Snowmageddon 2017

I watched the world outside my window turn white on Christmas Day. By the end of December 26th snow fall totals were record breaking, earning the title Snowmaggedon 2017. Never before in the entire state of Pennsylvania had so much snow fallen in such a short period of time. Roads were closed and interstates were shut down during the storm. Drivers were warned to stay off the streets and stay safe at home.
The Christmas day snow storm grounded every flight leaving the airport and disrupted holiday travel plans. Plows worked overtime clearing streets, creating mountains of piled snow in the process.
The sixty inches of white fluffy flakes caused tree limbs to snap and porches to collapse. The wall of white blocked doorways from opening and barricaded driveways, trapping cars in cases of snow and ice. Authorities declared the historic barrage of winter a "state of emergency." Even the national news made the storm their top story.
In under forty eight hours Snowmageddon had successfully shut down the entire town by snowing in all of its residents.
Yet, when I looked out my window from inside my cozy house, the storm didn't appear to be such a catastrophe. When I looked outside my eyes took in the scene of a snow globe come to life. Every where I looked trees were blanketed in inches of white fluff. Every branch glittered. The whole landscape was transformed into a picture perfect winter wonderland.
On Christmas day, looking out my window I couldn't see the burden in the storm. I could only see the beauty in the snow.
Snowmageddon 2017 isn't my first run in with a storm, snow or otherwise. I've lived in Erie nearly my whole life and I've seen plenty of snow but it isn't a meteorological storm that has most devastated my life.
For nearly a decade I have endured a sickness storm of historical, record breaking proportions. Sickmageddon has barricaded my life with debilitating ailments and inexplicable maladies. The accumulation of symptoms has been so great I can't even open my front door let alone pull out of my driveway. Seemingly overnight, this inescapable storm dumped mountains of ill health and crushing pain on my life. Ever since the skies of my physical condition shifted my will has been grounded. My future plans shut down until further notice.
The magnitude of Sickmageddon has been so overwhelming that I have hesitated to even look outside. The burden outside my window pane taunts me with a mountainous road to recovery and deep, thick layers of illness still in need of shoveling. In my weakness, I wonder how I will ever dig out.
But God's faithful love always draws me back to look at the world in the light of His Son. He pulls me back to the window pane of Christ and opens the blinds wide to reveal the beauty in the storm: the everlasting glory of His redemptive grace.
Fixated on Jesus Christ's everlasting life, I take hold of a scene so stunning and beautiful it takes my breath away. In the flakes of illness that have barricaded my life, I see God's goodness and mercy transforming the landscape of my heart. I see how He has sent the snow of sickness to blanket me in the glittering love of Christ that covers me in tender compassion. Looking through God's window I behold the Savior overwhelming me with rest and peace.
As I behold the vision of God's perfect Son,my world is transformed and I can no longer see the burden in my storm of sickness.
I can only see the beauty in its snow.

A Silent & Holy Night

 

I woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve without a voice, dashing my remaining dreams of singing a solo during the Christmas Eve church service. The final score was in and the cold/flu virus had won.
With no voice and only hours till the service, I made a quick edit to my Christmas list. Miraculous cold/flu recovery took the top spot. I even detailed my wish list by narrowing "quick" down to two or three hours - tops.
Well, one hour and then two hours passed and my voice did not return. I tried sipping tea and gargling salt water to revive my lifeless vocal chords but nothing helped. The best sound I could produce was a squeak and that was painful for everyone involved - both squeaker and listener alike. When the clock ticked past noon and my wish wasn't fulfilled I conceded to my Christmas Eve fate. It was destined to be a very silent night and, as I soon discovered, a very holy one, too.
It was after willingly conceding to a voiceless fate on a snowy Christmas Eve that God fulfilled my Christmas wish with a gift I never thought to ask for.
Silence.
Without a voice to speak I became silent, truly silent. Silent enough to hear God speak to me with a new message of Christmas, one I hadn't been quiet enough to hear.
His message said, "Stop...."
Stop trying to be your own salvation. Stop trying to make all of your plans succeed. Stop trying to be the one who is bright....Stop your worrying. Stop your fretting. Stop your mind from wandering to your concerns....Just stop and behold the new born King....Stop and see that Emmanuel has come! Stop and bow low before the Savior of the world who is with you in your midst.

