I Wonder and I'm in Wonder

During the Christmas season I find myself wondering about the non-essentials of Christ’s birth. I think it must be the mommy in me, because I never asked such questions before my children were born.

I wonder how long Mary labored.

I wonder what the weather was like that Middle Eastern night when Mary and Joseph entered the City of David. Since the shepherds were outside with their flocks, it couldn’t have been too crisp an evening. I wonder if it was actually hot.

I wonder if Jesus was born in the evening or in the wee hours of the morning.

I wonder if other women came to help her, or was it only Joseph by her side.

I wonder if Joseph remained calm.

I wonder if Mary and Joseph felt twinges of misplaced guilt about laying down the Son of God in an animal trough.

I wonder if baby Jesus sucked in His first earthly breath and exhaled with a blustery cry.

I wonder what Jesus looked like as a baby. Was His skin robust and pink? Was He thin or pudgy…long or short? Did He have a head full of black curly hair, or was His hair straight, shaggy and a shade of dark brown? Perhaps he was born without hair. I cannot imagine a bald baby Jesus, but it is possible that He was.

I wonder what words Mary first whispered to her firstborn son.

I wonder if Mary gave her newborn a nickname or if she only called Him Jesus.

I wonder if Joseph carved presents for Mary and the boy he would raise as his own.

I wonder what Jesus thought. Did His earthly body immediately possess the mind of a divine being, or did that come later.

I wonder if the animals knew that they shared their home with their Creator.

As I wonder about the unknowns of that most holy night, a thin layer of mist fills my eyes as I remember with wonder what I do know as truth. Awe captures my breath as I visualize the Almighty God being born a poor baby who would become the ransom for the souls of every man and woman. How amazing is that grace of which I am in wonder.

Mommy Brain and Lots of Smiles

Catch a Wave

This past Sunday we didn't attend our usual church services. Instead, we visited the church where X-Factor was last enrolled in VBS. They had a program in their services this morning featuring the VBS participants and we attended so that X-Factor could sing her little heart out and sing she did indeed.

Dr. N and I usually prefer non-denominational congregations, although we met at a Presbyterian church. To us the actual heart and mission of the congregation matters much more than the denomination.

The church we attended on Sunday was Presbyterian and housed in a beautiful historical building. I knew in advance that the "dress code" was going to be somewhat fancier than it is at our church home. With some money sent to me from an aunt, I purchased a dress at K-Mart for $11.80. I was proud of my bargain. My toes were painted and so was my face. However, my feet, even though my toenails looked stunning, were not looking so lovely. In my rush to get us out the door, I slipped on my worn, every day brown sandals instead of the black platform sandals that matched my black and white dress! With X- Factor's assistance, I got some pix of the fashion faux pas. When I noticed it during the service, I had to bite my cheeks to stifle uproarious laughter.The contrast doesn't look too bad on these pictures, but trust me, the shoes are very brown

The Shoes I had planned to wear

Some nostalgia hit me during the worship portion of the service. I grew up attending a Lutheran church, so I am very familiar with convocations and liturgy and old hymns. Although I prefer more of a contemporary praise and worship service, my heart swelled as we sang "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."

I wasn't able to take photos of the X-Factor during the service, but I snapped some of her throughout the week, after the service, and during her program last Thursday. As you can tell from her smile, she loved VBS. Unfortunately the performance shots didn't turn out. Bummer.X-Factor with Miss Courtney, her group leader

Z-man did very well in the new environment (I dropped him off at the church nursery because there was no way he would have sat still for the service). At first he was skeptical and clung to my leg, but the caregiver picked up a toy fire truck and asked him if he wanted to play with it. Mama was history. My boy LOVES fire trucks. Loves them. He likes other toys as well, but if he had a choice between a train and a fire truck, the truck would win every time. I think that since we are moving to enemy territory that I'll decorate his room with fire trucks instead of alligators.
That's not the only reason. My mom bought him an absolutely adorable firetruck shaped toddler bed. He won't need it for another year and how she's gonna get it to Georgia is beyond me, but if I know my mom, she'll find a way. I'm really excited about it. I think our little dude will love it.

Enjoy the pictures. I know they are mostly of X-Factor, I'll get soem new Z-man shots soon.

"Run, run, as fast as you can. You'll never catch me, I'm the Z-Man."

Think- Learn to Discern

Yesterday, our pastor began a new sermon series entitled "Think." The first part of the series, "Learn to Discern" contained such excellent information that I wanted to share some of it here. Sermon reviews are not my forte, but here's an attempt. If you'd like to listen to the sermon in its entirety, click here.

The main objective of the sermon was to help others understand how to hear the voice of God. The intro verse was John 10: 1:10..."...and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

Did you know that ancient shepherds didn't use any special tricks to get their sheep to come to them? All they did was speak. In fact, various shepherds could have their sheep grazing in the same field and when shepherd A called out, only his sheep came to him. Isn't that neat? And here is another thing that struck me (my own deduction)...sheep aren't known as the smartest animals on the planet. Yet, they still knew the voice of their shepherd. That hit me because sometimes I struggle with my own intelligence. How can my puny little mind know the voice of the Almighty God? Yet, I do.

Some people think that very notion of humans speaking to God is ridiculous. Honestly, I once did. But I don't anymore. I can say without a doubt that many of my conversations with God are of the two-way variety.

However, we hear of people doing outrageous things and claiming that God told them to do so. Pastor Curt gave an example of another pastor who kicked a woman in the face because he was convinced God told him to. I forget my pastor's direct response to the act, but I believe the word crazy was in there somewhere.

Knowing that it is especially important for followers of Christ to "Learn to Discern."

