It is one of those Christmas season days
that remind me that I need
Christmas.
That I need the birth of Jesus.
One of those tired and melancholy days.
Dotted with little springs of hope.
Like a snowflake on my sleeve.
Or a blanket of them on my deck table.
Or a little waxwing in my cottonwood tree.
I adore that little love note from God.
I have never seen a waxwing here at the ranch
this time of year.
But it was sweet tenderness to my spirit.
Amidst all the to-do lists of Christmas and this and that and . . .
And then my daughter has fever and flu-ness for two days.
But then she gets better . . .
yet I am exhausted and I feel guilty for my motherly exhaustion.
And I hear of a 13 month old with cancer
And a wife and mom living the day-to-day realities of mothering and loving
While her less-than-40-year-old husband takes cancer treatment.
And a bully-gremlin in my head says,
what right do you have to feel melancholy?
I still need Jesus for Christmas.
O come, o come, Emmanuel
~ God with us ~
copyright 2010 Jodene (Jodi) Shaw
simply beautiful jodi...his grace is upon you, is upon us all. hugs, jan
ReplyDeleteThank you for that gentle reminder...I often feel the same...dealing with uncertain illness and yet I know so many other suffering...what right do I have to complain.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the beautiful photos. Is that hoar frost? If so, it's amazingly beautiful!
this is incredibly touching. thank you so much for sharing such well-written and heart-rendering thoughts.
ReplyDeleteNo one is immune from melancholy and exhaustion! I read this today and there is no author's name attached but it says "God does not comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters!" When we ask "why me" we have to answer "why not me"? Thankfully we can look to Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that YOU WILL NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART!" Thank you God for the gift of your Beloved Son, Jesus! Love and Prayers! God Bless! Merry Christmas! BARB
ReplyDeleteSo well put and timely. We all fight that "bully" you spoke of. But with Jesus all things are possible. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you could fine love in comfort in that moment of melancholy. That is true worship!!
ReplyDeletexo
Beautiful post, my dear Flying friend! And the first photo is gorgeous! - how on earth did you manage to take such a close-up??
ReplyDelete~thanks for all your kind words~
ReplyDelete~hoar frost? I do not know what haor frost is...will have to check into that!
~how did I get the close-up? just used super-macro setting on my camera and snapped some shots of my sleeve after standing out in the falling snowflakes
~one of my favorite names of Jesus is Emmanuel: God with us...it means so much to me...He is with me, with you, with us.