The Countdown

It clings to the side of my refrigerator, staring me down as I do the dishes. I swipe a sideway glimpse at its ever-beckoning information and I realize that we are one day closer. What stares at me is a magnetic to-do list that my resourceful daughter decided to convert into her personal Christmas countdown calendar. Every day she diligently updates how many days are left until Christmas and everyday I am reminded that it is closer. When she first started this activity, my initial reaction was anxiety. Oh no! Less then a month and so much to do! However, as my preparation began to match the proximity of the day, my apprehension evolved into an excitement that rivaled her anticipation of this special day. Her project had helped to keep me focused.

Somewhere in God’s unseen realm there hangs a countdown calendar. Maybe it keeps track of the number of days until our promise is fulfilled, until our breakthrough comes, or until our prayer is answered. Sometimes we forget that these things are even on their way and we become distracted by our everyday chores and cares. Forgetfulness fogs our faith. The nation of Israel was oblivious to the fact that God’s countdown clock was clicking and the Messiah was about to appear. He came, and those that sat in darkness didn’t even realize that the electric had come back on, so they continued to sit in their cold and gloom.

There is still a countdown calendar in the heavens and it is marking the days until deliverance comes, light shines, righteousness rules, justice reigns and joy breaks through. One day we will be washing the dishes and look up to realize that the calendar announces ONE, and what a day of rejoicing that will be!

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Flying Sleighs

Rudolph was weird. What made him unique also made him a social reject in the sight of all the normal-nosed reindeer. “What in the North Pole is wrong with his nose?” was the subject of much coffee-counter chatter in the polar region. Rudolph often found himself in tears over the rebuffing of his would-be friends. Was he really that useless? Was he really such a misfit? We all know the ending of this popular story: Santa needs a light to guide his sleigh in the bad Christmas weather and his creative problem solving skills lead him right to Rudolph and his distinctive shining nose. Suddenly Rudolph transforms from the village idiot to the heroic savior of Christmas Express and adults and children have found vicarious joy in this happy ending since 1939.

The misfit phenomenon abounds. Sometimes we feel like misfits because of our circumstances, and sometimes we feel like misfits because of our perceptions, but the truth is that no one wants to feel like a misfit. Misfits feel that they are misunderstood, that their skills, abilities and talents are not of much value- that they can’t ever quite find the right note in the choir of life. Misfits are easily demeaned and exploited by arrogant folk. Misfits are sad because we were all designed by God to desire harmony; disharmony robs our souls of purpose, life and joy. Rudolph is the obvious hero of this Christmas story, but there is a background hero that made it all possible, Santa. Too many leaders today are so self-focused on getting their sleigh to fly effectively that they forget that the solutions to most of their sleigh problems are sitting right in their flocks, their unique talents all aglow, waiting to be discovered. Sadly, Rudolphs are overlooked, the sleigh crashes and burns, the mission fails and leaders don’t understand why. Let’s take a lesson from wise old Santa and remember that jolly old souls are the ones that know sleighs don’t fly by themselves; it takes a team effort, misfits and all!

Sources:

Mays, Robert L. 1939 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

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Just Bread

All I needed was bread. As soon as I entered the store, I intended to dash directly to the bread aisle and then make a beeline for the cash register; however, it was a Saturday and the store was packed, so I found myself advancing less quickly to the bread aisle then what I had anticipated. All the sudden, the chips caught my eye, “Oh, that would be nice, a bag of chips,” my mind wandered. Then I saw the baking goods, “Oh! I used all the chocolate chips yesterday!” “I should get another bag!” But then I remembered, “Just bread, you are here for bread.” So now my focus shifted to the indecisive shoppers who were blocking my pathway to the bread and if they happened to see my face I am sure it was not radiating love and patience in their direction. Finally I made it to the bread section and went directly to the kind of bread we always use, but the potato bread caught my eyes, then the honey wheat - now I was torn- but I stuck with the original plan, grabbed the usual loaf and headed for the cash register.  On the way out of the store, I am struck by the fact that a mission as simple as buying bread has so challenged my ability to focus.

We find ourselves traversing the aisles of life, seeking to secure that thing that we have been commissioned to obtain. Sometimes we feel more like we are navigating a corn maze than a divine blueprint. We become tempted, angry, distracted, discouraged and perplexed. We question if we are even in the right store! But there is an important key that we must learn to utilize in our pursuit of purpose; it is the discipline of focus. When we constantly remind ourselves, “__________________ is my purpose”, temptations become less tantalizing, obstacles do not seem so threatening and what others may call a humble goal ends up becoming a most prized ingredient in the pantry of our lives.

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The Power of Praise

I had determined to get rid of it all! This was the second yard sale I was having in an attempt to purge our household contents and I did not want to carry anything back into our house. The bargain hunters began to arrive and amongst them came one of the elderly neighbors. “Those are some really nice table legs,” he commented as he stood looking at four disjoined wooden pieces lying at my feet. “Oh, yes,” I stammered looking at the worn, peeling legs and recalling my auction blunder that had led to my acquisition of them. He stood in silence looking at them with a certain admiration that I found odd when directed at old table legs. “You know the legs are the hardest part of the table.” “Those legs would make a beautiful table!” Suddenly I remembered that these words were coming from a skilled woodworker. He went on to explain how he had all the tools to make a wonderful table from those legs if only he still did woodworking. It started to occur to me that perhaps these legs were useful for more than just some good firewood.

Praise not only has the power to surge upwards into the heavens, but it also has the power to flow downward into the heart and influence our perspective as it goes. It only takes a few friends telling us how effective a new product is to convince us to try it. This is the power of praise. It only takes one positive comment from an expert to convince us we can. This is the power of praise. Praise effectively strips away the curtain of confusion, doubt and mistrust to reveal to us the value of the praised.

 I fulfilled my commitment to haul all the leftover garage sale items to a local charity, but thanks to the praise of a certain carpenter, I still have a set of beautiful table legs sitting in the garage that are destined to make a beautiful table someday!

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What Are You Looking At?

“Make your way straight before my face.” Psalms 5:8

You fumble for your buzzing phone and realize you overslept, again! You run out the door with your cup of coffee only to realize that your windshield is iced over. You manage to break away a quarter size opening (no time!) and you turn the heat up full blast, praying it heats up sooner then the normal 10 minutes. Suddenly you realize that driving something like a car with a one-inch visibility range is not such a good idea, especially with hot coffee in hand! You don’t get far before the familiar sound of a police siren closes in behind you and soon you are walking a snow line and breathing into a plastic tube. “I’m not drunk sir!” is the feeble protest. “Well, you sure were driving like you were! “ comes the gruff reply. You point at the windshield that now has hunks of melting ice sliding down it. “I just couldn’t see where I was going.”  “Oh, I see,” comes the ironic reply, “Sorry, but you are still getting a ticket for reckless driving.”

Have you ever felt that you were weaving blindly down the road of life despite your best efforts? I know I have. As believers, we are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), but this is not an easy task for us sight-reliant humans! It is extremely counterintuitive for a human to move purposely forward and yet not have a view of the road ahead. We want to know the statistics, the probabilities and the likelihoods before we ever take a step. We want a preview of the big picture first, while it feels like God is barely showing us the next step! A life led of the Spirit often seems nonsensical to our human deductions; however, it is when we are willing to pare down our vision to focus on what God really wants that we realize that somehow our paths always end up being made straight before our eyes. 

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