Here are the some ways Pastor Curt listed to help us discern the voice of God.

1) Decide to train to discern - Hebrews 5:15 - "...the mature have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Pastor Curt, who has completed several marathons said that the shorted training program for a marathon is about 4 months. And many are longer. That said, it is similar with knowing God. One needs to hone that skill.

How to train...

• Practice Spiritual Disciplines 1) Time that is devoted to God/times of solitude and silence. 2) Focused time in the Bible---The Bible is full of truth and God will never tell you to do something that is against Biblical principle. 3) Prayer and asking God to teach us what is best. 4) Being involved in Biblical Community.

During these last two sections, I was in and out of the service because Z-man wasn't doing so well, so I will just strictly use the sermon notes.

2) Test it!

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1 (NIV)

"Do not be confirmed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2 (NIV)

During this part he mentioned that when MTV was new, many Christians were boycotting it. He and his wife, instead video taped some of it and watched it together with their kids and use it to teach some important lessons. He also mentioned about Oprah and her online spirituality. He said something along the lines of that his hope for our congregation is not that we avoid watching Oprah out of fear that we'll be influenced by the negative, but instead be able to watch her and know when she is speaking wrong. I thought that was very good. I know that we allow X-Factor to watch some PG movies, but we always watch them with her. In fact, she even watches American Idol with us and during the shows she has learned a lot about why some things are just not appropriate and acceptable.

4) Pass it on to Others

"For you must teach others those things you and many others have heard me speak about. Teach these great truths to trustworthy men who will, in turn, pass them on to others." 2 Tim. 2:2 (Living Bible)

And the final scripture that is so amazing...

"This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good." Philippians 1:9-10 (NCV)

Steven Curtis Chapman and Family

(Updated) This tragic accident happened yesterday, but I just now found out about it. They youngest daughter of Christian recording artist, Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed yesterday. Please keep this beautiful family in your prayers. You can read more about it here.

There is also a special memorial site, In Memory of Maria.

A BEAUTIFUL Tribute

I know I am posting a lot today but I just read this beautiful letter from Angie Smith to her daughter Audrey who was born on Monday. Audrey lived on earth for 2.5 hours before going home with Jesus. I posted the blog information last Friday but wanted to share it again so you can have the chance to read this beautiful and moving letter. I cried while reading it. The blog is Bring the Rain.

A regret

I usually do not regret E-mails that I send out. I was once infamous for sending forwards, but as I became a more savvy user of the Web, the more careful I became about sending out information. But yesterday, I forwarded an E-mail with a video link about the religious beliefs of Oprah Winfrey and I now have a few regrets.

I did view the video before sending and I had a few reservations, but I sent it along anyway because I felt that the message about Oprah was more important than the way the video was produced.

The truth is, Oprah does subscribe to a New Age world view. In the early 80's she professed Christianity but since changed her mind. Being the powerful leader that she is, which to her credit has a lot to do with her compassionate heart, many people are following her lead and believing that any road can lead to Heaven or "the light" as Oprah now calls it. So that is why I forwarded the E-mail. I wanted others to know about her stance on Christianity and about how dangerous her influence can be.

However, the video was not well-produced. I mean, it looked pretty. But, as Napp pointed out, it was in many ways a sneaky negative ad campaign against Obama as much as it was against Oprah. He makes a good point and I am seeing the video now more as propaganda.

I guess the point of this is to say that well I think Oprah's views are appalling, I think there should be better tactics used against it. And if you were someone who also sent around the link, please don't take this post as a personal criticism. It's just me sharing a new perspective.

Delainey is Home

Little Delainey Jane is now at home recovering from the virus. Below is a message from her mother, Jaime. Thank you all for the prayers and kindness.

"Just wanted to let you know that Delainey is home! She still has a fever of about 102 but her white blood cell count is down so the Docs felt comfortable sending her home. We'll be treating her fever while the virus runs it's course. Also her inflammation (CRP count) is coming back down and was at a 10 this morning (down from 13). They feel comfortable that she is on her way and with rest and fluids, will be much better in the days to come.

THANK YOU so much for your prayers and the many phone calls, meals and visits. We appreciate it SO much!"

Love,

The Keslers

Update On Delainey

The news on Delainey is similar to that in the previous post. Xylie and I visited her this morning and she was actually fever free and very excited to visit with her friend. However, by 4 pm, her fever returned and actually hit 104.4. Her inflammation levels are at a 13 which is very high. The doctors are still baffled about her condition. It is viral, but that is pretty much all they know at this point. Your prayers are coveted.

Prayer Request for a Special Little Girl

Dear Friends,

Would you please pray for a sweet 3-yr-old girl named Delainey (pictured to the right of Xylie)? Delainey is one of Xylie's best friends and the daughter of our dear friends Jaime and Caleb. Delainey has been in the hospital since Sunday afternoon with a compilation of strange symptoms: consistent fever of 103.7, petechial rash on her face ( a purplish pin-point rash just underneath the skin) and a newer symptom of severe joint pain in her legs.

Last Monday, Jaime found a tick hidden in Delainey's hair that had apparently latched on while Delainey was playing in some leaves while with friends in Georgia the following weekend. Since symptoms of tick related diseases can take weeks to manifest, Little Delainey's illness could be tick related. At this point nothing bacterial is showing up in the results.

The doctors are baffled but performed a spinal tap and a have ruled out Meningitis and Lyme disease.

Her parents are exhausted and hurting for their little girl but also resting in the truth that there are no mysteries to our Sovereign God.

Please pray that the doctors will have the answers they need and that the Lord will heal Delainey quickly.

Thank you,

Angela