This Christmas Eve God gave me a gift of a stilled voice and quieted soul in order that I stop, fall down and worship before Emmanuel, my Lord and Savior, the new born King.

Down on antlers but not out of Christmas spirit

This Christmas season I took my car festive. It was a last minute spark of reindeer spirit that inspired me to purchase a "Car Costume" for my vehicle. Online I found a holiday car ensemble that included antlers wrapped in ribbons and bells and, of course, the classic Rudolph red nose. With only two weeks till Christmas I wasted no time making my one-click purchase and, two days later, Amazon Prime delivered.
When my package arrived I immediately unwrapped it and held up the contents of the bag: two brown antlers and one big round, red ball. But there were no instructions. How would this red nose stay on the grill of my car, I wondered?  How would the antlers stay affixed to my window when driving against the wind? The manufacturers instructions, or lack there of, didn't answer any of my questions. I suppose they figured dressing up your car should be self explanatory. Given where this story is going, I can assure you it is not.
Despite the lack of costume clarity, I was determined that my car would be festive this Christmas. With further inspection I figured out how to affix the antlers. The trick? Crack the driver's and passenger's windows.
After my car was officially a reindeer I picked up the perplexing red nose with my sites set on Rudolph. Unfortunately, further inspection did not reveal a red nosed trick. After minutes of frustration and failure, I gave up on my vehicle becoming Rudolph and settled on Dancer instead. After all, not all of Santa's reindeer have red noses.
Since my car put on its costume my driving experience has been enhanced. Since my vehicle became Dancer my travel has been as merry as a Christmas Eve ride on a one horse open sleigh.
Or should I say, was as merry as a Christmas Eve ride on a one horse open sleigh. Driving Dancer was a joy and a delight until Dancer lost her antlers.
It happened one at a time. The first antler annexation occurred during heavy rains. It all happened so quickly I didn't even get to say goodbye. The window was barely cracked, just enough to let in a little fresh air when the car, I mean sleigh, got stuffy. But that's all it took for the wind to carry Dancer's poor left antler away.
Down one antler and still without a nose, my car's ensemble went from sparse to silly but I refused to give up my festive reindeer spirit. Who's to say Dancer didn't have only one antler? If Rudolph could have a red nose, why couldn't Dancer have one antler? In my version of Santa's sleigh Dancer was down an antler but she wasn't out.
So for days I drove my one-antlered Dancer with just as much Christmas spirit as two-antlered Dancer had delivered.
But then tragedy struck. Or, should I say, snow struck. It all happened so quickly. There was rain and then suddenly it turned to snow. My windows began to fog up immediately. Desperate to see I cracked my right window and that's when it happened. I heard the "swoosh" of bells on antler ears as the wind took the last piece of my car's festivities up, up, and away.
Now, with two days till Christmas, my vehicle has lost of its festive spirit. My days of driving Dancer are over. With both antlers gone and a red nose still perplexing me from its packaging, my vehicle is done pretending to be a one horse open sleigh. It's just a little black SUV with really powerful heated seats.

Sometimes Christmas festivities don't end up like we think they should. Sometimes the package is delivered and its contents don't fit quite right. Sometimes it feels like the instructions are missing, assembly is confusing and everything is just plain frustrating.
Sometimes the holidays don't feel as jolly as a one horse upon sleigh. They may not look the least bit merry or bright.
But if you're December is down a few antlers and missing one Santa approved red nose, remember that your Christmas joy is not out because the real reason for the season is still dashing through the snow.
True Christmas spirit is not contingent on a car costume or any package that arrives by Amazon Prime. True Christmas spirit is found in the birth of God's Son, Jesus Christ. The baby born in Bethlehem is the cause of all merriness and the source of all light. The little Lord who was laid in a manger and slept in the hay is the cause of the celebration in December and all year long.
Whether you have two antlers and a red nose or your Christmas costume is a bit lacking this year, you can wear the most festive ensemble of all this holiday season. You can wear the joy of the Lord who has come to earth to bring good will to all and peace to the world.
Because God sent His Son to be born for the salvation of the world in the bleak mid winter of a Christmas long, long ago, you and I can be filled with a festive heart now and forevermore.

