Christmas Sunday at the Beach

Early this morning as the sun rose, I stepped into the half light of the apartment where we were staying.  

I turned on the coffee pot and walked over to the sliding glass door and gazed at the beauty outside. When the coffee finished brewing, I poured myself a cup and added some cream from the refrigerator. Then, with the coffee cup warming my hands, I walked the few paces to the couch and sat down. I picked up the lighter and slowly lit the advent wreath, giving thanks to God for His unspeakable gift - a gift I needed far more than anything someone on earth could give me.  I breathed a prayer as I lit each candle.  "Thank You, God, that You became flesh and took on the form of a man so that I could know about You.  Thank You that You are Immanuel - God with us.  Thank You that You knew what I needed most this Christmas and every Christmas - a Savior.  Thank You for Your gifts of hope, peace, joy and love."  When I finished lighting the wreath, I nestled my body into the cushions of the couch and began to read from Galatians, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son . . ."  I read on, once again touched by God's gift to us.

Every Christmas no matter where I am in the world, this is the way I love to start the day - lighting the advent wreath and then with coffee warming my hands and the Bible and prayer warming my heart, I give this day to the Lord.  But today we were in Florida, so after a few minutes on the couch, I slipped out to the balcony where I could watch the sun rise over the distant ocean.  A cool breeze stirred the palm trees and a fountain rippled the water in a pool below the balcony.  I marveled at the beauty around me.  Imagine, I thought, that the God who made all of this became one of His own creatures - a man.  The God who is so powerful that He spoke this world into existence became powerless - a baby who needed His mother for nourishment to sustain him.

After reading a while and praying, my coffee cup was empty and it was time to head back in.  Just then Charlie came out.  "Merry Christmas," he said to me and lightly kissed my cheek.  "Merry Christmas, " I replied.  He stood for a minute behind my chair and joined me in admiring God's creation of this new day.  Then we headed back in so that I could make breakfast.

Usually on Sunday mornings, I put on worship music while I am preparing breakfast, but I had forgotten to bring along any CD's on this trip.  Instead, I hummed, "O come let us adore Him" as I worked.  How glad I was that this Christmas fell on a Sunday.  It seemed especially appropriate to me to gather with other believers on this, His birthday.  Even though we would be visitors in church that morning in a church where we had never gone, it would be good to sing His praises together with other believers and read His Word with them.  

After breakfast and getting ready we headed out.  On the way to church, Charlie found a radio station playing Christmas carols and we listened and occasionally sang along.  When we arrived, we were greeted by several people and found our seats.  Before long the choir filed into the choir loft.  "A small choir this morning," a voice said behind us.  When the first notes of "Emmanuel" were sung, I breathed a sign of thanksgiving.  "Thank you, Lord," I prayed, "for good music and for believers with whom to celebrate You on this, Your birthday.  I have never met these people before, and yet they are some of the ones with whom I will spend eternity.  How appropriate that I meet more of Your children on Your birthday."  

The rest of the day included dinner with my sister's family, walks on the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean, and taking a drive after dark to look for Christmas lights.  It was a good day.  As I settled into bed that night, I thanked the Lord.  


"Thank You, Lord, for today," I prayed.  "It was a lovely day.  I really enjoy it when I get to be with Your people on Christmas Day, even when I don't know them."

Then I thought, "Lord, did You have a good day today?  We say Christmas is the day we celebrate the day You were born, so did You have a good day?  I hope so.  I hope that all of the worship that was lifted to You by Your children today made it a good day for You.  I know You are outside of our time zones and You don't experience days like we do, but You came into our world on this day many years ago, so You know what I am talking about.  Next year, when Christmas falls on a Monday and it is unlikely that I will attend a church service that day, then help me to be as conscious with my worship of You as I was today.  Help me to make sure that YOU are the One that I am honoring on that day.  Help me to make it a day that is pleasing to You.  Amen."  

A Guatemalan Harvest

I stepped off the plane, glad to be back in Guatemala again.  Ever since I lived there many years ago, Guatemala is a country that is close to my heart.  The people are friendly; the scenery is beautiful; and the weather is like an eternal spring.  Then, two years ago, my heart bonded with several of the people in the church where we worked, and I was looking forward to seeing them again.  Yet this time it was even more special because Charlie was already there, waiting for me.

On the two-hour ride back from the airport to the small town of Cerro Alto, I saw the corn fields, tall, tasseled, and ready for harvest.  We passed a market where the vendors tables were piled high with garden produce.  I looked longingly at all the fresh fruit and looked forward to sinking my teeth into guava, papaya, and lychees.  Flowers, ready for export, grew along the way.  The abundant gardens gave tribute to a mighty God who was providing for the Guatemala people.

Yet along the way, Charlie told me of an even more important harvest that was happening.  The previous Sunday, eight people had come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  I was impressed. In a church of less than one hundred people, that it a significant number.  I rejoiced at the wonderful work God was doing there and excited at the prospect of meeting these new believers.

I knew, from our previous visit, that newcomers to this church do not always realize that they need to make a decision to follow Christ.  Their religious background has led them to believe that they are fine.  After all, they were baptized when they were young, and they have tried to do right.  Then, after attending for a while and hearing the commands of Christ to repent of their sin and follow Him, they realize that they need more.  They need to surrender in faith and ask Him to save them.  Eight of them had done this on a single Sunday!

