Luke 2:8-11In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Have you ever noticed that anytime God sends a messenger, we the people shudder in fear, and our gracious God answers, “Do not be afraid.”
Do not let your heart be troubled…
All I want for Christmas this year is the strength and courage to live without a troubled heart – to keep going and not be afraid in spite of the new normal, to believe and claim every promise God has given, knowing and trusting without doubt that what He has promised, He will deliver, and especially-even though it is unbelievably painful- to give thanks that the Lord has our boy for Christmas and forevermore. And, I want the opportunity to share those promised gifts with others, without the distraction of tinsel and shiny paper wrapped boxes and crazy parking lots and pushing, shoving throngs waiting in check-out lines.
God has gifted me the butterflies as a constant reminder that Zachery accepted His gifts, but also as an opportunity to tell the butterfly story and share His gift of Christ with everyone I meet. Those butterflies, and many times more than one, come every single day. God is faithful.
Zach’s death has changed so many of us, and I believe God will move in His perfect timing, and the beauty will slowly, surely sift from the ashes.
I know I can’t do anything for God, but I know how much HE can do. And at Christmas, isn’t that the point? What He did? For by grace we’ve been saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not because of anything we've done or will ever do. God gave us Jesus Christ, His only uniquely born son. All we have to do is believe. That is the gift and the only one that matters at all at Christmas or any other time.
As hard as it is to be in the “Dead Child Club,” as another member described it, God went there first – voluntarily, for us, to give us hope and a future. This Christmas, all I want to do is give thanks for that gift, to share it with others, and to watch the difference God can make in a dying world in spite of the death in our ours.
Unto us a child is born. Unto us a Savior is given. It is Christ the Lord.
Thank you Jesus!
ReplyDeleteBeth,
ReplyDeleteYou remain on my heart and in my prayers.
As I read through your blog, I felt like I needed to tell you about the handmade butterfly card I sent you. It was a gift from God.
At the time I took the photo of the butterfly, about 5 years ago, my heart was breaking because we were getting ready to leave our home in George West and move to Houston. Leave our 20 acres in the middle of thousands of acres, our freedom, our privacy, our cows, our horses, our friends, the kind of lifestyle I thought God had wanted us to give our girls. I grabbed my camera and went, alone, for a walk down our dirt road, trying to capture picture-memories of all the things dear to me about this place I was having to leave. God caught my attention with this butterly that fluttered right in front of my face, then flitting from flower to flower, and then back to me, and then to another flower, "leading" me for about 1/4th of a mile down the road. I strongly sensed the presence, and peace, of God during that episode, and in my Facebook photo album where I posted that photo a long time ago, I wrote the caption "A gift from God", because I knew without a doubt, that it was.
As my heart was breaking for you and your family over the news about Zachery, and wanting to send you some love-in-a-card, God gave me the gift of the butterly again. I had another photo picked out to use for your card, but I kept feeling a tugging, a guiding, a voice even, saying "the butterly, use the butterly". I thought it was a strange choice actually. But now I understand... it was a gift from God...again.
Love,
~Dana