How Time Flies

I probably should be writing something totally Christmasy this week, but as I signed in and noticed that it has been just over a month since my last post, I thought of how fast time goes by.

It's not a new idea. I realize that I didn't discover this phenomenon of fleeting time. But I began to wonder if, perhaps, there is a spiritual implication to the fact that time seems to speed up as the years go on.

Is it because we are so busy that we don't take time to enjoy the gifts God gives us every day? Is it a side effect of aging, as we get older, 12 months becomes minuscule in relation to our age?

Or, could it be, maybe, just a random thought here, that God allows us to see time as fleeting so that we will feel a sense of urgency to be about our Father's business? I was talking to a businessman the other day. He does not know the Lord and his perspective on the month of December was much different than mine. "This month is just dragging on and on," he said.

I thought he must have been kidding. I was trying to figure out how Christmas week had reached us so quickly. Then I thought of Advent, the time of waiting. I love the tradition of Advent, but I have never really felt like I was waiting, I already have Christ. Thankfully, I don't have to wait for his birth, or for his sacrifice or the glorious day of His resurrection. I am my beloved's and He is mine. For those of us who are in Christ, the wait is over.

But for those who are still in darkness the wait is long. Like driving to a new destination, getting there seems to take forever because you don't really know what to look for. Those without Christ don't even know what they are waiting for, but they do know the longing in their lives. That longing and feeling of the unknown can make time stand still for them.

Yes, for those of us in Christ the wait is over, but the work has just begun.

In all of our busyness, are we lifting Jesus higher? As we make our gift lists, grocery list and honey-do lists, are we being Christlike in our behavior and treatment of others? My grammy used to say that some people could "make me lose my religion". It was a cliche', and she was kidding, but it happens every day. How patient are we in long lines of Christmas Shoppers? How often do people see Jesus in us as we speed through our busy day?

We are about to celebrate the Light of the World. Are we allowing that light to shine through us?

Let's do more this week than talk about the Savior's birth. Let's shine His light for all to see.

"For unto us a son is born, for unto us a child is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Have a blessed week!

One Door and Only One

I have a weekly meeting that attend in the same location each Monday. Recently I arrived to find that the location had been changed due to a scheduling mix up. The new occupants of our meeting room pointed me in the general direction of my meeting and I went to find my crew. I walked the halls of the building trying every door with no success. After searching for about 40 minutes I was about to give up, I decided to try one more time. As I walked the first floor, a security guard walking in front of me abrubtly stopped and faced the wall. The wall slid open and he went in. I hurried to where he had been standing and there it was. An elevator, painted in such a way that it was completely camouflaged with the wall. I pushed the button and waited for the car to arrive. In minutes I was with my group, who had been wondering where I could be. I still have know idea where the stairway to that floor was hidden.

Some people go around trying every spiritual door, finding them locked or finding the wrong group occupying the room. Jesus said knock and the door will be opened unto you. Seek and you will find. The door is right there but so often people walk right past it. I might have never found my group if someone else would not have used the elevator, but because he led me there by example, without even knowing I was watching, I was able to find the way. Who are you being an example to without knowing? Who is going to follow your path out of desperation, hoping it might be the way? ©Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries

I love the Fall. The weather begins to cool down. Fall color tinges the trees and brush. Grass slows its growth and pumpkins ripen. As the world around me changes from green to gold I am reminded that the change before us will usher in a new thing in God's plan. But that new thing; the new growth, cannot happen until the old has fallen away and been purified through the cold of winter. Fall is the first reminder of God's Promise to renew and bring life from the earth.

And I love fall decorations, gourds and pumpkins and bales of straw. Perhaps a happy scarecrow sitting nearby. I have enjoyed decorating the front yard this month. I changed my flower pots from pansies and petunias to bright orange and deep red mums. I cut my own corn stalks from our fields and tied them with a beautiful fall bow. It is so much fun to go and pick the perfect pumpkins for display. It is like preparing for a celebration.
But what are we celebrating? Is it a celebration of change? Yes, but more than that, fall is easily the celebration of Christ's work on the Cross. You see, at that moment things changed, defeat fell like dead leaves and in His resurrection we were given the opportunity to have new life that pushes past the death in the world around us. What an awesome thing it is to be a most loved Child of the King. ©Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries