The Donkey
Balancing fact and fiction
My firm belief was that if Christ dwells in your heart, and your thoughts are towards Him in everything you do, then every day is a day of thanks for Him and His coming to us as a babe. To me the end of Jesus' mission, (His sacrifice and finished work for our redemption) is a more important focus than His birth.
I believe that 'the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness.' 1 Corinthians 10:26 If one celebrates Christmas with a tree, or giving gifts etc, I think that as long as the focus is on celebrating or remembering Christ's birth, then we would not upset our Saviour.
However in trying to teach my grandchildren the truth of Christmas, I have to keep in mind that my children do not wish me to tell their children that there is no Santa. I have been warned against 'spoiling' their childhood by denouncing Santa as a lie! I am seen as a potential 'party pooper'. Because they are the parents, I must not go against their wishes. And I won't.
Recent events made me think of ways that I could perhaps now enhance the worshipful meaning of Christmas rather than celebrate in a way that the world in general celebrates it without even acknowledging Christ... I will not actually denounce Santa to my grandchildren but will discuss the origin of Santa as being St Nicholas.
I will expound on
the virtues of giving to the poor etc. I will buy for the older grandchildren a
children's Christian book and Bible colouring books for the younger ones. My
tree will have only Christian ornaments and no Santas. Likewise my Christmas
cards will be of the nativity. And of course, I will worship on Christmas Day
with the Body of Christ. These steps may indeed help my personal reflection on
the birth of Christ and denunciation of commercialism.
It is important to our children's growing faith that we be honest with them. If we teach about a mythical character with magical powers for them only to learn later on that he does not exist, it logically concludes that maybe Jesus Himself doesn't exist either.
Whilst we don't want to destroy a child's Christmas by denouncing Santa, we can keep him as a tradition born from Saint Nicholas. Telling them of Saint Nicholas as being represented by Santa is a good way of balancing fact and fiction.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
The Gift
A Sister in Christ
Perfect for all generations
- to marry instead of cohabiting
- to get married before having children
- to be celibate until marriage
- to keep our marriage vows
- to continue with an unplanned pregnancy
- to submit to our husband as unto the LORD
- to serve our family as a stay at home wife and mother
- to trust the LORD with our family size
- to honour our father and mother
- to bring our children up before the LORD
- to tithe a tenth of our income
- to teach our children about God
- to pray and to teach our children to pray
- to give thanks for our food
- to teach our children to respect the authorities
- to educate our children at home or at a Christian school
- to watch over our household and guard it zealously
- to watch our speech, speaking in love
- to train our daughters in homemaking
- to teach our sons to respect women
- to remain in a marriage that is causing unhappiness (I am not talking about abuse)
- to train ourselves to take personal responsibility in our actions and to teach our children to
- to teach our children that God created marriage for a man and a woman and that the homosexual life style is sinful
It's calling my name!
Cook a beef stew in the slow cookerRest
Not so bad after all
It was about 1 pm, when we arrived and although we had been invited to come for a visit, we were appalled by the lack of cleanliness, the untidiness and the obvious squalor around us. But what horrified us most was my friend’s 12 month old nephew standing in a dirty cot, soiled nappy and ragged singlet, crying and flushed whilst his mother sat unperturbed reading in the dust covered living room.
My friend immediately swooped on her nephew and comforted him. She inquired of his mother if he was hungry- she replied that she had given him a bottle in the morning. We looked in the cot and there was an empty feeding bottle complete with flies on the teat. We felt revolted. The unmistakable odour of the soiled nappy was overwhelming and when my friend took it off to change the little fellow, it revealed red blistered welts where his nappy had been. Immediately the child was given a warm bath and his nappy rash was plastered in Vaseline- there wasn’t anything else in the house for it.
All the time, the child’s mother kept reading, seemingly oblivious to us. It was very disconcerting. We opened the fridge to get something for the little boy and it was growing all types of green mould. The milk was out of date. The pantry was under stocked to say the least, and all we could rustle up for the baby was an egg in bread crumbs. He was starving and we were angry and sad.
My friend rinsed out the soiled nappy and singlet and opened the lid of the washer. We exchanged shocked glances as the rancid smell of half washed clothes met our nostrils. As the clothes were going mouldy, we presumed they had been there a long time. And there was no excuse for this laziness, because the child’s father had bought his fiancee a new washing machine during the pregnancy.
What was wrong with this girl? She only wanted to do what she liked doing- reading. That was what consumed her time and life- books. Not her little boy or her impending marriage, (which didn’t take place fortunately) but just her desires were her life. She could not see anything wrong in that. And she was a very well read and quite intelligent woman. She was to come to see that it did matter indeed.
She told my friend’s brother when it all came crashing around her ears, that she didn’t want to have to keep the house clean, look after her baby and tend to his needs. She wasn’t harming anybody by reading and she couldn’t see what the fuss was about. We were incredulous that someone could be so self-centered and unenlightened about life. And totally indifferent to her child- not even a toy was in his cot the day we visited!
