Mary's Prayer

Oh Heavenly Father,

As I sit here tonight, I wonder, why me?

 How am I equipped to do this thing, which I am so obviously called to do?

As I ponder this, I know it really does not matter.

 Here I am, holding this magnificent baby boy.

When he looks up at me, the whole world melts away.

 I get lost in his love.

It’s almost like he IS love.

I want you to know Father, that I will do my best to raise your son.

 I will feed him, and change him, and sing him to sleep.

I will do all the things that you cannot do here on earth.

But Father, don’t ask me not to love him, because I already do.

He holds my heart in those tiny little fingers.

No matter what tomorrow holds for us,

this future king will always be my little boy.

Written by

Trish McAllister

December 2012

Reclaiming Christmas

I love Christmas, I really do. I love the music, I love the food, I love the corny Christmas specials on TV, I love giving presents, and I love receiving them too! Wait, I was supposed to mention Jesus too. Oh rats, and I have already clicked on publish!!! How embarrassing!!!! What ever will pastor Hector think.....

OK, you got me. I did that on purpose. But how many of us think that way. When you go through the lists of chores in your mind, does thanking God for the greatest gift of all, ever show up on that list?  Oh, but I have a good reason for it. First I had that party, then I had to get the Christmas cards out (I just hate the Christmas cards.), then there was shopping and wrapping and more shopping. There just was not time.

Here is the thing, God does not want our excuses, He wants our heart. He wants us to stop the madness for ten seconds and just say thank you. He wants us to understand what all the fuss is about.
No, He wants us to feel it in our soul. You see, if we did, it wouldn't just change this season, it would change our lives.

So join me in reclaiming Christmas. Nothing crazy or extreme like no presents. Let's promise to thank God every day between now and Christmas. Let's thank Him for that little boy, that grew to be the man, that changed  the world.

Authentic Relationship

What does an authentic relationship with God look like? Do only monks and nuns get to experience a first hand relationship with the creator of the universe? If I can master Facebook, surely I can talk with God....can't I? The good news is that everyone can have that relationship. The real question is, do you want it?

Are you ready to take that step of faith and pray "not my will, but your will be done"?  How about "I turn my life over to you Lord." The problem with praying those 8 words, God never thinks small. He doesn't know how. So when you pray that prayer, you are giving up on the illusion of control. You can plan, and plot, and schedule all you want, but at any minute your life could completely change course. I can pretty much guarantee that you won't see it coming, but I can also guarantee that it will be spectacular.

We also have to remember, that spectacular to God is not the same as it is to you and me. Material gain is not that high on Gods wish list. An inner piece, a changed heart, and a relationship with each and every one of His children...now that's a wish list. Let's stop trying to fill the void in our life with IPads and XBoxes. What a great time of year to embark on a new adventure with God. Give Him your life, you won't be sorry.

Our Own Slice of Heaven

Am I living each day as though it were a gift from God? Am I doing what I can to achieve heaven on earth? I think my answer is like most peoples, "no" with a touch of "yes" sprinkled in occasionally. I can't imagine how awesome it would be if I got up every morning with Heaven in my heart, and then let that shine through my day. Wouldn't that be a place everyone would want to live?

Instead my day is filled with complaints about the weather and a certainty that I will win the lottery...even though I don't play. Did Jesus really die on the cross so I could fill my evenings watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? Although, after an hour of watching that show, my life seems pretty boring.

My first step toward a heavenly life, is making each decision as though Jesus is with me. I know it may sound cliche', but thinking to myself "What would Jesus do in this situation?" works for me. I just need to start doing it more often. I can think of so many heart aches that I could have avoided if I just would have applied those 7 little words. I may not be able to correct the past, but I certainly can influence the future by controlling my own actions.

What are everyone else's thoughts on making Holton the next best thing to Heaven? What would you do?????

Language of love

Let me start out by saying how truly blessed we are to have Hector and Sherri as a part of the Evangel family. They bring something to the church that I can't explain. They are the ying to our yang, the ice cream to our pie. (Ooh, Sorry Pastor Dennis, you probably want to be the ice cream and Hector be the pie. I digress.) Having both Pastor Dennis and Pastor Hector is a dream come true.

I came to this realization on Saturday night as Hector and Sherri delivered the message as one. It was a rhythmic and fluid, not unlike the music we had just heard. It was beautiful. Gods message being communicated in Spanish and English. I have no doubt that this is music to God's ears.

Even when he is not giving the sermon for the week, Sherri is in the back translating the word of God for young families. Do we have any idea how blessed we are? These families will be impacted for generations, just because we opened our doors and our hearts to them. We need to love them and welcome them, so that they see a glimpse of Jesus's love in us. Join me in embracing the new language of love.

Can you Imagine????

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.      Ephesians 3 14-17 NIV

Filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. I can't even imagine...or can I ???

Most days, I just stumble through. But every once in a while, I feel like I am on it. You know the feeling, like you really, really, really, need to go buy a lottery ticket. There was nothing special about the day, I was just glad to be alive and in the spirit. I stopped by the church office at lunch and decided to stick my head in Pastor's office to say hi. We got to talking about the different bible studies that we have in the works. The more we talked about it, the better I felt. By the time I left, I was on cloud nine. Just the thought of what God would do in our lives,  had put me there.

This is just a taste of Ephesians 3.

Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we were filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Is there a unit of measure to describe the love of our Saviour? I don't know about you, but I want Ephesians 3 all of the time. I want that kind of love to take over my life. More than anything, I want to become the person that God created me to be. The only way to do that, is to fully submit to God. Freedom can be found in that submission. Discover that freedom for yourself, and see what God has in store for you.

It's Time to Stop Holding Him Back

Today's post is a little different. I was moved to write it before the sermon. That is how much I believe in the message this week. I am not sure what Pastor Dennis will be saying this weekend, but my message is simple..... We serve a great God, it is time to stop holding him back.

For a moment, let me take you back a few years. I had been attending church on a regular basis. That means that I had given God my 1 hour per week. If I was really good, I might even to go Sunday school and anty up 2 hours that week. Let's see, I picked up my son from Today's Tomorrow. That takes at least 15 minutes. That puts me up to 2 and a 1/4 hours out of the 168 hours in a week. And lets not even talk about the collection plate. Oh no, don't try to get in my check book. I gave my $1 per day, whether the church needed it or not. If God is that great....he will turn it into $700...

I think this probably sounds familiar to some. If not the entire rant, then some portion there of. I think most of us have a trust problem when it comes to the big Guy. "I can only give X, that is all I can afford." "I can only do Y, that is all the time I have" Are we limiting God? Shutting him down before he even gets a word in. For all we know, souls are being lost because of our inaction. We have to trust God!!! I think I should say that again.....We have to trust God!!!!

What I am calling you to do this week is simple. It's not sell the house. It's not cash in the 401K. It's not even as small as giving up that designer coffee. All I want you to do this week is pray. Ask God what He wants you to do. Not just once, but every day. He will answer you. For some, the answer will be to volunteer more. For others, it will be to tithe. And for a very few, well, who knows. We do serve a great God with an even greater imagination. After all, He took this heavy metal girl and made her as a Sunday School teacher. (I think this also proves he has a sense of humor)