A Ms. Pac-Man kinda life

Ms. Pac-Man and I have a lot in common.
In the arcade game life of Ms. Pac Man, her mission is to traverse random mazes lined with pellets and power-pellets, frantically accumulating as many as she can. In my life, the paths I travel are lined with material possessions and personal fulfillment and, just like Ms. Pac Man, I frantically try to accumulate as much as I can.
On her arcade journey, Ms. Pac-Man aims to devour as much fruit as possible. When she discovers a treasure such as an apple or cherry her point total increases. When I discover a fruit of God's Spirit such as gentleness or joy, my unity with Christ is strengthened.
Ms. Pac-Man and I also share a very similar struggle in life. We are constantly on the run from a mysterious nemesis. On every screen and stage of Ms. Pac Man's arcade life, ghosts come out of their contained box to seek and destroy her quest for advancement. As she outruns them, advancing to the next level, the ghosts pick up speed. With eyes bugging out of their brightly colored bodies, the ghosts pursue Ms. Pac-Man with relentless passion, threatening to end her pellet and fruit eating days.
And so it is in the maze of my life.
My enemy chases me at every level, pursuing me with frustration and fear. On every screen I frantically attempt to outrun my ghosts of sickness and pain while eating the pellet's of God's goodness along the way.The moment I think I've conquered my enemy, eaten all the good fruit ther e is to be had and consumed every possible pellet, the screen shifts and opens to a new maze filled with new obstacles. At every level my enemy changes tactics and picks up speed, taunting me with ultimate defeat, threatening to once and for all end my days of eating luscious fruit.
So many of the similarities between Ms. Pac Man and I are downright troubling and discouraging. Both of us are doomed to a fate of never-ending running from an inescapable enemy. But the good news is that Ms. Pac Man and I share a similar blessing along our maze's path - the blessing of "power pellets."
Power pellets are miraculous energizers along Ms. Pac-Man's computerized path. When consumed the pellets transform her ghostly nemesis into blue fuel, adding points to her score and power to her position in the game. When Ms. Pac-Man has a power pellet she dominates and every ghost flees from her presence.
And so it is in the maze of my life.
At every level God has the power pellets of Christ's overcoming life along my path. When I eat of His mighty victory I become invincible in His Spirit. Filled with God's holiness every one of my ghostly enemies is sent running away in fear. Not a single foe stands a chance when the Lord, my soul's energizer, is infusing me with the conquering power and strength of Heaven.
Playing Ms. Pac-Man I never made it to a very high level. The ghosts always did me in. But as I run with God through His maze of life, I have the confidence of His promises and eternal assurance that the ghosts will never win. Because of Jesus Christ, not a single ghost on earth can keep me from His final level. By the power of His indwelling Spirit and the victory of His salvation, I know how this game of Ms. Pac-Man ends: with a crown in Heaven and my name in the King's eternal record book.

A Hallmark Happy Ending

My writers dream is to author Christian devotional books but if that career never takes off I have a back up plan.
Hallmark Christmas Movie Writer.
I think I'd be a great fit for the position. My writing never uses profanity and the content is clean. When it comes to suspense, I prefer a loving approach free from the use of murder and gore. Even my interior design style fits with the Hallmark brand, favoring classic decor and little white lights.
But my most valuable qualification for the Hallmark movie writer position is my keen ability to watch the same romantic comedies and never grow tired of the story line. This quality alone should make me a shoe-in for a Hallmark channel position. After all, that's all the channel does all December long. They play the same romantic comedy on repeat. Twenty four hours a day; seven days a week. The names and places change but the plot is always the same - and so is the home decor.
Hallmark Channel Christmas movies follow a very precise formula and I'm quite sure I've cracked the code. The secret is writing backwards.
Here is how it works. The author formulates in their mind the very most perfect ending. They ask themselves, what is the most miraculous way I can picture this story coming to a close? And that is what they write down. Then the author writes backwards.
Using the turbulence and turmoil of everyday life, the author pens a tale of reluctant lovers overcoming unlikely obstacles to live out a fairy tale romance.The characters are always reluctant to give in to the perfection at hand. The girl's past hurts and brokenness paralyze her from loving again. The guy is madly in love with her but too shy to profess his affection and risk rejection.
But, working backwards, the author has already written the happy end.
The key to the Hallmark channel formula is that it begins with the answer. The author doesn't have to contemplate how the story ends, it is already assured. All that remains for the author to do is throw in some classic romantic turmoil and farfetched fantasy scenarios. Set all of that to a background of festive twinkle lights and, viola, the Hallmark Original Christmas Movie is complete.