I couldn’t help but see the contrast between the Proverbs 31 woman and her. And I certainly wasn't evenly remotely close to this selfish woman. So I lightened up and relaxed a bit. I stopped being over perfectionistic and settled for a balanced approach. I enjoyed my children more. And I made sure that I never put off doing something just because I didn’t feel like doing it.
Now whenever I see a well-kept baby, I always remember another one- a sad, hungry and dirty little baby boy with a mop of blonde curls and a dirty nappy. And I thank God that He gave him into his Daddy’s caring hands.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
Ecclesiastes 10:18 “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through,"
Choose joy.
You could say that the evil one has been working overtime to destroy me and what I hold most dear to me, and it has taken all my strength to withstand him and to be still standing. Even with God, it was most difficult.
With all the stress, my fibromyalgia flared, my immune system weakened and I succumbed to a (non Covid) upper respiratory infection that felt like the mumps or glandular fever again.
Under attack, I shot up arrow prayers as I gasped for air. It was an intensive battle.
I wrestled with the repercussions of the attack and slowly gained back ground: still standing, I admit I was bloodied and bruised and very wrung out and dry.
Depression overtook me for a while- depression brought on by the evilness of the attack on me and the depths of sin of man... and I struggled to comprehend it.
In prayer, I asked God how can someone- previously a friend, stoop so low as to not only betray but destroy a person? In response, the answer that came into my spirit was "Why be surprised?"
Indeed- Jesus would know the depth of sin and hardness of heart- and the sting of betrayal and deception. His answer gave me some peace and made me appreciate Him more than ever.
In order to get my peace back, I had to let go and let God take care of it. I had to let go of my hurt and let God soothe it.
I had to let go of vengeful thoughts and let God handle it. I had to let go of thoughts of unforgiveness and let God give me strength to do it. And He has.
You have to relinquish the desire to see payback in those who have hurt you by praying for them.. And I have.
Why am I writing about this? you ask. Because I would imagine that you are facing a dry spell and have lost your joy now or at some point in your life. And it is so hard to bloom and flourish again. But it's not impossible, in spite of what you feel and think you see.
This was how I feel, written by a tweeter. "Just because I've been hurt doesn't mean I now have to live hurt. I can get mad and bitter and spread more hurt around. Or, I can choose forgiveness, grace and gentle responses and spread more hope around. Hurt people, hurt people. Healed people, heal people. And I choose to be in that latter group"
There's a lot at stake in getting your life and peace back again. You have to relinquish control. You have to relinquish revenge. You have to relinquish self-pity and in so doing- you are allowing God to handle that which is most important to you- and you will eventually find a return of your peace and spiritual joy.
Getting your spiritual joy back again takes a lot of faith and prayer, reading the Word, praising the LORD and focusing on that which is true, and right, and just and honourable. But life without it, is a life endured, not lived. Choose joy.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
"You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah." Psalm 32:7
Finding peace in this sad old world
Baby hunger and old ladies.
As a woman who is now a great-grandmother, I have come to realise that for most of us women, there is a deep desire to one day becoming a mother. It is how God created us.
Indeed, one sees this inherent virtue in young girls from the time they tenderly place blankets around their dollies or clasp a dolly to their breast in the first bloom of maternal love.
As is natural, after this first blooming, other factors come into play as they learn about the world, books and life. But the seed of maternal desire has been sowed and will spring up in later years.
Nurture of new life is a characteristic of womanhood and that nurturing endures for a lifetime. Ask any aged woman who has reared a family and she will tell you that it still presents itself. It presents itself in memories of her own children now grown, and later in her children's children. And if she is fortunate, in her grandchildren's children.
The ache for a baby to hold is still strong, even though the years for becoming a mother are well and truly gone. Each baby will be scrutinised, exclaimed over and rocked and the wonder of new life and a baby's sweet smell will transport a woman to earlier years and the time she first welcomed each new child of her own into her arms and life.
I remember once when we were at a wedding, my aged aunt begged me to allow her to hold my baby daughter, eagerly holding her arms out to receive her. At the time, I didn't realise how strong baby hunger is, until the last grandchild was born and my arms became empty.
There seem to be less babies these days, in part to feminism trying to tell us that a career is better than wiping little noses and bottoms and advise control of our fertility by having abortions. However, wherever there is a baby, you can be sure of two things- there will be other children and old ladies.
For the young ones, it brings a fascination born of that same inbuilt desire to love and nurture. But why old ladies? you ask. Because most times the God created desire to nurture and the love of new life remains long after the ability to beget children. A newborn brings back the memories of younger fertile years and the children born in that time. It makes her feel young again. Reborn.
Enjoy your children and grandchildren and always get plenty of cuddles. Baby hunger will be easier to cope with if you get a full diet of infant cuddles while you are still young....
I promise, you will feel that longing to fill your empty arms with a baby one day as baby hunger is very real.
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 113:9 |
And so say most of us women!