'Pa rum pa pum pum...'

Today was going to be an easy, fun post.

God had other ideas!

Don't you love it when He steps in?

His ideas are always better than mine anyway!!

The littles and I were eating lunch and I had the radio

on-with Christmas music playing, of course.

{Note-I LOVE Christmas music, but I burn out on it

QUICKLY. I listen to it some, then have to change

the station and listen to regular music a while!}

Anyway, The Little Drummer Boy was playing and I

wasn't really listening, but then for some reason the

lyrics really resounded in my head.

(I typed out the lyrics and left out all the

pa rum pa pum pums for the sake of time and

my fingers. You know where they go! :)

Come they told me

The newborn King to see

Our finest gifts we bring

To lay before the King

So to honor him

When we come

Little baby

I am a poor boy too

I have no gift to bring

That's fit to give a King

Shall I play for you

On my drum

Mary nodded

The ox and lamb kept time

I played my best for Him

I played my drum for Him

Then He smiled at me

Me and my drum

How much do these lyrics resonate with me??

Truly, I have NO gift to bring that is fit to

give the King. Nothing.

I can buy and give gifts to everyone I know. But what

do I have...what can I do...what can I give that's good enough

for the King of Heaven and Earth?

Nothing. At. All.

Suddenly my unworthiness was blatently apparent to me.

'I am a poor boy too.'

Wow.

But the song tells an amazing story.

Even those who have no gift to bring still have something

He wants.

Ourselves. All of us. All we have.

And I don't think that's too much to ask, considering the

unbelievable gift He has given us.

"I played my best for Him.'

Do I? Do I play my best for Him? I'm not talking about

actually playing music, of course. Me playing the drum

would be little more than making a joyful noise!

I mean in my life. Do I live for Him? Do I do my best for Him

in my walk and talk? Do others see Him in me?

I hope so. I pray so. And I keep trying to make it more so.

The King of all creation wants you to bring your best.

What gift will you give the King this Christmas?

Will you play your best for Him?

TTFN,

A conversation...

One day last week, I after I made Jacob's sandwich

I took my giant heart cookie cutter and cut his

sandwich in the shape of a heart. I didn't say anything

to him, I wanted it to be a surprise.

I waited all afternoon for him to say something,

anything about the sweet heart sandwich
I made for him.

He never said anything.

DAYS went by.

He still didn't say anything.

Finally, night before last, at supper, he remembered.

Jacob, 'Hey! One day my sandwich was shaped

like a heart!'

Me, (in all my wide-eyed innocence) 'You cut your

sandwich in the shape of a heart?'

Jacob, 'No! It was already like that!'

Me, 'Who could have made it in the shape of a heart??'

Jacob, (giggling) 'Ummm...'

Me, 'I bet it was those sandwich fairies! They do silly

things like cut sandwiches into shapes!'

Jacob, (giggling harder) 'Noooo, I don't think so!'

Me, (still completely baffled ;) Well, I wonder who

else would have cut a heart shape for you...'

Jacob, (after pondering for a moment, very serious now)

'Maybe it was God!!'

After my heart finished melting, I said, 'Well, God certainly

does love you that much.'

He smiled his little sweet smile like he was certain he

was right and began eating his supper again.

And all was right in my world. :)

TTFN,

How much will God put on you?

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for

a baby story. I read blogs about families, and am

addicted to several where there is a sick

baby or the family has lost a baby. While I

don't enjoy reading about other people's misery,

I am fascinated to see God working through it.

I love to pray for these families and like to be able

to pray specifically for their need at the moment.

Many times if I am leaving a comment-

and I usually do-

I will read a lot if not all of the other comments.

And there's one saying I have seen on most all

of them at least once that really weighs heavy on me.

"God won't put more on you than you can handle."

Now, I know you have heard this saying before,

and it's beautiful in theory.

But it's wrong.

Our pastor did a sermon years ago about sayings

that are used as scripture. They have been said so

many times that people take them as gospel-but they

are no where in the bible. I'm ashamed to say I

don't remember any of the others, but I remember

this statement because not only had I heard it,

I used it. Not because I had ever looked it up in the bible.

Not because I knew the context of it's origin.

Simply because I had heard it used and assumed that

it was correct. I don't use it anymore.

The truth of the matter is, God will put more on you than

you can handle. Simply put, if we could handle it,

why would we ever need God? If we never hit bottom, how

would we ever look up? If we are never plunged into

darkness, why would we ever look for the light?

The bloggers who have reached this point in their lives,

the point where they realized they had no control,

they are the ones who know that God is the only one

who can be in control. They understand that His hand

is in everything that happens, good or bad. They may

not understand His motives, but realize that His plan

is bigger than ours. That doesn't make things less painful.

I don't think it always makes things easier.

But I think it gives them perspective on God that

those of us who have never walked that road could have.

Does this mean if we have to go through horrible

circumstances to draw near to God? Of course

not. God's plan is different for all our lives.

And this usually brings the 'why' questions:

Why me?

Why not them?

Why not me?

We can't answer any of those questions.

And we'll never find peace searching for the answer.

But God has the answers and we have to

trust that He knows the plans He has for us,

even if they are not our own.

God will put more on you than you can handle.

Sometimes He breaks us to bring us to Him.

It's hard to understand the why's, but I don't think

we are supposed to get the why's. Yet. One day

we will have all understanding, but by then I

wonder if it will truly matter anymore.

God uses our trials to draw us close.

He uses them to make us strong

by allowing us to see our weakness.

He uses them to refine our faith

by giving us grace to get through the day.

He uses it to define our walk,

by leading us down His intended path.

He uses it to reveal Himself through us

by giving us a peace that can only come from God.

He creates beauty from ashes,

always bringing good from the bad.

I want to type more, but I am tired, and

my brain is slowly going to sleep without me.

I will leave you with this beautiful verse:

Therefore, having been justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord

Jesus Christ, through whom also we have

access by faith into this grace in which

we stand, and rejoice in hope of the

glory of God. And not only that, but

we also glory in tribulations, knowing

that tribulation produces perseverance,

and perseverance, character,

and character, hope.

Now hope does not disappoint, because

the love of God has been poured out in our

hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

TTFN,