Cracking the Hallmark Christmas Movie code wasn't any great investigative feat. It was remarkably simple. I just looked in God's Word and read how He writes man's life story. His perfect stories are written backwards, beginning at the most perfect ending.
God always writes His stories of life knowing how each tale comes to a close. God writes the ending of Heaven while we, His beloved characters, still feel the hell of earth's turmoil and trials.
While we live out scenes of brokenness, hurt and fear, God sees how our story will resolve in Christ's overcoming victory. At the end of every plot twist, regardless of the reluctantly of the characters, the fate of God's final line is always assured.
In His perfect love He has authored for every believer a perfect conclusion to the story, always ending in the location of Heaven and eternity in His presence. The story on earth is set against every imaginable scenery and home decor, but, for those who trust in the ending purchased by the resurrected Christ, the story always comes to a close with joy and never ending life.
God, the Author and Perfecter of the Hallmark happy ending, always writes the best stories that always end with His precious children living forever and always in the victory of Jesus Christ.

A bubble of a blessing

From a deep sleep I awoke up in a painful panic. Something was wrong with my left eye. It couldn't open. I felt the thin, translucent skin protecting my delicate eye and that's when I discovered that on my lid there was growing a gigantic bubble.
Minutes passed slowly as the troubling obtrusion grew. Every time I tried to open my left eye a pounding headache ensued. When I opened only my right eye dizziness soon followed. For quite some time I laid in my bed, paralyzed to move, afraid that even the slightest disturbance might burst my lid's bubble.
I passed the time praying for a miraculous resolution to my growing problem but I didn't receive instantaneous healing. Instead I received miraculous, instantaneous resolve. All at once a burst of will overcame my fear and pain, practically catapulting me from bed. I rose with determination to take on my day, with or without my left eye.
The growing bubble rendered my left eye useless so I decided to look at the world through my right eye. It didn't take but a moment to realize that tactic wouldn't work. Looking at the world through one eye made the room all distorted and made my head spin so I quickly shut that eye, too.
Now I was down two eye. But I wasn't out. With both eyes closed I began my journey across the room, relying on my memory and the feeling of my toes to guide the way. I started out slowly at first and made my way to the hall without incident. I groped for doorways and held fast to the banister when I made it to the steps.
As I maneuvered the house without the use of my eyes I became more comfortable. Even though I couldn't see I soon discovered that I could still live.
And live I did.
I made my bed, washed dishes and made breakfast. I even managed to completed an entire yoga exercise video following the sound of the instructor's voice.
All the while the world around me began to fade away, off into the distance. Without vision to see it, the reality of my surroundings drifted into obscurity. In the absence of my physical sight the vision of God's presence overwhelmed me. Radiant rays of God's goodness cast upon my shut eyes. The clarity and calm of His peace surrounded me. God even silenced the sound freeing me to fixate solely on the brilliance of His presence.
Without my physical vision stealing away my attention I found rest in the nearness of God.
With my lids shut I became still and comfortable in the company of Christ.

Days have passed since the troubling bubble on my eye lid first arrived and the bump is still very much an obstruction to my vision. But today I am sending a "thank you" to the Lord above for giving my eye lid such a blessed bubble that has healed me with miraculously enhanced spiritual vision that sees more clearly the presence of God's everlasting, brilliant light.

A SON Shining Day

A little ditty to sing when you're down and think you might be out. Go ahead and hum this tune to declare that, in Christ, you will have a SON shining day.


I can't see clearly now because the rain isn't gone. 
I can barely see the troubling obstacles that are to come my way.
But even so, these dark clouds can not make me blind. 
Because of Christ it is going to be a bright, Son shining day. 

I don't know how I'll make it because the pain isn't gone. 
I haven't seen all of my bad feelings disappear. 
Yet even so, there is a rainbow, a covenant answer to my prayer. 
In Christ, it is going to be a bright, Son shining day. 

Look all around. Do you see any blue skies?
Look straight up and ahead. Christ is making a way into blue skies. 

Christ sees clearly now and forever, His eternal rain is gone. 
Christ sees all obstacles in my way.  
There is no darkness that can make me blind. 
Because in Christ I see, it is going to be a bright and Son shining day.