A Much Bigger Picture

Did you know that I worked in retail sales for over 25 years? Since the age of 14, I worked in some sort of store and the Christmas season was the busiest time. This year I've been in a different "season" of Christmas, one of learning with growth.
These past two weeks at work, 91.3 Hope FM, we've been working on the Christmas Wish List program. It works this way. If you or someone you know has a Christmas Wish but cannot fulfill it, write to us and we will ask the Lord to provide via the community.
It has been overwhelming with over 31 responses within our community. The Lord, through us and others, have fulfilled all of them. We cannot fulfill any more.
I have picked up the responsibility of making sure presents are wrapped and no child goes without. I have spoken to recipients after their wishes have been fulfilled and sitting with them as their heart breaks with joy and peace all at the same time. I too have cried with  them.  I have also sat with the givers who have tears in their eyes, joy in their hearts, and
a smile from ear to ear. It has been a wonderful time of the year.
Looking back, there were times I got upset and for what I don't know. Perhaps the hustle and bustle of getting other things around me accomplished, and making sure all my i's were dotted and t's were crossed. I found myself exhausted, upset, and disgruntled. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy (and enjoyed) all that I have done and seen through this event.
My prayer is that if one person who didn't listen to God's word, experience His love,  recognize Him before, or even understand what this season was about; they do now. It is about a much bigger picture than our temporary things. It's about loving and caring for others. God loves you so much that He gave His perfect gift; He is the ultimate giver.
I've learned that Christmas isn't about the presents under the tree or the family you are around, but it's about giving year round and loving others despite myself.
I've also taken time to really read the scriptures of the birth of Jesus and the events that took place. For instance, when the wise men arrived on the scene. Did you know they weren't at the manger? They visited Joseph and Mary in a house. The wise men didn't come to worship Mary, they came to worship a King; King Jesus, Jesus Christ, Son of God.
Mary was a servant girl who truly became a selfless giver herself to God Almighty.
Joseph was a man of compassion and mercy and not a man ready to throw a woman into death and destruction.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were poor and needed help. God provided all their needs; just like Putnam County has been used by God to provided others in their needs.
I have been humbled and thankful for all that God has provided for me.
My home might be drafty and cold in the morning, but it is my shelter. My cupboards may not have all that I need in them, but I have food. I may not have a lot of pretty things, but I have my necessities because the Lord has provided all that I need.
What have you learned from this season? What have you done this season for someone else or for yourself that was different from last year?
 No matter what that might be, I hope you find the true meaning of giving and not giving just this one time a year.
Christmas doesn't come from a store. I hope that the heart that was one time so small will grow three sizes than before and you will pay it forward.

May God's love shine on your today.
~Marjorie

J - Jesus
O -Others
Y -You
Hope you have joy today.

Experiencing God

God has me on a wonderful journey with Him and I hope you are too. If you don't know Him, if you fear Him, or want to know more about Him. Spend time with Him, ask God questions, and allow Him to show Himself to you. It is worth your time.
I didn't know exactly how much God loved me/loves me. I have been working on a study "Experiencing God" with my church. Because of this my relationship with God has gotten deeper. I have learned to ask questions differently, look for and ask God how He wants me to respond to what I have learned, and I look at people and situations differently. I can honestly say I have grown up a little. I am not being vein. The bible says that we grow up from milk to meat.
I recognized that God has had a calling on my life since I was created. I was just to eager to get out the door and do my own thing to recognize it when I was young.
Now, I do believe that the Lord wants to use me to show just how powerful He can work through an ordinary life like mine.  I surrender with my whole heart and mind to God; my life belongs to Him.
Much of my life I searched for love in all the wrong places and spaces. Looking back now, I know that God has been with me the whole time I was on the wide road. But now, now I know God is working in my life. He is giving me direction to fulfill His purpose for my life. He has given me a life partner to grow with, experience God together, and to discover new things in life with.
I like the movie "Fiddler on the Roof." The town has a match maker who pairs couples up, she's pretty good with what she does, but there was a girl who didn't want to be paired up with whom she set her up with. Love came into the mix of things.  There is no other match maker like God the Father; the God of love. He put Adam and Eve together, Mary and Joseph, as well as Elizabeth and Zachariah. From the beginning God had a plan to use their lives as one to accomplish His great plans. God gave them a life partner with a unique calling on their lives. The spouses worked together as one to accomplish His purposes and be glorified in it.
I have learned that marriage is not just a human contract or signed piece of paper, but a covenant, a spiritual contract, a tie that binds you with God. If it is not of God, it's not going to prosper. It can with prayer and Christ Jesus; be encouraged.
I can say that I am learning to compromise, but not give in. Rodney and I recognize that we are hearing from God and experiencing Him in our discussions, desires, and daily walk. We are very excited about the love we have for one another. It's not this immature, lost my mind, gotta get what I can from the other type of love. It's a true caring and deeply moved emotion. We have talked about how God has matched us and how life is falling into place for us as a couple. We regularly pray for and with one another, we ask questions about our beliefs and the bible, and we give to each other.
I love the Lord more and He knows this, as Rodney loves the Lord more than me. We want it this way. We know who to turn to when life gets rough, and there are holes in the other.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. All we, Rodney and I, want to do is share it with others together.
Marriage is God joining a man and a woman together to create unity to accomplish His purpose.
Matthew 19:4-6
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’'⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”



Isn't God good?
~Marjorie