attire on the young ladies.

In the middle of the service, the choir director called all the children up to "help" the choir.

Each child was given a bell, and he/she was supposed to ring it whenever the director showed their color with the cards he was holding.

We loved how some of those children really rang those bells!

Isn't Christmas about children?

If only we could be more simple and childlike!

The tree in the back was really pretty. The halls were crowded, and we enjoyed visiting with Justin and Melanie Stanton who were there as well.

All were invited to the potluck afterward at the Franktown Fire station where Tammy Hallam had done a lovely job of decorating.

It was a lovely beginning to Christmas season!

Sam's Birthday

Last week was Sam's birthday.

We had been gone most of the day, so instead of taking time to bake a cake, we celebrated with brownies and doughnut balls on a cupcake stand!  He didn't care as long as there was icecream!

He had wanted Grandma and pa to come out. .

Sam has lived two decades!

Sammy's dog seemed to want to see what was written in his cards, too!

Those dogs were so funny!

 One of Sam's gifts was a fuzzy blanket with a deer.

Grandma wanted a picture of "three generations," so Grandpa, Jonathan, and Sam posed for her.

The kids had fun being silly behind them!

Even the dog was in the photo!

More pictures of Sam. Here Hannah had hopped on his back while the guys are trying to figure out a problem at the work job.

Here is Sam's cow elk that he got this year.

Jonathan and Danny ready for the hunt.

Sam starting the gutting.

Hauling the elk home after dark.

A Real Christmas Tree--and Choosing Contentment

After loading the first Christmas tree onto the top of our van, we went looking for a second.

We had purchased two tags at $10 each, because I wanted extra greens, or possibly just an extra tree for the children to enjoy decorating downstairs with their own ideas.

"Oh, there is the dream tree!" Rose had crowed, which sent us all tumbling out of the van.

Rose started singing some silly Christmas song.

"Somebody is up there!" Timmy scolded, who had noticed a car up further. "We shouldn't be so noisy!"

"Let them hear us be happy!" I responded, as we girls continued to sing something Christmas, and scrambled and slid down the steep bank.

That particular tree ended up scrawny as usual up close, and we had to hunt a bit more, but finally we selected another one that we thought was about as good as we were going to get.

Almost everyone took a turn hacking with the axe, as chain saws were forbidden for cutting down Christmas trees.

We were quite happy with our selections, but at the same time, someone worried that now that we had gotten our two-tree quota, we would for sure now find a perfect one and wish we had waited for it.

"Don't look anymore!" Jonathan advised, after loading the second tree onto our van and securing it with a ratchet strap.
"It's like finding your wife or husband," I explained to the children, finding an opportunity to teach in a couple of sentences what had just been exampled to us.

We had found acceptable trees, just like a marriage partner, not perfect, but having all the necessary qualifications. 

Now if we saw a better tree, we understood that it was off limits. We had filled our tree tags, and that was it.

God has said, "Till death do you part." That is the end of the spouse tags.

So we hauled those trees to the van and strapped them on and went merrily down the mountain.
In fact, we weren't even looking for another tree. 

No tree is going to be perfect, and no spouse or home or location or job or church or Christmas celebration is going to be perfect.

But right along with the best imperfect person or church or holiday celebration that we can choose , we can choose contentment.

And contentment turns our imperfect search result into something pretty close to perfect--for us!
"It's for us," Jonathan said stoutly when I expressed fear of what certain people might think of it.

Perfect for us!

Looking for the Perfect Tree--and the Perfect Christmas

This year the children determined to go to the mountains and find our own real Christmas tree instead of our usual artificial one that we've used year after year.
So here we are up in Pike National Forest (in the designated Christmas tree harvesting area) looking for the perfect tree.

We looked and looked and looked.

Somehow the envisioned perfectly formed and sprightly fir with thick, dark green branches sitting smiling at us in some beautiful, snowy spot just didn't manage to show up.

We walked and walked and walked.

Of course, the tree had to meet certain guidelines, such as that the trunk could be no more than 6 inches in diameter. So when we found a few trees that might have worked, the trunks were questionably thick.

The experience was becoming a little less than what the children had dreamed about!

We realized that we were used to the perfectly symmetrical, thick, green Christmas tree we've used for years, but it was artificial.

We wanted something real. 

We walked along thinking about this and discussing it. So often we set ourselves up for disappointment by getting used to the artificially perfect plastic Christmas trees--and life experiences and people who wear masks. We swallow the artificial advertisements,  believe the hype, and set up unrealistic expectations.

Going through this part of the forest was pretty dream-collapsing--and pretty sobering.

There are a lot of times in life when we go through experiences that are like finding a barren, rocky mountainside strewn with beetle-eaten remnants of pines when we were dreaming of a lovely fir set in a snowy hillside.

We dream of that perfect marriage partner, and the perfect church fellowship, and the perfect job, and the perfect family, and the perfect Christmas.

And when we get married, or join that church, or find a job or start raising that family (or can't find a spouse to do it at all), or decide on plans for how we're going to celebrate Christmas this year, things usually don't turn out quite the way we were dreaming at all.

Everyone was noticing how nice certain evergreens looked from a distance, but when you came right up to it, it wasn't so great. 

Up close, they were extremely disappointing--like how we people sometimes look to each other when we start getting to know each other apart from job settings where we look professional, and church settings where we look pious, and family settings where we look classy--all from a distance. 

 We probably all know some "perfect" family or couple or business person or church pastor or layman that looks like they have it all together--from a distance.

Sometimes the trees we rushed to so hopefully looked pretty pathetic up close.

And some looked good up close because it was actually two trees standing together!

By itself, one of the trees was too spindly or not very symmetrical, but together, like a husband and wife whose strengths balance out each other's weaknesses, they made a beautiful sight to those looking on.

We realized, after about an hour and a half, that we were possibly going to have to make do with something a little unsightly, realizing that in Pike National Forest we just weren't going to find the perfect tree.

And then we found one!

Not perfect, of course, but very acceptable.

Like that girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse or church or job or friend who we realize is not any more perfect than we are, but who is real, and honest and open and good, a real prize,

one to be chosen, and kept, and cherished.

We were so excited!

Rose, Jonathan and Timmy all took a turn with the axe, and soon we were on our way back to the van.

Father in heaven, teach us to value what is real, although it may not be perfect.

Teach us to be open and honest with one another in love and humility.

Teach us to forbear and forgive others when their branches are sparse on one side, their needles are too brown,  or their trunks are not the right size.

Teach us to value what is real over what is artificial, to value truth over appearances,

and to keep seeking for the good in others that can be found if we will keep patiently looking for it.