I may have gotten a little distracted. I wanted to finish sharing about my Christmas before I posted anything else, but life got in the way. This is the rest of my Christmas story. ;)
Gabriel, my 7 year-old nephew, got a 'medium sized Bible' for Christmas from my parents. It is no longer a children's Bible and it is not quite an adult Bible, which he called an 'enders Bible.' He wanted to read us something out of his Bible...Ezekiel 7. I said "Gabe do you know what my favorite scripture is? Ezekiel 37. Those are close!" Then Gabe realized that was what he meant to say. Gabriel read us Ezekiel 37.
I asked Gabe why he wanted to read that passage with us. He said it was because he really liked when I shared it at Thanksgiving. (One of my things that I shared that I was thankful for was how God brought Ezekiel 37 to my attention. He gave it to me as a promise for my father.) To hear that Gabe was paying that much attention during Thanksgiving that Ezekiel stood out to him moved me deeply. Sometimes we aren't sure how closely children are listening. They hear more than we think they do!
To know why that passage has such meaning to me read Dry bones. It was so incredible to have that scripture incorporated into yet another holiday. God directed Gabriel for sure! What made that time even more special was that Titus, Gabriel's dad, asked Gabe if he knew what the importance of that passage was. Why did God tell Ezekiel to prophesy life over the dry bones? I honestly did not know myself so it was very cool to hear. The Israelites felt that they were too far gone for God to redeem them and use them. God said no. If He can raise up dry bones from death and create an army out of those dry bones then there is no one that is too far gone for Him to use.
I shared in my last Christmas post how we sat around the dinner table and shared things that we like about Jesus. I wanted to include exactly what those things are this time. :)
Some things my family likes about Jesus:
I like that Jesus is forgiving.
I can read the same verse a year later and get something new out of it, that applies to my life now that wouldn't have meant the same thing if I had looked at it last year. [Mike]
I like His communication skills.
He didn't stoop down to the level of people questioning Him. Example: the pharisees. He answered what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. [Titus]
I like that Jesus died on the cross. [Ariel]
I like that He saved us because if He didn't we wouldn't be alive. [Gabe]
I like how His Word was written years and years ago but it is still applicable today. [Amanda]
I like that Jesus calls us His friend.
We aren't just chess pieces that He plays with. He wants relationship with us. [Stefanie]
I like that He leads by example. [Alex]
I like how He allows things to happen in our life to show us that we need Him.
Then we can look back and see what God has done. A lot of people look back at their past badly but we need to look back and see what we've overcome. [Shaun]
One thing that I like about Jesus is that He is Emmanuel "God with us."
Often times He allows us to feel His presence personally. God is just always showing me how He is with us. [Debbie]
One last thing...
I wanted to share with you my very most favorite Christmas gift I received this year. It might seem a little silly to you, but that's okay because it wasn't your gift, it was mine. On Black Friday this year I went shopping with my mom, sister, and friend Alex who came home from DLA with me. We walked by this cart that had ornaments you could buy and personalize. They had a cute one that was a family of peas, in a pea pod. Each pea had a red Christmas hat on it which you could personalize the family member's name on it. They had a family of five, perfect for my sister's family. They also had an ornament with just two peas in the pod. I said, 'That's perfect for me. It could say me and Jesus, to symbolize my year with Jesus.' A few weeks later I was thinking about the cute ornament and I thought - 'I hope they didn't think I was joking about that because I would really Love that!' I should include...peas are my very favorite vegetable so it was all around perfect for me. ;)
On Christmas morning I opened my present from my sister's family and low-and-behold, I got my ornament. It turns out my sister wasn't sure if I really would like it, so she was a little worried. It was however the perfect gift for me! I've given God this year. I forever and always would like to remember my year in DLA and the times I spent with God. I now have a reminder of that.
Gabriel, my 7 year-old nephew, got a 'medium sized Bible' for Christmas from my parents. It is no longer a children's Bible and it is not quite an adult Bible, which he called an 'enders Bible.' He wanted to read us something out of his Bible...Ezekiel 7. I said "Gabe do you know what my favorite scripture is? Ezekiel 37. Those are close!" Then Gabe realized that was what he meant to say. Gabriel read us Ezekiel 37.
I asked Gabe why he wanted to read that passage with us. He said it was because he really liked when I shared it at Thanksgiving. (One of my things that I shared that I was thankful for was how God brought Ezekiel 37 to my attention. He gave it to me as a promise for my father.) To hear that Gabe was paying that much attention during Thanksgiving that Ezekiel stood out to him moved me deeply. Sometimes we aren't sure how closely children are listening. They hear more than we think they do!
To know why that passage has such meaning to me read Dry bones. It was so incredible to have that scripture incorporated into yet another holiday. God directed Gabriel for sure! What made that time even more special was that Titus, Gabriel's dad, asked Gabe if he knew what the importance of that passage was. Why did God tell Ezekiel to prophesy life over the dry bones? I honestly did not know myself so it was very cool to hear. The Israelites felt that they were too far gone for God to redeem them and use them. God said no. If He can raise up dry bones from death and create an army out of those dry bones then there is no one that is too far gone for Him to use.
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| Christmas Eve at Kiku's |
Some things my family likes about Jesus:
I like that Jesus is forgiving.
I can read the same verse a year later and get something new out of it, that applies to my life now that wouldn't have meant the same thing if I had looked at it last year. [Mike]
I like His communication skills.
He didn't stoop down to the level of people questioning Him. Example: the pharisees. He answered what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. [Titus]
I like that Jesus died on the cross. [Ariel]
I like that He saved us because if He didn't we wouldn't be alive. [Gabe]
I like how His Word was written years and years ago but it is still applicable today. [Amanda]
I like that Jesus calls us His friend.
We aren't just chess pieces that He plays with. He wants relationship with us. [Stefanie]
I like that He leads by example. [Alex]
I like how He allows things to happen in our life to show us that we need Him.
Then we can look back and see what God has done. A lot of people look back at their past badly but we need to look back and see what we've overcome. [Shaun]
One thing that I like about Jesus is that He is Emmanuel "God with us."
Often times He allows us to feel His presence personally. God is just always showing me how He is with us. [Debbie]
One last thing...
I wanted to share with you my very most favorite Christmas gift I received this year. It might seem a little silly to you, but that's okay because it wasn't your gift, it was mine. On Black Friday this year I went shopping with my mom, sister, and friend Alex who came home from DLA with me. We walked by this cart that had ornaments you could buy and personalize. They had a cute one that was a family of peas, in a pea pod. Each pea had a red Christmas hat on it which you could personalize the family member's name on it. They had a family of five, perfect for my sister's family. They also had an ornament with just two peas in the pod. I said, 'That's perfect for me. It could say me and Jesus, to symbolize my year with Jesus.' A few weeks later I was thinking about the cute ornament and I thought - 'I hope they didn't think I was joking about that because I would really Love that!' I should include...peas are my very favorite vegetable so it was all around perfect for me. ;)
On Christmas morning I opened my present from my sister's family and low-and-behold, I got my ornament. It turns out my sister wasn't sure if I really would like it, so she was a little worried. It was however the perfect gift for me! I've given God this year. I forever and always would like to remember my year in DLA and the times I spent with God. I now have a reminder of that.
Every year on Thanksgiving we take a family picture together. My dad however has not celebrated Thanksgiving with us for many years. This means our family picture is never complete. God told me to ask my sister if we could take a picture on Christmas. We did and this is our complete family, plus our friend Alex from church.
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