Merry GRINCH Christmas!!
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of (your) life.” Proverbs 4:23
Yesterday I went to Physical Therapy. As I was leaving I wished a “Happy Thanksgiving” to the gal at the desk. She looked at me with a totally worn out expression on her face and said wearily and with no joy, “yeah, my son just told me he was coming. I’ve got so much work to do.” Can you relate?
Christmas is just around the corner. It is meant to be a time of joy, hope, and peace all wrapped together in a heart of love. But December is such a world-wind, isn’t it? There is so much to do! Gifts and sweets and parties and food and travel and family and neighbors and a tree and decorations and… if we’re not careful, we end up worn out and weary. It all becomes a chore, something just to get through. It loses what it is meant to bring us. Can you relate?
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we will focus on “guarding our hearts” so that our Christmas celebration and joy - what it means in our lives - will be all it is supposed to be. For you see, for each of us, our heart is the wellspring of our lives, our heart effects everything we do, and from our heart comes the ability to receive anew and celebrate all that Christmas is.
So why,“Merry ‘Grinch’ Christmas? Well, the Grinch’s problem was his heart. His heart was two sizes too small. But it got fixed. It got fixed when the truth of Christmas touched his heart. You see, it is our heart that can rob us of what Christmas is meant to be, but God –with the Grinch as our example – would fix it to our great joy!
Saturday /Sunday, Dec.2nd & 3rd Guarding The Gift of A Pure Heart
The Grinch hated Christmas. (Do you ever find yourself there?) But no one seemed to know why. (Do you know how your heart gets to that place?) Yes, his heart was two sizes too small….but how did that happen? How does it happen with us? And how does it get fixed? And how can we “guard it?” After all, it is important. For it was Jesus who said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!”…And I might add, they are the ones who are able to celebrate Christmas to its fullest!
Saturday/Sunday, Dec.9th & 10th Guarding the Gift of A Passionate Heart
Passionate. When a person is passionate about something it means that they care deeply about it. It is the “why” of life –correct? But have you ever lost your passion? It is like the air being let out of a ball – like being punched in the stomach – and it takes the air out of living –doesn’t it? How does that happen? And how can we get it back?... Especially with Christmas around the corner?
Saturday/Sunday, Dec. 16th & 17th Guarding the Gift of A Patient Heart
Patient. On the one hand, my son, James, had no patience when it came to not knowing what his gifts were under the Christmas tree; when we weren’t around he would prick tiny holes in the wrapping paper so he could find out. On the other hand, he had great patience in that he would painstakingly with great care use this process he had developed of putting these tiny holes in the paper- that you wouldn’t even see unless you were looking for them. Do you ever lose your patience around this time of year? …and with it, your “Christmas spirit?” Want to get it back?
Sunday, December 24th Guarding The Gift of A Peaceful Heart
In a hurricane, the force of the wind and rain is devastating!....but in the hurricane, all is at peace. This is how I picture a heart that knows and lives in peace. Even though the hurricanes are screaming all around us, a heart at peace is not affected; it is beyond it. Take a deep breath right now and then let it out all the way. Feel that? When is the last time you did it down to your very soul? Today the Grinch finds peace for his heart. He finds it in Christmas. It is where we can find it as well. Where do you need peace?