For Unto US A Child Has Been Given

On the morning of February 24th my family welcomed the birth of its newest member.  I was honoured to be there in the delivery room. I got to be apart of one of God's miracle and that in itself was a gift worth losing sleep over.

How soon however did that same gift become bitter. Conflict. Hurt. Anger. Misunderstanding.  These words now describe the experience surrounding my grandson's birth. Really it is sad how things seem to be developing. My heart literally hurt for him. He is at the centre of people who are so consumed with their own issues no one wants to back down. What about his feelings? Does he not have the right to have peace?

I say yes. He deserves peace in his life. He deserves the best and he deserves people who will put him above their need to be right. While I can't speak for anyone else I will be one who will stand on the side of R. Isaiah.  I will lay aside my feelings and issues and be the one who will advocate peace. I will decide to not stand or walk in offense. I will lay aside the weight of conflict and be silent even when I want to yell out at those I feel are in the wrong.

If you are reading this I ask that you pray. Pray for this child and all of us who will play a part in his life. God has a plan for him and he is not unaware of the days ahead. I am confident in Him who loves him better than anyone else. I am confident in Him who knew his name and who formed him with His hands.

For unto us a son was born. For unto us a child has been given. His name has been known by His heavenly Father. His life is in His hands.

What if we could show who we are?

I wonder how many of us walk around with a mask over our faces? 


I wonder how many of us smile and nod when inside buckets of tears are being filled from our misery?


Wouldn't it be great if we show who we were?


Wouldn't it be wonderful to just say how we feel?


Wouldn't it be freeing to just be real?


 


Go ahead and think about it. 


 


I have found that in the body of Christ, inside the walls of our churches we have people that are dying a silent death.  They put on masks of "I'm fine"  like MAC make-up on their faces.  Men, women and children are deserving of an Oscar award for the best performances of their lives.  How sad it is and yet how true. 


 


In a place where we all believe in the same God who says confess your sins before one another and pray for one another we hold back.  We are afraid that if they knew the truth of the lives we have and the issues we face that it would be a weapon against us.  Do you know how many people are dying alone through their crisis?  Women who have miscarried and kept it silent thinking it is to their shame.  Men who struggle in sexual sins and are afraid to confess and get help. 


 


Masks.  Chains.


Masks.  Pain.


 


I sigh because I am so weary of it all.


 


Added to this, we become even unwilling to confess our sins and discuss our issues with the One person we can be honest and vulnerable before.  God Himself.   Our father in Heaven invites us to come and reason together with Him.  Isaiah 1:18 says "...Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow..."  We can tell Him how we feel.  We can be real in His presence.  We can be free and clean from the stains of sin.  We can expose the lies by His truth, absorb His peace, draw strength from His joy.  We can be victorious.  We can be....


 


  


 


 


 

 

Children are a blessing

I am the mother of one child. 
A son.
He grew and grew and grew until now that son is about to become a Dad.
He will have for himself a child.
A son.




I have not always been kind in my thoughts toward this child of mine.
I have not always been celebratory of his life and those choices that culminate into his today.
I confess that I have spoken things that should have been kept between myself and God.
I have at times looked over the fence of my life and peeked at other children, wishing mine were just as they appeared to be.
I have not always considered that this child of mine was a good and perfect gift from God.




For the last five years my son and I have seemed to be at opposite ends. 
Our views are different. 
Our lifestyle is different. 
The silence between us can fill up North America - it is that big. 
I wonder often where did my little boy go?  I don't recognize this man he has become. 
His behaviour to me is strange and is not the training I have given to him. 
So I have let myself be excused for saying things that were truth in my eyes but without the grace my God requires.




I say this not to air my dirty laundry nor to shame myself or my son. 
I say it because I want to show the mercy of God to a wretch undone as one such as myself.


This morning my mom told me of a woman who had struggles with her daughters.  They too had taken the path of destruction for their lives and she whispered in her heart "my children are a disappointment."  The Lord said to her, "No, your children are a blessing."




As soon as my mom said those words my spirit testified that these words were for me. 
My child was and is a blessing.  I felt a release of a long held burden of guilt removed from my person. 
My son is a blessing. 
God was telling me that this should frame my thoughts regardless of what my eyes see or my ears hear or whatever may cause my heart to leap. 
He is a blessing!




Psalm 127:3 says he is not only a blessing but a gift from God.  The miracle in this story is that while I was typing this up my son came into my room.  He kissed my cheek and began to speak.  The silence was broken and we spoke as we did when he was 16 for more than a few minutes. 
God moved upon our hearts and produced good from my obedience. 


So I say with confidence in the word of God, my son and your child are a blessing and a gift from God.