Happy Day after Christmas

Happy Christmas!!
It may be the day after official Christmas Day, but since my family is celebrating on this day... well, you get my drift. Honestly, today has been the only day that it actually feels like Christmas. As you may have gathered from my last post, I wasn't really in the mood.... but that's okay because feelings change, undoubtedly.
This is a very exciting Christmas as it is a "First" for my nephew!! As well as one of my cousin El's First.

Not much changes with these family get-togethers.. which is just fine with us. The Nativity gets a new piece every year, and put in a new setting.. the tree is new of course, with at least one new ornament from family friends.The biggest addition is people! Since last Christmas we've had two additional boys, the year

 before that we had another boy for his First.

It's gonna be a great Day!

Holy Sabbath

It's Christmas time... okay, so what?
To most of us, Christmas time means there is no time for anything else. I realized my schedule is a lot fuller than I keep making it out to be. That's alright, but I was beginning to wonder how my relationship with God was feeling so distant when I was "doing so much" for ministry. Why was I being so drained and tired? I wondered aloud in my car as Christmas carols played on the radio of my car. I rounded the bend to glance at the mountains across the river... just thinking... What do I need to cut out?
My mind recalled my RA from my Chi-Town College home. He had a conviction to not do any kind of homework or extra stuff on Sunday afternoons. To him, this was what it meant to "Keep the Sabbath Holy". He simply relaxed. And the crazy thing was, he always seemed less stressed and more efficient time the rest of the week! Then it hit me.
TAKE TIME.
Don't be run by time and run out of it. Instead, Take time; Make time; Use the time you're given.
As the people of Israel were called to celebrate the Year of Jubilee, that is, Every Seventh Year; allowing the ground to rest from crops, the slaves set free, debts erased, and land returned to it's owner's, we are to celebrate time away from life and rest. It doesn't matter what day it is... but it does matter whether or not you take the day for what it's worth.
REST
The consequences of NOT taking time is worse than you might think. When you don't take the time, you stress, you don't sleep, you don't eat well, you burn out, you aren't filled with the replenishing encouragement you need,.... so much is missing. The Hebrews neglected to take the time and ended up in Babylonian captivity. This was the Lord's way of making a point to the people as well as making sure the land and people DID rest.
Make time for Jesus and You in this time of year. You'll be sooo glad you did... and so will He. Besides, I'm sure He misses spending time with you. It is His favorite past time of the year...month.... week... day.
So, this Christmas time... actually have it.

CHRIST    MAS (more) TIME