The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned Isaiah 9:2
As we walk as "children of light", stay bundled in Him.
A Thursday for Your Thoughts: So far, this Thursday is thoughtless. Think about sharing a Christmas story, a recipe or some words of encouragement; tis' the season.
Send questions or your story to kristiburden@gmail.com
It was wrapped in recycled paper with an old bow from who knows what. She held it in her hands carefully as if it contained the world's greatest treasure.
"It's for Santa," she smiled. "I figure he doesn't get many presents".
Before I make it sound like I think Rylie's an angel, might I remind you that I'm the first one to admit she's high maintenance. She's rotten, but to be fair, I'll tell you she has a tender heart too.
The youth had its annual fundraiser today. After church, pictures were taken with Santa. Getting ready for church, I noticed she could hardly contain her excitement.
Every year she has a mile-long list of what she wants for Christmas which usually contains everything she's seen on a commercial. Last year her Christmas requests included, but were not limited to a Geico robot and a Life Alert necklace. We could not convince her that neither "Geico.com" nor Santa had Geico robots in stock.
This Santa visit was quite different from the typical monopolizing of Santa's time. She walked up and handed him his gift telling him it was something he could use to count down the days of Christmas. Their encounter was short and sweet. I don't think she even told him what she wanted.
It seemed all about the gift.
I waited to see him open it. I wanted to see his reaction. Not her. She just gave with no need for laud and honor. I wanted to tell several people around me that she had thought and executed the plan on her own, but she didn't seem to care if no one noticed.
It wasn't about the recognition.
Just a small gift with no strings attached, just a simple bow and a simple message.
A gift need not come in a fancy package. It doesn't have to be exspensive; it just cost a little bit of oneself. It doesn't require recognition or even reciprocation.
I think she made the nice list today.
I’m no world traveler, but I’ve seen the savannah. It’s there that I saw lion cub siblings make their way across a river bed.
In Kenya I also linked hands and sang and danced and laughed with a host of beautiful orphans, more like angels.
My happy experiences are too many to count, like Granny’s sugar and butter bread or trips in the camper with Meme, Grandad and the cousins.
Who could forget twirling about in the living room as a child to the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas record in the light of the Christmas tree with presents underneath bearing my name?
Thirty weeks of summers I’ve spent nestled in the Colorado mountains with campfires, smores and family.
New Years Eve on my thirtieth birthday was spent right smack dab in the middle of New York City-snow , FAO Schwartz, Broadway, bright city lights and all.
With my family, I’ve watched in sheer delight as Tinkerbell took flight from the tip of the Magic Kingdom castle.
Boat time, birthdays and baptisms
I’ve stood before friends and family in the perfect dress saying “I do”; a most assured statement I still make.
Three times I’ve been handed a tiny bundle of joy; each time astounded that something so small can weigh so heavy.
They’re still my happy places.
Happy places CAN be created.
Still there’s a happy place that can’t be sought out using latitude and longitude degrees or GPS. It can’t be found, in once or thrice in a lifetime events.
It bubbles outward through hard hugs and songs sung in the car. Joy expresses itself through pizza parties and awe-inspiring sunrises in Kenya and your backyard. It’s shows itself through pictures on refrigerators and high fives.
But its origin is from within
JOY is anchored in our soul, unmoved by rippling circumstances. It’s not carried away or made dim by the passing of time or the setting of the sun. Joy is the best happy place. It is delight, yes in those things that can be captured with a lens and a flash, but it lives in our deepest part. Through failures and losses, loneliness and faded memories, joy stays. Created and manifested by the eternal one, joy is indestructible and unlimited. It’s yours and mine to have and to share
What are some of your happy places?
Have you ever looked in your mirror one morning, and just seen nothing but what you think are flaws? Maybe your teeth aren’t straight, or your hair is too frizzy, or you just don’t like the way your body looks.