If only those eight had accepted Jesus as their Savior, I would have been impressed by the rich and bountiful spiritual harvest, but God was not done.  The following Sunday, the pastor preached a strong sermon about sin and the hold it has on people.  At the end, he asked if anyone there realized they needed Christ's redeeming work to save them from the power of sin.  Six more people walked to the front!  Now the church was really rejoicing together.  Warm hugs and hand shakes reached out to welcome these new believers into the family.

On the third Sunday, Charlie taught Sunday School.  For some reason, the pastor thought he should follow the lesson with an invitation to receive Christ as Savior.  This time a husband and wife walked forward and asked Jesus to save them.

The birthday girl

On our last Friday night, we gathered in the home of one of the members instead of holding the usual Friday evening service at church.  Their daughter was having a birthday, so they invited the whole church for supper.  Once again, the pastor gave an invitation and a ten-year-old girl raised her hand.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a 9-year-old boy had done the same.  He invited them forward.  Then another four children came forward as well.  The pastor spoke with them and they professed their faith in Christ to save them.

The last Sunday afternoon we were there, we traveled to a nearby town where a new church plant has started.  A man arrived late to the service.  Most of the seats in the small auditorium were taken, but there was a row of empty seats in the front row.  Together with his little girls, he made his way up there and listened intently as Pastor preached.  Charlie whispered to me, "He is not yet a believer."  I nodded and began to pray for him.  At the end of the service, Pastor asked, "Is there anyone here who is ready to ask Jesus to be His personal Savior?"  The man stood to his feet.  That night one more man was born into God's family.

It was amazing to watch what God was doing in this corner of Guatemala.  I felt as though I was back in Bible times when it says in Acts 2:47, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."  Almost every time the church met, someone else was being saved.

Joy in Maine, More Joy in Georgia, and Sorrow in Florida

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”  Romans 12:15

Unlike many American families, my siblings are spread across the country and my extended family as well.  We can go months and even years before a family gathering happens.  So the past month has been unusual.  For the past three weekends, I have been with extended family.  

 

Joy. 

Three weekends ago, my brother got married in her church in Maine.  Many people came from nearby and a few from far away.  I had the privilege of traveling with my parents back to Maine, where my heart still is.  My dad officiated. 

 

It was a day of great joy as Steven, who has been looking for his match for many years, found it in a beautiful woman in Maine.  She is tall, athletic, intelligent, and a woman of great character who loves the Lord deeply.  

Many of her friends and relatives were there to celebrate with her and her family.  Several of my siblings were there as well as one cousin who drove in from New Hampshire. Some of my friends are also Tara’s friends, so I was able to reconnect with them as well.

More joy.  

The following weekend our family gathered in Georgia to celebrate my parents’ 90^th birthdays.  Dad is six days older than Mom, so both of their birthdays happen later this month.  In order to make it easier for people to attend, we decided to hold the celebration on the Saturday before Labor Day.  Invitations were sent out a while ago.  Their church offered to provide the meeting space, the food, and the flowers.  

All of us took part in making it a success.  My older sister decorated.  My younger sister provided the desserts.  The brothers sang.  (My youngest brother, who is a missionary in Japan, was unable to make it, so Charlie provided the fourth voice in the quartet.)  

We also read through a timeline of each of their lives.  For each of them, it was a demonstration of God's grace and their faith in that great God.

More than one hundred people attended.  Two of Dad’s siblings came up from Florida.  Some of their nieces and nephews came from as far as California.  A granddaughter came from Kuwait and a grandson from England.  Many of their church came as well as former colleagues from AMG.  It was a great day for us to celebrate lives that have been lived by faith in a great God.

 

The following day, Steven and Tara held a reception for those who were not able to attend the wedding.  They played a video of the ceremony and we ate lunch together.  Steven shared some precious words about his bride.  Again, it was a day of great joy.

Sorrow.   

This weekend my parents and I traveled to Florida to spend some time with my dad’s family.  My youngest uncle, Uncle David, was dying of cancer, and we wanted to see him before he died while he could still talk with us.  We drove down on Saturday and spent the night with another uncle.  On Sunday we went to church where my cousin’s husband pastors and they invited us to their house for lunch along with a bunch of others.

It was after 2:00 when we left my cousin’s home.   I called Aunt Edna to ask if it was a good time to come.  She warned us that he was now sleeping a lot.  When we walked in, we hugged her and began talking with her in quiet voices, while Uncle David lay in a hospital bed there in the living room.  I hoped that he would awaken so that we could at least talk with him a little, but he continued to lie there.  After a while I got up to stand by his bed.  He was quiet, almost too quiet.  We asked her about that.  

“He’s been like that for a couple days now,” she said.  "He wakes up long enough to drink a little and then goes back to sleep."

After a while Dad said it was time to leave.  Mom and I got up and went to the hospital bed once more and stood on either side.  He had not moved at all since we had arrived.  I reached out and touched him.  He was cold to the touch.  Mom and I both looked for a pulse.  There was none.  Aunt Edna came over and touched him too and agreed.  He was gone.  He had evidently slipped quietly away while we were there.

Joy in glory for him.  Sorrow for us who remain.  Dad came over and prayed.  Tears fell.  We will miss this great man who touched all of our lives in great ways.  

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of knowing and loving him.