Chances are you have thought one of these thoughts at some point. You have probably even thought that you don’t look like the girls in the magazines, or on TV.
There are a million things in this world that tell us how we should look. Just open up a magazine, or turn on the TV, you will be bombarded with ideas of what the media calls “beauty.”
Girls everywhere feel pressured to conform to society’s unreasonable standards of beauty. They hate their body and abuse it because they don’t love themselves. Society has made it almost impossible for us to love ourselves. When you don't love yourself you begin to let society’s standards interfere with God’s standards.
Society has also trained us to strive for perfection, and anything less is unacceptable. Society calls for girls to be tall with a slender body, straight white teeth, flawless hair, unblemished skin, and the best clothes. We as girls think that, if we have these things, then we will be beautiful and feel accepted in society’s standards.
Here is the thing though; God calls us to be beautiful in a different way. God calls us to be beautiful in the heart.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
God calls us to be beautiful in our own way. We are each unique. Some of us are tall, some are short. Some of us have red hair and, some of us have blonde hair. Some of us have blue eyes, and then some of us have green eyes. We are all different, and that’s how God made us.
When we begin to want to look like everyone else, we lose our identity that God gave each and every one of us. When we stop focusing on what society calls our flaw and what’s wrong with our bodies, and we begin to love ourselves, beautiful things happen. Our eyes are opened to a whole new perspective. We see what true beauty is, true beauty that comes from within.
You will also have a new self-confidence, and self-worth that comes totally from Christ! So girls everywhere, I challenge you to join me on an adventure. One that defies what the world calls beauty, and follows what Christ calls beauty. I challenge you to love yourself, and your body. I challenge you to stop being negative when you see yourself in the mirror, and be positive. I challenge you to focus on the beauty inside your heart, and let it shine for the world.
Whenever you are feeling bogged down in society’s crazy deception on what beauty is, check this song and video out.
More Beautiful You – Johnny Diaz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqQUojBg84
I have played the Clarinet in the band and twirled on the Goldenette's twirling line for Nederland High School. I have twirled for a little over ten years and it is one of my favorite things to do in my free time. I enjoy smiling, drinking tea, and being silly. I love reading outside and spending time with my family. I thoroughly enjoy doing mission projects. I have been involved in the churches Acteens group since I was in 7th grade; It has kept me grounded and has given me a heart for serving others.
Have a Christmas story to share? Something on your heart? If you're breathing you're qualified to write a post for "A Thursday for Your Thoughts". Just email a story, poem, your thoughts, a special Christmas picture, a Christmas or everyday recipe......just be creative. Remember your mama taught you it's nice to share. kristiburden@gmail.com
6:00-8:00 pm
at Kristina DeVillier's
(Mikala and Sara's) House
619 South 8th Street
Come for pizza, devotion, games and a good time!
Mission Project: Some of you have heard of Ashley Watts; she's a local ten-year-old who could use our encouragement. She has recently had a bone marrow transplant. While we are getting to spend our holidays going to awesome parties and being with friends and family she is spending her holidays in the hospital. Some of you have been praying for her. Keep on. Also, bring something small and inexpensive you think you might enjoy if you were going to be stuck in the hospital for months. We're going to send a GG's Care Package to her. You could bring a Christmas card or letter, a crossword or joke book or some gum. Be creative. Your gift will go in a care package that will be sent to Ashley to brighten her days.
Here's an article about Ashley.http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Nederland-girl-stays-upbeat-despite-spending-4066927.php#src=fb
Questions? Shoot me an email kristiburden@gmail.com
To let me know you're coming go to our facebook event and join. http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/131642893656924/?context=create
I tend to get distracted easily. It took me ten minutes sitting in here in this chair, holding down the delete button eight or so times before I could remember what I sat down to say.
Oh yes.
In all of the goodness of Christmas I usually get bogged down with a case of "the wants". 
I want some Christmas Kit Kats and some of the Cokes with Santa on the can. I want some chocolate and oatmeal colored chevron curtains. I want some new jeans that fit, or for the ones I have to fit.
I want my house to magically clean itself, and stay that way.
I want to get the perfect gift for everybody; a bargain deeply treasured. I want the gifts to be wrapped beautifully without getting a crick in my neck. When presents are opened, I want more than an empty heap of wrapping paper to be around the Christmas tree.
I want the whole family to decorate the house; and I want them to LIKE doing it. I want them to want to watch Hallmark Christmas movies with me.
My plan of Christmas delight knows no end.
I want all of those old familiar Christmas tunes to fill the house with warmth. That's why I was surprised when Jason came home with a new Christmas album.
Santa knows what I want for Christmas,
but Jesus knows what I need
Leigh Nash croons,
it can't be purchased, wrapped up and placed
under an eight-foot tree
Words from above meant just for me today.
Wanting can be consuming. When I really get to thinking about it, there are a lot of things I could use. My "stuff" starts looking in much sadder shape than it seemed in October. It's this time of year that I notice the places in my couch coming apart at the seams. It's now that I have to continually press the "on" button on my curling iron so it will stay heated.
And "wanting" for others can be exhausting and even disappointing. Even my most thought-out gifts are not guaranteed to fit. They may not be appreciated. Even if they bring immediate joy, it's not a lasting joy.
Just hours ago I was preparing a meal in my messy kitchen with my old cookware with a discontent child at my side. I was consumed by a long list of "wants". It was heavenly lyrics that drowned out my "wants"and replaced them with blessed assurance.
Santa knows what I want for Christmas
but Jesus knows what I need
Here's the song that set my soul to singing. It's called Eternal Gifts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmdP7NzYWP0
It's my new favorite. What's your favorite Christmas song?
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." -Micah 5:2
Jason and I found a nice shaded spot by friends. We were at the Port Neches
parade. And though we were the recipients of a few tossed jolly ranchers and butterscotch disks, neither the candy or fine floats were what I was interested in.
We were anxious to see our girls all decked out in their Santa hats marching and twirling to the tune of Let it Snow. We were interested in seeing them, because past parades have brought about unfavorable dispositions.
My children aren't particularly fond of walking, even less so in near eighty-degree weather wearing fuzzy Santa hats. On more than one occasion Rylie has ended up in the truck with James Mosley waving from the window because the journey was too much to bear.
For Hallie, smiling for that long is both unnatural and requires great effort.
Today, we were delighted. Hallie and Rylie both marched to the parade's completion. And they smiled.
We waited to get inside the car before having a small breakdown. I turned around to find Rylie crying; wildly breathing into her Santa hat with her hands cupped around its brim as if it were a paper sack used for hyperventilating.
She was hot and she was winded. She's asthmatic and dramatic. And her water bottle was missing. To make matters worse "all of the people on the sidewalks looked so happy with their candy" she bitterly complained after catching her breath.
Still I'm happy. All of those steps accomplished, and with a smile.
Completion.
Red-faced progress.
I saw Hallie smile. It was a long walk. I wonder if her cheeks hurt.
Pleased with herself or not, I saw Rylie press on. Maybe next time we'll make it all the way home without sweat or tears.
We all have a course to march. Sometimes we'll march with a smile while other legs of the journey will bring about inconceivable duress.
Take heart.
We have a reason to smile and we have a reason to keep marching.
Every step in this life-long journey is on Immanuel's ground.
Immanuel-God with us.
Then let our songs a bound and every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground;
We're marching through Immanuel's
Ground,
To fairer worlds on high, to fairer worlds on high.
We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We're marching upward to Zion; the beautiful city of God
wanted to snuggle up and get a cat nap, but instead I found the nearest coffee stand drive through."I was hungry...and you fed me. I was thirsty...and you gave me drink. "
Matthew 25:35
Be an "and you" on purpose today.
Imagine the impact if we all did this.
